The Video Game Industry

Of course, now gamers will have that little voice in the back of their heads asking whether this game will turn out to be another Cyberpunk 2077 level release disaster too.

Probably won't stop them pre-ordering though, since a big part of gaming cred these days is being able to say "I played it FIRST!"

(Never pre-order games)

Edited by M84 on Feb 10th 2021 at 12:39:49 AM

Precisely. Overall, hype, not quality, drives the subjects that video game markets will be talking about. It is an actually decent measure of success (Call Cyberpunk 2077 a disaster if you like: CDProject Red still enjoys $609 million worth of disaster.)

Of note: it is not the only measure of success. It is a market driven greatly by the whims of a distracted, belligerent, and oft insane dismissive and distracted authority figure: the gaming market.

Still, CDPR's heading towards a downward spiral. If Cyberpunk 2077 made anything clear, it's that their management is complete and utter crap.

They would need to fire fucking everyone in management and replace them with competent people for future games like Witcher 4 to not be garbage. And that's not going to happen.

Instead, what's going to happen is that the actual developers and QA people - ie the ones who actually make the games - will get burned out and quit (or be fired), resulting in less experienced people stuck making future games. Which is what happened after Witcher 3 was done (and is a big part of why Cyberpunk 2077 was what it was upon release).

If this sounds familiar...yes, this is what's been happening to Bioware. Except Bioware's in more desperate straits since it exists at the mercy of EA - and EA is not merciful. If Bioware somehow cannot salvage things with the next Dragon Age, it will join the long list of studios EA has chewed up and spit out.

Edited by M84 on Feb 10th 2021 at 1:04:20 AM

I see nothing wrong with the idea of preordering. If you know that you're going to play the game at some point anyway—either straight away if the release isn't that bad or once things are patched—and there's some gameplay to go on, then maybe any release bonuses might be worth it. Or you can care about getting it more than waiting for a distant sale.

There's definitely no reason to be as absolute as to never buy something in advance. Total War Warhammer 2 wasn't going to be something unrecognisably different from 1, and the same's going to be true for the upcoming 3.

I'm not in a financial situation where buying a game now or when it's on sale down the line is make-or-break. And even games with "disastrous" launches are rarely so bad that they're not worth the price. I still got my money's worth out of the release version of cyberpunk.

Here is the thing.

CDPR's management is garbage. They deserve to be replaced etc etc. Preaching to the choir here.

But the game was not horrible. It's playable. There's garbage systems (like driving, the officers, etc). But. At large it is still playable and even enjoyable by loads of people...and more importantly for "make or break" company-wise, it made bank.

In fact the only things CDPR has made that didn't make money were Gwent and the Mobile Game. Or if they did, I cannot find their financial reports.

Its launch was crappy. That's standard for all videogames nowadays with the glaring exception of Nintendo. I don't mean that necesarily as a good thing on nintendo either - nintendo can go fuck themselves sometimes but at least they playtest their games properly is all I am saying.

I guess if I could summarize my point, is that even if it is garbage, I would bet on the next Witcher game to make bank. Dragon Age Inquisition? Also succesful financially - heck even Dragon Age II was. I am not sure why there's a damn theory that Bioware is about to crash and burn. It may be reduced, sure, but dissapear and take Mass effect and Dragon Age with it? Nah.

Gamers are very vocal online, and it's where we are, but the market is a whole other place with a whole other language. The franchises that matter will stick around enough to at least let the old names of companies stick around - even if the founding names of those are gone. That's just not how companies work.

I notice you didn't mention the elephant in the living room that is Anthem.

And the thing is...EA has shut down a lot of the studios they've acquired. We really shouldn't think that Bioware can't possibly join that list.

As for pre-ordering...there's just no point in pre-ordering games if you can get them via digital distribution. They're not going to sell out before you can buy them.

As for pre-order bonuses...I'm gonna be honest. I've never found any pre-order bonus to be that great. They tend to be either cosmetic or stuff that is obsolete after a few hours of gameplay anyway.

The only situation where pre-ordering games would be a good idea would be if you need the physical discs (because you don't live in an area with good internet access) and there's a real chance you might not be able to get them otherwise.

Edited by M84 on Feb 10th 2021 at 1:36:36 AM

Sure there's a point. Predownloading so you don't need to download the game after release and can just click play.

There's also the convenience of just buying the thing whilst it's fresh in your mind. I'm not going to not play or buy Total Warhammer 3 for instance, especially once it's out, so I might as well do it early and make sure I don't miss the early release faction and need to buy that separately later.

Geez, how bad are the download times that this would actually be a good reason to do that?

I've gotten download times that are a week or longer where I am.

A couple of hours if nothing else is using the internet? It's not the best connection, so it could be faster, but there are also lots of people with slower connections (or drives). Based on downloading Nioh 2 the other day, and games come bigger.

Having it available as soon as you want to play it rather than needing to download it and do something else that isn't bandwidth intensive in the meantime is nice. And you know, where connections are actually bad it's closer to necessary.

Edited by RainehDaze on Feb 9th 2021 at 5:53:24 PM

That still kind of goes back to the exception I mentioned earlier. If you live in an area with shitty internet access that makes just downloading the game not a feasible an option, then yeah, go ahead and pre-order.

Edited by M84 on Feb 10th 2021 at 1:53:39 AM

Anthem was released in 2019. For a decent chunk of time, it topped some charts. Remember that Anthem represents the second-highest launch month sales ever recorded for a BioWare developed game, trailing only the March 2012 release of Mass Effect 3.

For a game or studio to get canceled, it doesn't have to be company-wrecking destroying. It just has to be not profitable enough for a large series of games.

