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[Sou Da]

Then you have no idea how Anthem's going to turn out.

And you do?

 

[MosquitoSmasher]

Incredibly sad to see Visceral go though. This destroys any chance of a new Dead Space. Not that those chances were pretty slim to begin with.

 

[JeffZero]

Dragon Age: Retribution
Expansion 2: The Dread Wolf
MSRP: $40

Reunite your battle party with up to 5 friends as you explore the hidden tombs of lush Arlathan. Gear up with over 30 new loots and craft the all-new Wardensaber in a bid to stop an old ally from bringing death to Thedas. Unlock the powers of the Dread Wolf today when you pre-order your copy, gaining instant access to 2 random elfroot crates and a special limited edition cheese wheel.

I'm just mentally preparing myself for it. Don't mind me.

 

[Baraka Obama]

Bethesda the publisher might scale back on SP or pivot some of their studios towards MP, but Bethesda the developer will likely have a blank check to create their open world SP RPGs for the foreseeable future.

Bethesda developed games are barely rpgs

Regardless I Bethesda has never said how much they want these games to sell so we don’t if to them these games are failures. I’m sure higher ups are looking to find a way to make service game though. I can’t imagine they expect a game evil within to sell more than a couple hundred thousand.

On topic: this is really a punch to the gut because how talented visceral is. I hope sledgehammer and other devs invite these developers in.

 

[Ninja Scooter]

We’re not heading toward any crash. Publishers are simply following the trends set by consumers— who have proven that they’re eager to spend more money on loot boxes, microtransactions, and season passes. They’re just following the cash.

If we were heading toward a crash, publishers would’ve persisted with GaaS after consumers had generally rejected it (see Online Passes). This just isn’t the case. Someone, somewhere, is spending a fuckton of money on this stuff... so there’s really no (business) reason not to continue to tap consumers for more cash.

Agreed. People need to understand that just because the market is going in a direction you personally don't like, or is different from where it was 10-15-20 years ago, doesn't mean it's going to crash. It's like saying comic book movies are going to cause a film industry crash.

 

[Audioboxer]

Psychonauts 2 will be wonderful. And sell 10 copies

There will be dozens of us! The indie market is proving if you create a good platformer/puzzler and market it well, it will sell. If Psychonauts 2 keeps up the quality and gets marketed properly, I'm sure it'll do fine sales wise.

 

[Blam]

Wow EA fuck you and the statement you made about Amy Hennig.

 

[Wolfgunblood Garopa]

There just wasn't enough content that met or exceeded players expectations of emergent gameplay in an ever evolving world of dynamic player driven content that offers the kind of richness and breadth of experiencing that today's players expect to experience with their Star Wars experiencing.

 

[Crossing Eden]

Of course that's assuming Anthem releases in a timely manner and before the market has moved on.

2019 at the latest a good estimate?

Then you have no idea how Anthem's going to turn out.

It had a strong showing. If anything it looked like one of the first showcases of what can be done next gen.

 

[Theslammer]

Because every developer/publisher is convinced their game might be the next one to hit, and if it does, it's like a license to print money. The problem you are describing isn't really a SP vs GAAS problem. What you are describing was rearing it's head last gen, when consumers only had a finite amount of money and time to throw at big budget games, which is what led to a lot of publishers and studios being shut down because they could no longer afford to play ball, even in the SP space.

Part of that, or maybe a large part admittedly, was the recession. The gaming market has grown in the past several years after facing its recessionary contraction, so this seems more something specific to EA than something bigger, and like you, I don't think it's a SP vs. MP thing.

 

[Dark Cloud]

It just depends on how "gass" is done. Horizon is gass and so it BotW, but people like that kind.

