It’s truly tragic and sad to helplessly watch the whole industry be consolidated by massive company’s. And now we are seeing the results as games have in general become so much less innovative and safe than historically.
I would usually agree with you, but in this specific case, ABK is such a shit company with awesome IPs that I’m just happy they’re being acquired by somebody else than Tencent.
I think Microsoft’s inability to make a half-decent Halo game is perhaps the most striking example of recent times. Halo Infinite multiplayer is actually a great game mechanically and in the moment is a lot of fun, but it’s entirely fucked by everything that surrounds it - the cash grab and fomo fuel.
These big publishers often start “chasing the latest trend” looking for quick cash, often with disastrous results, and often killing existing franchises rather than creating spin-offs. EA’s Battlefield franchise is a great example where they’ve released flop after flop due to all the nonsense they’re trying to push into their core games. It’s meant indie developers are starting to carve success from just going back to basics and implementing the core ideas well - BattleBit being the latest high-profile example.
But at the same time, it’s never been easier for indie developers to make and publish games, and the next wave of developers are already on their way to the top - Larian with Baldur’s Gate 3 next month for example.
It’s truly tragic and sad to helplessly watch the whole industry be consolidated by massive company’s. And now we are seeing the results as games have in general become so much less innovative and safe than historically.
I would usually agree with you, but in this specific case, ABK is such a shit company with awesome IPs that I’m just happy they’re being acquired by somebody else than Tencent.
I think Microsoft’s inability to make a half-decent Halo game is perhaps the most striking example of recent times. Halo Infinite multiplayer is actually a great game mechanically and in the moment is a lot of fun, but it’s entirely fucked by everything that surrounds it - the cash grab and fomo fuel.
These big publishers often start “chasing the latest trend” looking for quick cash, often with disastrous results, and often killing existing franchises rather than creating spin-offs. EA’s Battlefield franchise is a great example where they’ve released flop after flop due to all the nonsense they’re trying to push into their core games. It’s meant indie developers are starting to carve success from just going back to basics and implementing the core ideas well - BattleBit being the latest high-profile example.
But at the same time, it’s never been easier for indie developers to make and publish games, and the next wave of developers are already on their way to the top - Larian with Baldur’s Gate 3 next month for example.
I don’t know if I would agree that Activision-Blizzard is the example to hold up for innovation and risk-taking in game development.