I don’t know a single person nor do I think most people would hold small studios and indie devs to the same level as Larian, which has 400 people working on BG3.
What’s embarrassing is the AAA devs making excuses, trying to use this concept as an excuse for half backed lackluster AAA releases. When most of them have released great games in the past. Most of which likely isn’t even the individual devs (people) fault, but rather their corporate leaders and shareholders pushing for quick profits. Which has resulted in a toxic release environment.
People will hold devs accountable, and they should.
I wonder if it is really about an insurmountable scope from years of development–or is that just a red herring on the fact that a lot of developers, particularly in the AAA range, have just forgotten how to make games actually fun to play that caters to their demographics rather than casting a web to the common denominators?
Also, frankly, even the concept of a “baseline” is a damaging concept.
This is all a bit alarmist, isn’t it? My baseline is a sensible user interface, responsive controls, and fun. Very high-budget games from the biggest studios have come and gone (often failing those modest criteria) yet my baseline remains the same. Having experienced the epics doesn’t raise my expectations or damage my opinion of the less advantaged ones.
Or to put it another way, I’ve been lucky enough to have a few very impressive multi-course meals, yet I still love a good taco.
Add comment