The AAA studios are abusing their developers(look up "crunch") to churn out sequels of copies of sequels filled with exploitative microtransactions, bugs, and predatory mechanics, for which they still want people to pay sixty dollars.
The AAA industry is dying because they've lost touch with with customers, and are just hammering them for…
The AAA studios are abusing their developers(look up "crunch") to churn out sequels of copies of sequels filled with exploitative microtransactions, bugs, and predatory mechanics, for which they still want people to pay sixty dollars.
The AAA industry is dying because they've lost touch with with customers, and are just hammering them for a quick buck.
Indie studios are where people interested in reporting on games should be looking.
I don't know if I would call working five to 10 years on a project a path to a quick buck. I wish Microsoft, with their acquisitions, turned the devs loose on the old IP. Is Steve Meretzky still out there to script a new Wishbringer?
Development time for a game notwithstanding, the prevailing current in the AAA industry right now is to release now, fix later, create annoyances, and sell solutions. Post-purchase monetization is a top priority, regardless(or more likely heedless) of the degenerative effect it has on customers.
I don't really play those games. God of War, Spiderman, Borderlands, Diablo, Palworld, Balder's Gate. Some of them let you buy non-game changing things, but nothing required (expansions notwithstanding). I don't play games that have annual versions.
I wish everyone had proper management so that crunch didn't exist. Unfortunately good management is rare. Folks need to be fairly compensated for their time and efforts, especially if crunch exists. I previously worked in a field where there was crunch three times a day with advertisers involved. Happily, with a small team and clear deadlines, I didn't break them. But it does suck every time.
The AAA industry in terms of bugs and crunch hasn't really gotten any worse than it was 10 years ago, but the exploitation aspects are absolutely worse, but a huge issue there is just short-sighted management. Game development costs have blown up, and some of it is higher production values, some of it is bad management. Need people with actual long-term thinking and proper vision beyond "chase the thing".
The AAA studios are abusing their developers(look up "crunch") to churn out sequels of copies of sequels filled with exploitative microtransactions, bugs, and predatory mechanics, for which they still want people to pay sixty dollars.
The AAA industry is dying because they've lost touch with with customers, and are just hammering them for a quick buck.
Indie studios are where people interested in reporting on games should be looking.
I don't know if I would call working five to 10 years on a project a path to a quick buck. I wish Microsoft, with their acquisitions, turned the devs loose on the old IP. Is Steve Meretzky still out there to script a new Wishbringer?
Development time for a game notwithstanding, the prevailing current in the AAA industry right now is to release now, fix later, create annoyances, and sell solutions. Post-purchase monetization is a top priority, regardless(or more likely heedless) of the degenerative effect it has on customers.
I don't really play those games. God of War, Spiderman, Borderlands, Diablo, Palworld, Balder's Gate. Some of them let you buy non-game changing things, but nothing required (expansions notwithstanding). I don't play games that have annual versions.
I wish everyone had proper management so that crunch didn't exist. Unfortunately good management is rare. Folks need to be fairly compensated for their time and efforts, especially if crunch exists. I previously worked in a field where there was crunch three times a day with advertisers involved. Happily, with a small team and clear deadlines, I didn't break them. But it does suck every time.
The AAA industry in terms of bugs and crunch hasn't really gotten any worse than it was 10 years ago, but the exploitation aspects are absolutely worse, but a huge issue there is just short-sighted management. Game development costs have blown up, and some of it is higher production values, some of it is bad management. Need people with actual long-term thinking and proper vision beyond "chase the thing".
Agreed.