How Indie Games BEAT The AAA Industry

Despite having millions of dollars, why do EA, Blizzard, 343 and others like them seem to refuse to make great games anymore? And why do indie games consistently blow them out of the water, even with shoestring budgets?
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[@GoingIndie]

Thanks everyone for the comments! We definitely did not expect this surge of views and awareness on our first video. We appreciate all the support and feedback from each of you! In regards to a handful of comments, a few people have brought up how we spent a much smaller amount of time addressing indie studios and their effect on the downfall of AAA games. Great feedback! Something we will take to heart as we work on new videos going forward. Our thought process for spending a large amount of time focused on the downfall of AAA was to illustrate a common trend in business. Stagnation. Stagnation is the reason why Blockbuster, Kodak, and so many others went bankrupt. These large companies refused to pivot as the market shifted, which in turn, allowed new companies to capture the market. Many comments below put it perfectly, but to summarize: AAA studios are dying by their own sword but the rise indie studios will deliver the final blow. Thanks again for all the comments and support. We look forward to hearing your feedback on our next video in a couple weeks!

[@hastorius]

I literally thought this was a gmtk video at first lol

[@Foolsome]

Quality video.

[@hastorius]

Yeah. Indie games depend on making their games fun, while AAA studios just need to have their games make money, primarily through micro transactions

[@octogorb9853]

Sadly Indie games will almost never stop the Triple A game front, as they make substantionally less money than Triple A games and won't last long too long. Do I say support them? Yes, as some of them do deserve it (Hollow Knight, etc).

[@hastorius]

What do you mean by use it well?

[@TylerF]

The industry is going full circle! Right back to game developers who focus on fun first.

[@R3TR0J4N]

my take was, mainstream modern gamers w/ their "story matter" regards its hypocrisy back 2019 amidst telltale studio shutdown and Days Gone "at least the story is good" debacle. people look for story regards not understanding what a genre and scale of a game is. ie: Darktide is a *gameplay focused lore heavy coop survival fps (akin to L4D) AA eurojank title,* id be story-wise for something players to digest as a form of direction. being so enclosed to linear derivative titles that it hinders gaming literacy for being so invested for story/ subjective emotional values that you can't tell the objective aspects of a game. Ghost of Tsushima implementing _composed movement_ (as inspried by akira kurosawa) for its *dynamic environment* as a form of *visual language* and *visual direction* to its *environmental storytelling,* i havent played the game to figure that out. Elden Ring has interconnecting questlines due to *Dynamic writing* that respects players choice and freedom, and rewards players curiosity. a *culmination* of Fromsoft seeing its roguelike (demonsouls & Bloodborne) aspect for its seamless interior exploration and scale, and an *amalgamation* of open world rpg's. rare for an *_eastern_* open world *_soulslike_* ARPG title. also its underrated not even praising GOWRagnarock for its enemy variety and combos added in the combat palette, how they implemented combat in every interaction since how dynamic the playing field is w/ added verticality that made the game more engaging. for a story driven linear titles being gameplay-wise, it respects its genre for being an action adventure.

[@arnox4554]

You forgot one thing though. The """AAA""" industry doesn't want to sell games to you. They want to sell them to little Timmy who has mommy's credit card. "Bobby next door has the new call of duties. Why can't I buy it mommy?" Wish I was kidding. They want to sell to a market that has zero market experience and little (if any) impulse control.

[@robertsteiner4696]

Except all the indie developers are slowly being bought up by companies like Tencent. Perfect example is Darktide: phenomenal core gameplay, ruined mechanics and game systems however make it unplayable. It's just inevitable that all indie devs end up down the same path eventually and I just pity people at this point who think otherwise.

[@robertsteiner4696]

@Arnox That's exactly why they sell such things to them. 1.) Have zero impulse control 2.) Its easy to make them spend massive amounts of money because it's literally not theirs so why would they give a fuck about it? 3.) They are easy to manipulate and control with psychology, as Fortnite has shown with its predatory FOMO practices. It's honestly genius when you break it down, they target the largest part of the population that plays games that are also most psychologically vulnerable to turn into addicts and gamblers because of uncaring parents. Welcome to the future of gaming. Nothing will be repaired and it will just keep getting worse. It's all such a depressing shitshow.

[@arnox4554]

@@robertsteiner4696 It's horribly genius, but it's also horribly pathetic too. They can't sell their greedy shit to adults so they have to depend on selling the digital equivalent of crack to kids.

[@grievetan]

AAA industry killed itself, indie games just nailed their coffin.

[@77wolfblade]

You know what they say, never interrupt your enemy or opponent/competitor when they're making a mistake.

[@NoNameTaken117]

While yes the AAA industry is a huge stinking dumpster fire I do believe it's not dead and wont be for a long time. For example many big companies would have the money of simply making more games and die hard fans would eat it up. There is also the fact that nowadays many games are coming back from their bad beginnings for example Halo MCC and No Mans Sky had terrible beginnings but have now come to be really good games. Though im sure the reason why AAA games will start to be good again is because of indie devs simply doing better.

[@Abraxas1212]

@@NoNameTaken117 "Triple AAA is a dumpster fire" From Software: *no*

[@cesarmigueldasilvacaraccio2297]

@Bugg lets hope platinumgames doesn't try to make another live service Game...

[@dumbdickler670]

@Bugg EA, Ubisoft, Activision...

[@Tigerwolf102onYoutube]

Indie games are really popping off. When you play them, you can feel the passion the developers put into the game. That’s what makes them so great.

[@xr.spedtech]

I can say the same for KZbinrs ... Don't you agree as well ...

[@arzfan29]

Shame there's only about 10 good indie games

[@asmodiusjones9563]

It’s easy to forget that by today’s standards of what counts as indie vs AAA, 30 years ago (which is not a long time for some of us), almost all games were made by indie studios. Warcraft 2 was made when Blizzard had about 25 employees.

[@therealchecho1868]

@@arzfan29 can you tell me any, I’ve been interested

[@void6814]

@@arzfan29 more. Let's see.. Hollow Night Shovel night series (4 games btw) Undertale & Deltarune Minecraft (technically started out as an indie game) Any Puppet Combo game (better than most AAA horror games) FNAF series (minus security breach) Etc. Need I list more?

[@senpai6827]

"developers couldn't lean on graphics or music to attract a lot of players.. games developed at this time really had to be fun" Iconic line!

[@mg-jf5ld]

I don't know about the music part... some music in some of these indie games is just amazing.

[@jacko3783]

I mean, people are still singing the halo theme in bathrooms to this day so...

[@einhasad7]

A lot of games these days are just you playing as a dude in 3rd person, running around pressing E or F to interact with things, while having all a very similar action combat of attacking/rolling while the games shower you with cutscenes. They are trying to be interactive movies. And to be fair to them, at least the stories are actually good and the artistic side of those games is genuinely gorgeours, but I want to play games that feels like games, not movies. Meanwhile, indie devs or small studios are just building off of fun ideas and trying all sorts of camera perspectives and genres.

[@blehh_mae]

they also sorta have to be unique for some genres, like roguelites are fun and all, but after getting a few they probably seem to all be the same to one person due to the oversaturated options, so there has to be something to split them from the rest

[@orangeslash1667]

@@mg-jf5ld That's because technology has improved now a days. In the 80's and 90's audio was very limited.

[@therealbahamut]

AAA: "You've turned them against me!!" Indie: "You have done that yourself!"

[@oscarolastico]

damn youre smart

[@arcaneisboring7675]

Corny.

[@luminatron]

real

[@luminatron]

@@arcaneisboring7675 shut up, touch grass

[@SuperSupersoda]

I came to the comments section for the prequel meme and I was not disappointed.

[@yellowdude9425]

AAA went from focused on having fun to being competitive, having sh*tty grinding, monetization and fear of missing out. Now Indie is what old AAA was: FUN

[@GoingIndie]

Fun should be at the center of it imo 🤦‍♂️

[@yellowdude9425]

@@GoingIndie exactly

[@Brandelwyn]

Couldnt have said it better

[@DooMS53]

Fun and Competitive is for me what a game needs. If it's not competitive then the fun can only last so long.

[@Brandelwyn]

@@DooMS53 well, youre not supposed to play one game for all eternity

[@daviddesrosiers1946]

I think that the change in the business model killed "triple A" gaming. The business model used to be you made a game and the better the game was, the more money it made. Monetization has changed all that. Now a game is just a vehicle for monetization mechanics in various forms. The quality of the game doesn't really matter. What matters now is hype, marketing, social media narrative control and keeping the community in line.

[@user-sl6gn1ss8p]

the model of competing for scale doesn't help either, as it creates a pressure for this kind of monetization. Indies show scale is not the be all end all of games sales, but maybe it is one of those things were the industry exploded too quickly before reaching a certain kind of maturity, together with the pace of technological improvement we had been seeing. Of course, being corporations with investors adds another whole layer of pressures. Don't get me wrong, I hate this culture of "games as a service" and associated monetization, just thinking of reasons which help this situation arise.

[@Shapeplusform]

I would give an even less generous description of what AAA studios do. They are fighting to make the most successfully manipulative game. Fun doesn’t make anywhere near as much money as slot machines for kids.

[@Spurion]

Right, and the monetization schemes have been optimized to prey upon the worst psychological impulses that humans experience like addiction. The massive growth rate of the gaming industry was achieved by squeezing the customers dry of their money.

[@mmmmsandwich9723]

Just like roblox now

[@baconboi4482]

And that’s what’s creeping into Monster Hunter and I hate it

[@TheREALHugo4]

For me, it's not about switching from AAA to indie stuff, it's about quitting an addiction that almost costed me so very much.

[@soyborne.bornmadeandundone1342]

Corpo games with tons of micro transactions don't care about your wallet one bit. Good comment!

[@code066funkinbird3]

​@@soyborne.bornmadeandundone1342totally

[@angelnobody7137]

Lol serious issue tbh

[@fawnifyy]

Exactly, when I was learning about how they used addiction-driven gameplayloops even in singleplayer games like Skyrim you quickly realize where all the emotion went from the old days just playing good games. Back then you haven´t been that much on risk (beside MMO and playing online in general) to fall into addiction. Games could be just great (often narrative driven) media like a good book or a great movie.

[@AmgedphaLimael]

great comment. It IS a sort of addiction they try to push you towards.... I Never realy stood still and realized that!

