ThreadTop players planning to object to use of their likenesses in FIFA
I don't think that is true for everyone, but yes- the top tier players usually get it in their contracts that they can do personal sponsorships and deals besides their teams.
ThreadTop players planning to object to use of their likenesses in FIFA
Leaving aside how the last part sounds like children arguing in kindergarden- they don't assume, they know the likenesses are in the contract. In Zlatan's case for example, EA has a deal with AC Milan.
ThreadTop players planning to object to use of their likenesses in FIFA
I also love how that user acts as if the rights to their likenesses and marketing wasn't an important factor in players getting their millions in salaries...
ThreadThe current state of Nintendo: pushing out unpolished turds like Hyrule warriors Age of calimatiy this holiday
If you don't have much say in a game that is set in one of your most important IPs, you are doing it wrong. And I don't think that Nintendo, a company that is infamous for being very controlling, would work like that.
As AleeN634 mentioned, the publishing rate of the newspaper in later game stages has been reduced. Also, you can now select to keep pubishig the last edit newspaper repeatedly, as some players felt that disrupted their game flow too much.
That can indeed feel overwhelming after a break! If you find them hard to parse, maybe setting them up anew may be easier for you? We added some new functionality to the trade route menu so you now always see what every ship has loaded, plus you can directly jump to it from the map. And if you lose one, it will be shown directly in the trade route, so you don't run into problems down the road cause you missed a ship on a crucial route being sunk.
As others said, I think Age 3 was the most controversial one among the Ensemble Studios Age games. Age of Mythogy sits at a 89 MC score, and was very popular as far as I recall (also their first 3D game).
ThreadLevel-5 NA studios has a small skeleten crew working on games since August 2019
Wow, I have seen companies that were late with their salaries for months in a row get much better GD reviews. Sounds like a nightmare :(Depends on what criteria (reviews, sales, cultural impact) you want to apply, I guess? There are a couple developers that had a hell of a run with their first few games; Infinity Ward, Respawn, BioWare, Ensemble Studios, id etc. come to mind.
ThreadOn this day in 2002, Microsoft purchased Rare for $375 million. It almost turned into a disaster. Today, Rare is one of the most successful studios.
It is a bit weird, but also extremely on brand for Era to see so many people discount Sea of Thieves because they don't like it, or because it is a GaaS title. The game is objectively a huge success (15M+ players), is getting better almost every month, is popular with content creators, and offers something very unique in the market (open-ended sandbox gameplay with high-end production values and polish). It's a fantastic game, and Rare deserves all the success it has.
Also, saying that one game is not enough to be among the most successful studios in the world makes me wonder what these poster would classify Riot (until last Fall) and Mojang as, cause I think they are pretty successful...
ThreadFall Guys devs did an experiment called Fall Guys Cheater Island™
That is concept that quite a few games have used over the years (I think Max Payne 3 may have been one of the first prominent examples?). it would be interesting to see someone do a study to see if being on the receiving end of other cheaters can lead to some cheaters being reformed, or if they just keep doing the usual thing of setting up a new account, and diving right back in.
ThreadAn IGN headline about the Xbox family of consoles is blowing minds on Twitter
If staff at a specialist retailer can't be expected to know about the product they are selling, then we probably shouldn't be surprised that fewer and fewer people bother shopping there.
ThreadAn IGN headline about the Xbox family of consoles is blowing minds on Twitter
I don't want to sound like a jerk, but...isn't it kinda their job to be knowledgeable about the products they are selling? If everybody knew exactly what they want to buy, they would just get it from Amazon, or any other major retailer.
Also, these comments still fail to explain how it is somehow possible to sell stuff like smartphones or cars (both of which frequently have several similar SKUs) without the sky falling.
ThreadAn IGN headline about the Xbox family of consoles is blowing minds on Twitter
My (perhaps elitist) take: the people who care about the level of texture filtering for their old BC games will be able to wrap their head around the concept of two different SKUs.
The parents who just want a console for their kid (as commonly cited in these examples) probably don't worry about that too much.
ThreadChris Roberts on Star Citizen Development - "I am not willing to compromise it's potential because it is taking longer than I originally envisioned."
I am sure many other developers also wished that they had players (!) finance their games to the tune of 250M+. Having worked on both the developer and publisher side, I can firmly say that I would hate working on such a project. Having some limitations and a need to finish things (as opposed to redoing them over and over again) can be quite beneficial for a project.
ThreadWhat games are releasing around the Xbox Series S/X launch?
If Valhalla, Gears Tactics, Yakuza, Beyond Light, Tetris Effect and Cyberpunk are a subpar line-up, I wonder what a good launch line-up for a console would look like.
ThreadWhat potentially unnanounced features for next-gen consoles are you hoping for?
I came to post this. Right now, there is no good reason for me to buy one as the owner of a high-end PC. But being able to play all my Xbox games from across 4 generations, including my beloved MechAssault? Now that would be an awesome reason!
ThreadBigoted Devs Part of 3D Realms’ Realms Deep Show
I am very sorry to hear you had bad experiences at gamescom. I still love going there every year to meet old colleagues and friends and talk to our players, so it is always disappointing to hear when people were made to feel uncomfortable or unsafe there.
Thankfully, the number booth babes and companies using them has gone down a lot since the early days, and I don't think I can think of any major companies outside a few F2P publishers doing it these days. Personally, when I see booth babes these days, my default assumption is that your game is probably not very good and you have to find other ways to draw attention.
ThreadBigoted Devs Part of 3D Realms’ Realms Deep Show
I have to say I really dislike this trend I am noticing recently in threads like this where anybody correcting wrong information is being accused of defending the thing. Even when being critical of something, we should strive for accuracy and facts. Pointing out that it is not "a viking game" is a fair point, as is others saying that some of the other factions like Anglo-Saxons and the Holy Roman Empire are also very popular in certain right-wing circles.You are welcome. When my friend found this announcement, we were both baffled by this combination, giving the documented history of some of their team.
ThreadBigoted Devs Part of 3D Realms’ Realms Deep Show
With regards to Destructive Creations, something curious happened last month during devcom (the professional developer event that happens alongside gamescom, the spot once filled by GDC Europe).
Devcom was promoting a Developer Night party and live stream of a concert by the German metal band Caliban, with a motto of "developers against violence, anti-semitism, racism, facism, sexism and discrimination", presented by Destructive Creations, the developers of Hatred. Following social media criticism, I believe the show was cancelled however?
ThreadBigoted Devs Part of 3D Realms’ Realms Deep Show
Sure, this is the tweet announcing it:
And here are three (German only, however) tweets about the feedback and decision to not go ahead with it:
Maybe they thought that announcing a game about fighting nazis in World War 2 was a good fit, and did not properly look into their past history or so?
ThreadSea Of Thieves..... I mean Blazing Sails - A new pirate Battle Royal Game
Agreed that stylistically they wear their inspirations on their sleeves, but it looks nowhere near as good as Sea of Thieves does (which is of course to be expected and totally fine, given it is an indie game). Sea of Thieves has some of the best stylized graphics I have ever seen, with the sea and storms especially looked incredible.
ThreadThe Lord of the Rings: Gollum - Official Teaser Trailer
I wonder if any of the people going “they should have just made an AAA open-world rpg for 100M instead” have any idea who Daedalic is, or how small their team/ budget is.
I am rooting for it, god knows the German industry needs more internationally successful games.
ThreadThe Lord of the Rings: Gollum - Official Teaser Trailer
Yeah, the last couple of years/ games haven’t always been great for them. I hope that things will get better again with Gollum and now that they are free of Bastei.
A bit of a shame though to see so many people in this thread reduce one of the greatest fictional worlds ever conceived to “I want to play as the handsome dude with the sword again”.
ThreadGranblue Fantasy Versus is a great example of a fighting game that failed to live up to its potential (in the West)
From looking in as an outsider who doesn't really play FGs (though I followed this one for the stunning art direction), this game seemed to make as many of the typical mistakes that many Japanese games make as a single game can:
1. Extremely staggered release (the West coming later than japan is already a mistake, but splitting the US and EU releases in 2020? Crazy...)
2. Poor online, bot for netcode and functionality (fighting games are so well suited for cross-play)
3. PC version releasing later
4. Monetization that may work with Japanese hardcore fans, but is a hard sell in the West (I can't even think of any other games announcing two separate Season Passes at the same time?)
It's shame, cause the game is gorgeous and I have heard a lot of love for the actual gameplay, but those are a lot of unforced errors to make when trying to establish a new IP in the West, I feel.
ThreadCrysis Remastered launching September 18th on PC (ray-tracing, 8K textures and more, EGS exclusive), Xbox One and PS4
Because Epic with Unreal Engine 3/ 4 was Crytek's main competitor in high-end engine licensing, and there was not too much love lost between the companies, to put it that way :)
ThreadCrysis Remastered launching September 18th on PC (ray-tracing, 8K textures and more, EGS exclusive), Xbox One and PS4
Seeing a Crytek (and even Crysis) game being exclusive to the Epic games Store is about the funniest thing anyone could have told me 5 years ago when I was Brand Manager for Cryengine :p
ThreadMaster Roshi leaked for Dragon Ball Fighterz... during a DBFZ focused livestream
I don't get it? Why is it a leak if they show it in an official stream? And why is it surprising that they would show a DBFZ character in a DBFZ stream, as the thread title implies?
ThreadControl will only support free next-gen upgrades with purchase of upcoming $40 Ultimate Edition
That is easily said from the outside, but not really taking the realities of being an independent developer into account. When faced with the choice between making a game and keeping your employees paid, and declining to do so out of pride or because it may not be the best publisher, I would certainly hope that you develop the game.
I say that as someone who previously worked at an independent developer who certainly struggled between projects, and had to significantly reduce staff as a result.
ThreadControl will not support Smart Delivery, free next-gen upgrade only with purchase of the Ultimate Edition
For them, it is probably their "last chance" to make money from the Remedy partnership, since we know their next games will be with Epic (and it was definitely one of their most high-profile games as a publisher so far). Not that I am defending them, mind you.
Thread[PCGamer] Former Arkane boss on why he left triple-A: 'You're not making a game anymore, you're making a product'; Talks about dev on Weird West
True, though marketing budgets don't exist in a vacuum. They are often tied to the production budget, which in turn of course takes the sales projections into account. So it seems that Bethesda doesn't believe that spending more on marketing would necessarily lead to much higher sales (Arkane's games are clearly aimed at core gamers anyways).
Thread[PCGamer] Former Arkane boss on why he left triple-A: 'You're not making a game anymore, you're making a product'; Talks about dev on Weird West
That is really the crucial part. I frequently see people who think that saying something is not AAA is a slight on its quality, which is of course not true at all. AAA is about the budget, as we all know, you can find both great and poor games at any budget levels. In Arkane's case, their output is usually top tier!
Thread[PCGamer] Former Arkane boss on why he left triple-A: 'You're not making a game anymore, you're making a product'; Talks about dev on Weird West
Worth pointing out that Hollywood directors are usually not employed by the studio, and so no one has to pay them on their break, I think? So the gaming equivalent would be to ship a game, leave the company, take a creative break and come back with a new project and company.
Thread[PCGamer] Former Arkane boss on why he left triple-A: 'You're not making a game anymore, you're making a product'; Talks about dev on Weird West
Isn't budget traditionally THE main factor when discussing if something is "AAA" or not? Since budget numbers (assuming they are communicated, of course) are an objective value, whereas most other factors are often more subjective (like the classic art style vs visual fidelity).
Thread[PCGamer] Former Arkane boss on why he left triple-A: 'You're not making a game anymore, you're making a product'; Talks about dev on Weird West
In that users defense, Arkane's games are probably on the lower end of what we think of in terms of "AAA" for budget, especially their marketing, which is nowhere near some of the bigger brands. That has nothing to do with the quality of their games, which is pretty much always excellent (and I expect Deathloop will be very good as well)!
ThreadBattletoads - Official Release Date Trailer, Coming August 20
I never played Battletoads, but this looks fun, gameplay-wise. And I also kinda dig the art style, a bit surprised to see people being so down on it, to be honest.
ThreadBiden confidants see VP choices narrowing to Harris and Rice
Are you sure that you are thinking of Susan Rice, and not confusing her with the much more famous Condoleezza Rice? Cause I don't think that Susan Rice has been very high profile so far...
ThreadBenji-Sales: Grounded is now the #1 best selling game in the World on Steam and the #2 most watched game on Twitch on its launch day
Forza: 11 console/ PC games in 15 years-
Halo: 13 console/ PC games in 19 years
Gears: 7 console games (plus a remaster) in 14 years
People love to complain about these games being "pumped out", but comparing that to the number of games released for franchises like Mario, Final Fantasy, Resident Evil or Even Yakuza in the same time span, I honestly don't think that Microsoft is too egregious. Yes, they have studios that are dedicated to one of their core franchises each, but my point of gamers being the ones outraged if studios like Ninja Theory or Obsidian get the freedom to try something new still stands.
As for cancellations- everyone cancels games, much more so than most gamers realize. MS simply cancelled them much later/ more visibly than other companies usually do (ideally prior to announcing them, of course).
ThreadCIG release statement on Squadron 42 lack of communication
Considering that the last communicated date (as far as I know?) for the Squadron 42 beta was Q3 2020 (so...now), I like that they are working on a preview of a work-in-progress roadmap to show people.
ThreadBenji-Sales: Grounded is now the #1 best selling game in the World on Steam and the #2 most watched game on Twitch on its launch day
That's not what I said- Era likes to think that everyone has the same taste in games, which is heavily leaning towards single-player games and Japanese titles. Which is not representative of the larger gaming community per se, where stuff like The Last of Us 2 is very popular, but pales compared to many MP titles.
ThreadBenji-Sales: Grounded is now the #1 best selling game in the World on Steam and the #2 most watched game on Twitch on its launch day
Yes, I'd argue that is mostly the Era bubble, where Sony's third party games are king, and GaaS is the devil. If you look at the majority of gamers in the world, they play multiplayer stuff.
ThreadBenji-Sales: Grounded is now the #1 best selling game in the World on Steam and the #2 most watched game on Twitch on its launch day
I don't think the problem here is MS, it is the part of the community that screams bloody murder as soon as a studio wants to try something outside their usual wheelhouse (Bleeeding Edge, Grounded, Sea of Thieves...)
ThreadStar Citizen fans call on CIG to post an update on Squadron 42 development progress [See Threadmarks for Updates]
Well, you answered your own question right there. They have a ton of money, without the publishing oversight that is normally responsible for making sure a team sticks to deadlines and deliverables, and gets a game done. That was after all their pitch to fans- "give us money and we can bring Chris' vision to life without those pesky publishers meddling with it".
So that is what they are getting...
Hell yes! I loved the game. It seriously had some of the most impressive in any game at the time (those frescoes on the ceilings in the palace were mindblowing). Sadly I never managed to convince my friends to give the very elaborate MP mode a try over the usual CS/ Quake 3 fare :(
ThreadStar Citizen fans call on CIG to post an update on Squadron 42 development progress
I think that pretty much sums the whole thing up at this point. A weird obsession to be the most detailed and realistic in everything they do, without stopping to ask if doing so will actually make the game better, or more fun. Of course, they also severed ties with the initial developer of the FPS portion I think...People keep saying this, but it is flat out incorrect. Star Citizen made around 2.1M on Kickstarter, which is far from being the most successful gaming Kickstarter. That is a third of the 6.3M Shenmue 3 made.
ThreadStar Citizen fans call on CIG to post an update on Squadron 42 development progress
Wow, I had no idea that they already have paid customization beyond the hefty prices of the ships themselves.
I don't think this is a scam, no. I know talented people who have been working there for years and are fully committed to building a great game for fans. I do however think that this the worst case of (still ongoing?) feature creep ever, and that the project has probably become unmanageable for their production team a long time ago. Which should sadly not be too surprising for people who kept track of Chris Roberts previous games.
ThreadPatrick Rothfuss' Editor: "I've never seen a word of book three"
Well, I guess that means there is no more need to check google from time to time to see if there is any update. Between ASoIaF and this (plus a couple in-progress Warhammer stories), it can be pretty frustrating to read fantasy/ sci-fi series :(
ThreadOver 2000 developers and 13 outsourcing studios worked on The Last of Us Part II
No, Ubi has 18k people across 40+ studios working on all brands and games. It is interesting to see that the number of studios involved in a project is often perceived negatively by gamers with Ubisoft's games, but that doesn't seem to be the case with other studios :)
ThreadOver 2000 developers and 13 outsourcing studios worked on The Last of Us Part II
It is extremely common, and everyone does it for games of this level. There are art outsourcing companies in countries like China or Vietnam that do themselves have hundreds of employees that only provide support to AAA studios.If that is weird to you, then quite frankly you haven't been paying much attention to how video game development works.
ThreadXBOX made three major mistakes yesterday and...they're all mistakes they've made before.
I don't think those are mutually exclusive. Having a show with 22 games, and saying "everything you have seen is part of Game Pass" is in itself a mic drop, because no one has ever done it. Does it appeal to everyone? No, but then again, nothing ever does. Whatever your big mic drop moment is, it won't apply to everyone.
