Death of a Game: Foamstars

[@LightningKimba]

There's a running gag between me and a bud where we would check to see if Foamstars would ever get a Wikipedia article. Even after the game shutdown, it still did not have enough retinue for anyone to make an article. What a shame.

[@JasonNZ42]

Even Lawbreakers and Concord have Wikipedia articles

[@mohammadsaleem5990]

​@@JasonNZ42 concord at least makes sense since it's the biggest live service failure in gaming history.

[@JasonNZ42]

@@mohammadsaleem5990 true that is notable in a twisted sort of way!

[@Gaming_Legend2]

this reminds me of the time i tried to find a wikipedia article about Capcom Online Games aslo known as COG but the entire internet was scrapped and there is no trace of such company existing in the first place, at least not online outside of a legal registry (probably), the only remains of said company exisiting is the logo showing up in the private servers of MH:F and DDON xd.

[@brianestrada1993]

Don't you have to own a PS5 to play this game? Gee I wonder why it failed.

[@Dragonmist19X]

Doesn't have anything to do with why it died. But a funny thing about the history of the game is that it's one and only tourney was won by Komodo, a Splatoon team.

[@c-domination]

A shame, Foamstar looked fun, but never enough to buy a PS5. Ooh, Dauntless is next? That's quick, but the latest update was that big of a disaster.

[@Penetat]

I legit forgot Dauntless existed

[@Chalo122790]

Dauntless has been on a slow dead for a while imo

[@dafire9634]

Dauntless could never compete with monster hunter, even as freetoplay, i saw that from the start

[@omarsabeur9039]

​@@dafire9634yeah same with TECMO game wild hearts or something, MH is just too dope

[@thebeastfromwithin3024]

You can play it on ps4 also

[@TheRedrocketrover]

I played this game for like 10 hours total. This lacked so much identity and appeal, plus it being some kind of hero shooter mixed with “Splatoon” mechanics

[@randomsandwichian]

Nintendo doubles down more on keeping the game feeling fresh more than jumping on every gimmick to try and make the game feel more generic. the Hero shooter genre literally only peaked with OW, the rest have only been at best trying to keep up with the next team v team shooters being churned out each year, fun visually for a few hours, then just another grind fest because of the need for them to profit.

[@akaimizu1]

@@randomsandwichian Also, I like how (starting with Splatoon 2), they kind of built in their exit strategy by offering the entire game (except Splatfests) as offline and LAN playable regardless of what happens to the servers. Only the first one required users to step up and provide user servers for continuing multi-player. 2&3 has Adhoc (for all non-splatfest modes) and thus could live long into the future with a simple Adhoc Tunnel so nobody would have to reverse engineer anything. They kind of have a forever guarantee. I kind of knew Nintendo had a winner with the cohesive art direction (from the art-style, music, locations that tell a story in themselves, to the UI) the moment when after the very first glimpse of Splatoon, to the public, indie artists were going crazy making Inkling art within 2 hours of it. Before a day went by, the creator of the Manga/Anime "Squid Girl", threw his art contribution to the web. I saw so much Splatoon art, so fast, I knew that they had a hit on their hands.

[@dsshocktrooper7523]

@@randomsandwichian Overwatch is dead, Marvel Rivals is the new peak.

[@randomsandwichian]

@@dsshocktrooper7523 that so, not a fan of the genre really

[@kindasomeviews]

It just looks like a shooter to me. Dunno where the hero part came from. The subgenre has always been weird to me

[@imvge]

didnt even know this game existed

[@jesusismyhelp9005]

I honestly forgot about this game

[@paris5831]

Bot comment

[@onlyyoucanstopevil9024]

​@@paris5831U

[@jazzratoon]

​​​@@paris5831No, no, he's a got a point.

[@nsimmons8620]

​@@jazzratoon yeah, didn't hear about it either. Then again, not owning a Playstations keeps me a bit out of the loop on these kinda exclusives.

[@ericlamb4501]

"Copy my homework but don't make it look obvious" with a touch of AI art and egregious microtransactions? Did Square even want this game to work?

[@nerdSlayerstudioss]

Lol well put

[@chaellExE]

They seems to project success based on their minimization projections. By double dipping. I know games aren’t free to make. But having a paid game on top of a battle pass, on top of “skins”, on top of in game currencies- all for a larger amount than the initial customer cost of said game. Marvel live service game for example base game was 60 eu or something at launch, their were a few skins in game that also had that price. At launch😅 And this is even before talking about gameplay, everything that went wrong or wasn’t working, even before the I don’t like how this game looks stage. Before you even look at the fun aspects of a game. Before you even actually get into said gameplay - you are shown this for a strange reason. It’s not enticing, not even cute. It only dooms the game, by starting a countdown before you even get to the actual parts of the game that begins to annoy as a player.

[@Larry]

Why even go for A.I. if you want free artwork, just run a fan art competition. People would be falling over themselves to have their art in a video game! Also, Square Enix must be hanging on by a thread now, banking so hard on NFT's and an endless slew of failed live service games, with super pricey & predatory microtransactions. Not to mention absolute dumpster fires like Forspoken and Unknown 9 - which somehow sold even worse than Concord, The company itself must be on life support by now. And speaking of Splatoon knock-offs, whatever happened to that Crayola one? Molten wax is a great toy for kids!

