I think maybe the studios who are able to look past the "wants" and get at the "needs" of the players are ultimately the ones that surprise and delight or exceed expectations. Indies tend to be better positioned (or at least that's my perspective) to do it because they were once that voice in the public court of opinions.
And social media/internet has been both a boon and disaster for the public court of opinions. Now everyone can publish their thoughts for everyone to see and depending on the spaces you frequent online, you may not be getting a balanced perspective, feeding into that perception that the devs will always have to fight.
It's a twisted timeline we're in where gaming is bigger than ever but the industry is in peril.
It's also crazy/scary/saddening to think about how many Vampire Survivors & Balatro's are being missed and washed away in the weekly deluge of 300 indie game releases.
This made me extra nostalgic for the fifth and sixth console generations and the industry's comparatively experimental spirit back then. It's as though gaming made the transition from small niche to big-money colossus and, as with popular cinema, it all became about focus-testing and first-week returns.
I think the gaming public is taking notice, though. Surely Ubisoft, EA, etc. will eventually decide they've released one over-scoped flop too many and dial back their ambitions instead of shuttering beloved studios to raise enough capital for the next over-scoped flop... right?
This was an awesome newsletter that really met the moment. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go weep some more salt tears over Monolith.
I think maybe the studios who are able to look past the "wants" and get at the "needs" of the players are ultimately the ones that surprise and delight or exceed expectations. Indies tend to be better positioned (or at least that's my perspective) to do it because they were once that voice in the public court of opinions.
And social media/internet has been both a boon and disaster for the public court of opinions. Now everyone can publish their thoughts for everyone to see and depending on the spaces you frequent online, you may not be getting a balanced perspective, feeding into that perception that the devs will always have to fight.
Forgot to add, great perspective and article, as always!
It's a twisted timeline we're in where gaming is bigger than ever but the industry is in peril.
It's also crazy/scary/saddening to think about how many Vampire Survivors & Balatro's are being missed and washed away in the weekly deluge of 300 indie game releases.
Great read. A lot to chew on here.
Just popped in to say I really enjoyed this. Great work.
This made me extra nostalgic for the fifth and sixth console generations and the industry's comparatively experimental spirit back then. It's as though gaming made the transition from small niche to big-money colossus and, as with popular cinema, it all became about focus-testing and first-week returns.
I think the gaming public is taking notice, though. Surely Ubisoft, EA, etc. will eventually decide they've released one over-scoped flop too many and dial back their ambitions instead of shuttering beloved studios to raise enough capital for the next over-scoped flop... right?
This was an awesome newsletter that really met the moment. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go weep some more salt tears over Monolith.
This was fantastic, great work!
The surprise and delights are why I keep playing video games honestly 😌