ThreadDear FPS game developers: please let me centre the gun position in your games!
I always found that very weird looking, especially for anything bigger/ longer than a pistol. How are you supposed to hold a weapon that is 75cm long centered in front of you?
ThreadHas there been any news at all about Dark Alliance?
It is very sad how at a time when multiplayer and games-as-a-service are bigger than ever, Daybreak/ former SOE is on life support. Everquest Next sounded so good; turns out it was actually too good to be true.That water in Dark Alliance 1 was some proper next gen shit, blew my mind at the time!
ThreadHas there been any news at all about Dark Alliance?
Judging by the general state of Daybreak games, I would be quite surprised to see anything Everquest in the next couple years, much less Champions of Norrath coming back.
ThreadHas there been any news at all about Dark Alliance?
People think I am crazy when I say this, but Dark Alliance was the reason I bought my first console as a big Baldur's gate and D&D fan :) Champions of Norrath was great yeah. We had tons of fun playing co-op in those games.
ThreadHas there been any news at all about Dark Alliance?
As you probably know, the latest Dark Alliance game was announced last year at The Game Awards. It is a reboot of the beloved D&D action-rpg series from the PS2 generation, from Canadian developer Tuque Games (the originals were from Snowblind and Black Isle, respectively). It is supposed to be out in Fall 2020, and...we haven't heard a single word about it this whole year, as far as I know? The studio's twitter account has not even mentioned the game's announcement last year, and the Dark Alliance twitter account last posted anything the day after the announcement last December.
COVID has obviously thrown a wrench into everyone's plans for this year, but it is looking very unlikely that they game will be out in the next 5 months to me. I know the trailer was controversially received (see below for some bonus In Flames on a Friday morning), but I lovbed the originals, and still hope that this will turn out to be a fun old-school arpg like D&D Heroes on Xbox.
ThreadHas there been any news at all about Dark Alliance?
I don't know. On the one hand, that trailer was obviously a very weird choice, and the CG was not great. On the other hand, the two short glimpses at the actual game itself at the end didn't look terrible, and had a proper D&D feel.
ThreadHas there been an AAA PC game butchered as much on consoles then Dragon Age Origins?
That pretty much sums it up. For decades, the conventional wisdom was that certain PC genres cannot properly work on consoles, such as rpgs and rts. And then...they suddenly did.
Last Fall I found myself sitting at an airport playing Baldur's Gate on my Switch, and it just hit me how crazy that notion would have been only a few years ago.
ThreadHas there been an AAA PC game butchered as much on consoles then Dragon Age Origins?
Yeah, I fortunately never had the "pleasure" myself, but I faintly recall there being some kind of timebomb essentially in those games that at a certain point completely tanked the performance.
ThreadHas there been an AAA PC game butchered as much on consoles then Dragon Age Origins?
Of course PC is the best platform for these games, though I have to say that I finished Skyrim and Dragon Age Origins (several times even) plus Witcher 3 on the respective Xbox consoles, and still loved them. I guess that is testament to their sheer quality :) Well, that would be the reverse of what OP describes.
ThreadHumble Bundle: Pathfinder 2nd edition is one hell of a great deal
Yeah for Europe it says “35-65$” which is a joke. Both that range (“it may cost this, or twice as much, who knows?”) and the price itself, which is way higher than shipping from other places.
ThreadAssassin's Creed Odyssey sure is a video game.
Can’t argue about personal taste, but I would argue that saying FF7R (which I loved to play, don’t get me wrong!) has a world that is more alive than ACO is factually wrong.
Midgar is essentially a stunning looking film set that feels very alive it you don’t look too closely, but once you pay attention the illusion becomes pretty obvious. The same NPCs will mostly stay in the same spots all day long, and if you stay next to them for a few minutes you will quickly realize that their conversations are very limited and quickly repeat the same few lines.
ACO on the other is a very systemic game, and you will see a lot of things like animals attacking or Athenian and Spartan soldiers fighting by themselves when wandering the world. It is also a much more realistic world, where you can go into most houses and see people’s kitchens or beds (where the go sleep at night), giving the feeling of being an actual world people live in.
I remember sneaking up on an outpost I wanted to attacked on AC Origins, and as I came over the hill I saw everything was on fire because a hippo was attacking the place, which had knocked over some oil I to the fire.
So yeah, it is pretty baffling to me how anyone could argue that FFVIIR feels more alive as a world, tbh...
ThreadGhost of Tsushima Is the Third Western Game to Earn a Famitsu Perfect Score
That is a weird criticism though. Of course a developer whose office language is using English as the primary language the game is developed in, because it is what everyone on the team speaks. I am sure the same happens in reverse with Eastern companies developing games set in the West. Calling that an inaccuracy seems far-fetched.
ThreadAge of Empires 3: definitive edition has been rated
That would be madness for a rts, the game was announced August 2017. For comparison, it was announced a few hours prior to our own strategy game, which came out April 2019.
ThreadAge of Empires 3: definitive edition has been rated
Even then that seems like a very long time, assuming it is a traditional rts game (and god, I sure hope it is). Also very cruel after the X019 trailer last year, which looked incredible <3
Nothing besides the color palette and architecture being very similar to DAI, and all the red lyrium prominently shown in the one image, of course.
And many members of the Dragon Age team prominently sharing it.
And us knowing that they are working on DA4.
I think developers can be forgiven if they follow in the footsteps of a game that won them a ton of Game of the Year awards from major outlets, and also was one of their fastest-selling games ever...
To be honest, people say that about every company at some point. BioWare has been making rpgs for almost 25 years now, so of course some people will leave. There are still lots of people there who have been with the company for a long time, and who have been working on Dragon Age for a long time, despite some former leads leaving the company.
I think Kotaku said the former GaaS focused version is not the one that is currently being worked on post-Anthem. Even if it was, people need to keep in mind that GaaS does not have to mean competitive multiplayer. AC Odyssey is very much a service title, and that is a sprawling single-player rpg (and an excellent one, if I may say so as an employee).
Agreed! DAI had some stunning regions and landscapes, and I liked that despite obviously being Western fantasy, it tried to have its own style apart from Tolkien. And some of the artworks (like the tarot ones) were amazing. My biggest gripe was with the inquisitor's winged helmet :pAll ready as vacation reading in two weeks :)
ThreadValve is allowing racist bots to invade ‘Team Fortress 2’
Sadly par for the course for Valve's non-commitment to fighting that. Searched for players named "Hitler" on Steam out of curiosity, and it found a cool...48k results.
ThreadIsn't it time for Microsoft to bet on new IPs created by the first party studios?
For context, and speaking from my day job: When we do a trailer where the footage is captured inside the game, we call it a gameplay trailer (as opposed to CG). Obviously a gameplay trailer is still an entirely different beast from a gameplay demo (as in "a lenghty chunk of uninterupted gameplay"), which is what most people were expecting.
ThreadIsn't it time for Microsoft to bet on new IPs created by the first party studios?
It never comes up (especially on ERA), but it is certainly noticeable that Sony has yet to successfully establish a MP/ service title besides GT Sport. But as ERA doesn't like those as much as cinematic SP games, it is rarely discussed.
ThreadIsn't it time for Microsoft to bet on new IPs created by the first party studios?
But what is then the issue you seem to be concerned about? As you say yourself, for a gamer it does not matter who came up with the idea as long as it is published by the first-party whose platform they own. So why is it something Microsoft must do, as long as they manage to have compelling games?
ThreadIsn't it time for Microsoft to bet on new IPs created by the first party studios?
Unless you make big cinematic AAA games or Japanese games, you are gonna have a hard time on ERA :p You can see it from MS either getting shit for only doing sequels, or for getting shit for doing new IPs like Grounded and Bleeding Edge.
ThreadIsn't it time for Microsoft to bet on new IPs created by the first party studios?
No offense, but I honestly think you have a very limited and flawed understanding of the highly collaborative and iterative process that is game development. You seem to think someone has an idea on day 1, and that is where the creative aspect of game design ends.
Games change constantly during development, and the publisher is deeply involved in that. If you are somehow trying to tell yourself that Halo is not really a Microsoft IP because Bungie showed a very different game once at MAc World, then I don't know what to tell you...
ThreadIsn't it time for Microsoft to bet on new IPs created by the first party studios?
I am saying that it is weird to see this kind of "concerned gamer" thread a month before they will probably show their biggest investment in new IP in many years.
ThreadIsn't it time for Microsoft to bet on new IPs created by the first party studios?
I mean...
- Grounded
- Bleeding Edge
- Project Mara
- Everwild
- Sea of Thieves
So not sure where the idea they are not doing new IPs is coming from? Also worth pointing out that many of these have been met with a lot of skepticism here on ERA, cause how dare devs try something new...
ThreadDo the typical "long indie sections" hurt big game showcases?
Depends how you wanna look at it. There are hundreds of millions of people playing video games. If you compare it to that, the views (while very impressive, ofc course) don't scream "mass market audience".
ThreadDo the typical "long indie sections" hurt big game showcases?
I am a) not sure that the mainstream players watch these shows at all. And b), if they do they wanna see CoD and FIFA. Which ERA complains about as well :p
ThreadThis fake E3 month sucks because there's no curation (Guerrilla Collective, Future Game Show, PC Gaming Show)
No, this is what the OP said: " It's painfully obvious there was no curation at all". That is completely different from what you said.
To which many, including myself as someone who previously had a game at the PCGS, said that they are incorrect, and that there absolutely is curation.
ThreadThis fake E3 month sucks because there's no curation (Guerrilla Collective, Future Game Show, PC Gaming Show)
I mean, you keep telling people to read the OP, but you somehow seem to ignore all the people who have done so and are pointing out that your claim that there is no curation for these shows is objectively wrong. Weird how that works? I think what can be even more helpful (if you are lucky) is the secondary/ knock-on effect of a games writer or influencer seeing your game at one of these shows, and having their interest piqued enough to follow up on it. Just being part of such a show by itself obviously isn't a guarantee that your game will succeed, but it can (if you are lucky) be quite helpful. Which is the best you can hope for, after all.
ThreadThis fake E3 month sucks because there's no curation (Guerrilla Collective, Future Game Show, PC Gaming Show)
When you are in a thread trying to explain to people how valuable events like this are for indies and smaller games, only to have your own game called shit by someone else. Feels bad...
ThreadThis fake E3 month sucks because there's no curation (Guerrilla Collective, Future Game Show, PC Gaming Show)
Consolidating them would come at the cost of kicking out many games for which a show like this is the best chance at getting some eye balls. I find it strange that people complain about having too many shows that no one is forcing them to watch, considering how extremely helpful they can be for some indie developers.
ThreadThis fake E3 month sucks because there's no curation (Guerrilla Collective, Future Game Show, PC Gaming Show)
There absolutely is curation for these streams, yes. If you think there isn't, then maybe you don't know how this stuff works as much as you may think you do. The whole benefit of these smaller shows is to help showcase some of the games that would not make it into a Sony or MS conference. Of course there are "better looking" games in the same genres- they are after all indie games, with indie budgets. Of course Metal Hellsinger is gonna look less impressive and polished than DOOM Eternal (it does look very fun though). That is to be expected, and totally fine.
It is great that these shows give smaller games a shot at being on a bigger stage, and i say this as someone who mostly plays AAA himself.
ThreadIf all workers in the Supply Chain of the Electronic Manufacturing were paid fairly, how much do you reckon the consoles/PCs/games would cost?
One big question for that would be "fair by which standards?". After all, the cost of living in many countries is much lower than in the West, so fair salaries by local standards there could still be very low over here.
ThreadWill Playground Games pull an Insomniac and have 2 games ready for Xbox July event ?
That's curious. So far it seemed that the big strength of Turn 10 was to deliver very high quality frequently and reliably, whereas GT as their man competitor may be higher regarded, but only releasing games every 4 years or so. FM doing the same would certainly raise expectations for the series...
ThreadWhat happened with the Brothers in Arms series?
I mean, literally everything about Brothers in Arms (starting with the name!) is pretty much "how close to Band of Brothers can we get without getting sued".
ThreadWhat happened with the Brothers in Arms series?
That project became Battleborn. And Borderlands is extremely successful, so that's what they keep doing (in addition to publishing indie games on top).
ThreadEpic Games finally puts out toothless statement on current events
They don’t actively court them, no. I also don’t notice much action being taken against countless nazi/ SS-fetishizing user groups that have been there for years.
And I will say that Steam is the only gaming platform that has ever actively promoted a curator to me with a review calling Activision a „Jew company“, which I certainly did not expect.
ThreadBethesda shows its ass regarding Pride Awareness Month
Fair point, though that also hits local players who may be supportive of LGBT rights. And, as cynical as this admittedly sounds- there would not be many places left to sell products in, for one reason or another. Even in the US, there are a lot of politicians who constantly and actively try to undermine human rights, and want to make it legal to discriminate against people. Starting from their president.
ThreadBethesda shows its ass regarding Pride Awareness Month
And if that wasn't shocking enough by itself- those hate crimes are often encouraged or defended by local authorities as "understandable moral outrage", and such.
ThreadBethesda shows its ass regarding Pride Awareness Month
As others pointed out, Era has a tendency to look at things from a very US/ Western perspective, without always taking the local situation into account. In this case, supporting or promoting LGBT rights is literally illegal/ against the law in these countries (not sure about Turkey, but definitely the case in Russia and many Arab countries). People who do so frequently become victims of violence that the state at best ignores, and at worst supports or defends as righteous.
Are these laws terrible? Obviously, we are after all talking about often denying the most basic human rights to many of their citizens. But for us to sit here in countries where we are free to express our opinions and demanding that companies go break the law in countries where this freedom does not exist, and where doing so can very often have brutal consequences for their employees on the ground seems weird to me.
ThreadSquare-Enix: Accessibility On Marvel’s Avengers – The Journey So Far
They are doing some great things for accessibility, well done to the team and the people pushing for it.
Cant wait to finally learn more about the game after the long silence!
ThreadThe Anno History Collection Announced, out June 25th
I understand the preservation concerns (though there are of course the physical copies, and everyone who owns the classic versions digitally will keep them), but it doesn't really make sense to offer the both the classic and History editions at the same time:
- gameplay is exactly the same (plus some small quality of life improvements)
- History Editions cost the same as the classic games
- As grandwizorb mentioned, the classic games have issues running on modern PCs (1602 for example needs you to fiddle with legacy settings), while the new versions are all about making sure they run properly on modern PCs As with all Ubisoft games, yes. Uplay is also used for multiplayer.
ThreadThe Anno History Collection Announced, out June 25th
If you own them, you will of course keep them and will still be able to download them from your libraries. They will however be removed for new buyers.We may have learned a new thing or two about Austrian accents along the way! :)As the development team, we do not decide on which platforms the games appear.
ThreadThe Anno History Collection Announced, out June 25th
These new releases will replace the classic versions of the games where they are available. So on Uplay, they will replace all of the old games. As only 1404 is available on Steam right now, only 1404 History Edition will be on Steam.
ThreadThe Anno History Collection Announced, out June 25th
Not gonna tell you that your opinion is wrong, but I would like to point that all of these have taken months of work, and are not what I usually expect in the scope of a patch (especially when it comes to 22 year old games):
- ported them all to 64 bit (also worth pointing out that the two oldest games are from a completely different developer, and took some serious source code archaeology)
- replaced the multiplayer middle-ware, which in some cases had been dead for years (Gamespy) to work via Uplay, with modern features like Desync Recovery and Quickmatch
- in the case of 1503, got the multiplayer properly and stable running for the first time ever
- added some new quality of life features for all themThat is not possible, as all new multiplayer runs via Uplay (setup similar to Anno 1800), while the older games used services like Gamespy, and haven't had working online for years.
5 months, from E3 to November. So not too crazy, actually. If you think this is bad, promise me to never delve into the wonderful world of Metal Gear YouTube :p
Threadthe games of this gen that never made it out of development hell.
I don't think Paragon (released, reworked, cancelled) nor Patriots (instead became one of the must successful games of this gen) could as being in development hell. Out of the games mentioned, only Dead Island really fits the criteria, as it has seen developers change not once but twice, and hasn't been seen in action in years.
Cancelled games are not in dev hell, they are simply dead.
I am not showing empathy to Rockstar. I don't care about GTA Online, haven't played it beyond an hour or so at launch, and I deeply dislike their monetization.
What I dislike even more than that (it is after all pretty easy to ignore a game if you don't like it) is the overdramatization from a lot of users where everything these days seemingly has to be "the best ever", "the worst of this generation", anti-consumer, unethical or whatever completely inappropriate word gets thrown around next instead of what it actually boils down to, which is "I don't like it". Which is fine, plenty of people dislike GTAO. No need to be all dramatic about it.
To be honest, saying you are being melodramatic was almost generous. Complaining that a company is not releasing additional new content (which they never said they would, nor have any obligation to) in a way you want them to is "unethical" feels like peak gamer discourse.