[@luheartswarm4573]

If anything ff14 keeps square healthy

[@dafire9634]

>life support >ff14 holding the entire company on its shoulders At least they finally saw that they had to refocus their money onto their major IPs, the 7remake games keep selling well, im sure kh4 will sell well too

[@The_Razielim]

@@dafire9634 The question will be whether the insanely high production values and lead times on those big budget games will be enough to keep them afloat if the rest of their catalogue is just draining them dry in the interim.

[@starjadiancloneinvestigato1772]

disastrously bad take, do you think artists are dumb? You think they can feed themselves on exposure? Don't normalise exploiting artists. I'm not surprised someone with a KZbin check mark has a room temp IQ take

[@MisterDelirium]

@@luheartswarm4573 It's not a good situation, while FF14 is still a cashcow, money earned is sent to these failures and 14 itself is running on microfiber budget. With large gapes between content patches and lessening quality of it, I would not trust it to survive many more years.

[@samuelhunter4631]

Such a shame, the concept of a Splatoon-like on PC would've been cool at least. But someone makde the brain-dead decision to have this be a console exclusive, Premium priced AND have a predatory cash shop, all in Day One. Publishers need TO STOP trying to make the next Fortnite, too many games (and studios) have died because of it

[@Yoshizuyuner]

i mean splatoon is a console exclusive i am pretty sure, so i dont really see the big deal with it not being on pc

[@WipZedKay]

@@Yoshizuyuner Splatoon came first and was allowed two sequels to innovate AND is on a Nintendo console. Compare Switch sales to PS5 sales and you see what the potential playerbase is for both franchises.

[@starjadiancloneinvestigato1772]

Publishers need to CONTINUE trying to make the next Fortnite because it's even funnier the next time when they fail

[@kekk3809]

​@@Yoshizuyuner no microtransactions on splatoon

[@fishman21-f5b]

@@kekk3809 thing is this game want become another splatoon but it fall a lot thing like it not unique no good music or good character

[@znritheotaku]

In my opinion the ai generated music album art makes me compare it even more to splatoon, or at least how splatoon has handle it. In splatoon the music and albums are given their own character and lore with individual in universe bands showing up on albums and each band having very distinctive styles. So when you hear about ai generated in foamstars it sets in the mind that the music doesnt matter to the world of foamstars which i find baffling when the aesthetic is rooted in foam party raves.

[@VickFalcons-r7i]

Less than 0.1% of the assets in the game are AI generated. This whole video and comment section is pure misinformation lol from angry Nintendo and my little pony fans like you.

[@Fune3]

@@VickFalcons-r7i If it’s less than 0.1% of art why couldn’t they have just done it themselves then? Using AI at all is sketch.

[@SodaPopBot]

@@Fune3 If the meat I eat is 0.1% of human flesh, I think I'd still stay away from it.

[@joop-from-hedel-shadow]

copying Splatoon and its success wasn't as easy as Square Enix thought, Splatoon is Nintendos 5th biggest franchise and it's Pokemon level popular in Japan, 4th biggest if you don't count Pokemon, and the biggest franchise above Splatoon is Animal Crossing and that was made by the same developers as Splatoon

[@Kimosabes2hot]

There was a nice Twitter comment on using AI as a creative that I love: "Use an AI prompt to get what you want. Proofread it. Realize how dogshit it is. Make your own thing out of spite. Profit."

[@kuu8225]

A friend and i were talking about this insofar as the use for generative AI: it's good for memes or for prompts/inspo. It shouldn't be used for generating actual usable art.

[@kaydwessie296]

@@kuu8225 I use it for prompts too but then remake them

[@Tyranid_Hive_Mind]

​@kuu8225 back in the era when writing "Barack Obama eating rocks" truly was the peak

[@underthepale]

I'm colorblind and can't tell about half of those matchups apart. Which is not a problem I ever had with Splatoon (never happened, except for maybe in five Splatfest events, of the dozens, no I mean DOZENS I participated in between Splatoon 2 and 3. We're talking 2017 until I stopped playing regularly, in early 2024). How do you screw that up?

[@PhoenicopterusR]

considering how they handled the rest of the game, probably pretty easily

[@LG555]

Nintendo was smart by using 2 colors with different brightness. Meanwhile, Foamstars uses neon colored foam, that is rather bright. Also, are Splatfests disregarded by the color lock option in Splatoon?

[@underthepale]

@@LG555 ALL matchups can be set to Color Lock, yes. If I recall, it sets the match colors to the original blue/orange. During those scant few Splatfests I mentioned, all I had to do was use that, and I was fine- The real issue was actually the weird blacklight filter they were using, honestly. It made some colors indistinguishable for me. And yes, Splatoon was using a series of set matchups- Blue/Orange. Blue/Yellow. Pink/Green. It's all very basic color theory stuff, but it shows that Nintendo made a game for the people. In Foamstars, Square Enix made a game for the journos.

[@seaberrysvideodump9602]

hell there's even a whole colorblindness setting in splatoon if you CAN'T see some of the color combos, could foamstars not have the decency for that?

