LOL. More like “triple A” studios need to start making games that are actually fun rather than focus on quarterly peanut accounting practices while giving management bloated salaries and bonuses. Also fix up that abusive shitty ‘cram’ development cycle culture that’s entrenched in game development.
Games like Vampire Survivors and Balatro show that games can be fun without many visual frills, but contain depth beyond the standardized, uninspiring, recycled game mechanics. While if you go the length of being true to storytelling like Baldur’s Gate, Divinity OS2, rather than sloppy storywriting, people are willing to pay bigger bucks for it.
Somewhere along the way, during the mobile games boom, studios forgot about what actually made games ‘fun’. They started to go after micro-transactions to drain every last dollar in your wallet while delivering barely any substance that was ‘fun’. They deserve to die given the current trajectory. They forgot the meaning of what video games are.
To recoup lost revenue on declining sales, major publishers will be raising the base price for games to $90, with extended ‘complete’ editions retailing $145.
Says, major CEO “gamers need to stop alienating themselves and pay up. When sales increase the prices will go down stop increasing (as much… maybe).”
Like, I appreciate the effort that goes into big AAA releases. I really do. I get wrapped up in the stories a lot easier when the game is nice to look at and the voice actors are really good.
But if a game isn’t fun, it isn’t fun. A lot of indie games are fun first, and that makes all the difference in the world.
Large game studios have different inherent strengths than smaller game studios, unfortuntately I think much of the gaming world has forgotten this in the excitement about the collapse of competency in and enshittification of traditional video game companies “clearing the way” for indie game companies.
I love indie games but some types of games can only be made by large predictable sort of boring game companies, I am mostly uninterested in those games but even I can recognize that they fulfill an essential role in making big production approachable, eye-catching experiences that play like interactive movies with all the production muscle that entails. Also sports games that evolve to remain relevant to the sports they represent are another big example of games best made by large boring game companies, which isn’t to say that indie sports games aren’t cool too that isn’t the point.
An indie game company can’t make Red Dead Redemption 2, they can make a narrower more focused game like Read Dead 2, but the scope of a game like that requires a huge company of artists working in parallel rather than in individual competition with one another.
A perfect example is comparing recent Zelda games to similar indie games like TUNIC, Gedonia 1 and 2, Anodyne 1 and 2 or Oceanhorn 1 and 2.
All of these games have a unique style and individuality that only comes from smaller indie studios, but none of them can compare to the breadth, muscle and expansiveness of a Nintendo open world game.
People who haven’t gotten raises to keep up with cost of living are buying cheaper indie games that are fun and supported instead of 80 AAA games that are abandoned because they didn’t make all of the money.
Indy and small budget games are where all the innovation in game mechanics is occuring. The AA/AAA industry has become a conveyor belt of ever more expensive graphics on the “omni game” mechanics.
Too many big studios/publishers just keep releasing the same shit over and over and over. They don’t innovate, they don’t take risks; they don’t exist to make good games, they exist to make shareholders money.
Good games aren’t just about graphics, they are about game play. Game play involves mechanics like collecting, exploration, story, strategy, challenging bosses, and world building/crafting. A good game will do 2-3 of these things really well regardless of what the graphics look like.
Timberborn is a definite favorite of mine. Whiskerwood looks very similar. I haven’t had a chance to try it yet, but I’m thinking I may like it more than Timberborn in the long-run due to having more interesting end-game goals to work toward.
I played whiskerwood for the first time recently. Also thought it would be similar to timberborn but it is very different. You have manage the whiskers individually to give them the right job if you want them to be efficient. I like that you can build underground and that in later game you’ll be able to use belts so I’m looking forward to discovering that system, also the steam power stuff.
Stellaris full price is like $300 for the whole game , sure I literally got the base game for free, but even buying expansions on sale, I wouldn’t be surprised if I’ve spent over $100 on Stellaris, and I don’t have all the expansions as I only buy them on sale.
That’s a good point. I typically wait for massive sales before buying games and DLCs, but I’ve still probably spent more than I care to admit on Stellaris. The enjoyment per dollar ratio is definitely still way up there for me though.
Oh, definitely. I still chuckle occasionally when I’m reminded by my Dungeon Defender friends that they cannot fathom playing a single game that takes weeks to finish. Meanwhile I’m laughing in EvE Online veteran. Titan Construction V took 8 months to train.
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smaller games that are fun have a better chance of getting bought on a whim, who knew!
Pretty soon they’ll notice that Pac-Man is still pretty good. Lol.
LOL. More like “triple A” studios need to start making games that are actually fun rather than focus on quarterly peanut accounting practices while giving management bloated salaries and bonuses. Also fix up that abusive shitty ‘cram’ development cycle culture that’s entrenched in game development.
Games like Vampire Survivors and Balatro show that games can be fun without many visual frills, but contain depth beyond the standardized, uninspiring, recycled game mechanics. While if you go the length of being true to storytelling like Baldur’s Gate, Divinity OS2, rather than sloppy storywriting, people are willing to pay bigger bucks for it.
Somewhere along the way, during the mobile games boom, studios forgot about what actually made games ‘fun’. They started to go after micro-transactions to drain every last dollar in your wallet while delivering barely any substance that was ‘fun’. They deserve to die given the current trajectory. They forgot the meaning of what video games are.
Triple A can all crash and burn.
Indie games are the only original, creative, fun games left anymore.