This. Even after years, I must admit that people on this forum frequently manage to baffle me with their melodramatic, over-the-top threads. And I say this as someone who has zero interest in GTAO.
ThreadCD Projekt Has Surpassed Ubisoft to Become Europe's Most Valuable Video Game Company
I won't pretend to understand the stock market, but that is certainly surprising to hear given how Ubi had 11 games selling 10m+ copies this gen, and a hugely successful GaaS with 60M players to date.
It intended to feel markedly different, with a bit of a survival feeling to it, yes. Which is why we replaced the happiness tab with warmth for this session.
Humble is an Uplay key, EGS is on EGS.
Even when buying on EGS, you will need to have an Uplay account, meaning that everyone can play multiplayer together without issue, regardless of where they bought it.
We generally advise people to buy all their content from the same store, but I have seen players claim they bough some DLC from one place, and some from the other without issues. I may be biased, but I like to think they add a lot of interesting options to the game, and a lot of players seem to agree. And no, there is no third Season planned for now (2 is already more content than any Anno ever had after launch).
It takes a while for ships to cross from the old to the new world, you should be able to see it on the world map or your trade route. And you can also set up charter route if you have no ships available.
ThreadLTTP: I think that Onrush gives us a good idea about what Driveclub 2 could have been.
I very rarely play racing games, but tried it on a whim on Game Pass, and had a blast. I think many racing games outside of the big series like Forza and GT struggle with the fact that racing isn't well suited to many of today's big trends (the same is true for some genres like rts), like tem-based multiplayer or open-worlds (though Horizon is awesome).
ThreadCrysis 1's original design that didn't pan out
I don't know what the plans they had back then were, but also worth keeping in mind that Cevat is no stranger to making overambitious statements at times (I remember the time he said that other shooters would have a hard time charging 60$ after Warface is out).
Regardless, it is crazy how ambitious Crysis was even with its traditional storytelling. I remember throwing a stone at an enemy soldier, and him shooting it out of the air, which was mindblowing to see at a time when most other games had very basic physics.
ThreadWhat's gaming culture like in non English countries? What's popular? Is there any genres or games more popular than in the Anglo sphere?
Here in Germany, we love strategy games (especially real-time strategy and city-building), simulators and MMOs (as a former boss once put it- "Germany has yet to see a MMORPG it did not like").
Obviously people also play all the popular genres and franchises just as anywhere else, but I think the love of sims and certain strategy genres is quite different from many other markets, especially the US.
ThreadI hate the large installation files and updates
We'll see. The world has been going in the direction of online for well over a decade, and yet large areas in even G7 nations have a terrible internet infrastructure.
ThreadI hate the large installation files and updates
I think you can to a degree answer that question yourself by looking at reactions to even the smallest, least important visual glitches in any AAA game. It is what a lot of people in the gaming community definitely want.
ThreadAnyone waiting for Next Gen to play current releases?
I am torn on whether to play Ghost of Tsushima when it comes out, or as a PS5 launch title. I guess it will depend on what info about PS5 BC or improvements are detailed until then, and how many other games have been delayed by the time Tsushima is out...
ThreadIs "Welcome to the family, son." the most iconic line from gaming this gen?
I haven’t played the game, and this is the first time I heard this line. And I am every day in Twitter, gaming forums etc. so I would have to say no.
Press F to pay respect, while not spoken, is for example way more famous. Or Tracer’s “Cheers Luv, the cavalry’s here”.
Thread(Rumor) Test Drive Unlimited 3 will be revealed in May
Small correction- the twitter account predicted Crysis Remaster three days after the Crysis website was changed with the first teaser. Not saying they are wrong, but don't take the Crysis tweet as any confirmation of anything.
ThreadI think Microsoft has one amazing set of unused (for now) IPs
I always felt this way, yeah. They are not as famous as Sony’s or Nintendo’s franchises, but they have a good stable of IPs they forgot about. MechAssault or Crimson Skies could really shine with the popularity of multiplayer these days :(
ThreadMore Halo Infinite details revealed through toys
I can only speak for myself and not other people in the community, but my main issue with H5 is that the story and vibe overall did not really feel like classic Halo to me anymore. I will obviously play the game and am looking forward to see what conclusions they drew from criticism, but if they just continue H5's story, I don't expect that I will be blown away by the story.Agreed, I found them extremely unsatisfying to fight. Something about the designs and the lack of hit feedback, while shooting Grunts and Elites is just immensely satisfying to this day!
ThreadMore Halo Infinite details revealed through toys
Honestly, I would be quite happy for Infinite to be a reboot, and if it just pretended the story of Guardians never happend. Of course, that will probably not happen :(
ThreadMore Halo Infinite details revealed through toys
No idea of any of it is true, of course. Though I have been wondering how the name and what we have seen so far are supposed to follow up on H5's story.It is most likely fake, agreed. Then again, games have done crazier things in the past...
ThreadMore Halo Infinite details revealed through toys
I am not saying it is impossible, but changing your plans for your biggest IP two weeks before E3 should be based on more than reactions to a weird 4 chan leak (and yes, I remember the ODST fiasco at E3...).
ThreadI want Developers and Publishers to go all out next gen with Remakes.
This. A remake of GTA 3 to next-gen standards would cost more than the vast majority of current-gen AAA games. People underestimate the efforts of this because they think the game already exist, when the creation of 3d assets alone is extremely expensive.
ThreadI want Developers and Publishers to go all out next gen with Remakes.
This! Sadly they have stopped doing that, while leaving out many of their own classics (like the MechAssault), which is a real shame :( Having a scenario where you could put any Xbox disc from the last three generations into your Series X and play them with improved frame rate would be a dream <3
ThreadI want Developers and Publishers to go all out next gen with Remakes.
Of course there are. A remake takes a full development team, and millions of dollars. Neither budgets nor resources exist in a vacuum, and any team developing a AAA remake like FFVIIR is a team that won't be developing a new game in the meantime. There is only a limited number of major projects a publisher can suport at any given time. Things are different with quick remasters or ports.
Very interesting. Speaking of Outer Worlds, I wonder when they will have news on the DLC. Maybe it was planned as a stealth release for Microsoft’s E3 release?
Absolutely loved the game, one of my favourites last year (even if the Perks weren’t anything special). I specifically liked their confidence of making a shorter rpg instead of another 100+ game.
Maybe people would not misunderstand the OP if they hadn't done the era thing of "X is the best ever at Y", and then just mentioned exactly one other game as an example.
ThreadWhat Announced Games Are You *Pretty Sure* Have Been Canceled?
Dead Island 2 hasn't been with Yager for years. As for their projects, the truth is that Yager never had a major financial hit (even if Spec Ops is an excellent game), and independent studios can't be too picky with their projects. That is just a fact in the current industry climate. They also haven't released too many games themselves, considering how old the studio is.
ThreadWhat Announced Games Are You *Pretty Sure* Have Been Canceled?
In any case, it was announced last year that Skull & Bones won't ship this FY, so it is normal that there is no communication around it right now. As for BG&E2, that game had it's last update on the website a month ago. Not my place to say more, as I don't work on that project (though there is a team working hard on it in our studio).
ThreadWhat Announced Games Are You *Pretty Sure* Have Been Canceled?
Yes, it was confirmed to be cancelled. Even then, canceling an entire AAA game outright is probably a different level than cancelling a single port SKU.
ThreadWhy is the FFVII Remake Demo 0,25€ on the German PS-Store?
Definitely not true, otherwise AC2 would not be free on German Uplay right now. Truth is that PSN is just pretty clunky when it comes to certain things, so they hide demos behind purchases or PS Plus as a weird age check mechanism.
ThreadIt's been 150 days since EA and Steam partnered up.... EA only released 1 game.
Well, what other games have EA released since? None. And they already said that stuff like Apex is coming..This was quite remarkabel to me as well, yes!That would require EA to be involved.
ThreadJust beat Persona 5 Royale, there is no way in hell Atlus can get away for charging $60 for shit like this again.
So we do agree that there is nothing prevent Atlus from going the upgrade or DLC route, besides having a community´that is happy to buy the game a second time (and business wise, I guess I can't blame them for doing that while it works).Sure! My personal stance is that QoL improvement should be free for all your players (like PS4 Pro support), while new content can be monetized. Ideally, this could look something like this:
1. Free QoL patch for all P5 owners
2. New DLC for 20-30$ for existing owners
3. Sell the Royal edition as 60$ for new buyers
I feel this would be more or less the industry best practice at this point.
ThreadJust beat Persona 5 Royale, there is no way in hell Atlus can get away for charging $60 for shit like this again.
Their critical success changes nothing about the technical feasibility, which is what people are arguing somehow seems to be impossible for Atlus. Also, if a failed game can afford to do major reworks without charging people 60$ a second time, shouldn't a game that sold very well be able to afford doing so as well? ;)
But sure, then let's look at Divinity Original Sin 1+2. Huge reworkings of the games, with lots of new content, and completely free. Witcher 3 received significant DLCs for 20$, etc. Nothing GaaS about either of these :)
ThreadJust beat Persona 5 Royale, there is no way in hell Atlus can get away for charging $60 for shit like this again.
While that is true, all the QoL updates are still free. I don't think anyone is saying that Atlus should not charge for new content that obviously costs money to develop. But the argument here is that it is somehow technically impossible for them to rework the game as DLC or a patch, when many other companies manage to do so.
ThreadJust beat Persona 5 Royale, there is no way in hell Atlus can get away for charging $60 for shit like this again.
While I personally think their business is an absolute joke in this day and age (where many other company overhaul their games for free or as lower priced DLC), I think this thread shows you exactly why they get away with. Atlus has clearly found a big enough audience of people who will not only buy the same game several times, but even be grateful for it and defend them. Plus, they get a free pass to do so from press who would be up in arms if any Western developer tried to pull the same stunt. What more could a company ask for?
ThreadJust beat Persona 5 Royale, there is no way in hell Atlus can get away for charging $60 for shit like this again.
Both Divinity Original Sin games got major reworkings for free. Ghost Recon Breakpoint just completely reworked most of the core gameplay systems as a free update last month. Fallout 76 is doing so today with Wastelanders. There are many, many other examples of games being reworked from the ground via free updates.
ThreadIGN: 44 Minutes of Grounded Single-Player Gameplay (With Commentary)
No offense, but that is one of those criticisms that doesn't really say much, I feel? It's a setting that you rarely ever see used in games, with a more casual and friendly take on what is usually a very hardcore and unforgiving genre. Doesn't sound so bad, no?
ThreadKotaku: Despite Huge Sales, Borderlands 3 Developers Are Getting Stiffed On Bonuses
True! I am torn on the topic after having been in a similar situation previously (company getting lots of bad press, people calling for boycotts, with a lot of us employees who couldn't easily switch employers being stuck in the middle). I do feel for the devs and would not encourage anyone to boycott their games, but I definitively can't blame anyone who doesn't want to give any of their hard-earned money to Randy.
ThreadKotaku: Despite Huge Sales, Borderlands 3 Developers Are Getting Stiffed On Bonuses
That sums up what seems to be happening pretty nicely, yes. People were lead to believe that they would get bigger bonuses quicker than they will, despite the game being a huge success.
ThreadKotaku: Despite Huge Sales, Borderlands 3 Developers Are Getting Stiffed On Bonuses
Did you even read the article, or just the headline? The problem is that people are getting a smaller bonus, and not the big numbers (up to 6 figures, supposedly) that they had been led to expect.
ThreadKotaku: Despite Huge Sales, Borderlands 3 Developers Are Getting Stiffed On Bonuses
No one said the game did not make money. The money first goes to 2k to cover their costs, and that is why the bonuses are lower (they still exist). The big question is whether the devs knew that the game was so expensive, and that 2k would get all of their cut first.
ThreadKotaku: Despite Huge Sales, Borderlands 3 Developers Are Getting Stiffed On Bonuses
I don't know what the cost of development in Finland is like, but Europe tends to be cheaper than the US. The Control team was probably also smaller (which makes the quality and graphics of that game even more impressive!), and they are planning to do 4 big DLC packs (and who knows if they are already working on a second Season pass).
Don't get me wrong, 45M for post-launch is certainly a huge number, but it doesn't seem completely unrealistic depending on their scope.
ThreadKotaku: Despite Huge Sales, Borderlands 3 Developers Are Getting Stiffed On Bonuses
As done as Rockstar or Naughty Dog are, whenever the crunch stories resurface? Truth is that most BL3 buyers will never hear of this (cause they don't follow gaming news), and from those who do hear a lot won't care, as with many other examples.
ThreadKotaku: Despite Huge Sales, Borderlands 3 Developers Are Getting Stiffed On Bonuses
BGS open world games are actually much cheaper than many others I think, due to being more systemic and less content heavy. The next GTA on the other hand probably has a good shot at being the most expensive game ever (at least #2 after Star Citizen), though they will still be profitable.
ThreadKotaku: Despite Huge Sales, Borderlands 3 Developers Are Getting Stiffed On Bonuses
The commonly used baseline for development in the US is on average 10k per employee/ month. Take a couple hundred devs for a few years, and you very quickly have huge budgets.
ThreadKotaku: Despite Huge Sales, Borderlands 3 Developers Are Getting Stiffed On Bonuses
95 the main game, and 45 million for their post-launch plans. Whether that includes marketing or other non-dev costs, is not clear. Given the cost of AAA development, probably not.
ThreadSo uh...Is EA slowly crawling back to Nintendo?
Always count on ERA for the most cringe-inducing, melodramatic thread titles!
EA never left Nintendo. The truth is just that most of their games are on an engine that so far hasn't been ported to Switch. They still have FIFA, Unravel 2 and Fé.
I don't think there any planned changes to existing DLCs as such, no. And for the UI, there are a few individual elements we are considering reworking (plus maybe some new functionality), but no complete overhaul.
The most definite news about Season 2 so far is this blog:
Land of Lions will be the biggest Anno 1800 DLC, so bigger than The Passage, and also more integrated with the Old World.
ThreadDo you think AAA studios should calm down with their pursuit of visual showcase and high production value?
Amen. Think about how mercilessly any graphical glitch in an AAA game is dragged across social media for years, often being one of the top google results for the games etc.
ThreadJason Schreier: As Naughty Dog Crunches On The Last Of Us II, Developers Wonder How Much Longer This Approach Can Last
It is absolutely possible to make (even successful!) games without the kind of crunch that companies like Rockstar or ND allegedly put their employees through.
ThreadAnno 1800 Free Weekend March 12-15 (Preload now) + The game reached 1 million players
Let me first of all say that this Brand Manager dude seems extremely reli- and likeable ;) And indeed, Ubisoft currently has no plans to make Anno 1800 available on Steam again. However, it was very important to the Anno team that all players of the game get access to all content at the same time, so we will of course continue to make all DLC available to our Steam players.
In EGS or on Uplay? If you open Uplay, there should be a prominent Free Weekend banner, and the game should also appear in your library under "Free Games".
Sorry to hear you had such a bad experience! There was unfortunately a delay with getting the pre-load on EGS live, though it has been up for Uplay since Monday. Keep in mind though that the free weekend only starts tomorrow, so not being able to play it yet is intended. Let me know if you need help with anything.
ThreadAnno 1800 Free Weekend March 12-15 (Preload now) + The game reached 1 million players
Thanks for sharing the news OP, we are super happy with how successful the game has been <3 There are unfortunately no plans. Anno has a ton of calculations going on under the hood with regards to citizen needs, demands, production etc, which would be extremely challenging with regards to current gen consoles :(
No, the Gold Edition only includes the Season 1 Pass.There are two main groups of Anno players- the min-maxers, and the "beauty builders". A lot of players don't care about how pretty the city is, and only about the maximum number of citizens they can get, or making their economy as efficient as possible. For our trailers, we do of course want to show pretty cities, even if they are less efficient :)I think you can grab the Free Weekend build from EGS here:
ThreadReport: Morale among Microsoft's Mixer team is at an all-time low
I have to admit that the video of their GM speaking to the team at their town hall is one of the worst examples of shitty coporate bosses trying to give a prep talk I have ever heard. Absolutely shocking.
Also, sorry for the double post, but I know that a lot of people on Era enjoy behind the scenes stuff about Game Dev. Ubisoft now has a podcast series called "Game Makers", and the latest episode is all about the audio work on Anno 1800:
ThreadHasbro: Baldur’s Gate 3 coming to early access later this year
Disney had allegedly been considering buying Hasbro in the past (as they make all the Star Wars and Marvel toys), but that rumor seems to have cooled down/ gone away since. And both sides just announced a multi-year extension of the toy licenses on Friday.
ThreadHasbro: Baldur’s Gate 3 coming to early access later this year
As others mentioned, both Original Sin games were in Early Access, and ended jo being two of the best classic RPGs ever. I have complete faith in Larian‘s quality.
ThreadHasbro: Baldur’s Gate 3 coming to early access later this year
Hasbro (who via their subsidiary Wizards of the Coast own D&D) held an investor briefing at New York Toy Fair yesterday, which included some gaming news when they discussed their digital strategy:
- they have 7 D&D video games in development
- they are planning to have at least 1 D&D rpg out every year throughout 2025
- Baldur’s Gate 3 is coming to early access later this year (note: the slide does not mention early access, only the text does).
