Warner Bros. Discusses "Volatile" AAA Console Games, Will Lean Into Free-To-Play And Mobile

alyaza [they/she]@beehaw.orgmod to Gaming@beehaw.org – 82 points –
Warner Bros. Discusses "Volatile" AAA Console Games, Will Lean Into Free-To-Play And Mobile
gamespot.com
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He states the AAA market is volatile because succes is never guaranteed. Hogwarts did well, but:

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, was a disappointment for the company.

Newsflash: good games people actually want to play do well and bad games no one wants to play do bad.

How are these companies so out of touch?

This is implying HL was a good game, which it wasn't. It was just a good looking game with a popular IP.

Still, your comment is mostly correct, but bad games can do well with luck or the right strategy, and sometimes good games fail because they don't get the support they need.

Don't be overdramatic. It's a good game, certainly above average. Just because it's not the game you expected it to be doesn't make it terrible. This reminds me of the ridiculous hyperbole surrounding Cyberpunk 2077, that it was a terrible game, even "one of the worst games of all times", because it wasn't the second coming of Christ either, just a good RPG with teething issues.

No, it's terrible. The combat is fine, and the Hogwarts section is alright, but everything else sucks. Doing the same thing dozens of times just because they didn't have time or creativity to fill out the world sucks. The random loot system sucks.

I think the biggest thing (for a Hogwarts game) is how little they seem to care about the world it's set it. Some of it seems like they care, but then they do things like having the groundskeeper tell you how to open locks and to break curfew (although there literally isn't a curfew besides this mission). You go and break into people's houses or into places you "aren't allowed" only for literally no one to care or even notice. You can use dark magic, even in Hogwarts and on students, and no one cares. There's so much that's just hollow.

I really wanted to like the game. It's a bad game though. It's not just a game I don't like. It's a bad game. I could write so much more (and have), but I think what I've listed here is enough.

I just think its bad cus it supports transphobia..

The game itself clearly doesn't, going by the character creator. Some of the money made from it does end up in the hands of a virulent transphobe though, that's true.

I compare them to good indie games, and in that sense most AAA games are bland rehashed kitchen sinks that all look and play the same. It's boring.

I'm a big fan of Indies as well and have been for far longer than the advent of the modern Indie game, but occasionally, I want to use that humongous RTX card for more than just machine learning and offline renders, indulge myself in the wasteful spectacle and grandeur of big AAA productions. Large open world games in particular are outstanding for virtual tourism. For all its faults, Hogwarts Legacy does provide this in spades.

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I'd say it's remarkably consistent how gamers will pick up on budget reductions and cost cutting in games. This isn't the movies, we aren't going to just spend 2 hours with a piece of media where some editing handwaving can get us to ignore or not even notice something. These are 40-120 hour games here, we're going to notice when business stepped in to tell the creative folks to drop something.

Even Hogwarts, a game that I 100%'d, was obviously affected by that. The fucking Merlin Trials. Revelio? You can't tell me there wasn't some committee decision that was "We have this big open world, just throw those in every 100 feet or so to make it feel active". The more corners are cut, the more gamers will notice. They can bank on that.

Yeah exactly. Also annoying things like "let's change this concept that works by adding stuff that's in fashion but doesn't fit the game at all". Like Battlefield 2042, the concept of Battlefield stayed relatively the same throughout years and releases and it just worked, but they just had to include heroes this time because hero shooters were popular. It doesn't matter that it meant there were only doppelganger heroes running around instead of an actual army of soldiers.

I believe bullshit like this is exactly what made Suicide Squad such a let down.

Every time someone rags on Battlefield 2042 I have to catch myself because I remember 2142 is a different game, and I'm just old. T_T

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How are these companies so out of touch?

Skinner's voice: No, it is the customers who are wrong!

"Good" and "bad" games are not something that the business wankers can see on a PowerPoint. They already ordered their devs to make a good game and that didn't work. They know pay-to-win mobile trash makes money, so they're ordering their devs to make that instead.

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