[@indiesongwriter5474]

Hades, Hollow knight, Undertale, Celeste, Stardew Valley, are some of the greatest games I've ever played. I'm so glad that indie developers are able to be successful and show the AAA overlords how it's actually done.

[@Jeremy-bt8lo]

Hey since you like indie games if you want a recommendation, a good one would be Little Nightmares 1 and 2. A lot of effort and heart put in the atmosphere and thought provoking issues you need to solve to survive and progress. I recently got both games plus DLC for $15 so if you want to save money just wait till summer or new years sales.

[@LanaaAmor]

all of those "indie" games you mentioned are overrated as fuck and suck so bad lmao

[@marweha7002]

@@Jeremy-bt8lo another few i played are Spelunky 1&2, Slime Rancher 1&2 and The Isle

[@achilleconte4385]

Don't forget Dead Cells

[@indiesongwriter5474]

@@achilleconte4385 I've still gotta play that one!

[@PerfectSense77]

You really nailed this. I’ve reached a similar conclusion- the problem with AAA today is that the companies do not care about quality, they only care about money. If you look back at older games like the Mario games, Doom and Fallout, the teams really cared about making the best games possible and the corporate side supported them enough to make it work. Now that’s been completely lost as far as the big companies go.

[@mariustan9275]

Some big companies can basically make the crappiest thing that can barely be considered a game and still make money because of brands.

[@MoRPho151]

I think that the thing is that in that time those companies worked very very differently, and they didn’t have a brand already made. Now, there are lots of brands that are very known and have an audience, they don’t have to do a product that people will buy or recommend because there are lots of people that are going to buy it just because is pokemon, Halo, Call of duty etc etc.. without minding how the game really is. There is a trend of people buying these games and barely playing them, but they still buy them because is the franchise they love. I think that they should not have so strict deadlines for game releasing, game development should not be so rushed and crunched. For the sake of creativity and the wellbeing of people working there. Indie developers usually can take their time releasing the game. In the case of the Scarlet and Violet Pokémon game I am sure that people would still buy the game even if it was released later. But they thought about the best time for sales and not about the time the developers needed.

[@joereality1664]

The games back then also didn't cost $100+ million dollars to make. These new AAA titles can't afford to flop, so the designers panic when facing the bean counters and management and don't take risks in producing something new and innovative. They rather stick to safe.

[@lxnoxxl8342]

While there are still a couple good AAA developers such as fromsoftware I'd agree with your point that almost all of them are just chasing the money

[@MrGamelover23]

And yet it still keeps working. What does that tell you about us? It tells you that these companies know exactly what we want, because we wouldn't keep buying it if they didn't. They're not stupid, we're stupid.

[@divineshrek3307]

There's something I genuinely revere about small indie game teams, and it's that no matter how long it takes, no matter how much effort it requires, the teams stick to their projects because their passion to create a good and fun game is just that strong.

[@legohexman2858]

The ones that finish

[@koyomikoyomi]

I wonder what about their lifes during those periods

[@vurhn2009]

risking your money for early access projects but some are finished. I think majority of my games I bought were formerly early access and it got out of EA.

[@roberine7241]

Also some of them have the mentality that bugs come first and new features later resulting in every release being playable basically without bugs.

[@luked9546]

These problems with gaming can be traced back to capitalism and its flaws. "AAA" titles are privately owned by multi-billion dollar companies that put more time and effort into profit, which is micro-transactions, unllike indie games which are mainly made as a passion for the product instead of money.

[@NaN-cn5hq]

One of my favourite things about indie games is that they have low requirements, even people with potato pcs can enjoy them. Also since they don't focus as much on graphics, gameplay tends to be more fun. Whereas to play modern AAA games even at 1080p is proving to be harder and more expensive as time goes on. AAA games also focus more on photorealism rather than artstyle and I am sure the efforts that go into making these games look as realistic as possible is one of the reasons why they are unfinished and/or buggy at launch.

[@GamerTDM]

I agree, I've spent more time playing games like Minecraft, Terraria and Stardew Valley than playing any game in the battle royale genre or any call of duty game after Black Ops 2.

[@alvianekka80]

Yes, I don't need to see a single hair in character's beard move individually in 4K HD, I just want satisfying gameplay experience.

[@DjFranz876]

I agree but I love being realistic AAA fun games. I only appreciate indie classics. Not the new ones.

[@GamerTDM]

@@DjFranz876 the problem with realistic AAA fun games is that it takes a long time to make such a game and companies aren’t willing to do that, because the cost would increase by a lot. I do agree if a company can pull it off I would rather have said game.

[@DjFranz876]

@@GamerTDM I'm aware and I'd wait. I just haven't seen an indie game now I'd play now like the ones back then. AAA GTA, NFS n Battlefield changed gaming for me.

[@TheGodlyNoob]

Indie ftw, AAA studios are infested with the wrong mentality

[@kylewood4488-b9r]

They only care about money and themselves. They don't care about the consumers or their interests. They just know that they could use a popular IP title and get easy money that way. Fucking Disney and EA been doing this for the past 15 years.

[@mrgrievous1233]

I second this

[@ShiroCh_ID]

agreed or A-Greed

[@shubhamstark8]

The infamous caviera main godlynoob himself

[@heart_of_a_daedra3649]

But indie games are short, generic & never have much content at all. I genuinely don’t understand why everyone loves indies when there is so much shovelware you have to fight through to find something thats mediocre at best

[@IidosGamingDen]

Remember the good ol' days where AAA releases were mixed in with many, many budget titles from all sorts of small developers the world over, when there was a massive variety and plentiful new and original ideas? Some were good, some were bad, some were hidden masterpieces... but most of the time, they had heart and soul. This was mostly in the PS2 days. Well, indie gaming is the resurgence of that era.

[@AbeHopwood]

Ratchet and Clank 👌 Ghost Recon 👌 CoD 👌 God of War 👌 Jak and Daxter 👌 such an awsome mix between AAA and indie games back then. Nowadays there's no variety, it's just FIFA after FIFA, Call of Duty after Call of Duty. Rockstar trying to make ANOTHER grand theft auto. We don't need them. The gaming industry need.... in fact! The gaming industry want something new. This is why I find myself playing the similar games all the time, it's because there's nothing new being made, no new ideas. I don't really care if its indie or triple a games, I genuinely just want something new and fun. If developers can recapture what it felt like to play ratchet and clank, COD with your mates, or even like Elden Ring has done this year that's when gaming will have reached its peak.

[@joshuadrinkwater4391]

@@AbeHopwood if there’s one thing I’d disagree with, it’s probably gta6, I’m actually exited for that, there sure as hell taking their time 😅 but yeah

[@zachtwilightwindwaker596]

@@AbeHopwood It makes me sad that Activison wants another CoD game instead of making a 4th Spyro game. We already have a million CoD titles already.

[@WEIRDxGRIM]

@@zachtwilightwindwaker596 Or that Ubisoft is making the how many assassin creed game and leaving rayman and prince of persia (ok this one is getting a remaster, but its been 14 years) in the dust.

[@zachtwilightwindwaker596]

@@WEIRDxGRIM I actually like Assassin's Creed. Was Prince of Persia basically the precursor to that?

[@Namregneg]

Finally a video explaining and illustrating the biggest problem in the videogame industry right now! I had shifted to indie games a while back and haven't touched AAA titles at all these past few years. Indie developers just put more love and passion into their games, and it deeply shows throughout their finished products. Some of my favorite games of all time are indies and would love to see more public support show to them and their talented creators.

[@KirikkSiSq]

2019 - a Japanese PS4 crossover game, a grand finale of 20 year running "Act 1" of a series 2020 - a VR shooter, a midquel of an old series after 13 years

[@jackthecommenter2768]

@@KirikkSiSq crazy

[@jackthecommenter2768]

@@KirikkSiSq god of war ragnarok was pretty good though and elden ring

[@definitelyrealskeleton]

Aside from fallout 4 and skyrim, I've pretty much been playing just indie games for a while, too. Things like Hollow Knight, Celeste, and Teardown (I think that is an indie game), are all much better than almost every new AAA game

[@definitelyrealskeleton]

@@loivaldes5414 I have Omori on my wishlist, I've thought about getting Hades, and while I haven't played undertale, I know a lot about it. I'll still get it eventually, though. The unfortunate part is that a roblox game somehow managed to spoil a major event that takes place in Omori. I was not happy

[@GameZedd01]

I would argue that Indie Games didn't kill AAA games but that AAA games killed themselves. And Indie Games were just chilling there, finally getting the mainstream love they deserved because people were sick of AAA games. Unfortunately this means some Indie developers have gotten arrogant and have started pricing their games like their AAA games which is really annoying. One reason I loved Indie games is the below $30aud pricing.

[@lewessays]

You need to consider the taxes and other fees developers have to pay...

[@GameZedd01]

@@lewessays Indie Game success proves that AAA greed is unnecessary

[@lewessays]

@@GameZedd01 The success doesn't neccessarily indicate that indie devs are paid well.

[@GameZedd01]

@@lewessays Indie means independent so they would be in charge of their pay lol

[@lewessays]

@@GameZedd01" They are in charge" doesn't mean they are paid well, it just makes the pay better than what AAA studios pay but still not great.

[@felman87]

When you mentioned a big team that didn't have the full picture, it reminded me of a developer on reddit talking about Assassin's Creed 3. At the time, it was a big launch. We hadn't gotten a new numbered Assassin's Creed game since 2009, instead getting Brotherhood and Revelations which were more like expansion packs to Ezio's story. And Assassin's Creed 3 was big. Too big. The developer talked about how massive the team was and how much stuff was in the game, stuff he didn't even know existed until playing the game themselves. I'm not talking about an easter egg that a dev might hide here and there, I'm talking about stuff like the cannon fights. It's not that he was a bad developer, it's that there was a lot of events in Assassin's Creed 3 that came and went. You'd get introduced to something new, it happened and then it would disappear either to appear one more time or never again. It could've been cut without affected the story in the least. I think the devs realized that a bigger game didn't make it a better game. So, for Assassin's Creed 4 they pared it back and focused on the fun aspect. People liked the ship part, let's make a pirate game. And Assassin's Creed 4 was a big hit. People still consider it one of the best in the series, even after a decade of games that have been released since.

[@mattsterh7740]

The series needs more sea shanties

[@chaty9903]

@@mattsterh7740 Agreed. The sea shanties were so good.