 

[Vire]

This is why third party games are trash at this point. 😢

 

[Fbh]

Damn, that sucks. Hopefully everyone who wasn't transferred to another studio/project manages to land on their feet.
Just the other day saw someone commenting on an article about the lootboxes in Battlefront 2, lamenting how we would probably never get another good single player star wars game. I was like "hey, don't forget the Amy Hennig project!". Guess that's gone now too. As disappointed as I am as a consumer, just imagine how disappointed the people involved in this must be. Years dedicated to the project only to, in some cases, end up out of a job and see the game being transformed into an open world always online loot box driven experience.

It sucks that this is increasingly becoming the reality of AAA games, but quite honestly, can you even blame big publishers? As disappointing as it is to hear, it's starting to become clear that those of us who want high budget single player games, specially story focused ones, are in the minority. Just look at sales over this generation and you'll see tons of great single player games bombing. And you can blame some of it on bad marketing and some of it on other factors but the truth is that the market is showing that it doesn't care about those types of games anymore.

Thankfully we still have some big publishers pushing for big single player Stuff like Sony (though who knows for how long) and Nintendo.
Some Japanese devs seem to have found success with mid tier budget games like Nier, Yakuza, Nioh, Persona, etc (not to say that these games have a low budget, but I'd have to guess it's quite far from the overall cost of something like Battlefront 2 or Uncharted 4).
And of course indies continue to provide an almost constant stream of cool single player games.

It's a shame to see the big mainstream audience loosing interest in the type of games that I like, but at least there still seems to be a decent future for single player games

 

[DieH@rd]

"Our Visceral studio has been developing an action-adventure title set in the Star Wars universe," EA's Patrick Söderlund said. ”In its current form, it was shaping up to be a story-based, linear adventure game. Throughout the development process, we have been testing the game concept with players, listening to the feedback about what and how they want to play, and closely tracking fundamental shifts in the marketplace. It has become clear that to deliver an experience that players will want to come back to and enjoy for a long time to come, we needed to pivot the design. We will maintain the stunning visuals, authenticity in the Star Wars universe, and focus on bringing a Star Wars story to life. Importantly, we are shifting the game to be a broader experience that allows for more variety and player agency, leaning into the capabilities of our Frostbite engine and reimagining central elements of the game to give players a Star Wars adventure of greater depth and breadth to explore."

I mean really, fuck of EA. I would not be surprised if Disney turned again to Sony for AAA singleplayer game [SuckerPunch this time].

This seems to imply development problems.

No it does not. It can be trouble that was brought form outside of the studio, like EA demanding to transform the game into GaaS, placing unrealistic goals, etc.

 

[IKizzLE]

Of course not exclusively, but games like The Witcher III, Uncharted 4, and GTA V (initial sales, not after the focus on online stuff) show that even with a single player focus, a combination of high quality and good marketing does move units.

Games as a Service is useless if the base game sucks.

This is something people choose to ignore. They think loot boxes and shitty games solely define GaaS.

 

[Audioboxer]

This is why third party games are trash at this point. ��

If anyone wants quality 3rd party trash (with no MTs/loot boxes), then shuffle this way ~ http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1448510

 

[Surfside]

Because every developer/publisher is convinced their game might be the next one to hit, and if it does, it's like a license to print money. The problem you are describing isn't really a SP vs GAAS problem. What you are describing was rearing it's head last gen, when consumers only had a finite amount of money and time to throw at big budget games, which is what led to a lot of publishers and studios being shut down because they could no longer afford to play ball, even in the SP space.

This sounds like further consolidation is at hand.

Who buys who?

 

[Elfstar]

If the current climate is the same 10 years from now, maybe? But I doubt it. 1997 was different from 2007, which was different than 2017. No one knows what the most popular genre will be in a decade, what trends publishers will follow, what developers will want to make, and how the AAA/AA/Indie scene will look. A game like Destiny or PUBG may not be the most popular type of game at that point.

I think we'll just have to wait for their new, post-2017 main flagship games to know.

 

[Takamura-San]

Most likely it was like scalebound and the game was turning out to be trash. Nothing was shown for 4 years. Not even a hint. They couldn't make star wars work.