[@ZombifiedBuizel]

@seaberrysvideodump9602 You are parroting my thoughts from years ago. Why devs thought it was a good idea to make all text and hud elements as small as possible is beyond me. I have hearing damage so I use subtitles. I can't read them as they are so small. I can't see all that well so I wear glasses but that doesn't mean I have microscopic vision. On top of that I'm dyslexic so that decision helped no one. It also doesn't help when the text color is a light color that doesn't show up on light backgrounds. I'm glad more games are allowing me to customize the subtitles.

[@FlyinTonite]

If anyone recalls Splatoon launched unfinished as it got some key updates after launch but had the benefit of being a unique title on a console that was starved for games. In that way an argument could be made that Splatoon's success was a little lucky. Foamstars on the other hand is just another clone lost amongst a sea of other games

[@AHylianWarrior]

I know you went over it super briefly but as a Splatoon player it was so funny hearing about their use of AI to make album covers because the world of music in Splatoon is so highly regarded and revered that the very representatives of Splatoon are music idols. Every single Splatoon game has an idol group built up around it and every single musician in the game's lore has personality and art design behind them so to see Foamstars reduce themselves to using genAI was the funniest most pathetic thing to ever be brought before the Splatoon playerbase's knowledge. Splatoon 3 just had a series defining event in the form of a 3 day concert with all three idol groups with them eventually uniting on the last day in spectacular fashion and then you have Foamstars in the corner with its genAI album covers and 0 music lore, just tracks to fill your ears while you play. The main theme song of Splatoon (Calamari Inkantation) has such massive lore behind it and then you get Foamstars which has uhhh what as its main theme? Can the characters even hear it? The music in Splatoon is diegetic (yes that includes the music in the story mode, pvp matches and Salmon Run), can the characters in Foamstars even hear the music themselves while they fight? I almost feel bad for Foamstars, but they went the cheap route with a lot of things and the genAI was just the funniest thing to show that off.

[@TheRantingUnicorn]

I feel like I got a migraine just looking at this gameplay. cant imagine having to play this game for 4 hours

[@Larry]

Probably would be a lot easier on the eyes if they used primary colors, rather than neon pastels.

[@micah459]

It's honestly not that bad

[@TenaciousViewer-n3c]

They definitely didn't even know that splatoon makes sure to use one light color and one dark color so that way you know what's an enemy and what isn't. It also doesn't give you a migraine after like 8 hours of gameplay and is colorblind friendly.

[@nahuelkid]

Ooooh lord Dauntless... What have they done to you...

[@jazzratoon]

@@nahuelkid overhauled it's gameplay...

[@EastyyBlogspot]

​@@jazzratoon I would say underhauld

[@FlyinTonite]

Launched around the same time as Monster Hunter World and released a new update near the release of Monster Hunter Wild, it's like the game is begging Monster Hunter to kill it.

[@TheJosethemaster]

@@FlyinTonite And as strange as it sounds, the update releasing close to MH Wilds is the lesser of the problems. That Update is just awful all arround

[@cmdraftbrn]

it went excusive in beta. then vanished.

[@shok9396]

Other than all the reasons you mentioned, another contributing factor to the game’s death was that it launched 2 days before Helldivers 2. I remember a lot of people leaving the game in favor of playing Helldivers when that game blew up in popularity. If you had a PS5 and had the choice between playing FoamStars and Helldivers 2, you were picking Helldivers

[@Mr-atom55]

0:33 video ends here. Why would you make a multi player game PlayStation exclusive??

[@x149te]

Nintendo was able to achieve it, so...

[@oxob3333]

​​@@x149te Because they can afford it, sony cannot.

[@Theguyoverthere603]

@@x149te I mean, the switch is the bestselling console of this generation. Playstation, not so much.

[@seaberrysvideodump9602]

@@x149te yea cuz nintendo doesn't have an IP problem thus giving worth to buying their console. unlike the ps5 which infamously has no games-

[@pablocasas5906]

Nintendo already had Splatoon 2 and 3 on their own cosoles, Fomstars is clearly inspired by Splatoon and some hero shooter, and I guess Sony wanted to compete against Nintendo like how they made PlayStation All-Stars years ago, Foamstars is made by Square-Enix, yes, but they have a close relationship and I can imagine S-E needed the money

[@juanitobenito]

This lasted less time than another live service game that was compared to splatoon (artstyle/character design wise) called Ninjala, that game is still getting updates and is a switch exclusive.

[@Al0neStillAlive]

That game is so grindy and pay to win but it was a neat concept.

[@ManaTeal47]

Wow! I just want to say it was a huge honor getting mentioned in a video essay, genuinely floored. It sometimes feels like working in text and the written word is a thankless endeavor and to know someone, anyone, out there is reading what I write truly makes me happy. Thank you.

[@nerdSlayerstudioss]

[@Squiggy8440]

I’m a fan of splatoon and i was actually excited for foamstars only to find out that it was only for PlayStation which made me check out. I love the colourful design of ARMS and ninjala too.

[@rengonzalez4233]

Oh yes, Foamstars. The game that tried to compete with the likes of Splatoon. But failed not for being a clone, not for the accusations of AI being used, or the gameplay itself; It's Square Enix who wanted to use PlayStation to compete with Nintendo for console-only exclusivity. Even though PlayStation dabbled with their exclusives outside of their consoles before. Another Square Enix live-service L.

[@braddl9442]

Its sad how many games die cause they are ONLINE ONLY.