[@eugenebotsman]

And now they won’t ever complete the assassin creed series until they’ve ruined it with sequels.

[@0685ukoM]

Tbh thats one of my the main reasons i disliked AC 3 back then when i was still a huge fan of the series It was the first game in the series that made me think "....damn this aint that fun" Why bother with a huge world that is just empty And for me black flag was the final nail on the coffin that made me drop the series Pirate game good and all but i expected an AC game which it really wasnt so i was thoroughly disappointed But lookin at the series state since unity im glad i never went back

[@BlueV205]

@@0685ukoM Yeah, I think people don't realize that AC4 is the beginning of the franchise's shift from an action-stealth game to action-adventure with stealth being in the sidelines. Like legit, unless the game forces it on you, there's literallly no consequences for going guns blazing. Most often than not I've seen people blaming it on Origins or Syndicate.

[@tiaanvandenberg1467]

I first played Hollow Knight 2 years ago. It was my first real excursion into gaming - I'd tried Halo, Fortnite, and the like, but no game ever inspired wonder and pure fun in me like the Super Mario and Sonic games I'd played as a kid. It was nothing short of magical; enchanting music, fascinating story, solid gameplay. It took me back to that wondrous childhood giddiness, even though I was, by all accounts, 'too old' for a simple $10 game to have that effect on me. Since Hollow Knight, I've enjoyed countless indie titles like Hades and Slay the Spire and haven't paid $60 for a game once. Serious thanks to this channel for illustrating my feelings and frustrations with AAA gaming since my 're-falling in love' with games - you've earned yourself a new sub!

[@GoingIndie]

Well said! Thanks for the sub!

[@pianissimo7121]

If you have the reflexes, i suggest dead cells too. But it's more for gameplay as the story is basically non existent

[@raulbrenes778]

If you want to chill a bit. Stardew valley is a must. Its an amazing game. I suggest you try to play vanilla at first, and then try to customize it with mods like automation( i think that is what ut is called). Just dont install mods that add pressure or anything like that

[@thelibrarian7193]

u should try souls series. at its core, its basically a classic masterpiece

[@EruCoolGuy]

@@pianissimo7121 French guy here. Play with Boulangerie in food parameters. This game is french. Even if you're not, do it for the meme. And if you're french... "But alors, you're french ? Merde !"

[@yourstrulytyrese886]

Great perspective. I always knew there was something wrong with the cooperate approach but having it summed up like this is fantastic

[@chumley04]

The multiplayer battle pass era is why the only AAA games i play are single player story games like God of War, The Last of Us, Until Dawn, Elden Ring etc.

[@LittleAngel5ooekcme]

I'm so glad that Baldur's Gate 3 proved that AAA games don't need microtransactions to be insanely profitable and popular. The passion of Sven and his team is palpable in their marketing and the game itself.

[@MND-um6kw]

There was a time long ago that I never thought Indie developers would have anything against AAA-developers. I am not ashamed to admit that I was wrong, and that I spend a lot of my time playing indie games more than I do AAA games. I'm also an older *millenial* gamer and it just seems that the Indie games that I've played are more align with the time that I have when I'm not doing my other "adult responsibilities".

[@DenverStarkey]

i'm a younger Gen Xer (born 1979) here and i also find myself playing mostly indie games these days.

[@DogeickBateman]

Zoomer here and the majority of my games are either indie or "single-A" (Games with less 'style' than Triple A but can hold their weight, but are larger than indie ones) such as Hotline Miami, Defcon and Payday

[@AWACS_Eagle_Eye]

Another Zoomer here and as the last guy said Indie games make up most of my steam library(mostly cus I can't afford most games anyway AND I play on mac) and still hold their own to more "developed" games. Heck even Roblox has better games.

[@marilynlucero9363]

A younger milennial here (1994) and I prefer the play Indie games over AAA games for a single reason. Cash grab vs Passion, we all know which is which. I prefer games too that were made with passion and love for product. One example would be, whilst being a fan of Pokémon as long as I can remember, Gen V was the last I ever bought, after that never played a mainstream game again and ended up wandering in the territory of the fan games. This was the first step I took to preferring indie games and fan games over AAA game companies and I am very happy I did. Question to everyone here who read my command, how did you get into Indie games over AAA games? Edit: Grammar

[@DenverStarkey]

@@DogeickBateman single A games was never a thing. the tripple A term originates from a specific book publisher . they rated their books as single (a) , double(Aa) or triple (Aaa) as a marketing tool rating to sell more books , no books were ever actually rated as double or single , they did this to have the appearance that all their books were superior quality books. then much later the American Automobile Association, used AAA as their logo , as a means to suggest their road side assistance was "superior quality" (of course it also happened to be their initials). playing off that book publisher's use of tripple A. it's modern use in games just means that the game was developed by a medium or large industry studio . again drawing off the idea that tripple A means the game is superior in quality. this practice started after the 1983 video game crash , again as a way for various game developers to suggest their game's arn't shit. like many of the games that cause the 83 crash. but there never has been a system of single or double A game ratings. PS On that note , tripple A is a term i'd like to see disappear from the game industry , as clearly not all major studio games are "superior quality" infact, of late there's been more and more major studio releases that were utter shit. quality is clearly not big studio's focus any more. and ther term jsut contiues to be amarketing tool for them as well. becasue of the mental link with "superior quality" .

[@theotherjared9824]

There is a concept called the "tentpole" release. It refers to a product that is guaranteed to make a profit and cover the more financially risky projects in that fiscal year. We are in an unprecedented era where tentpole video game releases are underperforming and losing money, causing studios to hemmorage money due to simply not planning for failure and driving themselves to be willing to be bought and sold.

[@scottbecker4367]

Part of the issue is that second part. Tentpole projects are supposed to cover riskier projects, but if companies aren't taking risks and are only relying on tentpole projects, they are going to eventually get stale. The lack of new IPs to fall back on when this happens gives us what we have now.

[@Riverbed_Dreaming]

Tentpole won’t hold shit if it’s made from paper and tape. You still need a reasonably good product to hold up the tent.

[@silver1340]

I do agree with the idea that indie studios have a higher chance of having the better culture, but not all of them are like that. I still remember that some indie people created Fortnite asset-flips with heavy monetization in mind, and failed hard. They are just forgotten that much easier, because they didn't leave much of an impact. I'd argue that the "right" culture (for video games = fun) extends to every industry and business in the world, as it's said: "The business that just makes money is a bad business." Where I'm going with this is that: When a business grows enough, and acquires enough people, ideologies / cultures tend to change. In the microcosm of a company, that manifests with people asking themselves what they came here for. "We came here to make money, of course!" And so, at first, some positive aspects of the culture are eroded / sacrificed to create greater cohesion within the company. After all, everyone agrees that gains are cool, and one thing that unifies all within the company. Even your passionate dev or worker #731 wants to make money of course, they're not doing it for free, so they don't object to the insidious change. Company grows many times over, more sacrifices are needed to maintain cohesion, and eventually, you get the standard greedy company. All positive aspects of old sacrificed for growth and the one thing everyone before treated as a reward for their work, or in case of passionate employees - a byproduct of their own passion - money. Don't forget that even the smallest company or indie dev can act as a greedy company, if their initial culture was the same as the one of a big company. Sure, it often doesn't work out for them, they are simply too small, so a "small" company isn't inherently trust-worthy.

[@lasthand3428]

Yeah. Remember the Ant Simulator dev? The guy spent all his Kickstarter money on alcohol and women.

[@coltonwilkie241]

Don't forget the countless Kickstarter scams by indie devs. People seem to forget that Team Cherry was just the only team in a sea of thousands who weren't scammers.

[@gagejohnathan9641]

This is why I wanna tell everyone praising these indie devs that once upon a time, Activision was once a indie company much like these people, and look at the monstrosity they've become, they're even worse than the company they split from.

[@thosebloodybadgers8499]

Just plain old survivorship bias, no? Additionally, I'd say the "fun" ideal itself is a false flag. What is fun? What constitutes fun? How does one quantify fun? Wouldn't high engagement be indicative of a fun game? Review scores? Sales? Games are art, so I'd say discussions should treat it as such and not zero-in on some nebulous rhetoric of "fun" which leads to empty talk, really.

[@Abby-ug4xc]

Yeah there are plenty of crappy derivative indie games created with the intention of making a quick buck. The cover art will be decent to beautiful while the game itself is crap. We'll definitely see more of this as tech bros try to replace human storytelling and art with awful AI generated stuff to make as much money for as little effort as possible.

[@spencerwilson-softwaredeve6384]

I think an important factor that is missing is that Indie games also far outpace triple A studios in terms innovation and creativity because the costs of creating an indie game is way less than that of a game the size of the new GOW games for example. This allows indie developers to try new things with less punishment financially whereas triple A studios are simply sticking with what they know will generate profit.

[@WhompingWalrus]

Ye, just like with film and the constant remakes and sequels these days.

[@superspies32]

Also the size of the game are factor that need to be count. Indie game mostly much lighter than AAA games, which now reached hundreds of Gb and require SSD to load. That’s a middle finger to gamers since SSD has less capacity and every SSD except SAMSHIT has shitty durability. Also SAMSHIT M2 SSD has the price x3-5 times the others.

[@WhompingWalrus]

@@superspies32 Durability was a problem when SSDs were newer, but it's not really much of a problem anymore. They're actually much more reliable than platter HDDs these days. But yeah I agree, there's no need for such HUGE textures like that - games should NOT be so huge, and SSDs are still expensive, so they really shouldn't be *mandatory*, even if they're nice to have. Games are too big + decent storage got much more expensive... two bad problems which compound each other.

[@sunwooyang9949]

I don't think this is a big factor. Big companies can just as easily create small teams in R&D.

[@chazaqiel2319]

It is very sad to live in a world where the art that makes the most money is rarely the best. Everywhere you look, more and more companies cut more and more corners for just the smallest margin of earning, and the sad part is that you can hardly blame them. The more competitive the market becomes, the more sacrifices you have to make to stay afloat, and even the most passionate person has to contend with the fact that they have to eat. Sadly, when it comes to art and entertainment, uncompromising quality is rarely competitive. It's all about chasing trends and abusing loopholes to squeeze as much money out of an idea, until people hate it and then you sell to them the hope that the next idea will be better. No matter how you look at it, the system is rigged: it doesn't encourage the best ideas, but the most predatory selling tactics.

