Egotistical AAA Developers Learning From Recent Mistakes?-

Is it due to sales tanking? destroyed reputation, or just understanding that short-term big profit doesn't work long-term in the eyes of the consumers.

It's all debateable however we do know Electronic Arts has eaten a lot of humble pie after loosing Fifa, having to remove live service models from various games.

So the big upcoming two I want to put forward are Phantom Liberty and Star Field. Personally given CDPR and Bethesda Studios a lot of heat due to the release of Cyberpunk (which was shit) and basically everything Bethesda Studios did after FO4 (and some don't even like FO4.)

With Cyberpunk delivering a huge patch and expansion essentially rebooting the entire game in a more comparable state to how it was originally advertised. Then Star Field, looking semi-promising. Things are looking good, maybe...

So is it time we give these studios fair dues, a clap for taking the time to correct wrongs; work past being broken cash-grabs, and be something more worth our time and money.

After all plenty of superior managed and talented developers/ publishers fight for our money and time with far better day-one products, and continue to be better about handling feedback (Larian Studios is a team I've been praising since D:OSII and Baldur's Gate III is go-to recommendation of 2023 for anyone who reads this post)

Going a little away from those two 'giants' let's have a look at developers/ publishers that are making steps at being better and have proven so_

EA has turned things around since the whole_

Almost feel bad for EA fans who supported them during dark times but at least its better.

As of this thread EA has released many enjoyable games with little if no strings attached. Even bringing back Dead Space, frankly one of my favorite games of 2023. Was this due to making less money (Fifa) or the overall backlash from lootboxes? Bioware are still a hot-mess, anyone who supported Anthem should check themselves, but I have to give credit for the Mass Effect collection. For starters it's all three games with a lot of work put into them, and for a reasonable price (which 2K & Rockstar don't seem to understand)

I'm very much an advocate for companies that make great games without treating customers like idiots. And while I'll be hesitant to buy anything from some of these companies above ever again I respect the effort to, well be better.

*What's your take, do you like buying microtransactions and being told that live service games that don't work is what you want. Or are you playing games that are actual video games and not an online shopping centre. Do you want more companies to follow EA and remember that we want video games?

If you think publicly-traded corporations have learned any amount of humility or care for their customers, you are wrong.

Their only priority, their raison d'etre, is to the shareholders.

We live in an age of corrupt capitalism, where it's not enough to be profitable; a corporation has to sustain infinite growth in a finite world. The less they grow, the more they will exploit us. We can't cut them any slack, we have to bring them down and change the system.

It's why this whole Microsoft-ABK thing was so disheartening because instead of consumers looking out for their own interests (and saying "No, keep them separate) you had it devolve into fanboys saying you're for the merger (if you're pro-MS) or against it (if you're pro-Sony).

I know I'm the Gamespot resident socialist and anti-capitalist, but I don't think what I wrote above is really anything other than common sense and the unfortunate reality of our lives.

Corporations and the obscenely rich oligarchy--more than nuclear war or aggressive foreign powers or corrupt government--are the biggest threat humanity faces at the moment.

Absolutely not, and I would say we never should.

If anything, we need to double down and take a stand: stop pre-orders, stop purchasing microtransactions, and purchase more independent and non-AAA games. Allow their market shares to shrink and their stocks to devalue until boardroom executives are forced to cycle through their CEO's and presidents until we finally get someone that represents our interests.

EA, Ubisoft, Nintendo, MS, Sony...they're all inherently anti-consumer. Don't let the fact they own the rights to beloved franchises cloud your judgement, or convince you they're...friendly.

At the end of the day, however, the burden is on us: we teach people how to treat us, as they say, and as long as games like CoD, Fortnite, Madden/FIFA/MLB/etc, and all these billion-dollar franchises keep selling, they won't learn their lesson. As long as EA can afford to increase their value and still release four stinkers for every one big-seller, they won't learn.

And I'm not going to sit here and expect people to not buy them at all. Let's just start simple. Stop. Pre. Ordering.