[@dantevic]

That's not really a reason though as some of the most profitable games today are online only. It dose jot matter if its online or offline only. It needs to be good to make money 95% of the time.

[@wackyclock]

​@@dantevic the crew 1:

[@jazzratoon]

Its sad they had a sequel of Chocobo Racing at the time, but they screwed it up by choking it in microtransactions with a day one battlepass. Square Enix was seriously huffing that Live Service drug.

[@dsshocktrooper7523]

Remake? I thought it was a brand new game and also it was stuck on Switch so it was DoA.

[@jazzratoon]

@@dsshocktrooper7523 Actually, I just checked right now; Chocobo GP is a sequel and yes, it's now a dead game online.

[@Zeverinsen]

I've heard that people loved the game after they killed the micro transactions? Apparently Animal Crossing Pocket Camp was also deemed to be amazing when they made it into a one time purchase.

[@dsshocktrooper7523]

@Zeverinsen who knows? Pretty sure the game is dead because who is gonna play Chocobo GP when Mario Kart 8 Deluxe with it's DLC exists?

[@jazzratoon]

@dsshocktrooper7523 I still believe the heavy monetisation had a hand in its death. The moment you start the game, you are bombarded with premium numerous currency purchasing and battlepass application for playable Could and Squall.

[@ChaosAngelZero]

I played this game a fair bit, and although I never played Splatoon, I can tell that those games look better and more frenetic thanks to the ink mechanics of being able to swim through your team's ink and both move faster and reload your ammunition, while in Foamstars sliding on your team's foam doesn't do that, you need to look for a safe-ish spot and stop everything you're doing to reload your gun.

[@GATOATTACK]

I didn’t realize it ever released

[@johnbobtailsquib3290]

I was just cleaning my old closet and found my Splatoon 2 Strategy Guide and decided to display it on on my model collection. Then I open this video to be surprised by Splatoon

[@Zatshow]

wait what, this game is released already?

[@champio1234]

I got the same reaction when i saw the video 🤣

[@DEATHRAGE157]

>playstation exclusive >live service >multiplayer only. LMAO.

[@RNoctowl]

Aw man, this game looks conceptually and visually nice. Shame it is Sony's doing by dragging the game thru the mud. Add it to steam and make it free to play and it would've gone big...

[@RNoctowl]

Another note ; never blame devs if a game fails btw, blame the upper management

[@swagless6719]

It's very fun tbh

[@aheahe7943]

I was just about to google what brainless media site likened foamstars to persona and low and behold. you can hide the logo but I recognize IGNs website layout from anywhere. comparing this game to persona just screams "i've never played an anime game before and the only one I know about is persona". never once looked at foamstars and thought the art style even remotely resembled persona. the style and vibes match more with a modern jet set radio than persona. more akin to that new game, reynatis that just came out, terrible game btw.

[@ChillHills]

Something about the characters in this game look like Customized characters made in a Shonen Jump game.

[@aheahe7943]

@@ChillHills talking about that uncanny valley game, Jump Force? i can see that.

[@spysoldierscout4562]

I gotta admit, when I first saw the announcement trailer, I thought of P5 for a good minute. However, that was entirely because of the Vegas backdrop, bumping music and stylish, movement heavy presentation style. My mind went "Okay, so any P5 opening cinematic, but it's Sae's Casino, and apparently PvP." and that was it. Obviously, as soon as the foam really became the main focus, and especially when the gameplay came in all of that went to "Splatoon, then...".

[@ShadowS1LV3R]

Best thing for me that foamstars came up with was the lit ass theme that plays during the tutorial. Had to IMMEDIATELY download that

[@2nd_Reality]

I’m gonna be honest this is one of the few games I think has a chance for redemption arc

[@dsshocktrooper7523]

Especially If they bring it to every platform.

[@Zeverinsen]

​@@dsshocktrooper7523 Only if Square Enix hires an outside team to do it.

[@blakefenslerjr4858]

No let this shit die like concord

[@dsshocktrooper7523]

@blakefenslerjr4858 why?

[@ChaosAngelZero]

The music was composed by Monaca, composers of NieR, Tekken, and the Monogatari Series, among many others.

[@Maddness101]

Never got my head round the exclusivity decision on this one, it just seemed daft both to request it and to give it. Presumably someone in the chain of command had their reasons, but they clearly didn’t work out.

[@princemwamba5230]

Sony desperate to get a live service game

[@GodChaos333]

It could have been overconfidence. Splatoon after all is Nintendo exclusive. They might have thought “if Nintendo can do it. Then Foam Stars can too.”

[@jmaster4941]

@@GodChaos333 They don't realize that Nintendo has brand recognition and can survive off of exclusives. Sony can't.

[@raruterofegb]

Dude my little brother plays this game every day on ps4, he literally was playing a couple hours ago.

[@JasonNZ42]

Reminds me of the one guy playing lawbreakers before it died. Godspeed little dude 😆

[@catvsdog224]

Games like this should of been crossplay instead of being a exclusive to only Sony ps5 and should of been out on pc and xbox to bring more people to your game the way they did it killed it

[@Metacious]

I remember watching the trailer at some big event... once... and it's already dead? ... I just blinked, what the heck happened? Edit: Just watched the video and... damn, the game had A LOT of potential. Shame it didn't go well

[@user-if3os9sd6z]

Toylogic being mention has reminded me that Happy Wars and Happy Dungeons exists. YOU HAVE GOT TO DO A VIDEO ON THAT ONE.

