I just like the quote that makes up the title of this article. (The article itself isn't all that groundbreaking, but it's interesting for what it is.)
Quote Posted by Games Industry
Immersive sims is a genre all about choice, but fans are rapidly running out of them.
Deus Ex, Thief and Dishonored are all on hiatus following the disappointing performance of their latest outings, and the poor reception for Underworld Ascendant (the spiritual successor to Ultima Underworld, deemed by many to be the first immersive sim) makes a follow-up unlikely.
It would be easy to argue the genre is dying, at least at the level of major publishers, and the scope of such projects makes them difficult for indies to deliver. At Reboot Develop, we asked Warren Spector -- known for immersive sims, including Deus Ex, Thief and System Shock -- why the segment is struggling.
warren
"The reality is we ask people to work," he told GamesIndustry.biz. "It's an interesting thing. The immersive simulation is not the kind of game where if you keep moving forward, like a shark, you'll eventually win. It's not the kind of genre where you just solve a puzzle the designer created for you, or kill everything that moves and you win. It's a genre where you have to decide what to do, you have to choose how to interact with the world. That is work, it requires brain power. So I suspect that's part of it."
But surely that's integral to the genre's appeal? These games are all about choice. If a player wants to treat Deus Ex, for example, as a shooter and go in all guns blazing, they can. Alternatively, they can approach it like a stealth game, or concentrate on hacking and other non-combat abilities to find new avenues forward. Essentially, it's like an RPG but without number-crunching or the grind.
"That's exactly right," said Spector. "The odd thing is I always thought, and still think, that's the most mainstream idea you could possibly think of. If I play a shooter or a stealth game and I'm not good enough, all I can do is stop playing. Same if I'm playing a puzzle game and I'm not clever enough. In the immersive simulation, if the combat or stealth is too hard you try something else."
Spector suggested that part of the genre's decline might be because elements, even the entire ethos, can be found in other games. While he's careful not to claim direct influence, he cited Zelda: Breath of the Wild as a game with, "some of the tenets of immersive simulation." Similarly, the Far Cry series has been built around enabling players to adapt their playstyle how they see fit.
While the System Shock 3 director can't speak for other companies' games, he does know Underworld Ascendant has "done well enough to get our next game funded" -- although he said he doesn't know the exact sales figure.
"My business partner handles all this stuff because I just want to make games," he said. "I do not want to think about it. I spent a few years with Disney thinking about the studio as much as I was thinking about the game, and I don't want to do that anymore. I suspect you're right, that sales weren't quite what we hoped for, but I really don't know."
Regardless of whether his company's latest release sold well enough to fund another, it's impossible to ignore the number of companies struggling to sell this type of game in sufficient quantities. Given how risk-averse this industry can be, particularly at the top, does this mean the end is nigh for immersive sims?
"It's not going to disappear," said Spector. "Well, if it does, I'm going to disappear. By choice.