Just do it.

@mrbojangles25: Have nothing against companies wanting to make more money, gaming is an industry for profit not a charity, but it's how some of these companies use exploitable tactics to get more money for less; or even a faulty product that I take issue with.

I work in marketing and advertising, it's very important to give the customers what they're paying for in my experience. Otherwise if the tagline is wrong or misleading, and stand with that slogan your business will not live long.

Quality is the groundwork of many these gaming companies legacy. Which have since been destroyed. No one cared about CDPR until The Witcher 2 dropped, and more so when TW3 released. Same with Blizzard, it's relying on its nostalgic legacy of quality gaming, that happened to crumble now from the inside with faulty and shady business.

Don't trick, lie and then note "oh we're sorry, please give us more money and maybe you'll get a working game in three years." Long-term this doesn't work, sure some idiots for a few years will throw money at anything, but eventually if quality and value are not on the table customers will go elsewhere.

For all the flack Call of Duty gets, and I do agree the microtransactions are horrible, at least they deliver a day-one experience and plenty of value with the initial release. I don't buy CoD but I can see the value in the games.

Also not sure why you bring up Fortnite, what does the game do poorly? It's a free to play model. Does it have microtransactions and season passes? yes, but the game works, and works very well may I add, and is exactly as advertised. It's not for everyone but at least it's a certain kind of model, not a full price release along with not working and asking for more (Cyberpunk 2077). And you don't have to pay anything to get value out of the product. Likewise with Genshin Impact.

And while I do agree with many aspects of what you note: I don't tend to buy from companies that have taken advantage of customers. I have not bought a Blizzard game for a very long time (hmm, probably Overwatch 1), 2K is also up there I can't even recall what I bought from them at all.. maybe Red Dead Redemption 1.

EA, I bought Mass Effect Trilogy, Dead Space and the first Star War game that has God of War combat (the name is escaping me). As such I like to think I do in fact put my money in the exact areas that I preach. As noted, these products are using business models I can get behind. Quality product with no forced P2W bullshit.

While I like a lot of Indie games, I'm not going to boycott the entire AAA industry because big-wigs in the western market can't stop being screw-ups. I want to play games.

And yes I pre-order, I pre-order games I am confident work the moment they release. And plan to play on the day. Also Back games on KickStarter, which is super pre-ordering.

I can't note all with 100% confidence they'll work but because of the recent backlog of the developers/ publishers they've given me benefit of the doubt. When I get a Capcom game it's exactly what I went in for and plenty to play. If a developer screws up big and continue to screw up, that's when I take my money and walk elsewhere.

I take my money to the gaming companies that provide value and quality.

CDPR and Bethesda Studios up until we see what they've got with the upcoming releases are not quality, or value. They're shit shows who have exploited fans who expect a level of quality that is a decade or further old from what they offer now.

I don't have a problem with it either. It's the focus not just on profit, but infinite growth, that I have a problem with.

My parent company made about $20 billion last quarter, but because we didn't grow we didn't get raises large enough to make up for inflation. That's just an example of what I am talking about.

Do your bosses actually listen to you, though? More importantly, when you say "this won't work" to your boss, do they tell their boss "this won't work"?

Or do they tell them what they want to hear?

The development of EA's Anthem was done via executive suit-wearer. Basically Bioware would work on it, then the boss would come in and they'd have to demo it for them, and then this one single man would say "No, I don't like this" or "Change this" and then they'd have to redo it.

It's why at its foundation Anthem was a really good game, but why it had no staying power. Because it wasn't made for gamers. It was made to fill a game-as-a-service niche that EA needed.

And that's fine. I don't think we need to make flat-out boycotts. I just think we should set some smaller, realistic standards for ourselves. Things like:

• Don't pre-order.
• Don't buy cosmetic items with real money.
• Demand refunds if the game is released broken.

We can have our cake and eat it too; I don't think we need to be extremists to get what we want, we just need to use our voice and vote with our wallets.

