Chronicling the inability of gamedevs to make video games

[Roguey]

What that image doesn't tell you is that they've been regularly updating GTA Online ever since GTA V was released. There's a ton of new story content. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_The ... al_content

[Breathe]

It's a miracle when we get a new IP these days.

[wndrbr]

https://maxblizz.com/marvels-blade-game ... exclusive/

so that capeshit Deathloop asset flip from nuArkane is targeting 2027 release date. Assuming they've been working on it since the release of Deathloop, it'll be in development for six years (!).

[Breathe]

https://maxblizz.com/marvels-blade-game ... exclusive/

so that capeshit Deathloop asset flip from nuArkane is targeting 2027 release date. Assuming they've been working on it since the release of Deathloop, it'll be in development for six years (!).

They really have no talent left. Guaranteed mid game.

[Decline]

What that image doesn't tell you is that they've been regularly updating GTA Online ever since GTA V was released. There's a ton of new story content. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_The ... al_content

Both RDR2 and GTAV are still within the top 10 in Steam's daily most played charts. Why would they make a new game when they can milk their previous hits for decades?

[SoLong]

Both RDR2 and GTAV are still within the top 10 in Steam's daily most played charts. Why would they make a new game when they can milk their previous hits for decades?

Because they aren't subscription based games. "Daily played" doesn't keep the lights on, daily sales do.

[gerey]

"Daily played" doesn't keep the lights on, daily sales do.

The multiplayer portion of both games heavily incentivizes people to purchase in-game currency to buy cars, weapons and other ****. The reason why GTA V didn't receive all that much singleplayer content post-launch, despite being so popular, was precisely because GTA Online was making such ridiculous amounts of money for Take 2 and Rockstar that all resources were diverted towards making more content for it.

GTA Online has done to Rockstar what WoW did to Blizzard. They've grown fat and complacent on their success, allowed the company to be infested with parasites, and chased out all the actual talent.

[SoLong]

GTA Online has done to Rockstar what WoW did to Blizzard. They've grown fat and complacent on their success, allowed the company to be infested with parasites, and chased out all the actual talent.

I'll agree to that. Epic with Fortnite is the same story. As soon as a company gets too big the parasites arrive to hollow it out.

[Rand]

Even Valve was a victim of its own success.
No parasites, but no incentive to do much of anything due to tons of money pouring in.
It's actually amazing that they made Half-Life: Alyx and the Steam Deck.
Imagine if they were actively pushing to make product...

[gerey]

No parasites, but no incentive to do much of anything due to tons of money pouring in.

Not much incentive to develop games, sure, but they've been busy on other projects. I imagine maintaining and upgrading Steam and the infrastructure consumes a lot of their time. Also, as Lutte explained to me a few months ago they've also been busy with Proton and pushing Linux gaming forward.

Then, as you mentioned, they've also been working on various hardware projects, of which only the Steam Deck really took off (but then again, it took off massively).

At least they're doing useful things.

[rusty_shackleford]

They've released a few games in just the past 5 years, more than most studios.

[Breathe]

They've released a few games in just the past 5 years, more than most studios.

God it's sad how true that is. When you look at older consoles like PS1, PS2, you've got many series with 3 or even sometimes 4 games on one system before the new console came out. Much more efficiency and production.

[maidenhaver]

Every game is the same game mechanically, with different assets, so why aren't they pumping out games with call of duty frequency? Streetshitters must be mailing the models to studios.

[rusty_shackleford]

Every game is the same game mechanically, with different assets, so why aren't they pumping out games with call of duty frequency? Streetshitters must be mailing the models to studios.

Incredible incompetence. Ubisoft is basically the only 'mega' developer that didn't fill its staff entirely with low intelligence diversity hires. The result is Ubisoft needing its own wikipedia page just for games it has made in the 2020s.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U ... 20–present

[Breathe]

Every game is the same game mechanically, with different assets, so why aren't they pumping out games with call of duty frequency? Streetshitters must be mailing the models to studios.

