stopthatgirl7505 Games' parent company lays off 30% of its workforce, says gamers really only want sequels so that's what it's going to make
Digital Bros joins the chorus of game companies putting people out of work in the name of "operational efficiency."
corytheboydYou many not agree, but he’s right. We are not most people. They want, and they have, that sweet “lowest common denominator” market, and they will take advantage of that until something else generates more cash. The “lowest common denominator” demand more CoD and whatnot. They don’t care if it’s bad, because them and all their friends will buy it and perhaps even have some fun. The big studios converging on raking in cash instead of creating interesting content is depressing, sure, but hardly surprising in a world where morals and ethics don’t matter, you can get away with the absolute most heinous, reprehensible acts, and suffer zero consequences.
Narrrzand the open source, free tools for creating such games are getting better almost by the day.
There is still hope in projects like baldurs gate 3
Which is a sequel…
The best selling new game was Hogwarts Legacy. Which still has a strong IP behind it (which really was the only reason the game was selling so much).
The only game in the top 10 of the best selling games 2023 without being a sequel or having a strong IP behind it, is Starfield.
Yeah. I’m of the same mind. I was here to witness the resurgence of Boomer and Movement Shooters. Now, we’re in the cusp of the resurgence of RTS.
The last game published by 505 I played were apparently Indivisible, which was trash. I never played Ghostrunner nor Control which basically eliminates most of their notable recent output. I think I can safely say I’ll be fine with my continued ignoring of them as a publisher.
EntropywinsSome people didn't like it but I fucking loved Control...great game and worth a play imho
It’s very well done! It wasn’t really on my radar, but I got it for free from epic, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Ditto Kingdom Come: Deliverance. I think the only things I’ve paid for on the epic store are the dlc from those gems.
ScrubblesYup. They’ll let smaller studios take risks on new IP and buy them if it’s profitable. They get the wins but none of the losses.
Yeah i think we’re in a golden age of indie games. When i want to find a new game, i search youtube for “best indie games of 2018” or 2017, 2021 or whatever. So much great stuff to play made in the last 5-10 years. And so much more affordable. And it feels great to give my money to these devs.
If someone told me 4-5 years ago, that the year we got really incredible sequels to both Breath of the Wild, and that cool new Spider-Man game on PS4, my most-enjoyed game would be an indie Lovecraftian light-horror fishing game, I wouldn’t have believed them.
Also, making a good game is always a risk, it’s an intersection of tech, business, and art. Control e.g. sold only a few million copies, depsite being widely praised.
If you however want be sure, you invest a lot in marketing and monetisation, targeting a wide audience as you said, and can take a lower risk to make back your investment. Absolutely hate this of course, but luckily there are still good games, as long as e.g. Sony is willing to take that risk to sell more PS consoles, or we get wonders like BG3
Spacebourne 2.
Not polished, not amazing graphics, but turning out to be a damn good game that most “AAA” developers wouldn’t even try to make, that was made by one guy (and now a small team of volunteers/contractors lol)