[@TheAkashicTraveller]

the system is rigged Not by nature, it's the legal frameworks around out economy and buisness that cause this mess. And it's not just in video games, this is happening everywhere. The pursuit of money above all else. They litteraly made it illegal for publicly owned companies not to do so but even ignoring that all the incentive structures lead to it as well.

[@Vid_Master]

Yep!! it makes sense as you said - the companies that just focus on making enjoyable games wont make enough money. Big game companies should make a "oldschool games" department, a small team that is given ample time and resources to create groundbreaking new idea games like the ones from the past.

[@bgiv2010]

Is it sad or easily predictable with admittedly a lot of assumptions about thermodynamics, human nature, and the profit motive? Why does anyone make free games? And why are they usually subjectively better? AAA companies clearly hate competition, innovation, and risk (and the creators and the players, too), despite what capitalists economists will say, precisely because it eats into profits and, if that's *why* you're doing something (rather than sharing fun), you're either not going to do it or the product will be worse than boring: it'll be addictive. Here's to making a better system together. One that actually works as advertised.

[@Bob-wr1md]

Capitalism just ruins everything. It ruined the movie market, too. How many good movies are released nowadays? So incredibly rare. It's just all about the money now

[@NO-FILTER-EXPERT]

AAA gaming killed itself because of people like Phil spencer authorizing incompetent leadership to push out garbage over and over. You wanna know what’s funny? The original teams that developed the older games already did it (making a full game with working compoenents of the game) ……yet these modern games can’t even come close to making anything work and it’s because they can’t…it’s because of modern gaming idots are literally making the game itself be a stupid pay for licensing (aka pay for the components of the game). When it’s comes to Xbox. The real problem is Phil spencer. Phil spencer wasn’t in a leading position at Xbox during the early 2000s or aka the golden days of entertainment (just like how 343 wasn’t in no control of halo back in 2007). Phil spencer and 343i literally have the same story. 343i took over halo and destroyed it and……Phil spencer was promoted to the highest position of Xbox and he destroyed Xbox/still destroying Xbox console by injecting mouse and keyboard support into console controller only environments, forcing cross play with PC cheaters, making console ppl pay for Xboxlive but give xbl to PC ppl for free, lying to the public by adding a useful feature then randomly taking it away and more importantly allowing people like Bonnie Ross to push out garbage games and ruin the franchise for 11 years straight with no discipline Phil spencer gotta go. He’s been ruining Xbox for 11 years straight. He literally watched halo “their flag ship game” go down hill and he has every power to stop that incompetence. All Phil spencer cares about is pushing garbage gamespass subscriptions filled with half made games that’s still filled with microtransaction and X cloud BS and this pc inclusion Xbox bs stuff. The Xbox series X is literally garbage compared to the 2015 Xbox one. The 2015 Xbox one literally came with useful features like snap tv, local LAN streaming to your Xbox and more. The latest Xbox (series X) can’t even do that stuff because they Microsoft freaking sucks. Bonnie Ross, Kiki wolf and frank are just puppets….as you can see their departure have no effect. The real problem is Phil spencer. One last problem is that y’all keep voting blue. The early 2000s (2000 to 2007) was literally all red…..GET IT. LOOK IT UP. everything went downhill when Obama got elected and when Obama started pushing those polices. Obama ruined the country and we are still dealing with the outcome til this day. STOP VOTING FOR DEMOS…..as you can see when demos are in control…everything literally goes backwards.

[@connormccrea9887]

It's always amazing seeing AAA studios such as iD or Fromsoft actually following what the fans want and making the best product possible. iD noticed the all the exploits that could be done with 2016 (eg. quick swapping) and built on it and made a fun product. Or how they listened to their community when they messed up. We need more studios like iD. They are a gem. Unfortunately stuff like Mick's situation did happen with them. Hopefully that'll get properly resolved

[@mythhead2688]

Definitely! Id Software have handled their games very well. The whole Mick situation has more to do with Marty Stratton, the business guy. Even Mick himself told the fans who came to his defense to not punish the games or any of the developers because they had nothing to do with it.

[@juancarlosalonso5664]

Definitely not iD software.

[@callumbreton8930]

​​@@juancarlosalonso5664 okay, they dropped the ball on the second DE DLC, but besides that they have a fantastic understanding of their players

[@giulioceresini1435]

I mean, from a Dark Souls fan, Fromsoftware just keeps publishing the same game, with the same sounds, models, textures and animations. It's hard to disappoint when you just dish out an "upgraded" version of your first successful game. I like what they make, I really do, but I don't feel like they should be taken as an example. The souls community would like anything with Myazaki's name on it, they even liked DS2 before it was revealed to a wider public that he had no part in its develpment.

[@ronnienaldo7101]

@@giulioceresini1435 Eh, Bloodborne, Sekiro and Elden Ring?

[@danielduncan6806]

Be aware. Not all indie developers are as indie as they appear.

[@Anonymous-73]

Thanks mysterious NPC

[@derple8524]

Like Mob Games?

[@Comrade_Zaz]

Eg Mojang

[@Googlesucksballs]

Yeah remember when The Super Meat Boy creator said if given the chance he would take the payoff from Epic games store to have them get his stuff first. Greed corrupts everyone, even the indie devs.

[@danielduncan6806]

@@Googlesucksballs And what about those chinese companies, cranking out low effort trash constantly? I would exclude them too. They have a completely and totally different category, I think.

[@silentwitness9255]

When I see a brand new game sitting on the store shelf, I think two things: 1. This game is still in development. Nice. I appreciate the efforts of designers and creators. 2. I’m not going to pay a mutli-million-dollar-company for the headaches of being a beta-tester/customer so that some douchebag’s tower can sit a little higher.

[@testhekid]

i don't think indie are "killing" triple a games but more so standing out as better in terms of all aspects that people like about videogames in general that's an awesome video and it's really nice seeing someone finally talking about this, hope this gets more exposure and so does ur channel

[@herb2110]

That’s what “killing” means in this context. Not maliciously stomping out competition, but rather outperforming it on its own merit, which inevitably draws success away from competitors.

[@Shahzad-ss1jq]

Would you rather buy the next Pokemon game or silksong or hades 2 They are better so they sell more especially the hype for these two which are big competition for other games as their consumers buy these games and not theirs

[@testhekid]

@@Shahzad-ss1jq sales count doesn't determine the quality of a game

[@SanarySeggnete]

I don't think Indie game as whole outperformed AAA games, it take tens thousands non sense Indie games to see one great game. You need a dev that has both passion and a brain on their shoulder to create a good Indie game (same could be say to AAA) AAA game wise, you don't need passion, you already have a team to think about how to over promote your game to get it popular... And even if the game is trash, your developers are experienced enough to give it just barely decent game play.

[@Shahzad-ss1jq]

@@testhekid which is why Pokemon games sell a lot and are still really bad

[@davec8385]

I think another interesting aspect of this is how SuperGiant games (Devs of Hades) started. They got their start with Bastion during the indie explosion of the 2010s (super meat boy era) due in part to the reduced difficulty of publishing games on the Xbox arcade then the lifting of restrictions on steam. It's amazing to track the story of SuperGiant from Bastion to Transistor to Pyre to Hades and how they've continuously released amazing indie games and used their experience to craft Hades

[@yol_n]

They could also have gotten a GOTY award buy politics got in the way. No matter, Hades was my 2020 GOTY 😌

[@GreedyDrunk92]

I haven't played hades, but played bastion and I was in love with the game. You just advertised hades for me :D

[@davec8385]

@@GreedyDrunk92 its amazing how consistent they've kept the quality of their games over the years. I recently pick up bastion again and it was great to see how much fun it still is all these years later I hope you enjoy Hades as well if you ever get the chance!

[@wiseguy1512]

@@yol_n huh what do you mean? What politics who won 2020?

[@yol_n]

@@wiseguy1512 last of us PT2

[@VeuTrox]

Indie games are just magical and pure fun. A lot of my best experiences with gaming these past few years came from indie games; Hollow Knight, Celeste, Slime Rancher, Stray, to name a few. They really have something most AAA games nowadays don't have, and that is life, soul and passion.

[@myweirdsecondchannelwithap9070]

Agreed. Ultimate Chicken Horse has that feeling to it as well.

[@porkerpete7722]

Destiny gave me some of the best gaming memories and friends ever.

[@BobOrKlaus]

since ppl are putting good games made with actual passion here ill put mine here too Deep Rock Galactic

[@domagojgalekovic8507]

Stray is awful. It's a bad experience covered by the fact that you are a cat.

[@domagojgalekovic8507]

@@porkerpete7722 Destiny is WOW for FPS enjoyers. It's great but it's also plagued by many issues.

[@jumpmanbig]

Another thing that I would add is that indie game developers tend to also be much more prone to actually listen to their fan base. As AAA title developers will usually ignore their fan base critiques and consider those critiques as just ungrateful complainers, indie game developers tend to view critiques as feedback so figure out what works and what doesn't. So basically, AAA game developers tend to be very out of touch with their community...

[@birdsridingdogs2877]

That is because the indie games tend to have a much smaller community whereas aaa games tend to have much larger communities.

[@DJGaming-co4il]

​@@birdsridingdogs2877No.

[@birdsridingdogs2877]

@@DJGaming-co4il No.

[@leandervr]

This is why I roll my eyes at anyone saying games suck nowadays. I've been gaming since the early nineties and some of my all time favorite games have come out in recent years. I can't get enough of Hollow Knight, Cuphead and Celeste.

[@primeirrational]

What is needed for fun gaming today is to step out of your comfort zone and try new things. I would have totally quit gaming years ago if I hadn’t started to try types of games I’ve never played before (for example Hollow Knight).

[@SwagTinCommander]

Most AAA games are focused on graphics nowadays, stories are meh but the fun is. Just non-existent

[@dhrikalyxoxo1185]

I just finished hollow knight recently.... One helluva ride

[@bestaround3323]

Games in general don't suck, but ones made by the big companies tend to.

[@bananatheo3796]

@@bestaround3323 Which also tend to be the most popular games unfortunately.

[@lxnoxxl8342]

One amazing AAA company that sticks to its roots is fromsoftware. They truly care about making the best game possible and it shows with their last 2 games winning game of the year and multiple other awards.