 

[Theslammer]

We will see how long that last. Horizon 2 with a battle royale mode incoming...

A co-op mode for Horizon would be fantastic, tbh, at least for certain events like a horde of bots or maybe even a powerful, unique one. Bloodborne could be played entirely single-player, but I loved that it had MP and utilized it a lot.

 

[KingBroly]

Not surprised

 

[Chezzymann]

Agreed. People need to understand that just because the market is going in a direction you personally don't like, or is different from where it was 10-15-20 years ago, doesn't mean it's going to crash. It's like saying comic book movies are going to cause a film industry crash.

Its a shame that whales exist and are ruining games for the rest of us.

 

[Jb]

Only interesting thing that should result from this is the inevitable tell-all about Ragtag's troubled history we'll get to read on Kotaku, Eurogamer or Polygon in a month or two. Should be an interesting one.

 

[Baraka Obama]

This is why third party games are trash at this point. 😢

What are you talking about?
Persona 5
Nioh
R6
Overwatch
Prey
Doom
Dishonered
Yes what a bunch of trash games

 

[Spyder_Monkey]

And you do?

It looks like an uninspired Destiny knockoff in a world where Destiny already had a major drop off with its sequel and Bioware isn't exactly lighting the world on fire lately. The story is either going to end with the masses eating it up for like a week before dropping off or Bioware shutting its doors.

 

[EdgeXL]

Disney fucked up so much with this deal. They're probably biting themselves in the ass too. I want this IP far away from EA.

They should be doing what they're doing with the Marvel IPs.

I can't think of too many publishers with the resources to secure the Star Wars rights and are willing to invest in a single player AAA Star Wars game.

 

[Obliterator]

This sounds like further consolidation is at hand.

Who buys who?

Nobody. The big 3rd parties are bigger and stronger than ever. They made it to the point it's too expensive try and compete directly with them thus ensuring large market share splits among them.

 

[JBourne]

Glad to hear Codecow had already gotten out. Hope everyone else is doing alright as well.


I might watch Dead Space: Downfall tonight.

 

[jmdajr]

I see.

Not enough servicing.

 

[DieH@rd]

game sounds like it's pivoting direction hard, assuming she's out of EA entirely

And of course, everything Amy has created is now property of EA.

 

[Maximo]

Buckle up more Lootbox games incoming.

 

[Donthizz#]

What. The. Fuck. Sad day indeed

 

[Van Bur3n]

I find myself unsurprised. Visceral having not made a substantially successful game in years, almost radio silence on the supposed Star Wars game they've been working on besides the useless "hey, we're working on a Star Wars game" updates at E3 conferences, and EA's famous ability of canning developers. If there was a developer under EA that was next on the list to get put down, it was Visceral.

 

[Blam]

Just a list of the games Visceral made. Some of the GOAT 007 games.

• Future Cop: LAPD
• CyberTiger
• Tiger Woods PGA Tour
• NASCAR Rumble
• Road Rash: Jailbreak
• 007: Agent Under Fire
• The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
• James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing
• The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age
• James Bond 007: From Russia with Love
• Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07
• The Godfather
• MySims
• The Simpsons Game
• Dead Space
• MySims Kingdom
• The Godfather II
• Dead Space: Extraction
• Dante's Inferno
• The Sims 3: Ambitions
• Dead Space 2
• Dead Space 3
• Battlefield 3: End Game
• Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel
• Battlefield Hardline

 

[SgtCobra]

Late to the party but what the fuck

 

[Surfside]

Nobody. The big 3rd parties are bigger and stronger than ever. They made it to the point it's too expensive try and compete directly with them thus ensuring large market share splits among them.

But what with big conglomerates like Vivendi and Tencent?

 

[Malakai]

I told yall EA is nothing but some frauds.

 

[Gemüsepizza]

Gotta love the trolls trying to stirr up shit with this "singleplayer games are dead!!1" crap.

