Developers and Publishers alike are killing there own industry, but they are clueless as to why.
2017 saw some of the biggest hits and the biggest fails along side some of the best indie titles, that are in essence much better than the big budget games, and we have also seen what happens to big corporations when they release a game that cause gamers to rip there reputation apart. In this world, if you release a game that isn't up to standard, or you include something that can piss gamers off, you will not be safe from the ridicule you will get from the community that is paying your bills.
Here are 5 reasons the Triple A gaming market is killing itself.
5 – Incomplete Games.
When you have a very strong franchise that has produced good gaming content in the past, when past games have been almost flawless in there execution, when the next title is announced and eventually released, gamers expect more of the same, great game, good content, worth our time and money.
With ever more demand on Developers from Publishers, investors and ultimately gamers, they can get very sloppy. This in turn leads to games not being fully tested and bug fixed before it hits the shelves. As we have seen with Destiny, Skyrim, Assassins Creed Unity, fallout new Vegas and many more, this can either drastically change a games popularity to the point no one wants to play it, in turn hurting sales, or be so bad, it gets pulled of shelves all together and buried in the desert, just like the Atari ET game. Yes sure, today its just a case of updating and patching the game, but by the time this is done, the damage can already be done.
Most games released that are unfinished, will largely go ignored by the collective, even if the game has been fixed only a few weeks later, Gamers don't care, and will find a better alternative.
Delay the release date, until you can be sure the game is fixed and works on all the platforms it is intended for. Better that than loose possible millions of dollars in sales because of your own greed.
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4 – Killing Iconic Franchises.
This one pertains more to Konami and EA as these are the 2 biggest culprits for doing this many times over.
EA have a bad reputation for buying up dev companies by the plenty, just to shut them down soon after. Konami, after an internal power struggle between the new management, there primary shift to the mobile market and Hideo Kojima, basically stuck 2 middle fingers up at gamers and long time fans of the Metal Gear franchise and said... ''Fuck You''. Metal Gear Solid 5 was released unfinished, a good game regardless as Kojima stayed on till it was released, but unfinished non the less as Kojima never had the freedom he deserved.
As a quick money grab, Konami have taken the MGSV game, added in a load of zombies, a poorly written story and slapped on a new name. Is it any wonder fans are pissed off?
Disney is another culprit. When they bought the rights to Star Wars, they effectively shut down the development of Star Wars 1313, a new take on the star wars universe and a fantastic looking game. But alas we never really got what we hopped for.
Stop being Corporate Dicks!
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3 – Big Budgets.
We hear this a lot. Ten years ago the most a game would cost would be around the 30-50 million dollars to make, but recently some games a reported to have cost in excess 500 million. That is Hollywood production levels.
There is absolutely no need for this to be the case at all. Inflation isn't the cause for the price rise in 20 years, yes technology is better, but if anything, that should make it easier to develop games.
This little fact has been proven time and time again on the indie side of the industry. Games like Ark: Survival, Aporia, Ori and the Blind Forest, the Darwin Project, fringe wars, the last night and so so many more have proved you can have a very successful game that performs well, have great stories and ultimately look very good, some are better than there triple A counterparts, all costing just a small fraction when compared to the games made by corporate dicks.
Gamers want quality and recently we are only ever seeing this in the indie games market. Money isn't everything, just get a good selection of gifted programmers, artists and voice actors and you have the makings of a great game without the involved cost of a triple A blockbuster that could very well fail.
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2 – Cancellations.
This is something that gamers hate to see or hear about. You take the time to get us all hyped up over a possible new release, and then at the last minute, it gets canned, WHY?
There are of course a number of reasons why a game may never get released, but it is ultimately down to money.
If a game is starting to cost to much, they will cancel it, but they would be more than willing to spend much more on another, possibly more lucrative game, that, as proved, can loose them more money in the long run if it is released unfinished, buggy or boring.
Another is usually corporate take over, to which we know Disney and EA are the biggest arseholes for this, buying up smaller companies and then closing them down. This is down to one of 2 reasons, they have a conflict of interests or they are just dicks and don't want any competition.
More and more games are getting cancelled each year, and not only is it pissing gamers off, but it is also costing these arse wipes more money than any of us will ever earn.
Complete the games, release them, if they don't make back all the money, it is better than loosing ALL the money had you just put it in the bin.
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1 – GREED!
Greed is ultimately killing the Triple A gaming industry as a whole and these corporate dicks don't understand this part.
It is ultimately down to micro transactions and more so predatory loot box systems, including the pay to win systems.
The game has already cost us $80 or more to buy, but you still want more money out of us, because reasons.
Free to play games are in a different league, loot boxes and micro transactions, as long as they are not forced on you every 5 minutes, is OK as they need to recoup the development costs and fund ongoing support. But in a Triple A title that cost us money to start with is a different problem entirely.
When done correctly, Loot boxes can actually work to the games advantage. If you take a look at the loot box system in Rocket League, the loot boxes actually help the game, cosmetic changes, you can either buy or earn such boxes. It is actually a pleasant system that benefits everyone.
In games like the infamous Battlefront 2 and Shadows of Mordor, the loot box systems are a pay to win system, benefiting only those who do have the spare cash. The systems are in your face every 5 minutes, difficult to get off, and fucking annoying, not only spoiling the game for the gamers, but ultimately, most gamers will put the game down, never to be played again. And as we have seen in late 2017, this can hurt sales incomes by a massive margin.
Pay to win loot boxes are now being considered as a form of gambling in select states and countries, and talks continue in court rooms around the world on weather it should be banned or not.
Myself and many other gamers, parents especially, see it as a legal form of under age gambling, and no matter how much game companies will try to convince us otherwise, it is and predatory systems should be abolished all together.
As said, when done right, and it is only for cosmetic purposes, it could benefit the games to no end that do this.
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Only 10-15 years ago, the gaming industry was at an all time high, and the triple A side of things was probably at its peak, producing some of the best games of all time, with non of the attached bull shit. Where it went wrong was when developers and publishers forgot that it is the gamers they need to please, not the investors.
Gamers used to be at the forefront of big gaming companies. Today, it is the Indie game industry that are the only ones looking after gamers. Using micro transactions as they should, releasing artful and imaginative games, with profit being secondary to appeasing the gamers playing there games.
Thanks for reading.
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