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[Serenitynow]

We’re heading toward a crash. I guess I’m in the minority now where I will never buy a loot box

Whether or not the industry will crash, I find myself increasingly disinterested in the hobby outside of Nintendo’s stuff. I have no idea what angle Sony and Microsoft are going to take with their next consoles, but the Pro and X don’t leave me optimistic. Games are moving in a worse and worse direction by the year, it seems. If I don’t care for the best graphics, shooters or sports games, loot boxes, or multiplayer in general, what is there for me? Increasingly less and less.

 

[OnionPowder]

And Prey and Hitman and all those other great SP games people are just not buying.

Hitman is anything but what was described. It's single player, but it's for sure games as a service (maybe a good example of one, but still)

 

[LiK]

More like poor Dragon Age...

Fear for the worst.

DA MP gonna be lit

 

[Gator86]

EA really deserves its reputation.

 

[badcrumble]

paying to

(1) have your character progression proceed at a reasonable rate after the initial "hook"
(2) actually get the complete story
(3) straight up be more powerful than other human players

feels universally objectionable in a way that paying for

(1) weapons/equipment/playable characters that are 'different and interesting' but not objectively 'better'
(2) story content that is clearly a side story
(3) extra bosses/enemies in an arena mode etc.
(4) costumes and other cosmetic stuff

is not, most notably because the former set of things tends to mean that what you get for $60 out of the box is fundamentally incomplete/broken/imbalanced.

 

[Dabanton]

Personally I think a space single player focus should move to is digital only smaller priced experiences ala Hellblade.

I think there's a lot of market share you could potentially tap into going that route

I'd be very interested in that. Short more satisfying games with a reasonable pricepoint.

7-8 hours good production values.

 

[monome]

At this point it looks like SP game devs are guilty.

They know the financial stakes and when the chance comes, they agree to big budgets well knowing the returns are diminishing but thinking they will béat the odds.

 

[Celegus]

RIP AAAA games

 

[Obliterator]

From just this year, Resident Evil 7 is the first that comes to my mind. The latest South Park game, and I'm about to start Persona 5 but have no idea whether it's open or not. Nioh was published by Sony but is now coming to PC that does will in both areas, similar to Bloodborne/Souls. The Crash 1 - 3 Remake sold like crazy and is as "traditional" as it gets to quote the other poster. Are we excluding platformers from single-player experiences? We probably shouldn't.
.

Resident Evil 7 has failed to hit it's internal sales goals. It's not seen as a success

South Park sales numbers aren't in yet (should do ok though)

Persona 5 doesn't have a AAA budget

Ni-Oh doesn't have a AAA budget

Crash doesn't have a AAA budget.

So again, single player non open world can still exist sure. If you keep the budget small and don't have a large expansive scope with cutting edge graphics.

Again AAA single player driven games are DOA unless they go open world. 2k, Ubisoft, EA, WB, Activision, and Square Enix all abandoned that model over the last 2-3 years

 

[Okami Haundo]

Good bye Dead Space. Atleast we had 2 great games.

Dead Space has been "dead" for quite some time mate... I hate to be the one to break that news.

 

[Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew]

Still baffled this got canned after 4 years of production. Like it was due for completion in less than a year.

 

[JeffZero]

Yep. I'll be 38. It's just sad for me. This is something (the death of traditional singleplayer games) that has been talked about for a LONG time already, but this is actually the first time that it actually looks to be that way for real and not some distant horror scenario. I'm not adapting well to this new GAAS landscape. Some of my friends are and admit that they like more endless multiplayer games than story focused linear games. Those guys will have nothing to fear. But to be a bit dramatic, it seems like the end is near for me. Gaming isn't my only hobby so even if the industry alienates me I have other passions but still

Mhm, yep. Same. I've got other passions too but this still bites. Hard. Maybe after several days have passed we'll feel less... raw about this and at least manage to convince ourselves in the short-term that this is still a ways away from happening, you know? Right now I'm just... seething. I don't seethe easily and I'm sure many people would (and maybe should) laugh that I'd seethe over something like this. But I've been very connected to single-player games since a very young age. I don't dig the GAAS thing and I'm... egh. Whatevs, I'm going in circles.

I feel ya.

 

[Hag]

Papa EA doing work as always.

Amy can't catch a break

 

[MiamiWesker]

This is so fucking depressing. Never seen a publisher straight up publicly say "fuck single player linear games, you don't want it, we won't make them then"

This is my worst nightmare.