[@gamble777888]

Even back in 2011 we already started seeing the hand holding and "retard"-proof game design that became a foundation for subsequent triple A single player game development that now focus on accessibility and appeal to the lowest common denomintor rather than innovation. And then out of nowhere Dark Souls/Demon Souls came out and it was a completely new experience with innovative mechanics that not only didn't hand hold but almost went out of its obfuscate itself so that the player would have to figure everything out on his own. It harkened back to old school game design that you saw in games like OG Zelda and Metroid. It was more of cult hit that like a slow rolling avalanche became bigger as the years went on and it didn't really break into the mainstream so while it influenced the heck out of indy game development, it didn't really have an impact on the AAA. Hopefully with the success of Elden Ring we now see Xbox and Sony push their studios and partners into being a little more creative and innovative.

[@friendlyplayer92]

Yes

[@buttadick]

Santa Monica Studio too. Their God Of War series is just solely dedicated to fun gameplay and stories. No micro transactions whatsoever

[@porkerpete7722]

And they made the money too. So it paid off.

[@Redsword603]

Fromsoft definitely became one of the more trusted dev studios that cares about the quality of the games and making them fun.

[@mitchellhorton9382]

Also, Rimworld did something similar to Hades, except it was just one lone programmer who was more into AI than games even, and he released it early access with lots of mod tools so that 1. The community could give him feedback on systems they wanted/didn't like 2. They could create and test their own systems to see how they worked (several alpha mods were eventually effectively integrated into the Beta and release versions) 3. Players could also customize their game experience to what they wanted, which fed into the nature of the gameplay loop Rimworld was creating in the first place.

[@rayres1074]

Yeah I played rimworld in 2019 and never again. I was absolutely SHOCKED to see how it surged in popularity and how bigger it got.

[@DisasterofGame]

Rimworld is one of the best examples of devs listening to the community - Tynan often reads and answears threads on his game's subreddit. One of the best examples of it was after newest DLC BioTech dropped - people were surprised at the fact that there's no cross-DLC content (i.e. ideologies from previous DLC that may like or dislike vampires from current one) and Tynan said that he didn't add anything like this simply to not lock out of content people that don't have the full package. But since that was what people wanted soon rolled out a patch with cross-DLC mechanics. Another great studio is Motion Twin, from the Dead Cells. They often use steam news articles and steam forums to gather players opinions about different stuff - whether its accessibility settings or balancing. They released a few DLCs, but for every DLC they make there's like twice the content in free updates in between. And don't get me started on Terraria, as someone there just can't let go and still makes "one last update"

[@Anh-zz4go]

yet tynan just have to kills mods with each release of update and dlc :(

[@Robotmudkip99]

@@Anh-zz4go I don’t think there is a way to get around that

[@Damian-cilr2]

@@Anh-zz4go i think thats moreso a problem with changing some files,sometimes even small files in games.Even a small change might break some mods,and this is sadly true for many games,hoi4 most of the fun comes from the mods,and yet the mods break every update,its not easy to keep older mods working with constant updates,which is why someone who may have learned the basics of hoi4 modding just gives up.Too much updates to keep up with And ksp is another example of mods being broken by updates,although now there wont be any updates anymore because ksp 2.But on the bright side mods wont break because of updates anymore

[@ChilledfishStick]

The thing that really depresses me, is that people kept buying these games, in many cases before they launched. They still do in some cases. Pre purchases haven't disappeared. Keeping those companies to a better standard isn't impossible, it just takes a bit of impulse control, to wait until reviews by real people come out.

[@La0bouchere]

I know this is hard to swallow, but most people buying those games actually have fun playing them. Liking something you dont doesn't automatically make someone an idiot who can't control themselves, they just have different preferences than you do.

[@xyrisejoss7144]

Its marketing and ads..

[@TheCrazyPozavnist]

@La0bouchere I'm at around 6:00 mark in the video, they just said halo 4 made 400 million usd, but people who bought it didn't love it as much as the previous games... So... I think OP has a point. The hype around the game was responsible for the game's enormous sells, not the game itself. This is why pre purchasing is wrong in my opinion, it's because you are basically saying "I'm buying whatever you are selling" to the companies...

[@teamchaos5101]

I mean, people are starting to hold them accountable. Just look at what's going on with the Battlefield series

[@kenrichgumanid9235]

"Oh I fEeL bAd FoR tHeM bUyInG tHeSe StUfF" Let them be, they're not your concern.

[@little0garden486]

Noticed this was your first video ever, so might as well say this. Props to you man, this is super well done and I thoroughly enjoyed this so much. Don’t know if you know the KZbinr EmpLemon but this editing style reminds me of his similar way of story telling which I absolutely adore, but you were able to put your own way of editing and style into it to set you apart. I cannot wait for another video that you have planned whatever that may be. Good job man and I hope for a successful career for your future.

[@Clyde0000]

Wow. 300k views on someone’s first video is crazy.

[@Extremezotako]

fr

[@Chad-bc9vi]

@@Clyde0000 well deserved, it's a well made video

[@CasualViewer-t4f]

No way! First video?! I would have never guessed. Great sound mixing, clean editing, and great script. Very impressed.

[@sorcierenoire8651]

@@Clyde0000 443k views atm, gg!

[@thebarbaryghostsf]

Indie games give individuals the freedom to create anything they can imagine. Look at games like Northern Journey i.e. That dude had never so much much as fired up a dev engine before, but he put together an incredibly cool, unique and original game in a few years. His story is so inspiring. Hell, that's just one example. I tink about 90% of my favorite games this past year were all made by a solo dev.

[@bryanhaha1234]

I was honestly sad the video was this short, if this were a 1 hour documentary I would watch it happily

[@thebeastmaster2710]

Same, it had a chill vibe and very entertaining

[@The_Prizessin_der_Verurteilung]

Indie: Passion AAA: Profit This isn't absolute, but is generally the case.

[@fanofgaming8403]

I think one aspect about indie gaming that most people forget is that games can now be made by only one person one just like before. Look at tunic and midnight fight express. And with the rise of better and more accessible software to make games, I believe with my entire steam account that we will see more indie devs and solo devs making games with great graphics and even better gameplay.

[@tz5116]

Chained Echoes is a good example for that. Have to tell everyone. :D

[@crXssfire_]

Stardew valley. Gorgeous game COMPLETLEY made by one person. Code, art, MUSIC, Incredible.

[@candiegray4037]

Also, something I think people dunking on indie games don't understand is, now a days, indie games might be the only games you can AFFORD to play. Triple AAA games are getting more and more expensive and also need better and better computers to play them. I used to be able to play a triple AAA company game in my laptop for high school homework, and now, after I've spent hundreds of dollars on a gaming computer, it can't handle half of triple AAA games.

[@porkerpete7722]

It could also just oversaturate because all fps games are trying to emulate CoD gunplay. With no other interesting factor/world.

[@eccentricstylist]

Definitely!! I've noticed a lot of amazing indie games out there made by solo devs (which is also what inspired me to create my own for my best friend haha). I think it's nice to see how there are so many resources and a major community for us these days, so even if we are solo, we have the moral support & feedback from other devs haha.

[@jurassicarkjordanisgreat1778]

Its really sad to see how poorly halo has been treated over the past decade. It deserved much better and still has so much untapped potential that bungie wanted to do. But as you said, The reason why 343 can't make a good halo game is because the people there aren't there because they want to make good games, They are there to make money. The broken promises about infinite actually being consumer friendly make me so mad. I had hope that 343 could change the modern gaming industry to a more consumer friendly and ditch the fomo BP system. But no they just had to follow the trends. So far the only good halo content that comes out nowadays is mods for MCC and fangames made by passionate people.

[@waggish4999]

same thing could be said about so many games. It doesn't matter if it's AAA, indie or in between if a developer is making a game primarily for profit then the player suffers

[@absolutegarbage3654]

Does it really have "untapped potential"? The potential seems pretty tapped to me

[@SaraNightfire1]

The other issue that I have with 343 with Halo is a huge reason: They don't respect the source material. Nor the origins of the main character and his development. Halo is controversial among humanity; you have a military entity kidnapping six-year-old children and raising them as soldiers. They have the families think their kids died (it's way too complicated and irrelevant to explain), and they had the Chief and 32 other Spartans from that. Chief is the main character of the series. There's a MAJOR shift in tone from Bungie to 343. Suddenly it's no longer focused on the atmosphere and the characters, the lore, the Flood, and the Covenant. Halsey has maybe two scenes (excluding narrative) in Bungie, except the books, which show her as a professional scientist who handles the Spartans as her children and carries the guilt of her decisions. Suddenly, it's all about Chief. Him grieving over Cortana, he tries to find her, but the lore disappears, and the Covenant are either complete villains who, in the core of 4, hate humans again (yes, I know it was a rogue branch), or they do a handful of cutscenes. Halsey is turned into a monster who robs from the cradle and needs to be either persecuted or executed depending on when she turns her back on the humanity she's trying to save and risks everything for revenge. The Spartan II’s are suddenly doing work that is way below them and are the most chatty freaking people on the planet (they are usually as quiet as Chief), and don't care about their mother (Halsey) MISSING A FREAKING ARM!!!! And the V’s, the fucking V’s.... The prominent replacement II’s from the perfect background that they tried to panhandle in so they could strip away what made Halo so great in the first place and wash their hands of what they didn't like. Could you not get me into the television show? Trust me, save yourself. I loved Halo; I loved the lore, I loved the characters, and the interactions (the grunts trash-talking about the soldiers and them insulting the grunts back is my favorite dialogue) and it was stripped away because the studio hates what Halo was. It is just sad.

[@prw56]

@@SaraNightfire1 As someone who only read the first 2 books and played the original 3 games (also most of reach), I was confused as hell trying to figure out when the show was set. Ok they know about spartans, must be post games. But wait why have they never seen the covenant? Oh it must be based pre first game and somehow the super secret spec ops group (spartan program) is known on this backwater place.... But wait that thing (that somewhat looks like a fat elite) is calling chief "demon" (which I believe only began somewhere in the first or second game)? Maybe I misremembered and that happened in the book before the assault on reach...? Oh wait captain keys and his daughter are black, they just don't give a fuck. Got it, g'bye. I know there's way more to tear apart, cause it kept playing while I was ranting at the screen, but I knew what kind of producer was responsible at that point.