ThreadIs Granblue Fantasy Versus the most imported game of all time?
This. Somehow Era has this weird obsession with making threads along the lines of "is X the most/ best Y ever?" And they are almost exclusively about From, Naughty Dog or something anime-related...
There were rumblings about a lot of senior staff leaving for a few months now (not sure how big their team is, but losing 6 seniors/ leads across 3 months is worrisome for any team).
Seems they never found that publisher they needed to finance development (I am sure Underworld did not help there).
On a side note- holy shit that RPG Codex thread is bad, what an awful community.
ThreadMatt McMuscles' What Happened?!: Devil's Third
This! I used to love him back in the OG Xbox days, when he was cocky and admittedly a jerk (especially towards Harada and Tekken), but still entertaining. But somewhere during Devil Third's Odyssey he sadly he went down the same path that a lot of old game dev heroes who are overtaken by new trends take, and suddenly everything was always everyone else's fault. Publisher uselss, press too unskilled to understand his game's genius etc. Nothing could ever be the fault og him, or his awesome game.
Always pretty sad to see people you once liked turn out that way.
ThreadPotentially bad news for Daedalic (LotR Gollum)
Here's the relevant part from that they are stopping development of "A Year of Rain" after only three months in early access (also, that is a horrible name that certainly didn't help their sales):
ThreadActivision has several remasters planned to be unveiled later in the year
Speaking of which- whatever happened to the much rumored Modern Warfare 2 Remaster that a lot of insiders claimed was on the way a few years back? Also, finally Singularity's time to shine! <3
ThreadActivision Blizzard plans to announce multiple remasters and "reimagined titles" later this year
Speaking of which- whatever happened to the much rumored Modern Warfare 2 Remaster that a lot of insiders claimed was on the way a few years back? Also, finally Singularity's time to shine! <3
And as others said, Blur was a great game that could be fun again.
Not sure what the rules are for shameless self-promo (and if it is exactly the thing you are looking for, OP), but a few industry friends and myself do a weekly podcaast as a little side subject, and we try to cover a wide range of topics (from both the dev and gamer angle). For example last week we discussed the challenges of getting awareness for your indie games in 2020, similar to what you are talking about.
ThreadPotentially bad news for Daedalic (LotR Gollum)
Bastei Lübbe (a German media publisher that owns 51% of Daedalic) just issued an ad hoc release to shareholders in which they say that they do not deem Daedalic’s business model future proof, and are lowering their valuation of the studio by 12-14 Million euro.
As a result, they are looking in restructuring measures, and a realignment of their business strategy.
Just last week, Daedalic announced that they are ending development of their Steam Early Access title A Year if Rain after it sold less than 5.000 copies since November.
This is all very troubling news. Daedalic is one of the most critically beloved German game developers (especially their classic point and click adventures), but they Had several seemingly underperforming games in recent years.
i wonder how this will affect development and especially marketing for Lord of the Rings Gollum on Next gen consoles.
ThreadSwitch port of The Outer Worlds delayed due to Coronavirus; physical version will now be on a cartridge
That is definitely how not we use the term in PC development, no. Cause that hasn't been the case for 90% of physical PC games for year. And, as others have pointed out, this is far from the first Switch game to have a code in a box, so I am a bit surprised how many haven't heard of the concept before.
ThreadSwitch port of The Outer Worlds delayed due to Coronavirus; physical version will now be on a cartridge
Physical mastering can take a lot of time, and the game must be “finished” much earlier than with a digital-only release. I assume that before their timelines were very tight to hit the end of the finance year. Now that this pressure is gone, they have more time.
ThreadSwitch port of The Outer Worlds delayed due to Coronavirus; physical version will now be on a cartridge
I think their HQ is in SIngapore, but most of their workforce is in China (big office in Shanghai, for example). They did work on Starlink, and have a good rep in general these days.
ThreadSwitch port of The Outer Worlds delayed due to Coronavirus; physical version will now be on a cartridge
True, though it probably has already had an effect on games coming out this year. Even 2-3 weeks of missing time can make a big difference depending on the game's schedule.
ThreadSwitch port of The Outer Worlds delayed due to Coronavirus; physical version will now be on a cartridge
To me physical means "buy a box in store", first and foremost. As a pc gamer, buying a box with a code is pretty normal, and has been so for years at this point. EVen then, people still buy those boxes (especially here in Germany), because they don't want to buy online, prefer using cash or want to give them as a gift.
ThreadSwitch port of The Outer Worlds delayed due to Coronavirus; physical version will now be on a cartridge
Expect to see that happening a lot this year, depending on how things turn out. With many of the best/ most popular AAA outsourcing studios based in China (or surrounding countries), the corona virus could have quite the impact on game development this year.
Needless to say that keeping the studios closed is the right course of action, of course; employee health has to take priority over video games.
ThreadPhantasy Star Online 2 also coming to Steam on PC
Play Total War games, those are great Sega games! Or I guess Football Manager, which seem to be pretty popular if you are into those :p
Again, don't let anyone stop you from being excited for the game, just something I found surprising.
ThreadPhantasy Star Online 2 also coming to Steam on PC
I meant that it would be my principle after being ignored for 7 years, not that they did it out of principle. Though I don't think that the reasons you mentioned are a valid excuse either when most competitors manage to do global releases.
ThreadPhantasy Star Online 2 also coming to Steam on PC
Not saying people shouldn't enjoy this if they want to, but I am a bit surprised anyone is still getting excited for it. I wouldn't care about a game where the publisher ignored me as a potential customer for seven years, I think...
(edited as original phrasing was confusing, my bad)
Thread[GameSpot] Bleeding Edge's Development Process Was Changed By Xbox Game Pass
Makes sense to be honest. The truth is that a lot of games get away with poor onboarding because of the sunken cost fallacy of players already having spent their $60 so they put up with the game. Free-2-Play or Subscription games don’t get that luxury, and must do a good job getting new players engaged.
I don’t see how that is controversial at all, though the headline certainly Made it sound like a big dramatic thing, so good job on the click bait.
ThreadSupergiant's HADES releases "Long Winter' update (Demeter, more story, more weapon features, more difficulty, more Dusa, AND FISHING)
It looks stunning, the combat is relly fun and fluid, the weapons feel pretty different in their playstyles, there re plenty of upgrades to give you the feeling of making progress, writing and music are great, and the voice acting is stellar.
ThreadSupergiant's HADES releases "Long Winter' update (Demeter, more story, more weapon features, more difficulty, more Dusa, AND FISHING)
Can't say it often enough how great this game is. Can't stand roguelikes usually, but Hades is easily one of the best indie games I have played this gen <3
I know people didn't seem to like the TGA trailer too much, but if their previous work on Duelyst is any indication at all, it should be a clever game with a cool art direction. Fingers crossed!
ThreadThe lack of good WARHAMMER 40,000 games is criminal.
As a former Blood Angels player, I have to disagree :)I never got the MOBA comments. Yes, they have maps with lanes, but surely the defining trait of a MOBA is playing one character?
ThreadThe lack of good WARHAMMER 40,000 games is criminal.
Campaign is stricly Blood Ravens I think, but I believe you can customize your chapter in skirmish/ MP?That would either be Orks or Tyranids (think Zerg from Starcraft).
ThreadThe lack of good WARHAMMER 40,000 games is criminal.
I think someone like Focus is a good home for IPs like Warhammer. They can't afford the biggest budgets, but they know how to cater to niche fan bases, and are willing to support less mainstream genres (like turn-based stuff).
ThreadThe lack of good WARHAMMER 40,000 games is criminal.
That's the problem with 40k, I think. It is not big enough to warrant the huge budget for something like this, while at the same being a licensed IP that the publisher does not have full control of.
ThreadThe lack of good WARHAMMER 40,000 games is criminal.
I shared a few drinks with some senior guys from Vigil a couple years after the collapse of THQ, and from their stories, it sounded like budget was pretty much a concern from the get go for the game (this being the time when every AAA publisher wanted their WoW killer, and was willing to invest big money to compete). They were for example going up against SWTOR in the sci-fi MMO space.
ThreadThe lack of good WARHAMMER 40,000 games is criminal.
Damn, that is a lot! I shame the emperor with my lowly 120ish hours played :( Assuming it somehow counts the original GfWL playtime as well?Yes please <3 Listening to the Caves of Ice audio book at the moment, nd I just love Cain (and Jurgen, ofc).For some reason, I find myself drawn to stories that are less emblematic of their universe. In 40k, it is mostly the Inquisiton and Guard novels, without any Marines, and in the Star Wars EU I always preferred the stories without Jedi :p
ThreadThe lack of good WARHAMMER 40,000 games is criminal.
I think there are a few factors going into the lack of bigger 40k games.
While very popular among the hardcore fans, I am not sure the license has enough mainstream appeal for proper AAA budgets. Maybe the eventual tv series will help?
2. GW seems to prefer working with smaller companies where they are the more powerful partner these days. I think that is a consequence of games like Warhammer Online, where they were much smaller than the lot licensee (EA).I think that was the last time they signed a new AAA level license (Sega came through Relic/ THQ), only working with indie companies or smaller publishers since.
ThreadThe lack of good WARHAMMER 40,000 games is criminal.
I am a huge fan and can wholeheartedly recommend the Eisenhorn and Ravenor novels from Dan Abnett. They are a bit of a spy/ detective/ noir take on the grim dark, and so a great job with the atmosphere and vibe.
I also like the Ciaphas Cain novels (an imperial inquisitor who becomes an accidental hero despite lashing trying to save his own ass), the Horusian Wars and Vaults of Terra (yet more inquisition).
ThreadThe lack of good WARHAMMER 40,000 games is criminal.
You are right, though I think that deal was signed at a time when Warhammer Online was still running, and before Wrath of Heroes was cancelled in beta by EA.
ThreadAfter what happened with GTAV I don't trust Rockstar to give the same level of effort or go higher for GTA6 for non online players
Good news- no need to trust them with a game that has yet to be announced, and that no one is asking you to buy yet...
Also, as many others have pointed out, RDR2 is a pretty strong counterpoint to your concerns.
ThreadFantasy Flight Interactive closing down; layoffs across all FFG departments it seems
For those unfamiliar with the name, Fantasy Flight Games is the company behind some of the biggest names in nerdy board games (such as Imperial Assault or the various Game of Thrones games). FFI was created a few years back to bring their games to digital platforms (like the Lord of the Rings Living Card Game on Steam and Xbox Game Pass).
Only took a week to have the first game dev layoffs in 2020 :(
ThreadFantasy Flight Interactive closing down; layoffs across all FFG departments it seems
Supposedly there are cuts across the entire company, including a lot in their rpg department. I would assume the big performers like board games or Keyforge should be safe. Still sucks, of course...
I think that Witcher 3 is one of the finest games ever made, but I would be hard pressed to find a lot of major 2019 games that look worse than an unmodded Witcher, especially on console...
The games that immediately came to my mind have all been mentioned already: Ryse, The Order and Infamous were all early games that still look fantastic today.
ThreadMarvel’s Avengers (Square-Enix) LEGO figures include Black Panther & Hawkeye, likely playable?
That would make aa lot of sense, yeah. Both would offer some new play styles that aren't fully covered by the announced roster yet. BP as the fast, nimble melee striker and Hawk as aanother ranged character, which there aren't many of so far.
Thank you! Seeing people say that Anno 1800 was their GotY is pretty humbling, considering how many great games we had last year! Also, good reminder that I still need to do my own GotY post...
Anno tends to traditionally pick up a lot of awards in Germany (as we are currently doing), but usually less so abroad. Though we were extremely happy and honored to be nominated at the Game Awards this year!
But for some reason, Anno tends to get overlooked by American mediaa especially, despite being a Ubisoft title. C'est la vie :)
Fair point, and something we hear a lot. Unfortunately it is a bit of a tricky technical topic to hold the rest of the game while letting the player keep building stuff, as that was never originally intended.Yes, we are currently working on some new content and features for 2020.
ThreadSkill based matchmaking(SBMM) is one of worst things i've seen in online multiplayer(COD MW)
I will never for the life of me understand why people complain about devs trying to make a game as fair and balanced as possible, instead of mist games being a one-sided trashing where one team just stomps all over the enemy.
Worst thing being when you allow full pre-made teams to run amok over random matchmade teams (looking at you, Destiny...).
We haven't released any sales numbers, but we announced that it is the fastest selling game in the series, with more than 4x as many day 1 players as previous games :)
ThreadIs Fallen Order one of the most unpolished AAA game ever released? (Spoilers)
I absolutely love how many people in the gaming community seem to have a memory that doesn’t go back further than 3 months, meaning that everything is always the worst launch, the biggest mess, or the best thing ever. Not to mention the hyperbole of course.
I feel that ion order to be one of the most unpolished games, there should be universal issues across the board. Personally, I finished the game yesterday on a decent PC, and didn’t have any issues that stuck out to me.
If you truly think that JFO is one of the most unpolished AAA games ever, I would highly recommend you take some time and read up on some of those lists of the worst game launches. Starting with Fallout 76, a mere 13 months ago.
If you are thinking about getting the game, we are currently running a sweet sale, where the main game is between 45% and 55% discounted (depending on edition), while the Season Pass is 30% off.
Finally, there is currently a free week where you can play the game until December 19 to test if you like it.
ThreadMechWarrior 5: Mercenaries |OT| "In Real Combat, Speed Is Life"
Does anyone have any suggestions for task switching? When I try to do so, it permanently shows me a warning screen (never seen that before, so at least it is both pointless and new :)?
ThreadMechWarrior 5: Mercenaries |OT| "In Real Combat, Speed Is Life"
Your brand name only helps you when people actually hear it. Beyond the announcement, release date and then later delay/ EGS deal, I haven't seen too much about the game in the bigger gaming outlets.
Getting the word out these days is pretty tough, as people are non-stop bombarded by news, media and content. Relying on name, especially one that was been largely dormant for over a decade (MWO aside), doesn't always work.
ThreadMechWarrior 5: Mercenaries |OT| "In Real Combat, Speed Is Life"
Again, Piranha have done pretty much anything in their power not to create hype for the game. No previews for press, no open betas, few trailers in-between, late review embargo...
That is not how you create hype in 2019, in my humble professional opinion.
ThreadMechWarrior 5: Mercenaries |OT| "In Real Combat, Speed Is Life"
I swear to god, I jumped out of my chair screaming and jumping around the room when this was announced. My GF and then dog (RIP :( thought I had gone completely crazy.
Man, what a dream that was back then...
ThreadMechWarrior 5: Mercenaries |OT| "In Real Combat, Speed Is Life"
Between thhem more or less saying that MWO doesn't cover their costs anymore, and the sudden move to Epic, I think we should probably be happy they got it out at all (and hopefully it won't be another Rune 2 -.-).
ThreadMechWarrior 5: Mercenaries |OT| "In Real Combat, Speed Is Life"
I do feel kinda bad for them cause I know they had a lot of issues with CE3 on MechWarrior online that maybe weren't entirely their fault. But they certainly haven't done much to inspire confidence in this new game so far -.-True, and I am happy about that. But when you played MW4 competitively in leagues for almost 4 years, you want more than jsut co-op :)
ThreadMechWarrior 5: Mercenaries |OT| "In Real Combat, Speed Is Life"
I am so torn on this. On the one hand, I want to be excited, cause MW4 is one of my favourite games ever, and I played it for years.
But almost no preview coverage, no reviews prior to release for a single-player title, no pre-load, no multiplayer...
It doesn't give me a lot of confidence, sadly...
ThreadI Hate The Word 'Consumer' (The Jimquisition) [read staff post]
Sorry, my apologies for being an "asshole" and not liking your idol. I didn't know Jim was excempt from the general Era policy of allowing the mentioning past missteps in threads. I will try to do better and not be an "asshole" anymore.
ThreadI Hate The Word 'Consumer' (The Jimquisition) [read staff post]
I agree with you on that, and I am absolutely convinced that Jim doesn't hold a grudge or wish ill upon any rank and file EA, Konami, Ubi etc. devs.
But the problem (and my entire point is) that someone who holds a lot of sway (as evident from some users in this thread) with a lot of people, needs to be very careful what they say. And they should not, under any circumstances, make shit up about things they clearly have no clue about, and in doing so further feed the rage and anger of a part of their faithful audience. Because Jim should very well know that those angry people (and let's be honest, he is not shy about stoking anger against gaming companies!) are not gonna send a politely worded letter to Bobby Kotick to express their dissatisfaction, but are gonna abuse or threaten some random Infinity Ward CM or Dev because they are intentionally inflating install sizes on their game. After all, their idol Jim said so, so it must be true, right?
ThreadI Hate The Word 'Consumer' (The Jimquisition)
Once you have enjoyed a certain amount of abuse from gamers citing Jim as proof of why you are horrible for working for a certain company, you may come to disagree :) If not, more power to you.