Streetshitters, women, *****, blacks. Anything but the most intelligent, efficient, creative souls. At least we have a lot of people creating independent. The industry would've already crashed if that wasn't the case.

[rusty_shackleford]

Side effect of gamedevs no longer making games:
Old games must be milked as long as possible, therefore the price never goes down.

Shadow of Mordor was at $19.99 in a little over 2 years after release: https://steamdb.info/app/241930/
Shadow of War has had one price drop from $59.99 to $49.99, its current price: https://steamdb.info/app/356190/

It has been over 6 years since Shadow of War released.

[Oyster Sauce]

Side effect of gamedevs no longer making games:
Old games must be milked as long as possible, therefore the price never goes down.

Shadow of Mordor was at $19.99 in a little over 2 years after release: https://steamdb.info/app/241930/
Shadow of War has had one price drop from $59.99 to $49.99, its current price: https://steamdb.info/app/356190/

It has been over 6 years since Shadow of War released.

Less reason to lower the price with Steam sales. Shadow of War has been under $10 nine times in 2023 with -85% and -90% sales.

[WaterMage]

I think that what is happening is simple. Due DIE ideology, competent game devs are no longer being hired. A single dev made RollerCoaster Tycoon in Assembly in two years. A modern AAA game dev would need at least 5 years to make a similar game and it will come with a lot of bugs and requires at least 70 GB hardware space.

[Breathe]

From the post:
"Dragon Age: Origins Remake in the works at Bioware, new info about dreadwolf and mass effect 4

•Dragon Age Dreadwolf:

-Game production is very advanced, mostly missing are textures.
-Currently scheduled for Q2 2025. -Bioware needs the game to sell "dozens" of millions which is why it's taking so long.
-Plays like Inquisition with improved combat/Ul
-The game is ending the "Dragon Age" franchise storyline

•Mass effect 4:

-Game is in pre-alpha.
-Only destroy ending will be considered canon.
-New N7 protagonist.
-Wrex, Liara, Garrus will be back.
-Leviathans and Geth will be the villains.

•Dragon Age: Origins Remake

-To be titled dragon Age: Reorigins
-Very early in development
-Mostly a 1:1 Reemake of the original (like Dead: Space) but with improved gameplay and branching decisions/storypaths for stuff that already existed in the original."



And this is all they have in development. Sales for these games aren't going to be crazy like they want. They'll be middle of the road AAA sales unless they somehow make absolute bangers. Can't see Bioware being around much longer, especially since they aren't creating any new IP. Just sinking slow, like almost every other AAA studio.

[jcd]

I remember when Mass Effect and Dragon Age were the epitome of soy, now they're nostalgia fuel.

[gerey]

They'll be middle of the road AAA sales

That's way too optimistic. BioWare is a zombie company, all the talent (and the vast majority of "talent") have left years ago. Their newest game has been in development hell for years, with no clear end in sight. Announcing ME4 and a remake of Origins (both in "early stages of development") reeks of desperation and last minute jerk reactions after Dreadwolf got delayed for the n-th time.

Even during their heyday they were struggling to ship out a competitive product, with the last few games (DAI, Andromeda, Anthem) being both commercial and critical flops that either killed or severely damaged their IPs. Their core audience (white, heterosexual men) have long since moved to greener pastures, and the audience they want (****, ******, women) also moved on. All they have left is a minuscule minority of diehard fans.

Also, the gaming landscape they are releasing their games into are not the 2010s (or even the early 00s) anymore, where the most they had to worry about was the moribund Interplay and Vogel's curios. They now have to contend with and stack their products against the likes of Baldur's Gate 3, a revitalized Cyberpunk 2077, Elden Ring etc., on top of all the other smaller cRPG releases.

Does anyone think the rotting carcass that BioWare is nowadays has the talent, resources and creative energy to deliver something that will make them a profit?