[@dsshocktrooper7523]

I used to play the hell out of Happy Wars back on the Xbox 360.

[@user-if3os9sd6z]

@@dsshocktrooper7523 Same!

[@stellar2237]

those games are fire. wish dungeons didn’t get shut down and wars was updated more.

[@user-if3os9sd6z]

@@stellar2237 Big agree.

[@micah459]

This game was actually fun but should've been free at launch and promoted properly. It's sad that fun games like this (Rumbleverse, Knockout City) get shelved so quickly

[@Sottoth]

-PS exclusive -Not free to play live service I mean, i don't know why it failed, it has the recipe for success right there

[@LG555]

-Nintendo exclusive -60$ game How did Splatoon make it then?

[@Sottoth]

@@LG555 by having a die-hard audience in japan and being a fun game overall

[@dsshocktrooper7523]

​@LG555 because it's a Nintendo game, and it was unique and fresh when it came out back then on the Wii U.

[@LG555]

@@dsshocktrooper7523 but then again, the main problem isn't it's exclusivity or that it isn't F2P, but that it is uninspired and filled with greedy MTX. Just like Multiversus.

[@snorkusbalorkus]

Totally forgot this game existed. I do remember liking the character designs and cinematic trailers, but that was about it. Enjoyed the video.

[@YTRingoster]

Visual clarity is so, so important in hectic action games like this. The environments and the foam itself are so eye-bleedingly high contrast that i struggle to even figure out what i'm looking at. Everything is just screaming for your attention.

[@KremBotop]

Tbh the game's character designs were fairly solid, especially the main pink haired girl who has a sick outfit. Though considering all the AI allegations towards the game's art one might wonder if those were even created by actual people.

[@taxenofhearts]

This is one of the main issues that contributed to the game's death. Rumours and accusations. Hardly anyone played the game and no one bothered to learn more about the AI controversy last an article title and random tweets. The music album art has generative AI. Atrocious? Yes. But all of the other art and character designs, CGs etc were done by artists. Including one of my favorite artists and character designers Guruhiru. But people will keep calling his amazing art AI because of this dumb executive Square Enix decision regarding the music album covers

[@youcantbeatD]

Man I love this game. and if nothing else, I'm so happy that it exists. the characters, the world, and just, the game itself are super special to me, and I'm happy to be a part of it's community, and even happier to be playing it.

[@GiantPurpleCat]

Gonna be real honest and say this one legitimately makes me so sad to see. This is a genuinely fun game and I feel like so many outside factors kept people from trying it out, right next to the console exclusivity. I can't count how many times I've introduced this game to friends and they wished it was on consoles they've owned (PC and Switch) but I had to let them know it was unavailable on those consoles. The character designs are so good to me and the soundtrack is a blast, it was even composed by some of the composers that worked on the Drakengard and Nier series! I love the various genres of music like EDM, disco, swing, dubstep, etc.. Sure, the game has its flaws, I won't say it's perfect, but as a huge fan of the series, I can assure you the universe, lore and characters (especially the latter) are what got me hooked into the game. I truly feel like Square Enix fumbled this one so badly and I'm disappointed and sad to see it no longer getting new content. I hope something comes up that gives this game a second chance because I honestly believe this one really deserves it.

[@warboss4951]

The Persona comparaions come from the music. The same music group that worked on Persona 5 also worked on this games music.

[@Drag0nk1ngmark]

They made the game a PS Plus free game on the day it was released, i thought to myself 'yeah they just shot themselves in the foot"

[@swagless6719]

Making the game free is good wish it was cross platform

[@RoyaLotad]

Seeing this video was in production was basically how I found out this game ever released.

[@sparkydehne]

I saw the trailer for this game and said, "Oh yeah, this is going to crash and fuckin' BURN." So I already knew it was gonna fail from the start.

[@Cubeytheawesome]

The only thing differing this from Concord is that somehow this got more players. I’d say Foamstar’s failure was more deserved, since at least the people who made the game weren’t lambasted unlike concord’s devs. (Seriously, I don’t think it was right to bully them)

[@dsshocktrooper7523]

​@Cubeytheawesome one of the concord devs called people talentless freaks...

[@Cubeytheawesome]

@@dsshocktrooper7523 I didn’t say all the concord devs were innocent. Unless they were genuinely bad people (like the one who called people talentless freaks), they don’t deserve the hate.

[@demoncushion9600]

PC player here. I've been DYING for a Splatoon game. Would have put hundreds of hours into this if it was on PC. Square needs to stop making Playstation exclusives. i would buy almost all of their games... if only i could buy them.

[@lotus1528]

Thing is Nintendo could possibly do the funniest thing as well too about this.

[@ZombifiedBuizel]

Here's an idea. Buy a console. You can afford a computer you can certainly afford a console

[@demoncushion9600]

@ZombifiedBuizel I'm not paying $300+ to play one game. That's ridiculous. I also want to play Bloodborn, but I'm not going to buy a console JUST for one game. If it releases on PC, or another game like it, I'll buy it.