ThreadI Hate The Word 'Consumer' (The Jimquisition)
Which is an entirely different problem, yes. YouTube actively promotes negativity and anger (and while I can't stand him, Sterling is very moderate compared to a lot of the "I AM SO ANGRY" gamer bullshit that YT promotes). That would go off-topic, but I am very concerned about the effect that YouTube has on society, and especially kids (just read a nice article today about how one of the biggest German gaming YouTubers is buddies with right-wing musicians...).
ThreadI Hate The Word 'Consumer' (The Jimquisition)
I just find it hard to believe that someone who actively makes up an insane theory to paint companies as evil was just „accidentally wrong“. You can be wrong when someone asks you for info, andyou accidentally give the the wrong answer. That’s a mistake. Making shit up by yourself and then blasting it out to a huge audience takes intent.
I certainly can’t recall any case where I made the small mistake of making up a conspiracy theory :)
ThreadI Hate The Word 'Consumer' (The Jimquisition)
Where is the lie in what I said? Did he not explicitly say that companies artificially increase install sizes To prevent you from installing other games?
ThreadI Hate The Word 'Consumer' (The Jimquisition)
And who is at the receiving end of the abuse of the people riled up? A corporation? A CEO? Or the rank and file devs? Also, I can’t help but notice you ignored the whole „made up a conspiracy theory“ not.
ThreadI Hate The Word 'Consumer' (The Jimquisition)
If I tell a bunch of people „hey oni-link intentionally does this thing X to limit your choices and prevent you from doing what you want to do“, wouldn’t you agree that it was probably not aimed at endearing you to the people reading this message?
ThreadI Hate The Word 'Consumer' (The Jimquisition)
I am to be honest baffled that people still care about his stuff after he recently admitted to randomly making up conspiracies to rile up people agains developers („install sizes are artificially inflated to prevent you from installing other games“).
ThreadI Hate The Word 'Consumer' (The Jimquisition)
When somebody makes up shit to rile up gamers and make them angry at developers over nothing, then I have a hard time appreciating their work, yes.
I also find it incredibly hypocritical to do shit like that, and in the other hand bemoan there toxicity of gamers, that he himself is happy to stoke with stunts like that.
That is unfortunate. I played MWO for an hour or so, but it felt way too F2P (I know it is) with the number of different currencies it had.
To be honest, it didn’t even occur to me that a new MW game could not have PvP :(
that was fairly early on, so many years ago. But whenever I see anything about their monetization or shop, I am turned off all over again.
The gameplay could be a lot of fun, for all I know^^
Man, I am so torn on this game. MW 4 series were some of my favorite games ever, and I played them almost religiously for around 4 years in a variety of online leagues (VL, SL). I remember shouting with excitement when Jordan Weisman first announced he as doing a new MechWarrior (around 10 years or so ago?).
Now a new one is coming out after 17 years, and I am not even sure if i want to buy it. Sad :(
Any Era people been playing the beta?
ThreadGamasutra: Ragnarok files legal complaint against Human Head Studios over Rune II assets
Yeah, this whole story had "legal dispute" written all over it. And them selling a multiplayer game to users, and then shutting down the studio a day after launch is... questionable, at best.To be honest, that seems more like wishful thinking. It has been many, many years since HH had been involved with a successful game, and being an independent AA/ AAA developer is brutal. You essentially live from one project/ contract to the next, and any issue can kill you. Most of them go under or get bought out.
And HH were nowhere near the tier of a studio like Insomniac, even at their best of times in the early 00s.
ThreadCryEngine ARPG Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem releases (out of early access) in January 2020
Glad to see the game making progress, and wishing them all the best. When I was working on CE, the Wolcen guys were an absolute joy to work with, great (and very hardworking) little team.
ThreadDangen Entertainment Allegedly Robbing Indie Devs? (Update: Medium article with more allegations)
Presumably because they massively underestimated the situation, and thought they could nip in in the bud before it blew up. Which was very ill advised and unprofessional, to be sure. But the Medium, which came after, really kicked things up into legally relevant territory.
ThreadDangen Entertainment Allegedly Robbing Indie Devs? (Update: Medium article with more allegations)
Let me first of all say that I don't know anyone involved here (besides having heard the name Ben Judd before). With that said, some posters here need to take a step back and look at this whole thing like sensible adults and not forum warriors.
A lot of very serious (as others aptly remarked, potentially company/ career-ending!) allegations have been made. And you seriously have nothing better to do than keep tagging one of the accused people here, expecting them to reply to such allegations in a random internet forum thread?
This is something you talk to your lawyers about, and definitely don't want to say anything about in public. And talking to your lawyer probably doesn't happen on a Saturday night on Thanksgiving weekend (and the same is of course true for quality press coverage).
So give it some time, and don't keep expecting people to defend against potentially career-ending allegations in an Era thread.
ThreadEA (And Other Studios) Apparently Have Policies That Require Developers To Gather Permission Before Producing Any Creative Works Outside Of Work
I should keep screens of this as the new textbook definition of „Era“.
„You are all wrong, and here is some Dutch text showing why. Also, since no one wants to agree with me, I am off to bed. C ya internet nerds, I have a life you see.“
ThreadEA (And Other Studios) Apparently Have Policies That Require Developers To Gather Permission Before Producing Any Creative Works Outside Of Work
He has also as an anonymous poster implied that all the verified people here saying they have such clauses in their contracts are lying or making stuff up, so... yeah^^
ThreadEA (And Other Studios) Apparently Have Policies That Require Developers To Gather Permission Before Producing Any Creative Works Outside Of Work
I am very sorry that my ongoing making up of totally imaginary contracts contradicts you (I assume you are Disney EU's Chief Legal Councel, based on your behaviour in this thread), but...
Previous job, Games Industry, Germany: contract includes this clause
Previous job, Games Industry, France: contract includes fairly strict non-compete (which the company waived, ofc, as I am not an Exec)
Current job, Games Industry, Germany: contract includes non-compete in any fields employer works in
Fiance's current job, Software, Germany: contract incluces clause regarding all projects or inventions made during her time there.
Sorry, I will stop making things up now.
ThreadEA (And Other Studios) Apparently Have Policies That Require Developers To Gather Permission Before Producing Any Creative Works Outside Of Work
Never worked outside the EU, and I had such clauses in my contracts, yes. It is definitely not an US-only thing.
i am always baffled how Era on the one hand positions itself as this gathering place for gaming insiders, yet frequently half the posters are baffled when hearing about something that is absolute standard in the industry (whether the rule is bad or not doesn’t change fact that a ton of people on this forum who love to tell devs what to do are rather clueless about the industry).
ThreadEA (And Other Studios) Apparently Have Policies That Require Developers To Gather Permission Before Producing Any Creative Works Outside Of Work
It seems a bit weird when the random anonymous poster accuses the guy who had to prove to staff that he actually works in the industry about making jo his work contract.
but hey, whatever works for you, Walt :)
ThreadPlayStation is winning me over thanks to their belief in console generations
More power time you, though I have to say seeing someone who chose to represent themselves online with an image of a PlayStation IP say that “PlayStation is winning then over” made me smile :)
ThreadMCC PC date posted on the MS Store (Dec 3rd)
Seeing some rumors that it would stealth drop today, but the PC test flight was extended only this week, with playtest dates until the 18th. Which wouldn't make sense if they planned to drop it today.
i am honestly not convinced it would thrive on Steam either. You still need marketing to get awareness on Steam, where the size of the user base is balanced against the sheer number of games.
there is just very little promotion happening around the game, which will make it hard to find a player base on any platform.
ThreadMarvel's Avengers must be the premium gaas with the highest number of different currencies and resources, right?
If you think 10 resources are crazy, you should see what crafting in real MMOs looks like, tbh. Destiny also certainly has a lot more resources in its economy (planetary alone are at 7 or so now).
ThreadAnyone else prefer Quantum Break to Control?
No accounting for taste, but I am genuinely baffled to see several people say they think QB is better than Control. QB certainly had a lot of potential, but in the end the whole tv tine-in turned into a cheap gimmick that felt like it was holding the game back, and the combat in Control feels a lot smoother and more nuanced than in QB to me.
ThreadA Netflix style game streaming service will never have new 3rd party releases
Well, strictly speaking, Apple Arcade is already a Netflix-style Model, of largely exclusive (as in, only via this sub) content at a affordable subscription.
I agree that we probably won’t see big budget third-party console or PC games in such an exclusive setup soon, but at some point it is likely bound to happen.
That's pretty awkward... Is that still from Panini? I have fond memories of selling their Blizzard books at Games Convention during an internship ten years ago :)
ThreadHDMI 2.1 support still hasn't been confirmed for next-gen consoles and it's getting worrying...
Very few concrete technical details have been announced so far. I certainly wouldn't expect that to be one of the first things detailed, a year prior to launch.
ThreadThe Outer Worlds - Quick look and new gameplay
From personal experience, I think it is very important to give your players realistic expectations. If they only find out about such things for after they bought the game, they tend to be a lot less forgiving than if you tell them in advance. And honestly, I am quite happy with a rpg that "only" takes 40h or so, which is around the lenght of KotOR or Mass Effect 2 I think.
Thread[Jim Sterling] - "Youtubes algorithm absolutely pushes negative content. Negativity will always be popular."
Saying developers don't optimize file sizes cause you don't know how the process works is a mistake, fair enough. Claiming install sizes are intentionally bloated to prevent you from installing other games is flat out lying to cause controversy and rile angry gamers up. That would be a text book case of (artificially created) negativity, so it certainly fits the topic of the thread.
Thread[Jim Sterling] - "Youtubes algorithm absolutely pushes negative content. Negativity will always be popular."
Even when it comes to anecdotal evidence, to be honest. I almost exclusively use YouTube for music, with the occasional funny/ cute animal video. I still frequently get some gaming drama ("X killed game Y!!!!!") or right-wing ("women ruined Star Wars!!!") shoved in my face. So I would certainly agree that they heavily promote negativity, and drama. Stuff that generates clicks and comments is what their service relies on, after all.
Thread[Jim Sterling] - "Youtubes algorithm absolutely pushes negative content. Negativity will always be popular."
Well, that is certainly good news for Jim and his content! And if the algorithm doesn't work, you can always make up weird conspiracy theories about install sizes...
ThreadNVIDIA has created a gaming studio to remaster classic PC games with Ray Tracing effects
Also, a small side but awesome side effect that most people won't care about- this may bring some of those older PC titles to Germany. Thanks to Q2 RTX, Quake 2 is now for the first time officially available from Steam for us <3
ThreadNVIDIA has created a gaming studio to remaster classic PC games with Ray Tracing effects
i would assume that these would largely be ports where they work with the IP owners, as they create new sales potential for these games. So they could get whatever they need in terms of assets and code from the respective partners.
ThreadNVIDIA has created a gaming studio to remaster classic PC games with Ray Tracing effects
In the case of Quake II, it was free, and you can either play a few demo levels, or load your existing Quake 2 installation into the RTX version. So presumably future games would do the same, meaning you have to won/ buy them to enjoy the RTX features.
ThreadNVIDIA has created a gaming studio to remaster classic PC games with Ray Tracing effects
This is great news. When I played Quake 2, my mind immediately started thinking "what other games were made with the Q2 engine and could benefit from this..." Heretic 2 would be fantastic, but is probably a far shot...
ThreadWarcraft III Reforged beta menu screenshots leak
Do you think it makes for a good forum culture if everyone accused everyone else because of the games they like, or companies they buy from? And I am fairly sure that almost everyone here would be guilty of playing games from a company that has done something another user deems unethical at some point.
Pointing out that a company has done something in a thread makes sense. Attacking other users over it, not so much. And if you are yourself playing games from a company that has done or supported something bad, it is pretty hypocritical I'd say. In this thread alone, you can find some users who are talking about boycotting Blizzard (which again, they have every right to), and when you look a few posts down their history on ERA, you will see that their high moral standards only seem to apply very selectively.
ThreadWarcraft III Reforged beta menu screenshots leak
I absolutely respect every individual's choice to not buy from certain companies. At the same time, I hope you also realize that you are very unlikely to find a major company (entertainment or otherwise) in this day and age that is not in some way putting money above principles, or bending to questionable politics.
So unless you want Era to turn into a forum where every thread about a big, publicly traded company ends after two posts cause somebody will point out something bad the company did, I think you may just have to avoid certain topics, and let those who want to talk about them do so. At least that's how I personally handle it.
ThreadWarcraft III Reforged beta menu screenshots leak
We just use the Battle Net groups feature for that, which has the benefit of being able to jsut hang out in voice chat with the rest of the people while playing another game.
Battle.net 1 was a big deal back in the day, but these days there are just so many options how to chat with your friends (and Discord is probbaly the best one, I'd argue).
ThreadRiot doesn’t want League of Legends broadcasters discussing ‘sensitive topics’ on the air
Real talk- do you think Nintendo would allow someone to make a political statement in a Nintendo Direct? Cause I highly doubt that (and I could have probably named any other major gaming company here instead of Ninty).
ThreadRiot doesn’t want League of Legends broadcasters discussing ‘sensitive topics’ on the air
You don't need to be owned by Tencent. Any company putting on such major tries to avoid controversy, as as any sports organization (for example, football players not being allowed to have any messages underneath their jersesy when they celebrate a goal).
So before you jump on to any conspiracy conclusions- remember that this is very common, even without anything Chinese involved (hello, NFL).
ThreadRiot doesn’t want League of Legends broadcasters discussing ‘sensitive topics’ on the air
Oh, I guess I look like a complete jerk now :( My apologies then! I assumed it was a case of "of course the corporate guy defends this", as happened in the past. Sorry!
ThreadRiot doesn’t want League of Legends broadcasters discussing ‘sensitive topics’ on the air
Exactly. Esports mimicks real sports yet again, if you think about the ban on anything lgtb during olympics in Russia, NFL cracking down on kneeling during the anthem etc.
Controversy is bad for business, and that is after all what matters to shareholders. Though I am to be honest surprised to see how many people across the internet only seem to notice this now, I had thought that was pretty obvious.
ThreadYears later after the controversy, do you agree that 30FPS are more cinematic than 60FPS?
Going purely semantically, yes. Cinematic, by definition, does after all mean “film like”. As those are 24 FPS usually, 30 is indeed more film like, so that is an easy answer.
Do 30 FPS make for better gameplay? Of course not, 60 is always preferable.
ThreadBorderlands 3 sales milestone causes stocks to dip
I know that Steamspy is not run by Steam. But I know where it's data comes from, how close to the actual numbers it is (usually very accurate, based on past cases where I could verify the actuals myself), and I can't help but notice that Steamspy is frequently cited when it comes to showing the success of games on Steam :)
But by all means, if you want to insist that Borderlands has not sold more than 10M copies, because you find a random game's writer more believable than the companies involved, I guess I don't know how to convince you otherwise.
ThreadBorderlands 3 sales milestone causes stocks to dip
If everyone (at least those that don't fit your agenda) lies anyways, what is the point of even having discussions? "I don't believe you unless you say the guys I hate are doing poorly, and the ones I like are doing well" is a very weird stance, don't think?
Also, it seems that Valve is also part of the conspiracy/ lie, as Steamspy shows more than 10M copies for Borderlands 2 on Steam alone. I guess that is more plausible than the writer not doing proper research? :p
ThreadWhat sequel is the worst offender of "blatant asset re-use"?
Wasn't that game thrown together in 8 months or something? Even with all the reused stuff, I find it impressive that they managed to pull that off (blame here of course lies on whoever decided on that timeline).
ThreadBorderlands 3 sales milestone causes stocks to dip
Yes, we do- right here.
And if a publicly traded company giving this kind of data to investors and press is not good enough for you, then I guess there is no point arguing. Unless you are normally used to counting every sold game and console by hand, yourself.
ThreadBorderlands 3 sales milestone causes stocks to dip
You do realize that there is more data in life than "game x sold y copies on platform z", right? Or, in the words of Merriam Webster:
So yes, 5M copies sold in, twice as many sales in launch 5 days and 70% retail are all data points, even if you don't seem to think so.
ThreadBorderlands 3 sales milestone causes stocks to dip
A small blip like that in such volatile political and economic times (remember that China is the market of the future for gaming) is a non-story, yeah.Nothing like the good old "I only trust data that serves my agenda" to make for a good, sssensible discussion mong adults.
ThreadFF7 Remake shows ambition hitherto undreamt of in this industry. Do you see other companies following Square’s method for the remake if successful?
True! Though I honestly blame them more for how long it took them to fix it, rather than the initial problems, many of which probably just showed up out in the wild with big player numbers.
ThreadFF7 Remake shows ambition hitherto undreamt of in this industry. Do you see other companies following Square’s method for the remake if successful?
I'd have to disagree, to be honest. In terms of scope and ambition, I'd argue that the Master Chief Collection still sets the bar. Having four different games from three different console generations all working within one package, with seamless cross-game playlists is unheard of, and I am not surprised that the game had a ton of issues when it came out, tbh.
That is in my book still way more impressive on a tech level than what FFVIIR does, which is "only" making a series of completely new AAA games.