[SoLong]

Assuming this information is correct...

Currently scheduled for Q2 2025. Bioware needs the game to sell "dozens" of millions which is why it's taking so long. The game is ending the "Dragon Age" franchise storyline

No pressure there I see.

Mass Effect is... in an odd position. Yes, I'm happy they cut off the branches and chose an ending to stick with, but how the hell are the Geth villains when the destroy ending was picked? Weren't all synthetic lifeforms wiped out by the colored ******** explosion?

[SoLong]

Even during their heyday they were struggling to ship out a competitive product, with the last few games (DAI, Andromeda, Anthem) being both commercial and critical flops that either killed or severely damaged their IPs. Their core audience (white, heterosexual men) have long since moved to greener pastures, and the audience they want (****, ******, women) also moved on. All they have left is a minuscule minority of diehard fans.

I'm sorry but you're wrong about DA:I. It's neither a critical nor commercial failure. Critics loved it while the audience was more muted but still not negative. As far as sales go EA's investor report said they exceeded expectation and had the most successful launch of any Bioware game ever.

You are, however, correct in that any of the games getting dozens of millions of sales is basically impossible since their fanbase isn't large enough.

[rusty_shackleford]

BG3 pretty much set the standard for reactivity/combat design in big budget RPGs going forward, there's a reason it ****** so many gamedevs off and they kept ranting about how Larian was somehow in a unique position anyone else was incapable of. Next dragon age is going to get destroyed the same way starfield did, reheating your leftovers is no longer a guaranteed success in the current market.

As it turns out, people who play RPGs actually want a highly reactive world rather than a poorly written linear young adult visual novel with mediocre combat.

[gerey]

It's neither a critical nor commercial failure

lol

lmao even

If either of their three last games had been a success EA wouldn't have left BioWare to rot. It's telling the only part of the company they choose to take out of the sinking ship was TOR.

[rusty_shackleford]

It's telling the only part of the company they choose to take out of the sinking ship was TOR.

TOR has been profitable for years, it's a cash cow now. EA was ****** ever since the main Bioware studio started poaching staff from TOR to work on their failed projects starting with Anthem and it was causing damage to SWTOR.

[SoLong]

It's neither a critical nor commercial failure

lol

lmao even

If either of their three last games had been a success EA wouldn't have left BioWare to rot. It's telling the only part of the company they choose to take out of the sinking ship was TOR.

You realize that critics publish their opinions, right?

If you want to quibble about the profits, fine. You're free to argue that EA lies to their investors (and therefore opens itself to the mother of all corporate lawsuits). It's stupid but it's on the low end of reality denial.

But we can see critics' opinions online. We can look at sites like, say, metacritic and see what all their scores end up as. We can also look at the fact that it won Game of the Year from several different groups of critics and was in the list of finalists of who knows how many other critical busybodies.

Arguing that it wasn't successful with critics is the height of stupidity. You can certainly argue that something is crap despite critics loving it (I certainly do whenever the latest Hollywood slop comes out) but that doesn't mean you get to pretend that they aren't actually praising it.

It's telling the only part of the company they choose to take out of the sinking ship was TOR.

TOR has been profitable for years, it's a cash cow now. EA was ****** ever since the main Bioware studio started poaching staff from TOR to work on their failed projects starting with Anthem and it was causing damage to SWTOR.

Unless I got the studios mixed up didn't Edmonton (main office) throw Montreal under the bus when Anthem flopped? After they bogged down the development of both Anthem and ME:A because EA forced Montreal to wait for Edmonton's approval for every tiny thing during development?

What idiot approved this corporate structure? That sounds like a recipe for internet power struggles. No wonder Andromeda flopped: Instead of doing good work on Anthem Edmonton wasted time messing around with Montreal's Andromeda. And when Anthem was too far behind in development Edmonton started transferring staff from Montreal to itself to cover the lost time.

