3 ms·

> Because of the risk, everyone is forced to make more and more anaemic games and this is exactly why they flop, you're already taking on the exact same burden

> Because of the risk, everyone is forced to make more and more anaemic games and this is exactly why they flop, you're already taking on the exact same burden making something milquetoast vs making something risky, weirdly by watering it down and not rocking the boat and hoping just a scattershot mass of apathetic players will make it worth the investment is exactly why it's failing. By aiming for the apathetic you're missing any chance at all of fanaticism around what you're making, it's a false economy believing that by watering a thing down you're increasing the chance of success. Probably the next most anticipated game other than GTA6 is the next Souls game, and if you had pitched the original Demon Souls or Dark Souls in an Ubisoft, Bethesda, California era Sony, Microsoft, EA boardroom they'd have asked you "Who's going to even play something so difficult" yet here we are where Elden Ring made almost $1 billion with 400 employees, put in perspective to UbiSoft one of the most egregiously formulaic companies they managed 2.4 billion in 2023 with 20,000 employees and needing many more games to get to that.

oersted 2y ago
I agree, but I'm more interested in understanding why everyone is making these mistakes over and over again. It's naive to think that they are all stupid, it's just not possible. It's not just old soulless corporations, many beloved and sharp studios are falling into the same traps. Even the most savvy and successful newcomers from the Indie scene trying to go bigger fall for this now. The leading examples are the 4-5 Forspoken-likes we've seen this year that no one was asking for and everyone has forgotten instantly. With derivative open-world action, unbelievably boring story and characters, and that neon-purple magic+tech aesthetic that all studios seem to think is so fresh but somehow they all come up with the exact same thing. I get that you want to play it safe and copy a proven model, fine, but is it so hard to at least sprinkle it with some decent writing please? Everyone is so hungry for good IP to exploit, but IP is all about characters, world-building and story, and they are skimping on those for no good reason. I'm sure they hire good writers, but for some reason they are not getting through. The current political mood might be a factor, but there's still a lot of room to play in the politically-neutral space, games have always lived there. It's not just the big companies making these, it's also every talented studio that got some extra funding to scale-up. I guess it's all about the tech VC attitude seeping in at all levels? Uber didn't need writers... But you'd think money people would at least be good at actually making lots of money. I get all the aggressive monetization and creatively bankrupt cash-grabs, fine, but now they are creatively bankrupt and don't even make any money! Perhaps with some patience the industry will learn the right lessons from this and we are headed towards a new golden age.
- whywhywhywhy 2y ago
  It's definitely not as simple as they're stupid because they are doing this as a response to what they think are market conditions. Maybe it's more just cowardly, no one on the team in a position of power is saying no, no one stepping up and leading the vision, maybe a fear of being too critical of work in meetings because gaming is a bit of a HR minefield. I've worked in creative fields and meetings can get heated, can definitely see people not saying as much if they would be worried of being painted a bully or something. > The leading examples are the 4-5 Forspoken-likes we've seen this year that no one was asking for and everyone has forgotten instantly This is a case of turning around an oil tanker, around the time they all went into development it all seemed like the next big thing but you're too far into it to change the game significantly so one flops then another then another.

oersted 2y ago

I agree, but I'm more interested in understanding why everyone is making these mistakes over and over again. It's naive to think that they are all stupid, it's just not possible. It's not just old soulless corporations, many beloved and sharp studios are falling into the same traps. Even the most savvy and successful newcomers from the Indie scene trying to go bigger fall for this now. The leading examples are the 4-5 Forspoken-likes we've seen this year that no one was asking for and everyone has forgotten instantly. With derivative open-world action, unbelievably boring story and characters, and that neon-purple magic+tech aesthetic that all studios seem to think is so fresh but somehow they all come up with the exact same thing. I get that you want to play it safe and copy a proven model, fine, but is it so hard to at least sprinkle it with some decent writing please? Everyone is so hungry for good IP to exploit, but IP is all about characters, world-building and story, and they are skimping on those for no good reason. I'm sure they hire good writers, but for some reason they are not getting through. The current political mood might be a factor, but there's still a lot of room to play in the politically-neutral space, games have always lived there. It's not just the big companies making these, it's also every talented studio that got some extra funding to scale-up. I guess it's all about the tech VC attitude seeping in at all levels? Uber didn't need writers... But you'd think money people would at least be good at actually making lots of money. I get all the aggressive monetization and creatively bankrupt cash-grabs, fine, but now they are creatively bankrupt and don't even make any money! Perhaps with some patience the industry will learn the right lessons from this and we are headed towards a new golden age.

whywhywhywhy 2y ago
It's definitely not as simple as they're stupid because they are doing this as a response to what they think are market conditions. Maybe it's more just cowardly, no one on the team in a position of power is saying no, no one stepping up and leading the vision, maybe a fear of being too critical of work in meetings because gaming is a bit of a HR minefield. I've worked in creative fields and meetings can get heated, can definitely see people not saying as much if they would be worried of being painted a bully or something. > The leading examples are the 4-5 Forspoken-likes we've seen this year that no one was asking for and everyone has forgotten instantly This is a case of turning around an oil tanker, around the time they all went into development it all seemed like the next big thing but you're too far into it to change the game significantly so one flops then another then another.