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505 Games' parent company lays off 30% of its workforce, says gamers really only want sequels so that's what it's going to make (www.pcgamer.com)

submitted 9 months ago by stopthatgirl7@kbin.social to c/games@lemmy.world

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Digital Bros joins the chorus of game companies putting people out of work in the name of "operational efficiency."

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[-] corytheboyd@kbin.social 32 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

You may not agree, but they are right. We are not most people. They want, and they have, that sweet “lowest common denominator” market, and they will take advantage of that until something else generates more cash. The “lowest common denominator” demand more CoD and whatnot. They don’t care if it’s bad, because them and all their friends will buy it and perhaps even have some fun. The big studios converging on vapid cash grabs instead of creating interesting content is depressing, sure, but hardly surprising in a world where morals and ethics don’t matter, where you can get away with the absolute most heinous, reprehensible acts, and suffer zero consequences.

I don’t really care though. The indie scene is unaffected by this, and has only gotten better every year for as long as it has been around. It’s fucking GLORIOUS already, and it’s not going anywhere because it’s not run by an oligarchy of publicly traded shitfactories.

[-] Djennik@lemmy.world 12 points 9 months ago

There is still hope in projects like baldurs gate 3

[-] GenEcon@lemm.ee 10 points 9 months ago

Which is a sequel...

The best selling new game was Hogwarts Legacy. Which still has a strong IP behind it (which really was the only reason the game was selling so much).

The only game in the top 10 of the best selling games 2023 without being a sequel or having a strong IP behind it, is Starfield.

[-] Narrrz@kbin.social 10 points 9 months ago

and the open source, free tools for creating such games are getting better almost by the day.

[-] imapuppetlookaway@lemmy.world 7 points 9 months ago

Yeah i think we're in a golden age of indie games. When i want to find a new game, i search youtube for "best indie games of 2018" or 2017, 2021 or whatever. So much great stuff to play made in the last 5-10 years. And so much more affordable. And it feels great to give my money to these devs.

[-] MrMcGasion@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago

If someone told me 4-5 years ago, that the year we got really incredible sequels to both Breath of the Wild, and that cool new Spider-Man game on PS4, my most-enjoyed game would be an indie Lovecraftian light-horror fishing game, I wouldn't have believed them.

[-] DrQuint@lemm.ee 3 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Yeah. I'm of the same mind. I was here to witness the resurgence of Boomer and Movement Shooters. Now, we're in the cusp of the resurgence of RTS. I am very much happy with the state of gaming, without having to focus on sequels.

The last game published by 505 I played were apparently Indivisible, which was trash. I never played Ghostrunner nor Control which basically eliminates most of their notable recent output. I think I can safely say I'll be fine with my continued ignoring of them as a publisher.

[-] Entropywins@kbin.social 4 points 9 months ago

Some people didn't like it but I fucking loved Control...great game and worth a play imho

[-] scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.tech 1 points 9 months ago

Yup. They'll let smaller studios take risks on new IP and buy them if it's profitable. They get the wins but none of the losses.

[-] Asafum@feddit.nl 1 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Spacebourne 2.

Not polished as it's still in early access, not amazing graphics, but turning out to be a damn good game that most "AAA" developers wouldn't even try to make, that was made by one guy (and now a small team of volunteers/contractors lol)

[-] slaacaa@lemmy.world 1 points 9 months ago

Also, making a good game is always a risk, it’s an intersection of tech, business, and art. Control e.g. sold only a few million copies, depsite being widely praised.

If you however want be sure, you invest a lot in marketing and monetisation, targeting a wide audience as you said, and can take a lower risk to make back your investment. Absolutely hate this of course, but luckily there are still good games, as long as e.g. Sony is willing to take that risk to sell more PS consoles, or we get wonders like BG3