Maureen Fan’s Post

A lot of companies refocusing on their strengths in this time of economic uncertainty: - Creative Assembly -> Strategy games - Frontier -> Management sims - Unity -> Game engine and tech Plans to diversify in recent years just aren't working out as expected. Frontier example details here:

More and more games and other types of media receive public outcries when certain groups perceive them as "too political". Asking media to not be political is of course in and of itself a very political request. Meanwhile there are games out there whose primary goal is to be political. I wanted to take a look at such games and analyzed what design choices their creators made to create games that are successful at critiquing societal norms, highlighting injustices and encouraging critical thinking about the world around us. I started with the game "Papers, Please" and published my insights on medium. It would mean a lot if my games industry network gave it a read and to start a conversation about our responsibilities as designers and developers in politically unstable times. https://lnkd.in/gwDzEpkW #videogames #gamesindustry #gamedev #media

Save: bit.ly/NeoEpicLoot Exciting news from Moon Studios, the creators behind the enchanting Ori series: They’ve unveiled their latest project at The Game Awards, marking a bold shift in their repertoire. The upcoming title, 'No Rest for the Wicked', is an action RPG that treads into a mature narrative, set in a tumultuous kingdom in the year 841. As chaos ensues following the death of a king, players will find themselves immersed in a struggle for power, plagued lands, and the daunting task of defeating invading beasts and restoring order. Poised for an initial early access launch on PC in early 2024, 'No Rest for the Wicked' promises an intricate world of isometric action combat, involving skill, timing, and—significantly—a four-player online co-op. As we await further revelations at the 'Wicked Inside' digital showcase on March 1, 2024, Moon Studios extends an invitation to dive into an ambitious ARPG experience. "To finally realize those dreams," states Moon Studios cofounder Thomas Mahler, reflecting on the ARPG genre that inspired many, including the team at Moon. Following the critical acclaim of Ori, they are eager to see the community's reaction to this fresh endeavor. Stay updated with our comprehensive coverage of all the big announcements and winners at The Game Awards. Discover more about 'No Rest for the Wicked' and access the gameplay trailer now: [https://lnkd.in/grF_Kdsh).

As video gamers find life, community, and joy in their favorite games, we ought to expect some of them to ask the inevitable question, "I wonder if I can MAKE a game..." Soma Games was born in the womb of the CGDC and surely we've survived as long as we have because of the "Oh my! I'm not alone?!" experience that I had and so many others have had. I can't say enough about Tim Emmerich, Philip Conrod, Brock Henderson and so many others who have run this organization through decades and created a place for emergent game designers, coders, and artists to find encouragement and community. The community of Redemptive Game Developers must begin, obviously, with a community. https://bit.ly/3J9obYE ----- Imladris is a movement to create a healthy and profitable ecosystem of Redemptive Content Creators, Patrons, and Fans, motivated by their shared faith, to bring excellence, scholarship, and leadership to the Interactive Entertainment industry. https://bit.ly/43LUCGr

#New_research Long, long ago, but in a galaxy not so far away, the relationship between suppliers (developers) and consumers (gamers) in the game industry was simple. It centred around the buying and selling a cartridge with a game on it. Nowadays, games can be continuously updated, with patch files, in-game purchases, expansion packs, DLCs etc. Outside of direct gameplay, gaming culture has grown so complex to include streaming, cosplay, mods, game themed products, and much more, The relationship between gamers and developers is endless and much more complex than it previously was and that affects value creation and capture. In this world of continuous engagement and constant updates, what does value creation and capture mean? How does the complexities of the game industry influence other creative industries? Can we use the game industry as a predictor of developments in other industries? Our review (Miikka J. Lehtonen and Robin Gustafsson) of 20 years of research on value creation and capture in the game industries is a definite conversation starter and a way for us to reflect on this complex evolution of what value is. Have a read here:

Players should be able to complete any game they buy on their own terms. With Elden Ring back in the spotlight thanks to the release of the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion, I'm seeing the same discussion points emerge again about difficulty and accessibility. It's like nothing changed in the last two years.   Being skilled enough to get to the end of some games is both a blessing and a curse of the unique medium of videogames. But there's no other artform that does this, and I think fundamentally this is a problem, which is preventing the industry from growing its audience.   Imagine watching a movie, or reading a book, or listening to an album, only to find the final chunk of content gated off until you somehow proved your skill in watching, reading, or listening. Or being denied access to view a piece of fine art until you were able to discuss the rest of the artist's body of work to their own standard. It's wild that we've normalized this in videogames.   Sure, there are plenty of people who don't "get" some films or music, but at least they have the option to experience the content it in its entirety with no gating before being able to form an opinion about it, and perhaps research it, gather varied opinions, and eventually "get it". In fact, in those mediums, access to all the content is actually needed in order to understand it!   I had a similar problem with Hades. The story was compelling, but I wasn't skilled enough to get to the end. I appreciate the difficulty modifier the developers added to support less skilled players. But even with that setting maxxed I still couldn't finish it. I eventually watched the story moments on YouTube which helped me learn and appreciate how the narrative was connected to the themes of replaying the game in a loop, and I can imagine it would have been quite powerful to experience it in real time within the context of the game loop. But I shouldn't have to go to YouTube to at least see the full story in the first place.   All games should have options that allow all players to experience all the content. For some players, learning, understanding, and becoming skilled can come later.