[@ZombifiedBuizel]

@ Congrats you passed the test. People keep telling me to buy a pc. I'm not paying for one. They keep telling me they are cheaper for a console. Sure for a crappy one yeah they are cheap but if you want it to runs games you'll be paying a fortune for one. Just the other week my brother bought a computer for $2000. I'd like a computer but it's not something I'm dying to have.

[@ArchOfWinter]

You can see how much trouble the game was in when the fairly new game was given away for free for PS+ subscribers long before it went F2P. I like the color style. Splatoon has saturated paint contrast on dull more gray surface. Foamstar is on the same but opposite spectrum with bright pastel color contrasting on the darker surfaces. Both methods is very readable during gameplay and both stands out very much in a sea of realistic multiplayer games. In another world, I can see Foamstar becoming an extension of the Rave scene and JD and music artists would do collabs. The art style and foam theming fits that subculture.

[@onthedre]

What a shame dude. I would've played the fuck out of this if it was on steam and had fair micro transactions. I don't know why they shot this game in the foot by making the cosmetics $15. Businessmen are fucking attrocious at their job.

[@SuperCosmicMutantSquid]

Foamstars was cursed the moment it became a PS5 EXCLUSIVE. There's a reason the joke 'The PS5 has no games' is a thing and part of that comes from no one is really interested in buying a PS5 thanks in part to the cost and the paltry libray of games that it has, on top of the hardware itself not feeling like it has anything to offer that is *ACTUALLY* new. And that's not even getting into the live-service drama, with people LOUDLY procilaming that they're tired of it, with many titles crashing due to it but companies just aren't listening and keep taking L after L after L. And this is going to sound VERY petty of me but I don't care at this point; the character designs of Foamstars IS generic. Splatoon is VERY recognizable not just because of the sea theme to the characters but they really do stand out out in terms of a lot of character designs from the past 10 years or so, especially with how customizable your character can be while having VERY simple base designs from the ground. Foamstars is playing very close to generic anime style but it's a style that seems to be used by almost every cheap game that wants to HOOK with the anime asthethic. It's one of the reasons I didn't really care for the Pokemon Go trainer style when it came out because it was away from the classic and very familiar iconic look of the Pokemon human style that, again, sticks out and is identifiable against a lot of games. Even when they did a style shift for the Sun and Moon anime, it still stuck to a lot of characteristics from the original but had it's own 'flare' to it. And the sad thing about that is this is coming from SE, you'd think they'd try something different but I don't know. Foamstars was trying WAY TOO HARD be Splatoon for the PS but because of that it really didn't have a unique indenity. It just comes off as a mobile clone more than anything else and I know that wasn't what they were going for. The shooting theme (foam) sounds fun but there's just something missing. Edit: Yeah, my big ADD mind remembered what it was going to say about IDENTITY; it's BECAUSE your character is a blank slate that works with Splatoon. Yeah, they hook you in with buying more crap for your character but when you start, that character is YOURS. Everything in Foamstar is premade so in a way, it feels like it was trying to be Overwatch/Fortnite WITH a Splatoon mechanic by throwing HYPER SPECIFIC (already designed) characters in your face when Splatoon also has the character creator on its side, even if it's very simple when you begin. You're not playing as someone else in Splatoon. You're playing YOU so it just feels more personal. The same thing happened when Pokemon allowed for more customization of your trainer. You weren't just playing as a pre-made avatar but you had that option if you wanted to. THAT'S one thing that Foamstars needed; an option for character creation as well as the ones that were already canon to the lore. They could still manage 'classes' within that so I don't understand what was stopping them.

[@AidenAlias]

Everytime square does live service it fails. Everytime they go PS exclusive it fails or causes problems/low sales. Stacking $30 with being an exclusive on a platform typically associated with single player games was a bad idea. Cross plat $30 would have helped. Free exclusive would have helped. Stacking the 2 was a death sentence

[@doctorprinny9408]

2:18 "Square Enix instead of innovating on their own copy a popular idea from Japan..." You made it sound like Square Enix is a US company, in fact the whole video feels like that

[@nerdSlayerstudioss]

Huh? I said neighbor at one point

[@WhiplashSL]

Not gonna lie, when you said "Coiff Guy" I said to myself, "That... sounds like... Queef Guy", so when you said shortly after that it sounded like queef, I burst out laughing XD

[@ricks5756]

Sometimes improving on someone else's popular game, can lead to a very fun new game. Some examples: Satisfactory, Terraria, Roblox, Cities Skylines, Shapez, Planet Coaster ... e.t.c.

[@nerdSlayerstudioss]

PSO, WoW, POE, etc

[@LG555]

The keyword being improving. Foamstars only improved the online, which was a low bar to jump over, while everything else are sidegrades or flat out downgrades.

[@TkBloch]

Never heard of the game till now.

[@soranortthirteen561]

Square Enix's biggest weakness is their lack of marketing and PR for their upcoming titles

[@LG555]

Could say the same about Sony. It is insane, how many times after a Nintendo Direct, you see a post about which games are also coming to PlayStation. But PS5 has no games exists for a reason.

[@Zeroxshinobi]

A lot of games died this year. They were sacrifices for this channel.

[@PaperDollWitch]

I remember seeing the first trailer and thought it looked pretty cool. Months past and I was so curious what happened to this game. I didnt even know it was out. Given I'm more pc then ps but Idk.