ThreadFF7 Remake shows ambition hitherto undreamt of in this industry. Do you see other companies following Square’s method for the remake if successful?
I think that is what the OP's argument kinda comes down to. By that reasoning of course, any game development (especially AAA) is always ambitious, cause you invest a lot of money without guarantees you will make it back.
ThreadOpinion: So many games, and only three are being showed EACH Days in videogames media.
To be honest, this partially sounds like a problem that is more on your side, or with the selection of media outlets you use.
There has been a lot of coverage with Fire Emblem whenever there was news (notably, Nintendo allowed previews very shortly prior to release). There have also been lots of outlets who mentioned that it could be a serious GotY contender.
There has also been a lot of coverage on Control and Man of Medan from various events, so if you have never heard of those games until they were out, I am not sure what to say? Clearly a lot of people have been aware of these gams thanks to gaming media, so it can’t be true that they simply don’t report on them...
Edit: Nevermind. Just saw your later post and as an Ubi*** I just realized you are not worth talking to after all.
ThreadSTAR WARS Battlefront: Hoth Bundle (PS4) is 7.5$, worth it?
"Are two tripple AAA games that each cost $60 at release worth $7.50?"
Really? And people are surprised that more and more companies turn to free-to-play or MTX for their games, if this is the mindset of the core gaming community in 2019?
ThreadSTAR WARS Battlefront: Hoth Bundle (PS4) is 7.5$, worth it?
I was more talking about the general perception of value in games that I see these days, and which i find pretty concerning tbh (both as someone who works in games and who enjoys to play big budget quality titles).
You are right ofc, the implementation of MTX in BF2 at launch was a terrible mistake, and the game paid dearly for that. Thankfully, it feels pretty good now, and they keep adding content frequently (with more on the way).
ThreadTarget: Save 25% w/ pickup on select PS4 & XB1 games (stacking on sales , Amazon PMing some)
At least you can say you have done your part to show that there is still a market for single player only third-party games!
I far too often see people who buy titles like Control in a Steam Sale complain that no one is making SP games anymore...
I have to say that I think you are the first person I have come across on my twitter timeline or Era that has actually played the game, which has me slighly worried for Yager after their recent games didn't perform so well (Dreadnought is still alive, I think?).
But I agree that from what I have seen of the game, their biggest challenge will be to convince people that they are offering something new that they can't already get in several other games.
ThreadAstral Chain vs Control: which game are you buying? And which of the two will sell the most?
Control is a lot of fun, and I am very excited for it after the gamescom demo. And since Control is on three major platforms as opposed to one, it definitely should sell better than AC.
ThreadAnno 1800 free to play until August 25th and DLC info
No, you can buy the DLC as well, check out the in-game news in the main menu. It was super important to the team that all players get all updates and content (free and paid) on the same date, regardless of platform or store used.
ThreadAnno 1800 free to play until August 25th and DLC info
Apologies for that. The reason is that the trial is limited to the first three residential tiers. if you were to carry your progress over into the main game with all content suddenly unlocked, it would really mess with the AI.
ThreadAnno 1800 free to play until August 25th and DLC info
We didn’t put it in the trailer as we can’t give the concrete date yet, but we hope that we can soon share the date and details about coop (definitely after Botanica and day&night though).
It does look very good.
And i love how similar some aspects of it look to the original vision for Hunt: Horrors of the Gilded Age (now Hunt Showdown) that the guys at Crytek Austin were working on before leaving to form Gunfire Games.
Thread...is it just me, or is it mostly American/European-made games that are big in scummy practices?
Yet you still seem to conveniently ignore the notion of F2P and P2W being largely popularized by Korean PC games.
So you can’t blame people who feel that you seem to shift the goal posts a lot here.
Thread...is it just me, or is it mostly American/European-made games that are big in scummy practices?
To answer your question- yes, it is you.
The idea of both F2P in its modern form and P2W comes from Asia, originally from many Korean MMOs and PC games.
P2W as a concept is still more widely accepted over there as well, and that is even before getting into the purely P2W Gacha mobile games, or hundreds of dollars of DLC you can buy for many console titles.
ThreadGames should not be announced AT ALL unless they release within a calendar year
Counterpoint- that basically means that you won’t be able to implement much fan feedback by the time of launch, which depending on game and genre (think MMOs) can be a major problem.
And here we see pretty much why stories like these have little effect. Gamers will happily defend any kind of working conditions if they like the studio and games, and will even shit over the work of other developers with a more balanced work-life-balance for not being as passionate and details-focused as Naughty Dog or Rockstar are.
ThreadMechwarrior 5: Mercenaries drops Steam and will be available exclusively on EGS [yes, please read STAFF POST]
Exactly, plus I don’t think that MWO is doing all that well for them these days either. That guaranteed money and larger cut could be crucial for them.
ThreadWhich single-player game would benefit the most from adding multi-player? Which game would benefit most from removing it?
When it comes to removing MP, a lot of people have this misconception that it would automatically translate into funds for the SP mode. In all likelyhood, it would just mean having a lower budget, as you would remove a tangible sales argument (multiplayer) that also offers great opportunities for post-launch monetization. "I think immensly succesful video game would be better if you took away its main brand pillar" is a hell of a take right there.
ThreadShadow of the Tomb Raider aka the best game on Game Pass
Indeed! While it is still a good game that I had fun playing via Game Pass, it pales in comparison to the other two rebooted games to me. Plus, it has one of the worst and most contrived forced stealth games in modern gaming history, where the guns de-spawn from the hands of your enemies as you kill them, forcing you to keep doing stealth melee kills. Absolutely ridiculous...
It feels a bit like "Best of open World: A Medley", combining lots of elements from other games and then forcing a heavier focus on crafting, resources and currencies on it,
ThreadI didn't realize how niche video games were until I got a job
It depends how you define "games". If you include everything from mobile and Facebook, the majority of today's adults do play games. They just don't think of them as such.
ThreadAre physical video game strategy guides dead?
Yes. For most games, they are only interesting to a tiny fraction of the hardcore fan base as collector's items. Everyone else is better served by free online resources, especially as games keep changing over time after release.
ThreadJedi: Fallen Order's reveal has me questioning why EA shut down the Visceral game even more.
Visceral was an AAA studio in one of the msot (if not the) expensive cities in the world, and they never had a major financial hit for EA. Those are two facts that we can assess from the outside.
beyond that, there has been plenty of talk about slow and troubled development.
ThreadBaldur's Gate III - Official Announcement Trailer (Larian Studios, PC/Stadia for now)
Easily one of most exciting game announcements in years for me. Baldur's gate is one of the best gaming franchises ever, and after Original Sin 1 and 2, I could not think of a better devbeloper to tackle it <3
ThreadStadia Connect (June 6th, 2019) |OT| The Storm before E3
On the one hand, I hope to see the rumored Baldur's Gate 3 today. On the other hand, since we are unclear on their stance on (timed) third-party exclusives, maybe I should not ask for that :p
ThreadHas "Destiny Like" or GaaS become a huge turnoff /Did it become a Toxic term now?
Is Games-as-Service considered a dirty word by a lot of people here on Era? Yes.
Do these games have a combined player base in the hundreds of millions? Yes.
So it is fair to say that most of the people playing games don’t care about the term, if they even know it at all.
As a small heads-up for anyone on the fence- not only is our big Game Update 3 coming out in 30 minutes, but thanks to the Uplay E3 sale, the game is now also available for 20% off for the duration of the sale :)Our goal is to have all improvements and updates applied to players' existing save games (the same goes for future DLC). The only big exception is the Anarchist character today, as they need to be selected during game creation. But give the amount of improvements in today's Update, I think now would be a good time to dive in :)
No, never. I am looking for a great experience, and don't try to forcibly assign a dollar/ hours value to that.
Also, living by that rule would be really expensive, seeing how I frequently spend hundreds of hours in a game :p
Cross-progression would be just about the coolest thing I could ask for in Destiny 2. Played hundreds of hours, including a lot of seasonal stuff on PS4, but would happily switch to the super smooth PC version if I could keep it all...
ThreadIt's time for Beamdog and everyone else to stop forgetting that Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance 1 & 2 exist
Agreed! People tend to laugh when I say this, but I got my first ever console (a PS2) specifically for Dark Alliance (though i also bought GTA 3 on the same day. The game was a lot of fun in coop, and the water was mindblowing back then :p
ThreadKickstarter games you backed and you absolutely love!
I backed some excellent games that i am very happy with!
Shadowrun Returns, Pillars of Eternity, Divinity: Original Sin, Satellite Reign, Kingdom Come, Shadowrun: Hong Kong, Battle Chasers: Nightwar, The Dwarves,Battletech, Divinity 2, Banner Saga 3...
I get it that bad experiences can turn you off, but it is always sad to see people argue against the concept of Kickstarter, seeing how many great games came from it over the past 5 year!
ThreadDevelopers should have a veto right regarding bad marketting strategies forced by publishers.
I don’t necessarily agree. Having been on both sides of the equation (developer and publisher), I have seen a fair share of bad ideas for marketing from either side.
Developers obviously know much more about their game. Publishers usually know more about marketing said game, especially to people outside the hardcore community that devs tend to focus on.
Neither side should call the communication shits all by themselves.
Thanks to everyone in this thread who recommended the game. Bought it today, and loving it! Gameplay is very polished already, dialogue is fun, and it is as pretty as all their other games.
ThreadNew Darksiders game that takes series in a new direction leaked by E3 Coliseum
Some fun speculation from my side: I think the developer of this non-traditional Darksdiers game may be Airship Syndicate (BattleChasers). They have now started teasing their next game on their twitter header:
Notably, Joe "Mad" Madueira, the man behind the art direction of Darksiders works at Airship.
I could see two scenarios here: a classic old-school rpg (like BattleChasers), or some kind of co-op action rpg.
Thoughts?
Thread14 Xbox Game Studios games to be shown at Microsoft E3 presser, Phil Spencer confirms
Definitely time to show something here. They annonced that game a day before we announced Anno 1800. Our game is out, and still not even the slighbtest bit of into on Age 4 :(
Thread14 Xbox Game Studios games to be shown at Microsoft E3 presser, Phil Spencer confirms
That would be a dream. When Phil announced OG Xbox BC with Crimson Skies, I was hopeful that it meant the franchise may have a future, but that doesn't seem likely.
Then again, I would have said the same of Baldur's Gate a few years ago, so hope springs eternal...
ThreadWorld Health Organisation recognises 'burn-out' as medical condition. Does this include "video gaming burn-out" and "game development burn-out"?
What the hell is even that question oO Why would a burn-out from job A count, and from job B not? And no, getting sick of a game you have played for too much is not a medical condition...
ThreadGames as a Service? It has now been four weeks since the official Anthem Twitter has tweeted anything self.
It's not what i would have done if it was up to me either, just saying that the going completely dark approach can work as a strategy IF they can release a notable update in the not too distant future.
Of course, that if is the big question here.
ThreadGames as a Service? It has now been four weeks since the official Anthem Twitter has tweeted anything self.
Truth is that there is no scenario where they can win, and won't have lots of people hate on them.
Right after launch, they were pretty active telling people that they were aware of and tracking issues. Then players got fed up with that, and got angry everytime someone from BioWare posted somewhere (for example reddit), telling them to only come back when they have something meaningful to say.
So now they stay quiet, which makes another subset of the community angry.
There is no winning here, either way. Though the keeping quiet seems to have gone really weelk for Hello Games, I guess.
ThreadRUNE II Trailer: Ages of Darkness (Now EGS exclusive)
I think it is fair to say that Human Head could really use any kind of lucky (financial) break, given how the past couple years went for them. I also think they previously tried to get a (more traditional?) Rune 2 of the ground, but for some reason or another it never happened.
Truth is that being a largely work-for-hire indie studio where you mostly live from contract to contract is brutal, and while I understand that people who pre-ordered for a Steam key are pissed, I can't blame HH too much for doing what they feel they have to in order to survive.
Thread34BigThings Denies Digital Foundry’s Redout XB1X Analysis (Update: Digital Foundry Apology)
I have no interest in this game, and I don't know what other games they made/ will make in the future. There are however other developers whose past games I bought and whom I no longer support based on some of their behaviour. But it is not just about what gamers think. The games industry is small and familiar, everyone talks to everyone, and you don't want to have the wrong reputation.
Thread34BigThings Denies Digital Foundry’s Redout XB1X Analysis (Update: Digital Foundry Apology)
I can only speak for myself. I wok in the industry, and in communications, so that is something I pay a lot of attention to, and where I value professionalism and courtesy. So yeah, for me that behaviour pretty much means I wouldn't buy a game from said company.
Thread34BigThings Denies Digital Foundry’s Redout XB1X Analysis (Update: Digital Foundry Apology)
That strikes me as an incredibly unprofessional response, regardless of whether DF was wrong or right. If they were in the wrong, he should have just told them where and how, and they would have corrected the article for sure. What he has done instead is to paint himself in a bad light, with little to gain from it. Not the smartest route to counter negativity.
Right there with you, OP. I know a lot of people are down on Epic and Cliff B these days- but god damn, Gears of War franchise had some incredible games!
Perfect timing, I had been thinking about picking this one up since the art direction is incredible. How do you think someone who loved Bastion, but is not usually into rogue-likes would enjoy it?
ThreadSquare Enix FY3/2019 Full year earnings press release + series sales numbers
Am I thinking of something else, or did they previously forecast such a high numbers due to an unnamed game for FY 20 that many people assumed it had to be Avengers?
Well, I can confidently say that it is about as far removed from a shooter as can be ;) There is no "true" co-op so far (which would be two players controlling a single city), but will be added for free in the future.
Currently, you can however do multiplayer where both of you build their own city peacefully side by side and help each other with trade or ally vs pirates.
Quick update, we just published a preview of next week's Game Update 2, including a fix for the campaign quest blocker, and some re balancing to make influence more forgiving:
ThreadGame Informer June Cover Revealed: Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order
Which only makes it stranger, right? Getting a new game in a middling series after a decade, from a completely different developer, exclusively for a different platform eco system... it is a weird world!
ThreadGame Informer June Cover Revealed: Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order
I am still utterly baffled that this game exists in the first place (Team Ninja making the third game in an Activision Marvel series, exclusively for Nintendo?). With that said, I am very much looking forward to it, probably my most awaited Switch game <3
ThreadWaypoint folded back into Vice Games, immediately loses unique editorial voice (Staff is still the same)
By that logic, pretty much anyone working for a company in capitalist system would be right-leaning by default, regardless of personal beliefs or actions.
That is a pretty radical stance...
ThreadWaypoint folded back into Vice Games, immediately loses unique editorial voice (Staff is still the same)
All those issues exist and need to be tackled, agreed. That doesn’t mean that the majority of people working in the industry, especially among the rank and file, and right-wing.
ThreadWaypoint folded back into Vice Games, immediately loses unique editorial voice (Staff is still the same)
The games industry are the people working in it as developers. I am not sure they skew majorly right, certainly not in my personal experience in 5 different companies across Europe.
ThreadWhich game had the biggest turnaround this gen?
Siege is far and away one of the most played and best selling games of the gen.
Of course, it never had an actually bad reputation the way NMS had, so it depends on what your focus is I guess (reception and reputation versus players and sales).
ThreadCan we 'agilize' game development in regard to the customer?
Thank you. I can tell you that it as a big leap and learning experience for everyone involved, as it can be hard for creatives to show of work in a very rough and unpolished state, as we often did. On the flip side, I think getting that frequent sanity check that the game you are building is actually the game that your players out there want can be a huge boost to team morale. It's a win:win in that scenario.
ThreadCan we 'agilize' game development in regard to the customer?
In an act of shameless self-promotion, I would like to point what we at Ubisoft Blue Byte have done with the Anno Union program and website for Anno 1800:
Announced roughly 1 1/2 years prior to release, weekly dev blogs both about new features and behind the scenes development insights, frequent lengthy playtests for select community members (which lead to some massive changes in the game during development), votes on in-game content and constant communication via channels like Discord.
Would I recommend doing something like this for every game? Definitely not. I don't think there is a best practice that works for everyone. In the end, every studio must decide what they think is the best approach for their game and community.
ThreadBioWare Edmonton leads move on to new projects/Dragon Age 4; Austin supporting Anthem
Always very original to drag out a tired old meme and and ask if they have anything up their sleeve, instead of reading one of the many posts in this thread explaining what is going on (and that this is normal and was always planned). Ah, forums... <3
ThreadBioWare Edmonton leads move on to new projects/Dragon Age 4; Austin supporting Anthem
Some of that was to be expected. They threw a lot of hands onto the game towards the end, so ramping it down after shipping is normal. Mark surely went back to leading Dragon Age, and was always supposed to, no?
ThreadBioWare Edmonton leads move on to new projects/Dragon Age 4; Austin supporting Anthem
Of course they were. AAA is not about the quality, but the resources (budget, team site, marketing etc.). Andromeda and Anthem are absolutely AAA titles.