[@SaraNightfire1]

I call the television show the biggest, most enraging slap to the face of fans and myself I have ever seen. Yes, I know it's not canon because the fans were out for blood in the first trailer. It still does not explain the pure, vile, utter bullshit of the television show. I have seen other fandoms destroyed, and I have seen worse adaptations. I have even seen more insulting transformations of a fandom. I have never, ever seen an adaptation that spits so hard in the lore that there isn't ONE SCENE that doesn't have an issue, that doesn't have a problem that goes against what made Halo so great; that didn't fucking piss me off. And I never watched a moment of the show; this was from watching several podcasts and a complete breakdown of the series. This isn't just Halsey being (again) noted as a sociopathic monster; this isn't Cortana being whatever the fuck she is in the show, this isn't even CHIEF FUCKING A COVENANT SPY WITH CORTANA WATCHING AFTER REMOVING HIS FUCKING HAPPY PILL!!!! WHICH IS BULLSHIT IN ITSELF!!! I warned you. Every. Fucking. Scene. Had something wrong with it, either with the lore, the characters, the utter stupidity of both sides, a fucking KID being the “hero” it's that every scene enraged me to the point where I had to pause the breakdown, rant to my friend, take few minutes to calm down and go back to the shitshow. I have never, ever been that fucking pissed about a series like that.

[@tjnaples]

Clearly a TON of critical thinking is being combined with good video editing/production. We knew you when if you keep this up! Great voice btw, don't stop that.

[@GoingIndie]

Hahah thanks! We'll keep doing more of this, but try and get better and better over time!

[@SuperStig92]

One of my favourite indies of the last few years; Project Wingman was made by 3 people. 1 who written the story and dialog, 1 who coded the entire game and the last 1 who composed the music, this versus Ace Combat 7 which has a much bigger dev team but ended up going through development hell.

[@sirmackavelli]

The fact that this is your first video and it already has over 300k views is crazy you've got a good future on the platform as long as you stick being consistent with uploads

[@kpdelaney6460]

Wow! That’s crazy! Really high production for a first video

[@willhaney96]

Earned yourself a sub in just one video

[@pugorilla8848]

after watching this and subscribing, I was checking their channel expecting to see many more videos to watch. They have the quality of a developed channel when theyre just starting. I hope they are consistent with uploading though

[@BaldMcgee]

There are still some very good, (mainly story driven) AAA games out there, but indie games are some of my favorites and beat out at least 80% of the AAA industry. Great video man!

[@BaldMcgee]

Also, I think the biggest part of why AAA is falling is because there is too much corporate greed, in indie development, everything is in the hands of the devs.

[@vurhn2009]

However, double a games are to be considered and they are like the games I also played well mostly on the indie side. I think NieR: Automata may be considered as a double A game because it may have a budget size that is limited but the game is excellent and I can go on to other single a and double a games that are made by indie devs.

[@EpicGamer-fl7fn]

@@MuriloRiFO the difference is that you will never even hear about 99% of those garbage indie games, and they'll make a very minimal profit. Because they have small to no budget, and no resources to really make their game actually stand out or tell people that it exists. "ghost games" as i like to call them, are just there. they don't pose a threat to the industry like the greedy garbage Triple A games do. There's just little to no market for them. meanwhile there will always be thousands of idiots willing to buy another CoD or battlepass for Overwatch just because they can't control their impulses, especially when tempted with bright colorful character skins or a gameplay that makes them remember the old days when these franchises were actually fucking good.

[@gimmeyourrights8292]

​@@MuriloRiFO That's right and remember, every triple A company was an indie company once upon a time.

[@CamelliaFlingert]

@@EpicGamer-fl7fn same with good indie-games, how many people know about Oneshot comparing to Undertale? (even tho it released before Undertale)

[@Shotz_ZnK]

This is so true I'm tired of every AAA title trying to shove a live service game down my throat trying there absolute hardest to get me to spend money for the battle pass or a cool skin I just wanna play the game and get rewarded with those things instead indie games like hollow knight or Celeste have been an absolute blast and so much fun that I still play hollow knight from time to time after years of having it. AAA game companies killed themselves with there greed I hope the gaming community eventually stops fueling there greed and force them to change

[@barknova32]

One thing to why indie games are so good. 1. Indie games have to always make something for the community because they not have a great initial hype. So they make the best they can to make a game who they love and the players too

[@Gyratus]

You managed to put into words my entire disappointment of the 343's halo trilogy. For a long time I thought it was because I had grown older and maybe I became an old idiot but you proved my gut's feeling right. Thank you.

[@JO-hs1ue]

Been playing more indies games than ever before since getting my steam deck. Although the current market of games are mostly micro-transactions cash grabs, I think now more than ever indie games are starting to have their value shown. It really sucks how the majority of big studios operate now, but im glad the little guy still havent lost hope. No matter how much corporate elements and bureaucracy starts to swarm the gaming industry, the core of it will always remain, and thats fun and creativity. Gaming will never lose that core, there will always be someone out there to create those games for the sake of fun.

[@marko9695]

When I watched this video I did NOT expect this to be the first video of the channel. The editing, the commentary, just the overall quality of the video, are all amazing. Subbed and looking forward to more videos :)

[@Super70000]

no way bro i didn't even look at the channel but this is the first video this is incredble (i don't find any better word to say)

[@Super70000]

no way bro i didn't even look at the channel but this is the first video this is incredble (i don't find any better word to say)

[@Solidinius_Snake]

I think it's not quite about 343 as a studio, it's about the system that requires to satisfy stockholders who can't understand that the gaming industry can't stay as insanely fast growing as it used to be. They're the ones who are only interested in money. And the bigger a company, the harder it is do deliver fast growing profits. We've seen it too many times: a capable small company appears on the market, shoots out a couple of bestsellers, gets bigger, seeks for investors to get even more big, and then finds itself trapped in an endless loop of chasing the stockholders expectations. Ubisoft, Dice, Blizzard, Bioware, Infinity Ward, so many have fallen

[@GoingIndie]

What's your favorite indie game?

[@TitanusJase621]

I like stardew valley

[@asoupyferretnamedfar3634]

Hollow knight and rain world

[@gregbadioli_915]

The good ol’ henry stickmin games

[@Sapphiregamer8605]

Would say Henry stickmin,but haven’t played in so long so I’m saying none.

[@chibisatan2901]

Definately crosscode

[@chumley04]

Minecraft, Celeste, Hollow Knight, Dead Cells, Tunic, Stray, Cuphead, Undertale, Deltarune, Hades… the list goes on of incredible indie staples. Whats your favourite indie game ever?

[@trainspower2236]

i will add to the list omori, dont starve, stardew valley and the binding of isaac

[@chumley04]

Oh shit ye i forgot them, especially omori

[@aaronatkinson177]

Yes most of the games I have on my series s are all indie games rogue legacy is the newest one I added to my collection so far

[@dukejaywalker5858]

Volgarr the Viking, Hot Line Miami, Environmental Station Alpha, and Legend of Grimrock.

[@moltenpeppersalt1758]

maybe doomed to hell or something

[@Ohmargod]

When People talk about indies, they sometimes forget the glory of Cave Story. Published in 2004, produced by one guy over 5 years, with a little bit of help from friends as play testers and with music. They guy "Pixel" is one of the earliest when it comes to 'making your own game because you want to'. Great gameplay, great music, great story and even a true ending which is HARD to obtain. If you've never heard of Cave Story, now you know.

[@beckstiles6595]

Fantastic video. As modern gaming continues to paint this mosaic of mediocrity, it’s both the indie game industry and the communities that follows it that carry on the passion that made games what they ought to be: an exhilarating experience that leaves you having a good time and wanting more. We got to keep that going by following those that maintain that vision when developing their games, as well as us looking back to classics to recall what made games great to begin with.

[@thestoneyone06]

And this sometimes has me begin to confuse the line of indie and AAA games because it can be hard to tell with games like Psychonauts 2 and games published by Devolver Digital

[@Atlas718]

Started playing Rain World recently, and its just so amazing. Creativity and AI is just top notch. No AAA game has ever made me so immersed than indie games. Creativity and Logic are the two things that I love when I see in a game. Having an idea trying to beat a room or a level and actually working because the developer/s actually put in effort in physics is just so rewarding.

[@Kraken9911]

I read it as RimWorld for a second. One of the best indie games imo.

[@jbmsonicxd]

AA games and Indies are probably my favorites games right now, AAA may have more budget and people, but indies like Dead Cells, Katana Zero even with the little people working on them, have been amazing, and AA games like Star Ocean 6 or Ys IX may be from small studios and without that much money, gave me the most fun I had with a game in a while

[@averageinactiveperson]

As a indie game player who likes shooters, i'd say ULTRAKILL is one of if not the best indie shooter. It's filled to the brim with funny secrets and interesting mechanics, and it's hard to get bored of it with the hard challenges (notably the P-ranks)

[@GeraltofRivia22]

I love AA games like Fire Emblem, Total War, Yakuza and Tales of games.

[@alejandronieto4212]

I think we are mistaken when we identify the videogames as a business, where you make money, or an industry, where you mass produce. Gaming has, and always has been, a craft. Its about making high quality products, artistically appealing, taking your time and growing through them.

[@Leonard_Wolf_2056]

Most things are business.

[@TobyConger]

Congrats on receiving so much attention from your first-ever video, Going Indie! Keep doing what you love, just like indie companies do.

[@soyborne.bornmadeandundone1342]

What a wonderful comment! THIS THIS THIS!!!

[@lolliker1875]

This guy is going to succeed. The editing and script are both great and the topic is relatable.

[@rais6036]

Strange why he wouldn't like your comment

[@djlaw56what]

The AAA industry has become a business not a place to make unique and amazing content for fans to have fun

[@Person-tz1tk]

why are people so greedy?

[@apolloknight9521]

@@Person-tz1tk because it’s in our nature. People are greedy regardless of morality, either we are aware of it or not.

[@israeldavila27]

Wow, this video hit the nail on the head! It's so frustrating to see these big AAA game developers put out mediocre games time and time again, all while indie games continue to innovate and impress with their creativity and passion. It's almost like the big companies are too focused on profit margins and pleasing shareholders rather than actually making great games. This video really highlights the importance of taking risks and putting art and creativity first, and I couldn't agree more. Kudos to the Going Indie for shedding some light on this topic and sparking important conversations about the state of the gaming industry!