No wonder the game was so disjointed. Honestly, why didn't put EA its foot down and told Edmonton to stop? They're usually so active when it comes to corporate meddling. Were they embarassed to admit that giving Edmonton so much power over Montreal was a mistake?

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Blizzard is no longer the prestigious game dev they once were, and yet Diablo 4 still sold millions, simply because of the brand name and probably because of the money spent on marketing. I think the same will happen to new Bioware games. They will sell millions simply because of the Bioware and Dragon Age/Mass Effect brand names, and lots of marketing money from EA.

[rusty_shackleford]

Blizzard is no longer the prestigious game dev they once were, and yet Diablo 4 still sold millions, simply because of the brand name and probably because of the money spent on marketing. I think the same will happen to new Bioware games. They will sell millions simply because of the Bioware and Dragon Age/Mass Effect brand names, and lots of marketing money from EA.

'Disagree' because I disagree with the sentiment.
"Sold millions" is a meaningless number for modern AAA developers.
Starfield technically sold millions, excluding GamePass. Microsoft paid $7.5 billion for Bethesda, they probably recouped at best a couple percent of the costs via Starfield if we completely exclude development and marketing costs. Microsoft was expecting a repeat of Skyrim, or at least a Fallout 4.
Yet, it sold millions. It will have a very weak tail, and DLC will probably be at best 1-2 products because it was forgotten so fast.

Bioware has not released a new title since 2019. Bioware has not released a title that probably made money since 2014. To break even, Dragon Age Neovagina will have to recoup the costs of a decade of development by a major studio.
Anthem 'sold millions'. Two million shipped in the first week.

It was revealed on the LinkedIn profile of a former Senior Global Marketing Manager (thanks to Timur222) at EA that Anthem shipped two million copies in seven days, which is quite huge for any new IP. It then sold a total of five million copies in its lifetime

Dragon Age Manjaw is going to have to sell over 10 million copies to meet EA expectations. No, that's not hyperbole, it's likely a lowball figure. Hogwarts Legacy sold 22 million copies, that's probably what EA is projecting for their investors for the next Dragon Age while they internally know it's not going to get half of that.

Selling millions of copies is not enough. The odds point heavily towards Bioware releasing a broken, unfinished title and being shut down.


Oh, and a word of advice for devs: Don't pick names that can easily be made into a meme.
Dragon Age Deadwolf, you read it here first.

[Breathe]

They'll be middle of the road AAA sales

That's way too optimistic. BioWare is a zombie company, all the talent (and the vast majority of "talent") have left years ago. Their newest game has been in development hell for years, with no clear end in sight. Announcing ME4 and a remake of Origins (both in "early stages of development") reeks of desperation and last minute jerk reactions after Dreadwolf got delayed for the n-th time.

Even during their heyday they were struggling to ship out a competitive product, with the last few games (DAI, Andromeda, Anthem) being both commercial and critical flops that either killed or severely damaged their IPs. Their core audience (white, heterosexual men) have long since moved to greener pastures, and the audience they want (****, ******, women) also moved on. All they have left is a minuscule minority of diehard fans.

Also, the gaming landscape they are releasing their games into are not the 2010s (or even the early 00s) anymore, where the most they had to worry about was the moribund Interplay and Vogel's curios. They now have to contend with and stack their products against the likes of Baldur's Gate 3, a revitalized Cyberpunk 2077, Elden Ring etc., on top of all the other smaller cRPG releases.

Does anyone think the rotting carcass that BioWare is nowadays has the talent, resources and creative energy to deliver something that will make them a profit?

I think if Bioware can stay alive until release these two games will sell initially based on name recognition. I expect a better game than Starfield for both, with ME doing better than DA financially. I don't think most consumers are aware that much of the devs who made their favorite games are long gone, they just see name and nostalgia-buy. I think the industry started leaning so hard into remakes/remasters simply because they don't have the talent to make anything original. It's not a coincidence that every other game takes 5 years to make while simultaneously being utter garbage.