[@egel7736]

I truly think there's only one real reason for the death of this game: it's migraine-inducing. Where the f am I supposed to look when every single colour on my screen is SCREAMING AT ME?

[@kaiiera]

If it was F2P on PC I would have at least tried it. I’m sure many others would as well.

[@dan_noo]

that's literally what you get for making exclusive game for already exclusive console, you'll only get a handful of exclusive players... these exec and higher-ups really didn't know that simple logic

[@Xerzene]

This would have done just as bad if it was multiplatform. A clear copy of a better game, live service, not f2p, horrendous monetization, is involved in polemics and no one is interested in? That sounds like Concord to me and we all know what happened to that

[@dan_noo]

@@Xerzene so far we don't have Splatoon game in multiplatform, but yea, if the monetization is ruining the game balance it might definitely not goin well

[@BIoody-Mary]

>wasn't on PC And they wonder why it died

[@Evixyn]

The issue with foam stars is that it's beta released around splatoon three disappointing DLC "Side Order" was an awful launch. It took a heavy amount of inspiration from splatoon and the only individuals who would wanted to play foam stars are potential splatoon fans or sony owners who do not own a switch. After the free sony membership access had ended and it needed a paywall of forty USD was one of the nails of this title. The other is that is exclusively on sony as mentioned and not released on PC also is the final nail in the title. Going free to play is a last ditch effort to gain some currency for the title with it's expensive over price macro-transaction.

[@taxenofhearts]

The game removed the over priced micro transactions way before it went fully F2P. Most people criticizing this game often don't know much about it or the changes and improvements it made. Just repeating things they've heard online from others who have barely played the game unfortunately

[@Evixyn]

@@taxenofhearts I guess foam stars is one of those titles I have to play for myself then.

[@MikhailHudon_ZerithFarron]

I was genuinely waiting for this game to leave console exclusivity so I could try it on PC with my friends

[@joegie]

24:42 voice of an angel 😇

[@sheik_link]

Why not release this also in PC? You need the most players as possible.

[@nerdSlayerstudioss]

Trying to flex on Nintendo probably

[@VoidBeLike]

Its so easy to see which game is gonna be dead in a few days after release. I dont understand how companys dont see it

[@CrashMcCloudX29]

See you all in 10 years when this game becomes lost media

[@humblegamer7876]

Lol they really thought that one little pink haired e girl was gonna do it for em

[@richardpell]

Wish it had come to PC. I wanted to try it

[@pixeldinodude4899]

It honestly makes me sad we won’t get any new seasons, I loved this game, it was so fun playing it whenever I was on my ps4. All the characters were amazing in their own right even Ramzey! 😅 Idk maybe they can come back with new DLC but we just have to wait and see.

[@vollomi9072]

This is one of the games I wish would pop off, looks super awesome and just unfortunate the way it launched with it being an exclusive and costing money😰 would love this on the PC or a Nintendo switch, never even got to try it out because of it requiring playstation premium😬

[@taxenofhearts]

It's free it doesn't require PlayStation plus premium. It doesn't require any subscription service. It's just on PS4/PS5

[@walliam5506]

As a Splatoon player, the first thing that stood out to me when Foamstars was announced is that the game looked really stylish, but also like an absolute NIGHTMARE to understand what’s happening visually. If you look at any Splatoon gameplay, you’ll notice that the stages are usually either neutrals or more muted colors compared the Players and ink. Additionally, the amount of effects that happen are relatively low: only really being used when necessary. When you look at Foamstars, it’s got these neon lit stages combined with massive foam explosions, giant projectiles and constant colorful effects whenever you use an ability, meaning it all kinda melds together into a colorful blob for me. While I think overall it looks a bit nicer than Splatoon, that niceness comes at the cost of readability which I really don’t think is worth it.

[@SodaPopBot]

I wrote it off as soon as they used AI for certain art assets. If not for that, I may have at least CONSIDERED giving it a shot. That aside, yeah I def agree about the foam being far too bright. I was never much of a bloom enjoyer.

[@luart732]

I May be alone on this take but the biggest mistake they had on this game, is that they actually throught they had Kids owning a ps5 and playing games on it lol

[@dsshocktrooper7523]

Astro Bot 🤖

[@luart732]

I said Kids, not games, astrobot is not the answer to everything ps5 related.

[@kron7536]

The models deserved a better game

[@kyotheman69]

even their single player games are suffering, don't care what game media says even players FF16 didn't make that much money and FF7 rebirth didn't make that much either issue they were PS5 exclusives

[@dafire9634]

FF7rebirth and 16 make bank whenever they arrive on steam, Took them long enough to understand they need to put their games on pc or suffer great financial loss

[@SeraidenAF]

Like I've always preferred Sony consoles since I was a kid as a JRPG fanatic, but the Switch has been my go-to. I looked at the list of games on PS5 and was like "..Nah not worth the price. I'll stick to my PC and Switch." and that gives me enough game coverage to overall play what I like.

[@EXFOOLYCOOLY]

man square always says this shit. just look at how much tombraider sold and still said it bombed despite the sales it made. I know they got some unrealistic expectations on sales just like capcom does with some of their games. *cough* dragons dogma and mh world sales they expected

[@NakaliTama]

Foamstars is actually a lot of fun

[@nerdSlayerstudioss]

Glad you enjoy it!