 

[Mr. F]

If I don’t care for the best graphics, shooters or sports games, loot boxes, or multiplayer in general, what is there for me? Increasingly less and less.

A large and growing indie subsection of the industry?

 

[Wulfram]

Because transforming the game into open world = easier to implement loot boxes, MTs and space currency.

Can you imagine The Last Guardian with loot boxes and microtransactions? Linear games tend to be all about the story, not about trying to get people to pay for F2P shit.

Transforming game into open world = more sales. Its not like The Witcher 3 or Skyrim have microtransactions.

The decline of the linear game is sad, but its not down to the gaas bogeyman.

 

[Harlequin]

Sounds to me like they're turning it into one of those generic pseudo-RPG open-world games.

Yay...

 

[Archanfel]

Hey! We're gonna get you too! Another one bites the dust!

 

[emperor_ing]

Such a shame as this was the Star Wars game that actually interested me. Cancelling the game is one thing but shutting the studio too is a knockout blow. Guess EA's reputation sells itself. Hope any effected by relocations & redundancies can pull through this.

 

[Mechazawa]

This feels so fucking raw after EA's corporate meddling lead to Visceral being saddled with a microtransaction-laden Dead Space and being forced the duty of having to transition Battlefield into an annualized series(which they've promptly dropped)

This company is a virus.

 

[LegitMcfalls]

Its funny that the only games we want as a "games as a service" from EA are their sport games and they sure as hell will never do that lol.

 

[Audioboxer]

I guess this might need to be updated for EA soon enough?

Your move EA.

Is Fuck Bioware coming soon?

Transforming game into open world = more sales. Its not like The Witcher 3 or Skyrim have microtransactions.

The decline of the linear game is sad, but its not down to the gaas bogeyman.

We're talking about Star Wars. A Star Wars game at the level of quality of something like Uncharted with 8~10/10s would knock sales out of the park.

Henning knows how to make a SP story driven game.

 

[Snaku]

I'm never going to play a good single player Star Wars game again, am I?

RIP Dead Space

 

[LordOcidax]

EA already has their Destiny like:

That game is going to be a DLC, Season pass, Loot boxes, Expansions, Micro transitions showcase.

 

[Theslammer]

Resident Evil 7 has failed to hit it's internal sales goals. It's not seen as a success

South Park sales numbers aren't in yet (should do ok though)

Persona 5 doesn't have a AAA budget

Ni-Oh doesn't have a AAA budget

Crash doesn't have a AAA budget.

So again, single player non open world can still exist sure. If you keep the budget small and don't have a large expansive scope with cutting edge graphics.

Again AAA single player driven games are DOA unless they go open world. 2k, Ubisoft, EA, Activision, and Square Enix all abandoned that model over the last 2-3 years

You really ought to read the rest of the post.

EDIT: Out of curiosity, how does anyone know the budgets for all of these games? I'm not sure most games' budgets are public knowledge, but if they are, I'd love to see the web site for my own curiosity.

 

[Ninja Scooter]

We’re heading toward a crash. I guess I’m in the minority now where I will never buy a loot box

Wasn't there an article not too long ago about how loot boxes are increasing revenue across the board? If anything stuff like this is developers adapting to the market. Perhaps overcorrecting to some extent, but lets not act like the vast majority of the most popular/profitable games don't fall under this umbrella. They are following the money.

 

[bill0527]

And they wonder why year after year after year they are voted worst company in America.

 

[Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew]

Papa EA doing work as always.

Amy can't catch a break

If I was Sony, I'd form a new studio just for her.

 

[Magic Mushroom]

Hitman is anything but what was described. It's single player, but it's for sure games as a service (maybe a good example of one, but still)

Fair enough. Replace it with Alien Isolation or Dishonored 2 or something of that ilk.

 

[Lifejumper]

Casey Hudson is back at EA. Make KOTOR 3.

 

[Okami Haundo]

Whether or not the industry will crash, I find myself increasingly disinterested in the hobby outside of Nintendo's stuff. I have no idea what angle Sony and Microsoft are going to take with their next consoles, but the Pro and X don't leave me optimistic. Games are moving in a worse and worse direction by the year, it seems. If I don't care for the best graphics, shooters or sports games, loot boxes, or multiplayer in general, what is there for me? Increasingly less and less.

Independent/smaller developers exist and have created some of my favorite games this generation.

And they wonder why year after year after year they are voted worst company in America.