We will be adding a statistics building with a better overview of productivity in a free update in the future- feedback received ;)
Also, that is a lovely "messy city" :)
ThreadAnno 1800 is the fastest selling title of the franchise, Steam peak is 3x times higher than previous entry
Nothing to comment on there at all, sorry. On the dev side, the most important thing is that people have a great time when they buy our game, regardless of which platform they bought it on :)The last lifetime sales numbers we have given was "more than 9 million copies", but that was several years ago already. So, more than that for sure!Thank you, that is much appreciated :)
ThreadThe industry could benefit from more games getting the Persona 5 R treatment
Disagree. I would argue that making your existing fans pay full price again to receive improvements to a game they already paid for is absurd, and extremely outdated in this digital age. Keep improving and adding to the game people bought already instead. It's not 1995 anymore.
We are working on the fix for that, yes. For now the workaround is to to go offline in Steam and Uplay, which should give you a big improvement. our next patch will dial back the FL updates.
Potential crashes with Dx 12 are a known issue we are working on. If you are having unusually low performance on Steam, I'd for now suggest trying to see if it is better while being in offline mode while we work on a fix for the issue.
Right now, you can play MP where each of you builds up their own empire. In the future, we will be adding co-op mode as a free update, where you can take shared control of one empire.
ThreadMan, From Software's cutscene's cinematography is pretty much unparalleled in gaming (spoilers for Dark Souls, Bloodborne and Sekiro)
Between BB being the prettiest game of the generation, and their cutscenes being unparalleled in all of gaming, I can't wait to see where OP's obsession with FROM takes us next :p
Also, I would highly recommend playing some of Naughty Dog's games, or even The Order 1886 for master classes in cutscenes.
ThreadIt's quite impressive how Bloodborne is still the prettiest game of the generation.
Thanks <3 I don't know what it is about the From fandom that can make them so unbearable, but this is a prime example of that insufferable pseudo-elitism. "all these other games are just like McDonald's burgers"... seriously...
Very sad to see this, as the game has been fun and only in Early Access since a few weeks. For those unfamiliar with the company, it had many of the former SWTOR leads from BioWare Austin, like Gabe Amantangelo and Dallas Dickinson. I hope everyone lands on their feet ASAP :(
Yeah, I think they stuck a bit too close to Shadow Realms (BioWare's cancelled 4vs1 game) here. Purely focusing on co-op may have worked more in their favour perhaps.
ThreadAnno 1800 - A masterpiece of a game! (so far)
We will ensure that all players will receive all future content and updates at the same time, regardless of store.
No details to share yet, but we obviously want standard edition owners to be able to also receive the Anarchist in the future.
ThreadAnno 1800 - A masterpiece of a game! (so far)
We haven't communicated a review embargo, but will have an Open Beta prior to launch for everyone to get a chance to test the game for themselves.I genuinely appreciate the sentiment, thank you <3
ThreadCrytek partners with Poppermost Games to launch SNOW
Crytek and developer Poppermost announced that they are launching the open world, winter sports game SNOW, ending the game’s Early Access period. Players can now download a free-to-play version or purchase the Ultimate Edition for 19.99 EUR/USD on .
SNOW is a CRYENGINE-powered free-to-play winter sports sim that first launched on Steam Early Access in 2015.
ThreadFactor 5 says they would love to see Rogue Squadron on Switch...
So it would be fair to say (as I implied) that they are no longer an active game developer. That’s why I find it a bit misleading to say “they” want to do this port.
ThreadFactor 5 says they would love to see Rogue Squadron on Switch...
Apologies if this sounds dickish, but what is Factor 5 even these days? Are there any employees? My impression was that Julian has a german company that owns Certain rights (website lists 2013 copyright), but that was more or less it? They don’t seem to have released anything in years from what I can find...
ThreadEnd of a MOBA Era: Heroes of Newerth ending content updates with final patch today.
Oh wow, seeing that Homepage and patch notes in color coded text on a forum sure is a blast from the past. Either my mind is playing tricks on me, or it look pretty much the same has 5 years ago, when I probably last read anything about HoN oO
ThreadContent: GAAS multiplayer vs GAAS RPG single player games
Regardless of what some people may prefer to claim because they have a narrow notion of what GAAS means, it is really rather simple.
A game is a GaaS title (regardless of genre, player count or platform) if it receives long-term on-going Support and new content to keep players engaged.
That support can come in many shapes:
- new paid content (like a season pass)
- new free content (like maps in OW, Siege or Battlefield)
- new cosmetic items (often used to finance the free gameplay-relevant content)
- regular special in-game events (hello, Smash Ultimate Spirit Board)
Thinking that something is only a GaaS title if it had a lot of MTX and is an online- only shooter is simply false, and no amount of “stop defending corporations” will change that.
ThreadContent: GAAS multiplayer vs GAAS RPG single player games
I usually find that the people who decry all GaaS titles as bad are the ones who don’t even play them in the first place, whereas the people who do are happy they can keep playing an evolving game with their friends.
Regardless of personal preferences, I think the market has clearly and loudly spoken that it does enjoy these types of evolving, growing games.
ThreadContent: GAAS multiplayer vs GAAS RPG single player games
Well neither Destiny nor Anthem are F2P.
It’s just a case of many people mistakenly thinking that GaaS denotes a specific genre, rather than being a genre-agnostic business and release model.
ThreadContent: GAAS multiplayer vs GAAS RPG single player games
Games-as-a-Service (Same as Software-as-Service) simply means that rather than constantly releasing new stand-alone products, you keep maintaining and updating one product. So if a game is being constantly expanded and updated, then yes- it is a GaaS title. Whether that is Odyssey, Crusader Kings or (very likely) Smash Ultimate.
I am sorry if that does not fit your narrative, but the definitions of things are not a question of personal preference.
ThreadContent: GAAS multiplayer vs GAAS RPG single player games
This! Some people seem to have this notion that GAAS must mean an online-only PvP game or something. Odyssey is absolutely a Game-as-a-Service, as are for example some of Paradox’s SP-focused titles.
ThreadAnno 1800 - A masterpiece of a game! (so far)
We just announced that there will be an Open Beta from April 12th-4th, by which the time the game will be better optimized than it was during the CB. So you should definitely try that to see how well it works for you.
ThreadAnno 1800 - A masterpiece of a game! (so far)
Yes, the sun being fixed to the camera is an option you can toggle on and off. Some players prefer to always be on the sunny side of Anno, so to speak :p
ThreadAnno 1800 - A masterpiece of a game! (so far)
Depending on how you want to count, there are 2-3 Blue Byte studios!
Düsseldorf - original Blue Byte, working on Settlers (as well as co-development on RS Siege, For Honor and Avatar)
Mainz - formerly Related Designs, working on Anno (and co-development on RS Siege and Beyond Good and Evil 2)
Ubisoft Berlin - co-development on the Far Cry franchise
ThreadAnno 1800 Closed Beta Trailer (Jan 31 - Feb 4)
Thank you :) I am very happy with how the art book is turning out, and I hope you will enjoy it. And the soundtrack you could already partially judge for yourself with the beta.
ThreadPlatinum Games no longer credited on Granblue Fantasy Re:Link
You will find that there are tons of companies working on games that they don’t list on their websites (yet still credited for, if for legal reasons alone). Especially if they are no longer even working on it.
ThreadPlatinum Games no longer credited on Granblue Fantasy Re:Link
There is a difference between not listing something on your website, and not being credited. What matters is that they are in the game’s credits.
This whole thread is unnecessarily over dramatic.
ThreadI have doubts that EA will support two major BR games at once (RIP Battlefield BR)
I’d have to agree on the “never done a full on GaaS before”, unless that definition for you excludes MMORPGs (SWTOR has been running and getting updates for 7 years).
ThreadAnno 1800 Closed Beta Trailer (Jan 31 - Feb 4)
Thanks so much for your kind worlds all, we are absolutely blown away by the community reaction to the beta <3 And thanks for the feedback regarding ship controls and picking up flotsam, will pass it on to the team to look into.I take it as a compliment, but the game was delayed tp give us more time to polish and optimize. We think it is good right now, but hopefully it will be great in April.
ThreadDo you admit ever feeling schadenfreude from seeing a game fail?
Only if there is something very obviously shifty going on, such as stealing assets from other games. For a legitimately developed game, never. Any game failing will always have negative effects on some devs who are probably not to blame.
ThreadAnno 1800 Closed Beta Trailer (Jan 31 - Feb 4)
For now all invites have been sent out. If you previously registered and did not get an email, double-check your Uplay to see if perhaps the mail got lost, but you actually were invited.
ThreadAnno 1800 Closed Beta Trailer (Jan 31 - Feb 4)
Yoou can find the (non-final) requirements for the Closed Beta here: No, the game won't be always online :) You need to be online once to activate it at release, and to play multiplayer of course, but singleplayer can all be enjoyed offline.
ThreadAnno 1800: New Previews, new release date, Beta & Videos
Also, as mentioned, the Closed Beta starts on the 31st, and you can still register right here:
There is no NDA, and we are excited to hear everyone's feedback :)
I'd say the definitve entry/ highpoint so far is Anno 1404/ Dawn of Discovery depending on where you live.
As for what it is, Anno is pretty much equal party city-building, economic sim and expploration (trade, diplomacy, war).
As the announcement says, we did not take that descision lightly- at all. But we are confident it will help to make the game better and more polished for everyone.
ThreadEA Should Lose The Star Wars License (The Jimquisition)
I mean, have you looked at what the actual people who owned Star Wars (LucasArts/ Film) did with the SW games over many, many years? Can't say that EA is doing any worse than them...
ThreadEA Should Lose The Star Wars License (The Jimquisition)
People are happy to criticize EA for how they handled the Star Wars license, gaming-wise. But they all seem to forget how LucasArts themselves handled their IP for long stretches during the 90s and 00s...
Like the fact that they have cancelled more games than EA in their last few years, like 1313 and First Assault.
Or the fact that their only well-received and beloved non-Lego Star Wars game in their final 7 years was... developed by an EA studio (The Old Republic).
Should EA have done more? As a fan, I would say yes. Are people very quick to forget that the very people who owned Star Wars arguably did a worse job for many years?
They sure do.
People also seem to ignore that with the cost of the license, and the fact that Disney loves money a lot- so any dreams of EA losing the license meaning that suddenly a developer like Platinum will get to do a hardcore niche game is a pipe dream regardless.
ThreadSonic Boom's Disastrous Development | The Art of Failure
Small consolation of course, but they will forever be able to say that they managed to get CryEngine 3 running on the WiiU, which it was never supposed to do.
ThreadBreach coming to Steam Early Access on Jan 17th (co-op game from former BioWare devs)
QC Games just announced that their first game, Breach, will be coming to Steam Early Access later this month. If you have never heard of either, the team consists of many senior veterans of BioWare Austin (like Gabe Amatangelo, Dallas Dickinson or Cory Butler), where they worked on Star Wars The Old Republic and the cancelled Shadow Realms (which is especially relevant).
The game is co-operative action rpg in an urban fantasy setting (similar to Shadow Realms), with pretty fun melee or ranged combat and a lot of cool classes. And there is even a versus element where you can play as a Veil Demon and fight other players (think Fable Legends, Evolve or... Shadow Realms^^).
They play tests over the last couple of months, and have been very open with the community (no NDA, streaming and content creation highly encouraged). I played over the weekend, and was very surprised how smooth and fun the combat and movement felt. Will definitely play some more in the future :)
ThreadIs it just me, or is 2019 shaping up to be an incredible year for strategy games (Turn Based and Real Time)?
Thanks for including Anno ❤️
And I agree, the next two or so years should be great for strategy games. Very excited for Age 4, WC3 Remastered, Remastered C&C, third Total Warhammer and more BattleTech.
1. All examples you mentioned are systemic games, as opposed to story-driven ones. That makes them much more replayable, and players more likely to buy new content as opposed to a story-driven game that the majority of players only finish once (if at all- only 42% of people finished ME3 in the first 5 months after release).
2. Most of the games you mentioned would be much cheaper to produce new content for as opposed to a DA or ME game with their HD third-person assets and lots of voice lines in many languages.
3. When BioWare recently said that they would be doing exactly what you ask for with the next Dragon Age, fans started rebelling cause they don't realize that "Games-as-a-Service" does not mean competitive multiplayer^^
Basically, you are saying that because completely differently structured games in different genres that are much cheaper to develop than Dragon Age have lots of content, it is unfair that BioWare does not do the same. That does not reflect the business realities of game development though.
And just because you chose to take a very narrow personal definition of what a single-player RPG is does not change the fact that they have released 7 SP-focused RPGs in the last decade. Just because the camera changed, or the style of combat is different doesn't change that. The only exceptions are The Old Republic and Wrath of Heroes, which are both MP-only.
Of course that can happen, and the reverse as well. My point was the common misconception that if a game does not have MP (usually the mode that will provide retention and additional revenue in post launch), then the rest of the game would instead suddenly have x Millions more budget. Reality is that there would be less budget from the get go, or worst case perhaps even less for the SP part due to the expected lower sales forecast and P&L.
It is sad fact that SP/ story-based DLC often has a low attach rate, even when both game and DLC are good.
In many ways, even people that want the SP should be happy about added MP modes since they can be good at for the studio to make additional money.
And as for the fear that BioWare will suddenly stop doing SP games because they work on a GaaS project:
BioWare has been working on a service game since 2006 (and operating it for the past 7 years), before a single Dragon Age or Mass Effect game has been released. So they can clearly do both kinds of projects.
Agree wholeheartedly with everything you say, .
Also, there is this common notion that developers "waste resources" on multiplayer. Which is simply not the case. Multiplayer means additional audeinces and monetization, so that warrants more budget. Without the MP, the game would just get less resouorces and budget, but it would not magically turn into more SP content or features.
Since there was some confusion about "new javelin" due to the NVIDIA wording:
Game's community lead confirming it is just the 4 previously known ones "at launch".
Counter question: Is it too much to ask for that a studio which has made 15 published SP RPGs (plus many expansions, DLCs and cancelled games) be allowed to try something new for once?
I find it weird when we expect that creatives be forced to keep doing the same thing they have done many, many times until the end of their days.
Of course there is a story. It is a BioWare game, after all.
The setup is pretty classic BioWare, in "you are part of an elite group of people", like a Specter, Jedi Knight or Grey Warden.
Gaming is when you have people complaining in the same thread that they don't have enough info, while others complain about a lack of mystique (and I agree, there seems to be plenty of mystery in this world).
For those interested in more info, the devs have been doing almost weekly live streams recently. Can say what you want about the game, but they are definitely remarkably open and transparent with how they have shown hours of gameplay recently.
ThreadAnthem CES 2019 TRAILER (new Javelin revealed)
Hype levels rising to unreasonable levels (and hooray for announced DLSS support). "Playing solo will be bad, because it will be bad" is a bit of a weird stance, no?
ThreadAnthem CES 2019 TRAILER (new Javelin revealed)
What is a bit funny to me as a long-time fan is that many of these complaints ("it is not a rpg" "too much action" etc.) from Mass Effect or KotOR fans are the same complaints we saw from Baldur's Gate fans when they first started doing games like Jade Empire or Mass Effect. History repeats yet again...
ThreadReselling games that have been removed from the digital store.
Such content removals are sadly very often due to expiring license agreements. So the question whether the digital platform could allow you to resell said game to someone else would probably also be a legal/ licensing one.
My guess would be that they announced it pretty much as the ink was drying on the deal. They wanted to time it with gamescom 2017, both for the 20th anniversary, and because gamescom and Germany are huge deals in PC gaming.
I hope we will see more this year though.
ThreadWith Starlink and Panic Button's ports, how do people feel about Switch's capabilities now?
If you would prefer to do so, you can of course wait until the next generation of consoles is out to accurately judge what each machine "was capable" of. But between direct ports (some of which are really well done) of current gen games, and looking at some of the games that PS4 and Xbox One had at this point in their life cycle (like Witcher 3, Ryse or The Order) there is just no indication to support the OP's claim that the Switch can hold its own against the other 2 consoles when it comes to performance.
And again, that is fine. The only people who somehow expect and keep arguing that the Switch is on the same performance level as the PS4 and XBox are the diehard fanboys. Everyone else just appreciates that they have a handheld they can play Skyrim or DOOM on.
ThreadWith Starlink and Panic Button's ports, how do people feel about Switch's capabilities now?
I don't think most people underestimate the Switch. It is a very well put together console for what it is trying to be (bridging the gap between portable and console at the cost of high-end gaming). I'd argue that the larger issue is often that a lot of Switch fans seem unable to accept the above, and keep insisting that it is more powerful than it is (and than it needs to be, for what it's doing).
Point in case, this bit right here:It can't. Unless your definition of "holding its own" is massive cuts to the graphical details, and half the frame rate of the PS4/ Xbox One version (and even with those compromises, the DOOM and New Colossus ports are very impressive).
And given its portability and price, that is absolutely fine. There is zero need to be defensive about it.