I just splurged and bought Moonlighter for like 2.99 so yeah checks out i guess.
Steam sales. That’s where I’m at.
Epic Game Store also gives away some AAA freebies.
To recoup lost revenue on declining sales, major publishers will be raising the base price for games to $90, with extended ‘complete’ editions retailing $145.
Says, major CEO “gamers need to stop alienating themselves and pay up. When sales increase the prices will
go downstop increasing (as much… maybe).”Beatings will resume until morale improves.
Like, I appreciate the effort that goes into big AAA releases. I really do. I get wrapped up in the stories a lot easier when the game is nice to look at and the voice actors are really good.
But if a game isn’t fun, it isn’t fun. A lot of indie games are fun first, and that makes all the difference in the world.
“AA” games can look fantastic though, with incredible voice acting.
See: Expedition 33.
I think “too much budget” is a thing. There’s just a point where it hurts more than helps, and now AAAAs (as I dub them) are smacking into it.
I’m still waiting for a decent sale on Expedition 33 before I buy it.
It’s discounted on GoG!
https://www.gog.com/en/game/clair_obscur_expedition_33
Which is where it should be bought anyway, as it will be DRM free and the lightest to run.
Good to know! I will get it from there. Except that isn’t a decent sale yet
Large game studios have different inherent strengths than smaller game studios, unfortuntately I think much of the gaming world has forgotten this in the excitement about the collapse of competency in and enshittification of traditional video game companies “clearing the way” for indie game companies.
I love indie games but some types of games can only be made by large predictable sort of boring game companies, I am mostly uninterested in those games but even I can recognize that they fulfill an essential role in making big production approachable, eye-catching experiences that play like interactive movies with all the production muscle that entails. Also sports games that evolve to remain relevant to the sports they represent are another big example of games best made by large boring game companies, which isn’t to say that indie sports games aren’t cool too that isn’t the point.
An indie game company can’t make Red Dead Redemption 2, they can make a narrower more focused game like Read Dead 2, but the scope of a game like that requires a huge company of artists working in parallel rather than in individual competition with one another.
A perfect example is comparing recent Zelda games to similar indie games like TUNIC, Gedonia 1 and 2, Anodyne 1 and 2 or Oceanhorn 1 and 2.
All of these games have a unique style and individuality that only comes from smaller indie studios, but none of them can compare to the breadth, muscle and expansiveness of a Nintendo open world game.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/553420/TUNIC/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2566340/Gedonia_2/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/234900/Anodyne/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/877810/Anodyne_2_Return_to_Dust/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/339200/Oceanhorn_Monster_of_Uncharted_Seas/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1622710/Oceanhorn_2_Knights_of_the_Lost_Realm
People who haven’t gotten raises to keep up with cost of living are buying cheaper indie games that are fun and supported instead of 80 AAA games that are abandoned because they didn’t make all of the money.
Gee, shocker.
Indy and small budget games are where all the innovation in game mechanics is occuring. The AA/AAA industry has become a conveyor belt of ever more expensive graphics on the “omni game” mechanics.
I very rarely get $60-$70 games at full price any more. The last 3 were Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, and Crimson Desert.
Silksong launched at €20.
I could buy the best game of a generation at full price FOUR TIMES, or Forspoken once. Tough choice
Can’t even remember the last time I spent over £30 on a game tbh.
I MIGHT buy a new $30 game if there is no DRM. A DRM’ed game, at $12? No way.
Too many big studios/publishers just keep releasing the same shit over and over and over. They don’t innovate, they don’t take risks; they don’t exist to make good games, they exist to make shareholders money.
Good games aren’t just about graphics, they are about game play. Game play involves mechanics like collecting, exploration, story, strategy, challenging bosses, and world building/crafting. A good game will do 2-3 of these things really well regardless of what the graphics look like.
Valheim, factorio, timberborn gave much more hours of fun than some expensive games like GTA 5.
Yeah but how much does factorio end up costing you? And not in money.
you can’t put a price on love
Timberborn is a lot of fun, you can build some crazy worlds when you reach the end game.
Timberborn is a definite favorite of mine. Whiskerwood looks very similar. I haven’t had a chance to try it yet, but I’m thinking I may like it more than Timberborn in the long-run due to having more interesting end-game goals to work toward.
I played whiskerwood for the first time recently. Also thought it would be similar to timberborn but it is very different. You have manage the whiskers individually to give them the right job if you want them to be efficient. I like that you can build underground and that in later game you’ll be able to use belts so I’m looking forward to discovering that system, also the steam power stuff.
Good to know. I’ve checked out some Let’s Plays of it, and the differences still look fun. I guess I better get on it.
Their current full price is slightly over $30, but Rimworld, Stellaris, and Satisfactory are in this bucket for me too.
Stellaris full price is like $300 for the whole game , sure I literally got the base game for free, but even buying expansions on sale, I wouldn’t be surprised if I’ve spent over $100 on Stellaris, and I don’t have all the expansions as I only buy them on sale.
Paradox is boon and burden to the 4X community.
That’s a good point. I typically wait for massive sales before buying games and DLCs, but I’ve still probably spent more than I care to admit on Stellaris. The enjoyment per dollar ratio is definitely still way up there for me though.
Oh, definitely. I still chuckle occasionally when I’m reminded by my Dungeon Defender friends that they cannot fathom playing a single game that takes weeks to finish. Meanwhile I’m laughing in EvE Online veteran. Titan Construction V took 8 months to train.