To Travis

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IamLEAM1983
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To Travis

Post by IamLEAM1983 »

I've already asked something similar before, but I'd like to go into more details. How is the game industry doing in the Hopeverse?
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IamLEAM1983
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Post by IamLEAM1983 »

"Business-wise and tech-wise, the same things happened in the same order, except the earlier consoles had about the same horsepower as a souped-up NES or Genesis. SOPA, PIPA; it all happened like you'd expect, except the whole threshold for graphically convincing stuff - and graphic violence - was reached faster. That means more of an outcry, more conservative groups clutching their pearls over statistical irrelevances, and those same irrelevances being worse off.

Most States now see loot boxes as gambling, so studios fell back on credit-based in-game unlocks and optional credits available as premium purchases. Sixty bucks is still the arbitrary ceiling for retail copies, with these credit unlocks being capped fairly high in relation to the earning rate. Studios are milked to keep adding assets to the purchase pools long after release, seeing as no Triple A studio's going to willingly give up that theoretically infinite cash manna. On the whole, the same shady shit's happening the same way it used to back in the late 2010s, the only difference being that governments have finally wised up. 

Game devs aren't tax havens anymore; there isn't a major city between here and freakin' Armstrong Station on Luna that doesn't carry its own dev culture. The hobby going mainstream means legislation was to be expected, especially now we're seeing our first serious cases of gaming Congress attendants. With cut profits, some of the smaller houses in the big fish are getting more cautious. In some cases, like Bethesda Softworks, things aren't about rehashing the same engine over and over while keeping the lion's share of the budget for one or two A-list actors. The industry has its own talent pool, now, with voices that are recognized by anyone that's so much as looked at some textured assets. Hollywood can keep its golden bulls; we've got our own reliable sorts, and they're spanning between Earth and Paradise.

Mostly, you get the sense that there's two modes of thought in the industry. There's the old one that got its teeth kicked in with clusterfucks like Star Wars Battlefield 2 and Destiny 2. It's dying off, kicking and screaming, and it ain't pretty. CEOs are poured through Activision Blizzard's meat grinder and shareholders are tearing themselves apart between those that need these stocks for their investment packages and those with enough sense to jump ship. Then there's the new one: there's attempts made between places like Devolver or Digital Extremes to refine Free-to-Play into a fair model that can support high-quality PC or console-grade projects. They release their stuff free, no matter how costly, and work their ass off to make their customers want to pitch in more than sixty bucks a pop. The industry's at a turning point, and the old ones are feeling it. EA's stocks dropped five points over the past two weeks, they've lost the Star Wars license and they're starting to look for buyers for what's left of places like BioWare. They're clutching onto FIFA's license like it's the freaking One Ring and they're gouging all the soccer hooligans across the pond - but there's more intersection between sports gamers and regular gamers now. You'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who likes being nickel-and-dimed for Manchester United's full 2026 roster, for instance.

Six years ago, we thought we were heading for another crash. Too many bloated projects with too little demand and too much player fatigue. The last of the transfers from the goods industry scampered in 2020, which left the field run by and for gamers. The old ways are dying and, technology helping, something new's coming up. It ain't perfect, you'll still hear some mouth-breeders say we'd better pay two hundred bucks a pop for our entertainment, but now games feel complete when you buy them. Anything else is an extra. An aside, or a means for your average gamer to say Thank you for a really good thirty to one thousand hours."
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