Because they aren't. There are plenty of nice AAA singleplayer games coming in the near future:

Assassin's Creed Origins
Call of Duty WWII
Wolfenstein II
Spider-Man
Red Dead Redemption
Shadow of the Tomb Raider
The Last of Us 2
God of War
Metro: Exodus
Detroit: Become Human
Death Stranding
Far-Cry 5
...and several more.

Also, new games from companies like Rocksteady, CD Project RED, Bethesda and countless other, unannounced games. And no, games from these companies will not suddenly be multiplayer-only games. Their speciality is SP games. You don't just stop doing what you are good at, that's not how business works. People claiming this are simply trolling.

 

[IKizzLE]

A co-op mode for Horizon would be fantastic, tbh, at least for certain events like a horde of bots or maybe even a powerful, unique one. Bloodborne could be played entirely single-player, but I loved that it had MP and utilized it a lot.

I would absolutely love a battle royale mode for horizon 2. 100 players and robo dinosaurs running every where. And if there are cosmetic microtransactions needed to fund such development, I'm all for it. But you see, I don't have an adverse and allergic reaction to GaaS like a lot of posters here. I've been good with them for over a decade now. I loved shit like borderlands 2.

 

[Baraka Obama]

Most likely it was like scalebound and the game was turning out to be trash. Nothing was shown for 4 years. Not even a hint. They couldn't make star wars work.

Do you work at Platinum? Do you work at Viceral?
Games take a long ass time to make and clearly the game was in decent shape if they aren’t scrapping the work.

 

[Shredderi]

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.

Yeah man, I'll drink to that with you.

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.

What I'm thinking as well. Everyone always follows the trend until it's overcrowded. That's when somethings gotta give.

 

[CaptainKashup]

So wait, what's they are saying is that they basically want to do a Anthem/Destiny/Division-like but with Star Wars ?

And our single-player Uncharted-like Star Wars is basically dead ?

 

[Stygr]

But what with big conglomerates like Vivendi and Tencent?

Tencent is investing in f2p, p2w, mmo games on China and Vivendi has nothing, for now.

 

[Combichristoffersen]

There will be dozens of us! The indie market is proving if you create a good platformer/puzzler and market it well, it will sell. If Psychonauts 2 keeps up the quality and gets marketed properly, I'm sure it'll do fine sales wise.

The first one semi-bombed despite being wonderful (except the damn Meat Circus). TBH I don't think the sequel will be all that successful, sadly :'(

 

[Stallion Dan]

"In its current form, it was shaping up to be a story-based, linear adventure game."


Doesn't sound lootbox friendly, guess they had to change it.

 

[Northeastmonk]

None of this making good games for $60 BS right?

That's such terrible news. We'll probably see more iOS Star Wars games, right?

 

[Dysun]

What a bummer, Dead Space 1 and 2 were fantastic games and had high hopes for their Star Wars title.

 

[Theslammer]

Agreed. People need to understand that just because the market is going in a direction you personally don't like, or is different from where it was 10-15-20 years ago, doesn't mean it's going to crash. It's like saying comic book movies are going to cause a film industry crash.

I'll also add that this notion about "traditional" gaming going away needs to be defined, because what I was playing in 2007 was a lot different than 1997 or 2000 or 2002. I was doing Bomberman Live and Halo 3 during the latter half of 2007, which I sure as hell wasn't doing whatsoever in 1997, where the "tradition" involved Crash Bandicoot and FFVII and Goldeneye 007 split-screen.

 

[facetheslayer92]

So wait, what's they are saying is that they basically want to do a Anthem/Destiny/Division-like but with Star Wars ?

And our single-player Uncharted-like Star Wars is basically dead ?

That’s the way I read it.

 

[JeffZero]

People claiming this are simply trolling.

Oh. OK. Good. I'm glad to hear I trolled on an internet forum for the first time in my life today. I'll sleep easier tonight. Bless you.