As for the list of studios that EA has cut short, tell me which names you recognize among them:

• Batteries Included
• Origin Systems
• Bullfrog Productions
• Kingsoft GmbH
• Maxis
• Westwood Studios
• Kesmai
• Blackbox Games
• Playfish

Of all those, the developed games that have been killed include:

• Ultima Series (Origin Systems): Ultima failed to be profitable since the 90s
• Theme Park series, Populous (Bullfrog productions): overtaken by Roller Coaster Tycoon, or just niche
• Sims, Simcity, Spore. Most of these gams remain on EA and are still played, and were profitable for their time. Maxis is defunct, but those games lost relevance on the current market or are repurposed by EA. Maxis, more than killed by EA, seems to have been integrated into it.
• Command and Conquer (Westwood Studios): Also absorbed into EA, where people from the original were still playing on the 2003 one.

All of the others were either irrelevant or too old for even me to know any of the games they made.

Now, in comparison, Anthem is not breaking Bioware's backs. Anthem is just not profitable enough anymore and will probably be shut down. Video games have a lifetime now, and they die. Anthem getting its plug shut down is not hte end of Bioware it is the end of Anthem, because as I mentioned earlier, Dragon Age, Mass Effect, and heck even mass effect Andromeda of all things performed well in sales.

This means that the people working on Anthem will probably be resized, repurposed, or laid off. Not that Bioware is. They still offer money. They don't have the atrocious history of not making money like any of the past "destroyed" EA acquisitions.

Edited by Aszur on Feb 9th 2021 at 11:54:19 AM

The problem is that if Anthem really does go, then Bioware's future depends entirely on how well Dragon Age 4 does in the future. So if Dragon Age 4 hits it out of the park, Bioware still has a future. If not, then things look grimmer.

And yeah, I do recognize a lot of names on that list. Especially Westwood and the Command and Conquer games. <sniff>

Edited by M84 on Feb 10th 2021 at 1:58:59 AM

EA outright destroyed Bullfrog once Peter Molyneux left and it lost its ability to be creative. Without that protection, they got forced into making more Theme Park games and then just got the chop.

They STILL haven't learned to stop interfering.

Anyway, there might be little reason TO preorder, but unless you're really uncertain about buying the game there's little reason not to. People don't generally seem that uncertain.

This are all the old things that Bioware can do:

• Try and collaborate with Disney to make a new KOTOR
• New Jade Empire
• New Mass Effect (Which they are actually doing)
• New Dragon Age (Which they are actually doing)

Here is something else Bioware can also do:

• A completley new, different thing adapted for modern times, that will sell well for a while and then have its pull plugged when it is no longer as profitable. As was Anthem.

Any of these options is actually a pretty safe investment for EA.

Thing is, Anthem was genuinely a disappointment for EA since it didn't meet their sales expectations, profitable or not. It's one of the f'ed up parts of this industry that being profitable isn't actually enough to be considered successful in and of itself.

Something you neglect to mention is that Anthem is a Live Service meant to perpetually hold onto an audience for revenue. If there's no audience then a Live Service becomes a huge money sink. Anthem quickly crashed and burned, so its sales ultimately don't matter much.

Edited by Karxrida on Feb 9th 2021 at 10:08:55 AM

EA is apparently going to decide this week whether to keep throwing money into the Anthem sinkhole or to finally pull the plug.

35.

EA bought 35 different game companies some of which most haven't even heard of or who made games no one even cared of such as PGA PRO TOUR GOLF GAMES (Headgate Studios, later EA Salt Lake). They are now either part of EA, or still about in some manner.

Ea deserves criticism. EA does a bunch of shady shit and it's right and proper to call them out for it. But Bioware is far from being at risk.

And yes, of course Anthem's sales do not matter but they also sold in game stuff in which they also made money. February 2019 brought 3.5 million dollars in in game transactions alone.

Taper that amount over to 2021 and they have probably lessened but cut it down by a htird and a million buckaroos still earns a lotta trips to the petting zoo. They are probably going to pull the plug - on Anthem. But to say Bioware is at risk cuz' of it? I doubt it. Heck. They may make another anthem game, recycle the setting.

Seriously though you guys think these transactions versus cost and benefit are not naalyzed at least monthly within the company? You think they just drunkenly stumble every two years into financial records and go like OHHHH SHIT HEY LET'S CHECK HOW WE DOING LOL or something?

Edited by Aszur on Feb 9th 2021 at 12:30:55 PM

Live Service games are all just a sinkhole. Anyone who actually gets into those its just a timebomb till you cant play anymore.

Spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on something then it will eventually go up in smoke.

I personally also reccomend the never preorder thing. However, I have preordered in the past, I do it solely as a show of support for the company I like. If I know for a fact the company's product I will enjoy I am happy to trust them with the preorder money.

And even then, I know it's nothing short of monkey screeching levels of naivete to expect the game to be perfect or even playable at launch. anyone who expects that hasn't played videogames in the last decade

Edited by Aszur on Feb 9th 2021 at 12:33:18 PM

Monkey screeching aside, it is not unreasonable to expect games to meet basic standards of functionality at launch. Blizzard manages it, and coincidentally WoW is the only game I've preordered anything for in years.

I also mentioned there are clear exceptions earlier. Like Nintendo.

But they are the exceptions, especially in triple A games. Not the norm.

Edited by Aszur on Feb 9th 2021 at 12:53:04 PM

Japanese AAA game companies tend to avert that tbh.

Edited by Aquaconda on Feb 9th 2021 at 12:54:04 PM

So does AAA actually mean anything, or are normal people just mindlessly repeating a marketing term?