ThreadResetEra Votes: Most Anticipated Games of 2019
Honorable mention: Anno 1800 - The game I am most excited about coming out next year is of course the one I have been working on for the past 20 months, but I am not gonna vote for "my own" game :p Shoutout to all of you who included it in their lists however, that is so cool to see in a year with so many promising releases.
Thread343 Industries’ Bonnie Ross to be Inducted Into the AIAS Hall of Fame
Congratulations to Bonnie. Executives are often less visible than the developers, but considering the mainstream appeal and name the Halo franchise still has, it is probably fair to say that she is one of the most powerful women in the indsutry, and has been for years.
ThreadGet Anno 1602 for free from December 17 to 22
Sorry, but I am not aware of any plans to bring the old Anno games back to Steam. They (including 1701) are however available on both GOG and Uplay. And Anno 1800 will of course also come to Steam. Can you try again here?
And yes, some of the older Anno titles had wildly varying names in different regions. Those are from back in the day when you often had a different publishing partner per territory back in the 90s and early 2000.s The dark ages, essentially :p
ThreadGet Anno 1602 for free from December 17 to 22
Yes, we are bringing back some things from Anno 2205 in Anno 1800, most notably the session system (we will have an European-style and a South America-inspired session). But also some other things like moving buildings and modules. Thanks for your faith and support, that's awesome to hear!
ThreadGet Anno 1602 for free from December 17 to 22
make sure to say Hi when you are around, name's Com_Raven on here as well. Always nice to see a fellow Era member around our community :)Thank you, with so many great games coming next year that is amazing to hear <3
ThreadGet Anno 1602 for free from December 17 to 22
I had a chat with the team- while we are rather disappointed that you had not heard, we are willing to forgive you and start over. All for the low low price of a pre-order :p
ThreadGet Anno 1602 for free from December 17 to 22
Thanks for sharing OP. We hope you enjoy the game :)
Also, if you are intersted in the Anno series, make sure to sign up for our Closed Beta for Anno 1800, our next big game coming next February:
ThreadWhat's your confidence in the development & release regarding Titanfall 3?
I am confident. Respawn is an excellent developer (same reason I am very excited for Fallen Jedi), and both the MP of TF1 and SP of TF 2 were amazing.
If they manage to combine those two, they will be golden. And now that TF is an EA IP and they own the studio, they will be more careful to find the right timeslot to launch the game, instead of competing against Battlefield.
ThreadWhat do you think will be the highest scoring/best selling title of 2019?
Even then, KH3 should be outsold by a lot of non-annual releases. RE2R and Anthem for example (as a Ubisoft employee, I am not gonna mention a certain sequel that may also sell a few copies).
ThreadStarbreeze AB files for reconstruction, CEO leaves, stock price falls 67%
This was the regulatory statement I was referring to from 2 weeks ago:i would assume that they are talking about HUNT Showdown, which was originally supposed to be 4-player coop.
ThreadStarbreeze AB files for reconstruction, CEO leaves, stock price falls 67%
Damn, that was fast. It is always fascinating to see these things happen in real-time (from the initial statement two weeks ago, to the 50% cheaper Starter Edition of OTWD last week, to this news today...
From an external perspective, it seems that they spread themselves way too thin off of the success of Payday- publishing of external games, several internal games (including one with a pricey license) and of course their ill-fated own VR headset. That always seemed crazy to me for a smaller independent company.
I hope they can recover to focus on just internal development with as few lay-offs as possible. Fingers crossed for everyone involved...
ThreadMinimal development time for a game should be at least 3 years
Content would only be "removed" if it was developed under the base game's budget- as in "we budgeted for this to be part of the main game, but then removed it to sell separately instead". Which might happen very rarely (I can only judge for the games I worked on, where I never saw it). If it was from the get go developed as a separate DLC budget because it did not fit into the original financial planning, and was never intended to be part of the purchase, it is not "removed".
Sadly no one ever considers that when complaining about "cut content".
ThreadMinimal development time for a game should be at least 3 years
I think „gamers with no clue telling developers what to do“ came loooooong before any of that ;) And I still don’t understand why games-as-Service is supposed to be bad, but maybe that is one of Era‘s big secrets.
ThreadMinimal development time for a game should be at least 3 years
So, in your mind, gamers buying a game once and then continuously getting new content for that game they bought (very often either completely free or being able to unlock it through playing) is bad, but having to constantly buy a new game for 60$ is good for the player? Or is another case of people having a very limited concept of what Games-as-a-Service is and not understanding that likely half of their favourite games also do it (like Witcher 3, as an example).
A few years ago, people got (rightfully) angry when a game was released and straight away abandoned to work on the sequel. Now people get angry when you keep working on and improving a game. What a time to be alive!
Same. Been playing Overwatch almost daily for over a year now with some old friends from school I rarely see in real-life, and they all keep getting new content regularly without having to pay a dime (I do buy some boxes from time to time). Works great for us.
ThreadMinimal development time for a game should be at least 3 years
Well Assassin‘s Creed Odyssey was in development for over three years. The mercenaries System is new. The Cult System is new. The combat is completely reworked to add active abilities etc.
In Battlefield V, the entire movement system has been revamped. Fortifications are new. Etc.
I take it you are on of the people who look at a game‘s setting and decide it is the same, without ever having played it?
If you seriously thought that Odyssey was developed after Origins, then I guess you made it pretty’s clear that there is not much point in discussing game development with you, to be honest...
After shutting down/ selling 8 (?) of the 10 studios they had 5 years ago, and losing the vast majority of their employees. Starbreeze just hasn't resorted to any such drastic measures.
ThreadBethesda probably didn't release "successful" game since Doom (2016)
It's actually 250M, not 500M. Which is certainly a number a highly successful AAA game can reach. Less "lawl" more facts ;)
If it was purely business driven, they would have gotten on "Skyrim 2" years ago as their highest priority. Looking at their portfolio, it is pretty clear that Bethesda as a published is not overly trend or purely RoI driven- if they were, they wouldn't make these big SP-only games, which are notoriously less-profitable.
Also, don't project your preferences onto others- there are plenty of developers who actually love and want to work on multiplayer or GaaS titles :) Especially considering that they recently absorbed a studio with a lot of experience and talent in that area (Battlecry) into the Bethesda Game Studios structure.
ThreadBethesda probably didn't release "successful" game since Doom (2016)
Without knowing actual sales numbers, nor budgets and sales expectations, it is pretty hard to judge a game's success. Is it safe to say that some of their recent AAA game's did not sell as well as other AAA titles. But did they sell "well enough"? Hard to jduge for anyone outside the company with insights into their budgets and expectations.
Man, game development is so easy! Can't believe more companies don't hire you as an adviser or Creative Director!
That's a chicken and egg thing though. If the game sold exceedingly well on day 1, it would not get such a step cut shortly after, right?
ThreadBethesda probably didn't release "successful" game since Doom (2016)
I don't think their review policy is doing them any favors (especially as a lot of the affected games have turned out to be be actually fantastic, like DOOM, D2 and New Colossus). I find it baffling not to get early reviews for them to stoke pre-orders right before launch with great reviews.
ThreadXbox Game Pass Makes Going Back to Online MMO Difficult
Not for me. The only consideration I take into account with my hobby purchases is whether I feel that the item I am about to buy will bring me enough joy to warrant the price. I think constantly comparing some abstract value between purchases doesn't make much sense. If I did, how could I ever justify spending money on a linear 15h SP game, when I can just buy games like Witcher 3 or AC Odyssey that give me 105-150h of game time for the same price? :p
Judge the value of what you want to buy and play, not that of other things. You want to play FF XIV? Do so, have fun, and enjoy Shadowbringers next year!
ThreadAll of These Xbox Leaks Are Going to Lessen the Impact of XO18
Few of those things are leaks. And if the best announcements they could offer would be some limited free trials (which is something that happens all the time in gaming), they I think they have much bigger problems than these "leaks". The X0 name certainly carries some expectations based on previous events, and the caliber of announcements they had.
ThreadI cannot stress how important it is to give feedback to companies, even if it is a complaint
I would expect a lot of larger companies to still use a mix of external/ outsourced customer support on the frontlines, and then have internal teams for the higher tiers (escalated issues, profiling etc).
ThreadI cannot stress how important it is to give feedback to companies, even if it is a complaint
I think you have a rather outdated notion of how social media community management works, and how useful and advanced modern tracking tools are.
At the same time, everyone who contacts customer and technical support to file a unrelated complaint ("I don't like that this skin costs 5€") only takes up capacity, and means that your fellow gamers who can't actually play their games because of technical issues etc. have to wait longer to receive assistance.
In any company with well-implemented community and social teams with good tracking tools, sending your feedback to the intended channels such as social media is the best way to reach the developers. A lot of customer support on the other hand is outsourced, and the people you talk to are not even part of the company you are trying to file a complaint with.
ThreadLooking at Diablo why wasn't there a similar outrage when WOW was announced?
There was actually quite a bit of outrage from rts fans as well who also felt "betrayed" by this new game and genre- not to mention having to pay a monthly subscription! As was the case with StarCraft Ghosts's announcement for consoles. People just forget such things quickly in the face of world-conquering success, as was the case with World of Warcraft :p
ThreadTennis World Tour was only 20% complete weeks before release, refined version planned for 2019
This, pretty much. A game that is only 20% would be in some kind of prototype form with half of the features only existing on paper during pre-alpha. So people should not get too hung up on that arbitrary number, the rest of the quote is much worse anyways.
Apart from that, I seriously hope that something got lost in translation, cause no one should be crazy enough to tell press "yeah it will be a success, because the retailers can't send it back" oO
I always find that sort of gate-keeping pretty sad. As a teenager, I was a huge fan of the BattleTech universe, and it was always sad to see all the different forms of elitism and factionalism in it. Players of the original board game thinking that the collectible MechWarrior game was just for casuals and kids. Or that you are not a "true fan" if you only play the PC games. Hell, there were even people who looked down upon anyone who played the board game in one of the later settings like 3050, instead of the purist 3025.
So what is this "Ubisoft game" that I keep reading about? Is it a historical open-world rpg? A tactical esports shooter? A dancing game? A historical city builder? A VR horror game? Open-world shooter? Competitive naval battles with pirate ships? A side-scrolling motorbike platformer? A tactics game with Mario and Donkey Kong? And that's not even all the different genres and settings from the 2019/ 2019 line-up.
I keep reading this "an Ubisoft game", and honestly, as an employee I find the idea that all our games are the same both insulting and ridiculous. Especially as I would be hard pressed to think of many publishers that have such a varied portfolio across all platforms and genres...
Thread[RUMOR]: MVCI Update in development, to be rebranded as "Marvel Vs. Capcom 4"
Assuming that everyone who has a different taste or opinion has been paid to do so is always a sign of a sensible approach to a "discussion" forum, yes.
Thread[RUMOR]: MVCI Update in development, to be rebranded as "Marvel Vs. Capcom 4"
This is a curious rumor. I'd love to see the game get revisited after the rough initial reception, but it seems that they would have to put so much work into that (starting with the much critiziced graphics) that they may just as well for a new game. Of course, that would likely enrage those fans who actually bought MvCI even more, so there is no clear and easy route forward for them. Given that most people expect it to be the end of their partnership, it will definitely be interesting to see if any of this comes true...
ThreadActivision to terminate Cybertron Transformers source code?
People who think that Activision could (even if they wanted to, and they honestly have zero reason to do so) give out the full source code of a game that makes use of someone else's engine, and another company's IP are incredibly naive. Not to mention some other third-party middleware that I am sure was sued during development as well. That's not how licensing works...
ThreadWhy people on ERA are against acquisitions of struggling developers?
Couldn‘t agree more, OP. The midsized independent developer is a brutal spot to be in these days, with most major publishers unwilling to finance (big) games if they don’t own the IP. Been there, done that, and it was rough.
ThreadFallout 76 : Gameplay and Impressions Thread
The way she worded it makes it sound as if they had more players than normal in the same zone/ server. That's different from the overall number of palyers at launch which would spread out across many servers.
Thread[RUMOUR] Larian Studios acquired Baldur's Gate license and is working on Baldur's Gate 3
This would be extremely hype! <3 Though I would ideally want to see Baldur's Gate keep the classic real-time with pause combat format, after the disappointment of Torment. Fingers crossed this rumor bears out!
ThreadIs most translation done freelance these days?
Having a translator for each language as a full-time employee often doesn't make sense due to the timescale of game development. In many cases, they would not have much work for 2 years, until all the text in a game is finalized as you get closer to release. Many larger companies have full-time people or teams internally who manage the localization and work with all the external agencies and vendors, however.
ThreadIs most translation done freelance these days?
Fair point, I just meant that your thread title just asked about "most translation", while your actual question seems to be about the very narrow topic of "Japanese games being translated into English", as opposed to for example the 13 or so languages that Assassin's Creed is translated into.
ThreadAnno 1800 will be released on February 26, 2019 + new trailer
We have so far released three trailers (announcement, E3 2018 and gamescom 2018), and done some gameplay streams (the next one will be tomorrow German time). We also had a lot of press and influencers capture gameplay recently, so you should be able to find a lot on youtube these days.
ThreadAnno 1800 will be released on February 26, 2019 + new trailer
As an update, we are doing a live stream and walkthrough of our gamescom demo tomorrow (Thursday September 6th) at 4.30pm CEST/ 10.30am EST/ 7.30am PST at twitch.tv/ubisoftbluebyte :)
ThreadAnno 1800 will be released on February 26, 2019 + new trailer
I don't like making bold claims like "this is the most complex Anno ever", especially as I think that complexity is something that can be perceived very differently by different people. With that said, our stated goal is definitely to create a very deep and complex Anno game (so a mix of city building, economic sim and other strategy elements like diplomacy, naval battles etc)- definitely much more so than 2205!
We have made big changes to some of the core gameplay, for starters. Every tier now has its own workforce, so even if you built an island over 100 hours, you will still need to make sure to have enough tier 1 farmers to work in the fields, etc. We have also split up basic needs (required to advance to next tier) and citizen happiness, allowing you to be an exploitative rubber baron while still making progress- both of those already add more complexity. And of course we have quite a few new features as well, like city attractiveness, expeditions etc.
I haven't had a chance to search around too much yet, but we hosted quite a few influencers at gamescom, so expect to see a lot more videos pop up soon. We will also definitely host a stream to go into detail on our gc announcements in the coming weeks.
No one knows- not even here on the team^^ The reason and origin is lost to time, but we know it is important to fans, so we will stick with it :)
ThreadAnno 1800 will be released on February 26, 2019 + new trailer
We will definitely do a post-gc stream in September to walk the people at home through the new content.
Fun fact, I am writing this post with the award right next to me :p
No plans for that, sorry.
ThreadAnno 1800 will be released on February 26, 2019 + new trailer
Thanks guys, super excited to finally get to announce the date ❤️
No, Th music is not for the soundtrack. The in-game music is full orchestral by the same composer as our last few games.
ThreadWhat's your dream Nintendo game announcement at E3?
Eternal Darkness Remake, or ED 2 would be pretty cool. Not that I expect it to happen anytime soon, sadly -.- Apart from that a cool Fire Emblem for Switch that doesn't go too heavy on the waifu aspect would also be very cool.
ThreadRemnant: From The Ashes announced (Perfect World/Gunfire Games, TP Survival Action, TREE MONSTERS!!)
I am curious to see how similar this will be to the team's original vision for Hunt: Horrors of the Gilded Age from back when they were Crytek Austin...
ThreadBattle Chasers Nightwar |OT| Now on the Switch
It absolutely was :) I changed my platform to Switch around 1 month or so before release, and paid an extra 10$ or so for the physical upgrade. I think it is still on there if you wanna check.
ThreadBattle Chasers Nightwar |OT| Now on the Switch
That was at launch in October. Since I had selected Switch and it was coming months later, they offered me a free key of my choice from Xbox One, PC and PS4.
ThreadBattle Chasers Nightwar |OT| Now on the Switch
Glad its finally happening. I was pretty annoyed when they told the BAckers that it won't be too long between the other versions and the Switch version, which then ended up being 7 months -.- On the bright side, they threw in w few key for another version in for everyone, and I loved playing the game on Steam. Still looking forward to my Switch copy arriving soon, haven't used mine in ages...
ThreadBattle Chasers Nightwar |OT| Now on the Switch
You should, BattleChasers is pretty cool if you like superhero (you can clearly see Joe's 90s MArvel roots) and fantasy comics. I only wish he would do more, would happily back a KS for him to continue the series.
ThreadI Want Capcom do Star Wars Survivor-Horror Game when EA Didn't have Exclusive License anymore.
Only some of the best games ever in their respective genres had the Star Wars license. X-Wing series, KotOR, Jedi Knight etc are all-time classics, unless you are one of those people who conveniently forgets PC gaming when making such statements.
ThreadI Want Capcom do Star Wars Survivor-Horror Game when EA Didn't have Exclusive License anymore.
Seeing how Capcom needs Sony's support to develop a new Street Fighter, how do you see them having the moneyfor the Star Wars license, or to develop a AAA game using it.
Not to mention that Disney and Capcom may have a somewhat strained relationship after how MvCI turned out...