Yep! They definitely deserve it more than banks that nearly caused a full-blown depression. If this is really your opinion you're either quite a bit too young or in dire need of expanding your worldview. Fuck.

 

[shimon]

https://twitter.com/patrickklepek/status/920367724601192450

There you go.

 

[Lmo911]

GET HENNIG ON A NEW LEGACY OF KAIN NOW!!

We can mourn the loss of Star Wars Uncharted and Dead Space later... we need to strike while the iron is hot!

 

[Mass Effect]

After just about every notable studio has moved fully onto riding the GAAS train, I wonder how long it will take for that scene to be overcrowded as fuck. If the idea is to have fewer titles that players hold onto longer, how will it look like when each and every game is like that? Gamers won't dedicate themselves to 10 GAAS games simultaneously. My bold prediction is that we'll start to see more "retro" singleplayer games once again after the customer base has been burnt out on all the GAAS games. Maybe in 12 years or so.

I definitely can see something like this happening.

As more games move to GaaS timesinks (like Destiny, Overwatch, or League) people will only stick to 1-2 of those games at a time. So yeah, they'll probably be bigger winners, but there will also be bigger losers. And what will those who end up with the losing games do in response?

And even before that happens, I have no doubt that people will start to feel burned out by the endless gameplay loop nature of a lot a GaaS games, and will start to look for alternative experiences. This is probably where AA and indies will shine. You can already start to see this happen.

 

[Triggerhappytel]

AAA single players games are basically dead, right?

Sony
Nintendo
Bethesda
'AAA Indie' like Hellblade or Obduction
Some Warner stuff, I guess

It's not over yet but we do seem to be on a wobbly bridge which is claiming more and more victims.

 

[Bustanen]

That's the EA I know. Druckmann ask Hennig to make Savage Starlight please.

 

[ArkkAngel007]

Sounds like an open world title, perhaps looking to step in as a replacement for Mass Effect.

 

[AgentLampshade]

I actually can't get over that game statement. Every single sentence makes me angry.

 

[momshotdad]

Fuck me. This one hurts the most. EA can fuck right off. Destroying a perfectly fine singleplayer game to make room for loot boxes and microtransactions. Fuck you EA.

 

[Random Human]

.

 

[RRockman]

How many more must die before EA is slain?

 

[Crossing Eden]

If anything, the traditional AAA model was more likely to produce a crash than the GaaS model.

This is really close to the truth.

 

[Ninja Scooter]

Fuck me. This one hurts the most. EA can fuck right off. Destroying a perfectly fine singleplayer game to make room for loot boxes and microtransactions. Fuck you EA.

How do you know it was "perfectly fine"?

 

[Asd202]

Sony
Nintendo
Bethesda
'AAA Indie' like Hellblade or Obduction
Some Warner stuff, I guess

It's not over yet but we do seem to be on a wobbly bridge which is claiming more and more victims.

I don't know how Bethesda will react with all their recent SP failures.

 

[brotkasten]

God fucking damn it.

This was the only Star Wars game (and EA game for that matter) I was looking forward to and of course fucking EA killed it and the studio behind it.

For fucks sake. I can't believe this shit.

Fuck EA.

 

[Rhaknar]

We will always have Paris Dead Space 1 & 2 ;_;

 

[Rosstimus]

Obviously this sucks a lot, especially considering this studio put out some great games last gen. But to play devil's advocate--This is a game we know nothing about, and it was in development for years (3 or 4?). It feels possible, if not probable that it was a shitshow behind the scenes and was bleeding money without an end in sight, putting EA between a rock and a hard place.

 

[Magic Mushroom]

Whether or not the industry will crash, I find myself increasingly disinterested in the hobby outside of Nintendo’s stuff. I have no idea what angle Sony and Microsoft are going to take with their next consoles, but the Pro and X don’t leave me optimistic. Games are moving in a worse and worse direction by the year, it seems. If I don’t care for the best graphics, shooters or sports games, loot boxes, or multiplayer in general, what is there for me? Increasingly less and less.

Indies? Tons of great SP games in that space.

 

[Serenitynow]

A large and growing indie subsection of the industry?

You’re totally right, but I love big production games more. And I will lament their death.

 

[Ninja Scooter]

If anything, the traditional AAA model was more likely to produce a crash than the GaaS model.

This. People act like game developers weren't shuttering and the B-tier wasn't disappearing long before GAAS became trendy.