voodoo47 on 20/10/2024 at 17:29
I used to be annoyed by this, until I realized there is enough good content already out there to last me a lifetime. so go ahead AAA companies, churn out garbage, lose money and go bankrupt, who cares. and to respond to the thread title;
[video=youtube;L8zMM7_4HPg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8zMM7_4HPg[/video]
Tomi on 20/10/2024 at 20:00
Yeah, and there's no reason to be worried about the state of AAA game industry, as the indie gaming scene is stronger than ever. Pretty much anyone with an idea and enough patience can make a game nowadays. Of course the vast majority of these games are not that great, but when millions of new games get released every year, there are at least a couple of gems among them. Gaming will also remain a huge business whether we like it or not. Perhaps the current industry giants have become too big for their own good, but I think that AAA gaming is here to stay.
weylfar on 21/10/2024 at 09:21
What is today's formula game to be successful?
EvaUnit02 on 21/10/2024 at 09:35
Quote Posted by weylfar
What is today's formula game to be successful?
Appeal to PS2/PS3 era audience sensibilities. See Black Myth Wukong, From Software games and WH40K Space Marine 2.
Else make mobile style live service gatcha games with shit loads of heteronormative cheesecake and/or beefcake fanservice. See Hoyoverse games, Nikke: Goddess of Victory, Azurlane.
Quote Posted by Tomi
Do games like Baldur's Gate 3 and Deathloop even belong to the AAA category though? Yes, they were very anticipated releases, but I'd imagine that the teams behind them were fairly small compared to some Ubisoft team working on the next Assassin's Creed game. That's just my gut feeling though and I'm probably wrong, and perhaps that's not even how you define an AAA game. :p
Arkane had been owned by AAA publisher Bethesda for 10+ years at least by the time Deathloop came out. Larian was AA but had their Witcher 3 moment and have graduated to AAA given BG3's success. They're still technically indie, despite Tencent having a 30% minority stake.
heywood on 21/10/2024 at 16:01
I feel like I have aged out of the target market for AAA games, which is fine because I can still play most of my old favorites, and there are more interesting indy or non-AAA games coming out than I have the time to play.
Tomi on 21/10/2024 at 18:22
I feel like I have aged out of the target market for AAA games too, because I have absolutely no idea what any of the following means:
Quote Posted by EvaUnit02
Else make mobile style live service gatcha games with shit loads of heteronormative cheesecake and/or beefcake fanservice. See Hoyoverse games, Nikke: Goddess of Victory, Azurlane.
Okay. :D
Quote:
Arkane had been owned by AAA publisher Bethesda for 10+ years at least by the time Deathloop came out. Larian was AA but had their Witcher 3 moment and have graduated to AAA given BG3's success. They're still technically indie, despite Tencent having a 30% minority stake.
Turns out that I also don't know much about the business side of gaming, which I personally don't see as such a bad thing though. I knew that Arkane is owned by Bethesda nowadays, but isn't it common practice that the smaller studios get acquired by the bigger ones? Surely not everything published by Bethesda automatically gets the AAA stamp on it?
Also, to make things even more confusing, didn't Microsoft buy Bethesda not too long ago? :weird:
Starker on 21/10/2024 at 19:55
Quote Posted by Tomi
I feel like I have aged out of the target market for AAA games too, because I have absolutely no idea what any of the following means:
I will try to translate: make exploitatively addictive games for horny teenagers with lots of tits and ass and muscular dudes and no (male) homo, because that's icky and stuff.
demagogue on 21/10/2024 at 20:14
Leave it to Eva to be our heteronormative cheesecake whisperer to us pinko indie-game-loving cupcakes.
Jason Moyer on 21/10/2024 at 22:14
I think it's rare, in general, for a decent game to come out regardless of whether it's AAA or AA or indie or whatever and it seems odd that we haven't had a market crash like the NA crash of 1982 given the sheer volume of stuff that is constantly coming out.
I was going through the NextFest games yesterday and while there's some really interesting stuff, it's crazy to me how so much of it is just completely bread and butter "list of genres that were popular 10 years ago".
EvaUnit02 on 22/10/2024 at 15:47
Quote Posted by Starker
I will try to translate: make exploitatively addictive games for horny teenagers with lots of tits and ass and muscular dudes and no (male) homo, because that's icky and stuff.
I'm referring mostly to the bishounen/ikemen/flower boy archetype. Think kpop boy group members. Heterosexual female gatcha players will drop big $ on their husbandos, especially the fujoshi.
Quote Posted by Tomi
I feel like I have aged out of the target market for AAA games too, because I have absolutely no idea what any of the following means:
Okay. :D
Games, often with exploitative gambling mechanics ("gatcha"), with visually appealing characters that entice people into spending time and/or money into acquiring them. These gatcha games more often than not sell new skins outright for characters, rather than forcing you to play the slots for them. The norm these is gambling is for new characters themselves.
Western games used to go for the same appeal with League of Legends and Overwatch, before neo-puritans co-opted the Western AAA industry around 2016. It's largely the games made by these people which is the slop that's flopping. They try to socially engineer their potential customers by taking away their options, but it almost always fails. Asian entertainment has been eating the lunch of Western entertainment mediums for several years now. Eg Japanese manga + Korean Manwha/Webtoon absolutely dominates Western comics in sales. Hollywood is largely putting out garbage that's flopping, meanwhile audiences are flocking to Japanese anime and Korean TV/movies. Indian film markets are gradually gaining Western viewers too, eg innovative filmmakers out of Tollywood like S.S. Rajamouli.
Quote Posted by Tomi
I Surely not everything published by Bethesda automatically gets the AAA stamp on it?
Their mobile live service games, for sure.
When TESO was new it would've been AAA. Now that it's a decade old, niche audience game, being serviced with annual expansions, it's AA.
Quote Posted by Tomi
Also, to make things even more confusing, didn't Microsoft buy Bethesda not too long ago? :weird:
Correct.
