A disturbing trend in today’s gaming market is the rapid influx of “free to play” and “freemium” titles making their way to PC’s and consoles worldwide. Previously a staple of Korean MMOs over the past decade, the industries’ largest gaming developers have sought fit to dedicate their manpower and resources to games which lure you in with a sparkling “FREE” banner, only to make their money back tenfold with paid items that increase abilities, change appearance and, most notably, expand content.
You may have fallen into their trap first hand: a gamer immediately clicks the download link for a F2P game (in this case, Team Fortress 2) and enjoys the inherent, no-frills added gameplay for a short time – this stage normally lasts upwards to a week or so – then everything changes. Suddenly, said gamer is notified that he’s received a crate filled with all sorts of digital treasures! Hats. Guns. Taunts. What could be better? Well, unless you’ve got $2.50 to open that sucker, you’re sti...
While many gaming layoffs are cruel, Tango Gameworks being culled after Hi-Fi Rush doesn't even make sense.
Good read. I think the point is important. Cuz the message it sends is, make a bad game? Well shut you down. Make a good game? We still might shut you down. How the fuck are you supposed to feel any sense of job security under those conditions. The level of core incompetence at play in the upper levels of this industry is staggering. This is common sense shit. You can’t chase trends on a 2 year cycle when games take fucking 6-8 years to make. Just let artists fucking art for gods sake. They don’t understand the basic principle that they’re all haggling for the same slice of fucking pie and the market will not bear it. Find a different fucking pie.
"The sudden closure of several video-game studios at Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox division was the result of a widespread cost-cutting initiative that still isn’t finished.
This week, Xbox began offering voluntary severance agreements to producers, quality assurance testers and other staff at ZeniMax, which it purchased in 2020 for $7.5 billion, according to people familiar with the company’s plans. Others across the Xbox organization have been told that more cuts are on the way.
Speaking about the closures more broadly, Booty said that the company’s studios had been spread too thin — like “peanut butter on bread” — and that leaders across the division had felt understaffed. They decided to close these studios to free up resources elsewhere, he said.
Game Pass has not seen the massive growth that Xbox boss Phil Spencer may have been hoping for."
"Speaking about the closures more broadly, Booty said that the company’s studios had been spread too thin — like “peanut butter on bread” — and that leaders across the division had felt understaffed. They decided to close these studios to free up resources elsewhere, he said"
So what you're saying is...you bought all these studios and you guys can't run them.
Jesus.
Reports are suggesting that Game Pass will be getting a price hike soon and that Call of Duty may not be added to the day one offering. I honestly have a hard time believing this but it does beg the question why exactly did GP fail? I think the answer is that it just didn't get the growth that it anticipated. Jim was right but I wish he wasn't because at the end of the day, its gamers, devs and other front-line workers who have to absorb the blow for Spencer and team's miscalculations.
For all the armchair executives who were calling for Sony to release its big-budget AAA games on PS+, the same exact thing would have happened at PlayStation. Game Pass has killed Xbox. Congrats.
"While the 20 year anniversary edition of Nordic Game, NG24 Spring's homepage on 21-24 May in Malmö, Sweden, is getting closer, the organizers announced that more than 150 speakers are now lined up for the show." - Nordic Game.
If someone wants to get the most out of a Freemium or F2P game properly, they need to budget accordingly.
if I was playing a decent Freemium title I'd probably budget the same as if I were subscribing to WoW. The advantage of F2P / Freemium is that I can choose when to spend and how much. Whose fault is it if a player decides to blow a fortune on the game!
People thinking Freemium and F2P are a rip off are looking at the wrong games - the developers are in the business of making money. It's just a different business model.
I also think it's a scam. Especially when you have to pay for things that are really essential to the game (like a MMORPG where it's free until you hit level X, and then you have to pay to level up). If it's just cosmetic items, I don't think it's really a problem.
But I'd still prefer paying for a game once and playing it however and whenever the hell I want to.