[@Discokrieg]

I refuse to believe this game wasn't a product of a lost bet.

[@dsshocktrooper7523]

Square betted on Sony & they lost hard.

[@Xerzene]

They betted on PlayStation for the last decade and it worked at first, not so much now. In fact they plan to "aggressively pursue" multiplatform releases according to a company's earnings. Then you have this weird contradictions that don't help at all. At first FF16 did good, they celebrated on Twitter the amount of copies sold in 5 days which was 3M copies and in the meeting of Nov 7, 2023 the CEO said "in line with our expectations". Then in the meeting held May 13, 2024 it failed to meet expectations (they said FF7 Rebirth also failed in the meeting), how is that possible? They ALWAYS contradicting themselves. Now the producer of the FF series said in a interview w IGN Brazil FF7 Rebirth sold well. Mfs incapable of being consistent with what they talk

[@JunkPhuJP]

I swear, this sounded like an adult bubble party or rave.

[@samsam-xf7tk]

I genuinely think another nail in the coffin is, when my friends and I who are at Splatoon fans watched the live trailer reveal, we were kind of all taken aback by how all the ultimates were near identical to the Splatoon ones. Like, we could name exactly what they were referencing beat for beat, and all the ults were like that. I think that just inherently gave us no faith in the game as an original concept. But, that's from a diehard Splatoon-er perspective.

[@theoneandonly2441]

Give it some credit. It actually lasted more than one season. **stares at Concord**

[@browncoatkevin]

Concord has to get a pile of credit (...in its own way...) for not even making it to the launch of its first season. Season zero deaths are notable in their rarity.

[@MikaelaExtra]

How to make a successful live service game: 1. Have low to mid-end system requirements. 2. Free to play. 3. Not pay-to-win. 4. Constant monthly updates, with major updates every 3 months or so. 5. Not too grindy, but grindy enough. 6. Optional but frequent free rewards. New live service titles now require high specs. A lot of us have low- and mid-end systems, and not everyone has an RTX graphics card. Even if it's not free-to-play, pricing it at $30 or more cuts off a large portion of potential players, especially those living outside the U.S. Dollar conversion can be expensive. There are a lot of live-service games here in Asia, and many of them have even survived for 10 years, lol.

[@MikaelaExtra]

I sometimes don't understand why Western developers don't see the bigger picture of the Eastern player base. Valorant can be a good example. The game can run on such older systems that almost everyone I know has at least heard of or played Valorant. Many even normal people who don't typically play games.

[@nerdSlayerstudioss]

These are good things to consider!

[@jamesgriffyn]

There's a universe where SE funded a third Deus Ex. We got the shit universe.

[@nerdSlayerstudioss]

lol

[@BrownCharlie1]

At least with Splatoon 3, we were told we would only have 2 years of content and a paid dlc campaign before the game even released. And following the pattern, they should already be in the early planning stages of Splatoon 4 around when S3 had its final major update

[@yhelanat]

Its kind of sad cause I was a big fan of what the game was going for. :(

[@aoffydosy1530]

'PS4 and PS 5 exclusive game doesn't exist, it can't hurt us!' Foamstars :

[@itzdcx]

Exclusivity kills games

[@LG555]

Tell that to Nintendo and see them laugh in your face.

[@dsshocktrooper7523]

I feel sad for Foamstars, I really wanted to play it, but Square Enix was too busy huffing Sony to make it available on all platforms. 😢 Oh Dauntless next? I used to played that all the time back when it was good. 😑

[@goranisacson2502]

I wonder if SE was on the Sony-exclusivity ride because they just have such a close connection to Sony after they made their big break world-wide on the Playstation1, or if they just didn't want to bother making day and date PC-versions.

[@Xerzene]

More likely laziness. They always supported Nintendo consoles after their success on the PS1. In fact Switch has more Square Enix exclusives that PS4/PS5, but not the AAA ones for obvious reasons. And I said laziness before cuz they are incapable of making decent PC ports

[@Dillan96]

Excited for the eventual Death of Game: Multiversus. That game has been on fumes for a moment now. I was involved in the comp scene of the game or can lead you to some even better competitive players if you need insight on what happened with Multiversus. Harry Potter Quidditch champions and Mortal Kombat 1 are also gonna hopefully eventually be featured 🙏

[@emergency.jergens]

I think the “paint” in splatoon is “ink”

[@nerdSlayerstudioss]

true

[@Cubeytheawesome]

Even if you can disregard the AI imagery, microtransactions, and plagiarism, Foamstars is still bad because the foam is basically Blood. That’s just disgusting.

[@emergency.jergens]

My work here is done

[@youcantbeatD]

@Cubeytheawesome The foam is not blood???? It force foam that's created from bubble energy

[@hellsylpher]

Oh boy Dauntless is gonna be a wild ride

[@mistahrobb963]

Can't stop thinking about of content creators saying this is a "sleeper hit" like this was gonna be what Marvel Rivals is now.

[@YaboiBrent07]

As someone who has never played either spatoon or foamstars I don’t really see a difference… yea obviously I can see that paint and foam are essentially different but in terms of gameplay the two games look pretty similar in my eyes.

[@MaximumCarter]

I didn't even know this game existed.