@mrbojangles25: I have made some alternations to my post so apologies, I should get into the habit of correcting myself and extending before clicking "reply".

Company growth is dependant on expectations and the company itself. All of those way out of my pay. I follow procedure and give results. Expect the same for gaming companies, if they want too much and sell mediocre_poor/ faulty products? well don't let your butt hit you on your way out, good riddance to bad garbage.

Do your bosses actually listen to you

Well here we go, expect a mouth full.

Don't tell my bosses anything outside the standard, I don't get paid to have my higher ups pay me any attention for what I have to say. Hand them results and wait for if they're happy about what we've presented as a team effort.

I'm certainly not in a manager position. My exact role for a while now has been Evaluation Officer. I'm one of thirteen for our company. Given a brief and hand it to those who create ways of promoting the product. Check over for errors, working with them and making sure they're following the guidelines. Fancy way of saying proof reader.

These designers come up with how it is presented, give examples of how to make it appealing in various formats. Lying about a product is not really something I've seen someone do in our company for a product, unless they want to get fired. If they make an error I let them know. Like to be very hands-off so long as they're keeping to what the product is selling.

Are the ads heavily photoshopped? yes. However again, it's my call if they need to tone it down to represent what the product is selling.

I go into meetings, briefed on a new product, what it is, and all the extra details, it's up to me to find out if anything is missing before I hand it off to the team. And how the company wants to sell it for advertising. Most of our products are electronics. An example to understand: when a battery pack is not included, we note as such. Because it's detailed to us as part of the product. Lying about this comes back to us, costs in refunds, and can get us all fired.

I can tell you we've never pulled what Cyberpunk 2077 did and tell customers after release it was a misunderstanding. Last I checked CDPR laid off a lot of employees. While CP made a lot of money on release, it was the most refunded game in the history of the industry, then add the advertising and merch, then all the work to fix the game, I'd be surprised if CDPR isn't facing bankruptcy in the near future.

Or do they tell them what they want to hear?

Technically I tell them this, yes.

In my department having an opinion isn't very professional, and furthermore a waste of time considering that's not my role.

I state the team has come up with _, and I have checked extensively that it has followed the briefs description and company guidelines. No more, no less.

Whether they are happy with it or not is not my call. We've had advertising campaigns given back for many reasons, and I just agree and we try again. I don't question the reasoning because it is usually noted to me in document form. It's also frankly not my job to question the people who pay me.

If anything the reason for many being altered or scrapped is due to not being "striking" or "standing out" enough. All of which is not really my field, that's on the design team to correct.

Don't pre-order.

Probably not going to happen for me. I can promise I will not pre order games from companies I don't trust like the ones listed above.

Heck I've got pre-orders/ backed projects from games still in the concept stages. Tormented Souls 2 was announced and I already pre-ordered.

Why? because I was happy with Tormented Souls 1, it's the same developer, and I read the dev log and what they're goals are. It's a game I want to play and know it'll at least hit my minimum expectations, or may even surpass my expectations.

I'd do the same if I found out rose-engine was working on a new Survival Horror too (Signalis was my game of 2022)

buy cosmetic items with real money.

While I don't buy many. I have bought a few from games that have given me hundreds of hours of gameplay.

That's usually my stance, if they've given me plenty of value am more accepting to throw some change for an emote. Monster Hunter being the example, a game series that gives one year worth of free content after release.

And while I've played Fortnite a few times, I honestly don't like the game enough to buy anything. If I can't unlock it for free I don't bother.

I take a cautiously optimistic approach to games. Before buying a game I always read reviews and watch actual gameplay. I never preorder and buy a week after release.

Also, if I find a greedy game developer that prioritize profit over consumers such as digital only releases, loot boxes, half baked games, promote woke ideology, etc., CT I just pirate the games as they are not worth supporting.

Cyberpunk really turned it around which makes me honestly happy for them. Sarfield is still a question mark. Hopefully they will devote the same resources and love as CD project red did.

Pre-ordered Monster Hunter: Wilds

In my defence, it's Monster Hunter.