[@nhlfan1001]

the most frustrating thing about Halo Infinite is that the game itself is actually very good. The gunplay and the equipment are great, and I'm enjoying the campaign so far. Business single handedly ruined the online

[@lilfern3466]

Indie devs are passionate about the games they make, with a wide focus on creativity, innovation and originality. These are devs who create what they are looking for in games. AAA studios have huge costs because of their various departments, and instead choose to capitalize on mechanics and styles that are trending in the industry. These are devs who create a product that a team of executives and shareholders want, with no creative freedom.

[@ДмитрийРубежов-э1б]

Exactly.

[@Boogieman618]

The thing that makes indie games so good is that you can tell that the devs put passion into their games. AAA devs just care about how to make the most money without doing the least amount of work.

[@defectivesickle5643]

I wouldn't put the blame on the devs. They care about making a fun game as much as any indie dev would, but the pressure applied by corporate higher-ups is too much.

[@GeraltofRivia22]

Some of my favourite indie games from the past few years: Stardew Valley, Darkest Dungeon, Valheim, Slay the Spire, My Time at Portia and Deeprock Galactic.

[@honeybeeami2654]

Indie games truly take their premise and run with it. I feel like the blessing of indie is not only can you come up with a concept, spend as much time as you deem necessary to work on, and go as far into it. Most indies in my opinion could have never have even been born in large companies, let alone been created

[@Kingslayer474]

This video was made phenomenally well. I look forward to see what else you cover in the future.

[@GoingIndie]

More on the way! Thank you!

[@jingbring6000]

It's amazing what love, time, and effort can do for a game and it's reputation. Seeing AAA companies just print out garbage every year really drove that home.

[@soyborne.bornmadeandundone1342]

What... The samish cod game for the 20th time in a row not cutting it for ya anymore? lololol

[@jingbring6000]

@@soyborne.bornmadeandundone1342 mostly games just not being done anymore and the first months of release having enough bugs to feed 1,000 frogs in addition to a lot of big companies just not giving a dam about their player base. But yeah that too.

[@fieryphoenix586]

Giants Studio actually made watching the grass grow more fun than most AAA studio titles.

[@bullseyelqcs]

Its going to be interesting to see what comes of video games in the coming years. My first gaming system was an Intellivision, so I've been at this for a long time. I'm noticing that the gaming industry is experiencing the same woes of the music industry over the years. Think about it....Bungie and the progression to 343 is essentially the story of Metallica in the music world. Metallica was a garage band when they started out, playing small venues and making iconic music. The fans of Metallica when they started out eventually turned on them when they signed a record contract and no longer had 5 years to put out an album when the record studio was looking for an album every year. The irony of the situation is that the fans essentially forced the bands hand by making them popular enough that someone wanted to sign them in the first place. The same thing has happened with video game studios. Small teams put out phenomenal games, and companies like Microsoft take an interest. The second that happens, the very thing that allowed for the small team to put out a great game, time, no longer existed. They were now on a time crunch to put out the next installment of that great game, and subsequently, the quality of that next installment suffered. Couple that with the advent of microtransactions, and the death of quality games was all but guaranteed. We need to get back to the days where a game sold a bajillion copies because it was amazing and people raved about it enough to convince someone who didn't have a system to go out and buy one to be part of the community. As it is currently, companies are content to sell a million copies of a game on release day and then milk the everloving crap out of the hardcore players who are willing to spend dollars to be at the top of the leaderboards, and that saddens long time gamers like myself. My final comment on this would be this......beware hyping indie studios too much. Not because they don't deserve it, but because with exceedingly rare exception, they ARE in it to make some money, and the taste of large popularity eventually gets the better of most people, and when Microsoft or EA come knocking, the temptation to leave the garage is compelling.

[@f1reflam3]

Yes, most indie developers ARE in also to make some money, _we have to eat as well_ It's also hard to reject thousands of dollars from a AAA company just because you like your project

[@bullseyelqcs]

@@f1reflam3 Please don't take my comment the wrong way. I completely understand that you guys need eat. I was more cautioning people who swear by indie games that the very thing that drives them towards indie producers is what eventually causes those same producers to somehow no longer be considered indie. Like I said, when it becomes apparent that a producer has the talent to be working on more than garage products (my comparison to Metallica before they got thier record deal), some AAA studio is gonna pounce to make money. If that was where it stopped, there would be no problem with the AAA studios, but its not. That is when the time constraints and profit margin starts to change the way those indie producers get to make games, much the same way that a band that spent 5 years on a debut album isn't gonna get 5 years once they sign on the dotted line.

[@jotareiss]

This video helped me to put in words how do i feel about video games. I used to play a lot of them in my adolescende, early 2000s. At time, i could not afford the tech to play them, i was still playing snes, bought my PS1 only in 2004, my PC only runs things like flash games, Tibia and Age of Mythology. As adult, i realized a dream to catch up with the huge, blockbuster games of modern era, and i dont know why, but they more often than not they fail to catch me up, as they presents themselves with a kind of self seriousness like the standard is crating "games for gamers", you must be on par with the industry to grasp the apotheotic "this is art" of the nowadays AAA games, always throwing gorgeous graphics, dopamine bombs and sheer enormous scale of everything... but they still feel lackluster to me. When i found the indie games i felt in love with several titles, Hollow Knight, Celeste, Blasphemous, Dead Cells, Frostpunk, Darkest Dungeon to cite some. I used to think it was because these games are more accessible, easier to understand and access thr fun, but this video showed my that is something different. Anyway, thanks to you who took your time to read my little story, sorry for the bad english and a peaceful 2023 to everyone out there ❤️

[@clydemarshall8095]

Good games have always needed to strike the balance of profitability and passion. It’s sad that that has been lost in recent years

[@YuYuYuna_]

hit the nail on the head. Indie developers have all the soul and passion in the industry now. Of course there are a few AAA studios that are still very passionate and produce amazing games (IDSoftware for example) they are very few and very far between. My favorite games of the past 5+ years have been overwhelmingly Indie titles. CrossCode, ZeroSievert, Terraria, 7days to die, Deep Rock Galactic, Star Renegades, just to name a few. Yeah there have been a couple amazing games like Elden Ring, but for every amazing AAA game there has been 50 overhyped trash cans with false advertising and lack of content + monetized out the ass favoring monetization over quality of the game and progression/customization from playing the game. I love games where I have to PLAY the game to unlock stuff and based on how much effort and time I put in I get more out of it. I can kind of understand people who don't want to spend hours and hours playing games but gaming is a huge hobby for me. Always has been. I have no problem spending most of my free time off work playing games.

[@DKCreo]

I take the position that self-harm (corporate / within the studios themselves) is crippling the AAA industry, at least in terms of the standing and lasting quality of their games. As a result, indies - particularly the standout titles - are able to capitalize. Semantics aside, either premise at their core seem fairly agreeable. Good way to start your channel; keep at it!

[@JumpinJoe]

You're right. AAA has eaten through most long term employees. Potential developers are now wise to the industry's standards and don't apply for positions

[@khanhnguyen-tt3ff]

@@JumpinJoe lol that only apply to the west and japan AAA game .

[@SuperExplosivegames]

Ive loved the recent explosion in popularity of indie games. As a dwarf fortress veteran and a long time fan of games like valheim and space engineers its fantastic to see the surge in players! Dont get me wrong I play my "junkfood" games (league) but it feels so unloved in comparison.

[@swordmeisterguy6752]

I aspired to be an indie game developer before it blew up. I always felt that, as a dev, only you have the true vision you want to have for your game. You, yourself, are its heart and soul.

[@shanzayplayzreal999]

I will give you 100 if you make me a game about cloud platforming 10 levels

[@micindir4213]

Like temple os

[@ShlongMaster5000]

I too am making a game with my friends. Many claim that it won't even make a penny, but I said that it will because unlike other studios who make games for the sake of making money we do it for the sake of doing It. So we have put our soul into it to make it what we want.

[@ceejaylee2377]

Not gonna lie, kinda shocked to realise you guys are only just starting out when I thought some big channel was covering this. Really well put together, definitely subscribed.

[@RedRanchu]

This is exactly how i feel, the amount of casual gamers are increasing, we want something fun and not too time intensive. Indie games are the future honestly

[@jordangordon2350]

I tried out Destiny 2 the other day and I noticed some things that made a lot of sense. A lot of things from Reach everyone hated: reticle bloom, flying, armor abilities etc are present and leaned into heavily in Destiny 2. It really does feel like they were ready to move on and trying to make something else after Halo 3.

[@JP-qg7bu]

2022 was the year I got really into indie games. A few notable ones were Tunic, Little Nightmares, Cult of the Lambs, and some others.

[@jeniffer7799]

I played Hollow Knight and I still don't understand why I only payed 25€ for such a game, it has a very complex story and the most insane worldbuilding I've ever seen. Other than "Ori and the Will of the Wisps" of course, because THAT is just... art. Beautiful art.

[@xXYannuschXx]

"Ori and the Will of the Wisps" Bought that game solely for the insane animation quality.

[@jeniffer7799]

@@xXYannuschXx you played it? Because Ori killed me emotionaly more than one time.

[@xXYannuschXx]

@@jeniffer7799 Didnt had the time recently with the Dead Space remake xD But its on my backlog.

[@vladi3862]

hollow knight is 15€ by now at least on steam and it goes on sale very often

[@vladi3862]

ori 2 isn't an indie game unfortunately, still my favourite game of all time

[@vVex_]

Holy shit, this is a great first video! you definitely earned my sub! You should play Outer Wilds and contrast it to other open world games, and see how a small indie game made by like twenty people outdoes any AAA open world design to date!

[@casualidiot]

its exactly why some studios mostly create amazing games, everybody understands what they are working toward and thus can work together efficiently

[@oneup117gaming4]

Hollow Knight was legitimately so fun, I felt that the $15 price was an injustice, so I bought the game on Steam after already doing nearly everything on Nintendo Switch. Indie games never fail to disappoint.

[@TehPiemaygor]

"Never fail to disappoint" means they always disappoint you.

[@kiwuuspurr1927]

@@TehPiemaygor that makes my brain become wringed onion, but it makes sense

[@LokiSeidrGod]

@@TehPiemaygor Hadn’t thought about it that way… or brains get hardwire to ignore such things and read it as intended. Weird huh?