2023 is that good. Why? Because titles that delayed all across the pandemic from 2020-2022 clumped together in 2023. 2023 went from an average year to an overstocked year due to delays and inefficiencies in remote work. ----- Axios: "2023 has the best-reviewed slate of video games of the last. Video games scoring 90 or more on Metacritic. By release year, scoring 90 or more on at least one platform; 2004–2023 (as of October 2023)" "It's not just a feeling that 2023 is one of the best years ever for video game releases. Soaring game review scores back that up. Why it matters: Many of the best-reviewed games benefited from long development cycles, a sign that giving game creators more time is worth it. Driving the news: This year has seen 25 games pull an average score of 90 or more on at least one platform, according to review aggregator Metacritic. --For most of the last decade, the average count has been half of that. --Note: When checking this tally, we counted games that scored a 90 or better on at least one platform; some versions scored below that, in this year and in the past. Details: Game studios' extraordinary output this year came from a mix of sequels that got lots of development time, plus a host of polished remakes and remasters. --Nintendo developed The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (96 Metacritic) for six years, delaying it for more than a year for polish. --Larian Studios incubated Baldur's Gate III (96 Metacritic) as a publicly available early access game since 2020, before its completion this year. --Capcom's Resident Evil 4 (93 Metacritic) was the remake of an already beloved game. --CD Projekt RED spent an eye-popping $63 million on its Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty expansion (90 Metacritic), a part of an expensive reputation rehab effort for its studio, following the initially disastrous launch of the base game in 2020. Be smart: Review scores aren't the only or even the best arbiter of quality, and even many 2023 games rated in the 80s were plenty impressive. --Microsoft's Hi-Fi Rush (87), EA's Dead Space remake (89), FromSoftware's Armored Core VI (88) and indie upstart Pizza Tower (89) just missed the Metacritic 90 score this year. What they're saying: "One of the reasons why it's such an incredible year is that some of these titles were supposed to release in previous years." --Pandemic-induced delays extended some development cycles, allowing for further iteration and even polish in the most unusual and trying of times. --It helps that the so-called Gen 9 consoles, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, are entrenched now, both wrapping up their third year. --Developers have had time to get comfortable making games on the newer tech. Marvel's Spider-Man 2 (90 Metacritic) is development studio Insomniac Games' fourth PlayStation 5 game, including its second that didn't have to be designed to also work on the weaker PlayStation 4. Axios: https://lnkd.in/gm-iEf7T #gameindustry #videogames #gamedev

I have been lucky to work with people who had the player's interest at best, but both from a player and developer's perspective, I'm sad to see how, many studios that operate live games have embraced predatory tactics. How did we normalize discriminatory pricing, charging high-spenders a lot more than low-spenders for the same 'deals', basically punishing our fans for spending in our games? How did we normalize manipulating randomness to hide hard gates, basically tricking whales into spending thousands without them knowing they are fighting against impossible odds? In my new blog, I dig into predatory tactics in live games that we rarely talk about, how we collect player data and use it to manipulate players' progress, difficulty, or offers while obfuscating it behind manipulated randomness to shield ourselves from backlashes. Many studios have grown sustainably without using these tactics, and in the long run, those are the studios that will survive by keeping their talents and building player trust. https://lnkd.in/eMm2664c

Greetings, traveler, and welcome to /Thread, a weekly roundup of what’s happening in the game industry, for game industry professionals, just like you. 📰 Today’s Densely Daily Dosage 🤦♂️ Execs made it back from DICE Last week, Sony laid off 900 people in their PlayStation division. EA cut 5% of its workforce. A bunch of smaller studios joined the party, too - Wildlife Studios, Deck Nine, Radical Forge, and Cloud Imperium also let folks go. Brendan Sinclair has a great writeup (link in first comment) diving deep into Sony’s financials, motivations, and helps color how the hell we’re still living in this nightmare. 🕴 Nintendo: No Yuzu for you The popular Switch emulator Yuzu is no more. Nintendo settled a $2.4MM lawsuit against the developer, who doesn’t actually distribute illegal content, but makes it pretty easy to load up Switch ROMs you totally backed up from your existing library. Nintendo argued that Yuzu’s existence helped over 1 million players play a leaked version of Tears of the Kingdom before its release. Since the lawsuit settled, we won’t see any new legal precedent set when it comes to emulation as it pertains to copyright, which is great because how else am I going to play Uniracers in TYOOL 2024? 🚀 NASA attacks the darkness NASA just released a 5E-compatible RPG adventure about rescuing an errant Hubble Space Telescope. Good luck figuring out 5E’s rules for 3D fighting in a 10x10x10 cube! ⚾ MLB The Show enters the 21st century MLB The Show 24 will give players the ability to create female players in their popular Road to the Show game mode. RTTS starts players off in AA ball, where they need to develop their skills and improve their performance to work their way up to the Majors. 👾 Helldivers 2 Wins February Helldivers 2, bringer of galactic democracy at any cost, went full Mission Accomplished by the end of February. The game is Sony’s best-performing Steam title ever, and has gone on to sell around 3 million copies. What’s particularly interesting, according to analyst Mat Piscatella in an IGN interview, is that the game is gaining momentum over time, rather than losing it. He compares its word-of-mouth trajectory to Guitar Hero, which is fantastic company to be in. 🤓 Hang Out With Us at GDC - Chris and I are headed to San Francisco for GDC later this month. We’ll be there the 20th through the 22nd. If you’d like to catch up or grab a drink, respond to this email or hit one of us up on LinkedIn. If you wanna talk shop during business hours, I'll have a link in the comments. 📈 By The Numbers 2025 - When the Switch 2 is expected to launch. $1.6B - NetEase’s 2023 revenue. 🎸 Better Know An Indie Orwell is a game where Big Brother has arrived - and it’s you. Investigate the lives of citizens to find those responsible for a series of terror attacks. Grab it on Steam for $9.99.