[@arkglitches5266]

Can just say "Never disappoints" or "Never fails to deliver."

[@GoatedPhilip]

If you think $15 is too little for hollow night, play grimm's hollow. This game is FREE having 4 endings nice gameplay and perfect story. Some endings are really sad and I can't understand why it's FREEEE

[@nikajo__8755]

The reason indie games beat AAA games is because they are made by passionate people who have a vision for making a fun game, and that’s it. They (usually) aren’t looking to nickel and dime their audience and just have a great idea in mind. And the ability to make it a reality. They consistently embarrass the big AAA companies with their offerings. Mostly, they are not hamstrung by big money producers who only look at the bottom line. We’re lucky to have such passionate devs giving us gold year after year

[@nikajo__8755]

@Epic I have nothing against people making money. Hell, I ‘want’ good companies to make money and keep making good games. What I don’t like is being sold ‘day one dlc’, overly expensive cosmetics with fake middle currency, subscription services and ‘blood and and gore effects’ for a fucking warhammer game (yes total warhammer did this) when I’ve already bought the damn base game. Some of the monetisation bullshit we’ve seen over the past 5 years or so has been egregious at best and downright scummy at worst. There’s a line, and it’s getting crossed all too often in the gaming world. By comparison, most indie games make a game and sell you a game - that’s it. No bullshit attached. That’s the point I’m trying to make here

[@Bob-wr1md]

@Epic One side is being paid fairly for the work that you did, for something you love. Most AAA Games try to make as much money as possible first, which clearly doesn't work out. There's so many videos of AAA Games basically being all the same, and it shows. Corporations found out that people like Open world games, now the open world gaming market is so flooded, yet except for a few, most of them are just plain boring, and more often than not feel like a chore to play, too. ProZDs sketch about open world games perfectly captures this

[@NO-FILTER-EXPERT]

AAA gaming killed itself because of people like Phil spencer authorizing incompetent leadership to push out garbage over and over. You wanna know what’s funny? The original teams that developed the older games already did it (making a full game with working compoenents of the game) ……yet these modern games can’t even come close to making anything work and it’s because they can’t…it’s because of modern gaming idots are literally making the game itself be a stupid pay for licensing (aka pay for the components of the game). When it’s comes to Xbox. The real problem is Phil spencer. Phil spencer wasn’t in a leading position at Xbox during the early 2000s or aka the golden days of entertainment (just like how 343 wasn’t in no control of halo back in 2007). Phil spencer and 343i literally have the same story. 343i took over halo and destroyed it and……Phil spencer was promoted to the highest position of Xbox and he destroyed Xbox/still destroying Xbox console by injecting mouse and keyboard support into console controller only environments, forcing cross play with PC cheaters, making console ppl pay for Xboxlive but give xbl to PC ppl for free, lying to the public by adding a useful feature then randomly taking it away and more importantly allowing people like Bonnie Ross to push out garbage games and ruin the franchise for 11 years straight with no discipline Phil spencer gotta go. He’s been ruining Xbox for 11 years straight. He literally watched halo “their flag ship game” go down hill and he has every power to stop that incompetence. All Phil spencer cares about is pushing garbage gamespass subscriptions filled with half made games that’s still filled with microtransaction and X cloud BS and this pc inclusion Xbox bs stuff. The Xbox series X is literally garbage compared to the 2015 Xbox one. The 2015 Xbox one literally came with useful features like snap tv, local LAN streaming to your Xbox and more. The latest Xbox (series X) can’t even do that stuff because they Microsoft freaking sucks. Bonnie Ross, Kiki wolf and frank are just puppets….as you can see their departure have no effect. The real problem is Phil spencer. One last problem is that y’all keep voting blue. The early 2000s (2000 to 2007) was literally all red…..GET IT. LOOK IT UP. everything went downhill when Obama got elected and when Obama started pushing those polices. Obama ruined the country and we are still dealing with the outcome til this day. STOP VOTING FOR DEMOS…..as you can see when demos are in control…everything literally goes backwards.

[@RemoG0915]

This whole comment section is fill with this idea and it's idiotic. No one is showing up to get overworked and under paid if they don't care about the games. Separate execs from developers. Not to mention even then people are comparing games with tiny scopes and budgets that don't need to earn back 1/100 of the money to turn a profit. It's not like you have an indie call of duty or halo that's super successful doing it that way. It also ignores none live service games like damn near anything out of a Sony first party studio, or from soft. Saying AAA is dead and focusing on Microsoft and Activision is an interesting angle.

[@RemoG0915]

@@nikajo__8755 Apex was free and had an underwhelming but intrusive battle pass season one. It took weeks before people were bitching for more content. Point to the big Apex indie alternative. Are companies routinely screwing up their monetization strategies? Of course, but the indie comparison is absurd even more so saying that the difference is in caring. Splitgate which if it had a AAA brand would have been killed online for its level of polish also was literally unplayable when they launched the console game, not to mention still packed with loot boxes and stuff for simple armor colors.

[@DenisDexter]

It's really sad that such amazing projects made purely for fun get taken by big companies because they make a lot of money and then are driven down into the dirt until they're no longer the beautiful games they once were

[@brucey5585]

Almost every game company can be traced back to just some dudes making games they love. They either got bought out or grew too big and lost track of their original goals.

[@arkanen9ne]

Nailed it, Great video essay man, you've said it perfectly and put it into a perspective easy for everyone to understand through great comparisons between past companies which I never even thought about and the current Indie Game steamroll. Can't wait to see future videos if you've got quality this good already.

[@RicksThread]

Great video! I share the critical thoughts you've put into it. As time passes it seems that this phenomenon is intensifying and I hope more people realize what is really happening behind the scenes.

[@TheDevourerOfGods]

I like it when developers take extra time to make things perfect. It really shows in the end.

[@Hanaronxd]

It's so interesting how in the pursuit of money, companies make decisions that actively hurt the profitability of a game.

[@ToxikDnB544]

Didn’t realise this was your first video. Clicked on your channel icon thinking “More please!” And saw only this! It’s really well made for a first video, and it seems to have gotten a LOT of attention, so may i personally ask… “More please!” XD

[@TheSpeep]

I think the kind of specialization you see now in large videogames needing entire teams of experts is unfortunately just one of the downsides of technological progress. Just think about it, 20 years ago, with an afternoon of research, you could probably put together your own website all by yourself and make it work at a comparatively decent level of quality, but nowadays, you pretty much need some kind of service like squarespace, or professional help to get something set up that can keep up with modern standards. Or, with some relatively simple tools, you could probably put together a bicycle in your backyard all by yourself. But a car? Probably not I'd wager...

[@Buglin_Burger7878]

Except it doesn't need team of experts, it needs better design. You can get really good graphics using simple tech and most people have easily modded models in AAA games. Most of it is the fact that AAA aren't working to optimize the game but optimize profit. This creates lots of messes, errors, issues, and you get stuff like Scarlet/Violet where the game lags, crashes often, and looks absolutely abysmal at times. It could've been 100x better if they didn't push it out for profit.

[@TheAkashicTraveller]

I call BS you can definitly still put togeather your own website. The only reason we don't really see them anymore is because people have all been sucked into massive social media websites like youtube and rarely leave unless looking for something specific.

[@user-sl6gn1ss8p]

While making the most of technology might need more people, that is not enough of an explanation: you also need to explain why there's enough pressure that you *need* to do the most. What I mean is, it's objectively never been easier to make games - same with websites. The things one person can do now and the ease of doing them are positively absurd compared to 20, 30, let alone 40 years ago, really, they're worlds apart. The fact that (some) indies can get a lot of popularity shows that being at the very top of the content/technology games is *not* necessary. Same can actually be seen on the other end of the spectrum: Age of Empires 2 is top 2 in the real time strategy genre right now - and it was essentially revived by fan modders. So while your point is not completely wrong, it's not *enough* to explain the situation either. I think you have to call in aspects of the history of video games as well as the corporate structure of large studios - including open capital and the pressures associated - to explain why there's all this pressure for AAAs to be always larger and larger and larger until they can pretend to be eternal. IE: capitalism bad or something : p

[@TheSpeep]

@@user-sl6gn1ss8p Oh I entirely agree, theres no need for every game to push the limits of what the technology is capable of, and the obsession with ever increasing technical, especially graphical, specs is a stupid ball and chain the AAA industry has attached to its own ankle. There are plenty of interesting things you can do even within the established limits of what current day hardware can handle, even with a small team. It takes a lot of skill and hard work, for sure, but it is certainly possible. In fact, I've been working on a small game project of my own for some time now (dont expect to see it available anytime soon tho) so I'll be the last person to tell you its impossible to make a game all by yourself, in fact, go do that right now! We need more cool games! But there is a certain degree of scale, for better or worse (often worse) thats often expected of most game releases nowadays, and it makes it hard for smaller projects to get the attention they deserve, while pushing large scale AAA projects toward adding a bunch of meaningless bloat that more often than not hurts the pacing and focus of the game or amounts to little more than pointless busywork, rather than actually putting that time into polishing the actual good parts of the game (or perhaps allowing your devs the occasional night of sleep)

[@ghoulbuster1]

AI will fix that

[@HalFischer]

Props to you, really neat first video - subbed. There is something about indie games, i´ve noticed a few years ago - and honestly, it took me a while to completly grasp it - but I think that you´ve brought it quite nicely to the point. I started playing video games in the late 80s, all through the 90s and 00s - and noticed a sequetial decline in quality and originality. I personally think, that video games had their peak in the late 90s and early 2000s, while tools were developed enough to actually develope the basic idea behind a game further along the line, but keep the team itself small enough not to ruin the artistic vision. And I think that especially this artistic vision is something completely absent from (most) current AAA productions - they somewhat deteriorated into a money-printing-machine, avoid of soul. I personally think, thats the biggest advantage of indie productions: a small team with full control about their project.

[@vladi3862]

hollow knight has some of the best game devs ever, they said they wanted to spend all their money earned with hollow knight on updating this game until they're out of money, that's why it got 4 free dlcs and one of them is extremely huge. they had so much money that a hornet dlc became what we know as silksong today, because playing as hornet in hollow knight would break the entire game lmao. and that's why silksong takes so long to develop, they want to create the most perfect game ever with every money they can spend on it. i love you team cherry

[@plusplus940]

So well done, loved the editing and pace.

[@GoingIndie]

Thank you, glad you enjoyed it!