The AAA Bubble Is Finally Bursting

[@ArloStuff]

One thing I wish I mentioned was that another reason so many people are being laid off is the current state of our economy. Companies are trying to "trim the fat" wherever they can. However I wouldn't be surprised if layoffs and closures would be happening anyway. The AAA industry is course correcting hard at the moment.

[@WikipediaLover94]

100% the real problem is corporate greed. The videogame industry is not independent from the greater economy. We see in all sectors workers being fired while the C Suite gets bonuses. The same thing is happening in videogames. The unique part of videogames and media making a a whole is that investor greed is also rushing unfinished products onto the market to meet financial deadlines.

[@acidous]

​@@WikipediaLover94 thing is, that historicaly games are doing fine during bad economic times (2008, covid), because unemployed people stay at home and are looking for some entertainment. Layoffs have more to do with terrible business decisions during past years - almost every big corp ivested heavily into one, already overcrowded genre and filled it to the brim with open world, always online, buy pass/dlc/lootbox with daily challenges nonsense. I cannot even remember when was the last time when I was genuienly interested into any AAA game outside of nintendo, who still didn't catch up with those trends. Those layoffs are just an desperate attempts to lowercosts and show rising incomes before the end of the fiscal year.

[@avinashtyagi2]

Correction Arlo, even during the gaming crash, PC gaming thrived, it was console gaming that crashed

[@avinashtyagi2]

As for layoffs, game industry needs a union

[@GabeSweetMan]

And God forbid those cuts come from executive bonuses.

[@Spatu10]

To think that when a Christmas Carol was written, a single rich man laying off a single employee close to Christmas was considered so exceptionally evil that he needed three ghosts to haunt him, and now here in the present game companies just lay off thousands of workers like it’s nothing

[@Breadward_MacGluten]

Did Scrooge actually lay off Bob in the original story? Dang lol Edit: Guys.... I know the god damn Christmas Carol story, i was wondering if the original writing by Charles Dickens had any differences from the modern retelling.

[@lackofsleipnir3801]

You can tell all the stories you want but you'll never stop people from identifying with the villains.

[@fillerbunnyninjashark271]

It all changed during the 90s when corporations were granted personhood

[@williamedge5130]

⁠@@fillerbunnyninjashark271nah, it was earlier than that - it was Jack Welch in the 70s that normalised mass layoffs on a corporate level (in his case as a means of inflating stock prices, which is a tradition carried on to this day)

[@Big-Chungus21]

@@Breadward_MacGlutenNo, he just didn’t respect him having a day off on Christmas. Honestly in the 1800s there were way worse employers at the time than Scrooge, which is a little weird. Though id really look at anything Dickens wrote with the thought that it was a product of the time, not many know about how incredibly antisemitic the original publications of novels like Oliver Twist are, I wouldn’t be surprised if a Christmas Carol being about a cold hearted money lender who doesnt like Christmas was originally made for the same reasons.

[@15plus2isnot39]

I remember during the game awards thinking, "Oh wow this trailer is really long." It was a different game.

[@im_Spade_]

THEY'RE ALL THE SAME 😩

[@Bonaboo]

AAA inbreeding 😔

[@ahoyforsenchou7288]

Easily the worst year in gaming, with only last year or 2021 coming close (wow it really is a freefall at this point), and this year's Meme/Game Awards really cemented that truth.

[@leetman102]

@@Bonaboo So inbred the Habsburg feel good about their jaw.

[@Casual_Genshin_Player]

@@ahoyforsenchou7288I wouldn’t say it’s been the worst. We had quite a few golden games compared to the last few years that haven’t been nearly as fulfilling

[@staffzx]

Cookie Monster's got a point. For a near-four hour long show, the whole ceremony should really be called "The Game Trailers and Upcoming Projects" featuring game awards

[@ilexdiapason]

don't give in to stereotypes, not all blue monsters are cookie addicts!

[@JJAB91]

@@ilexdiapason I will not apologize for noticing patterns

[@ItApproaches]

There's nothing wrong with that...most people watch the Game Awards FOR game reveals and to see if the games they enjoyed that year win an award. If there was game premiers, 75% of the viewership would be gone.

[@ArtisChronicles]

​@@ItApproaches This was the first and last games award I'll ever watch.

[@tomspoli]

Don't forget the Tv/movie award they decided to throw in there this year.

[@Glasswatt]

Lethal company outselling COD is a fantastic example

[@oscarzxn4067]

It was only on PC though, so is not as impressive as it sounds, but still cool.

[@nailinthefashion]

The COD team is the perfect example of a company reskinning the same game for profit. They're what every soulless CEO sees as a role model instead of a warning sign

[@chiquita683]

Lethal Company costs less and wont last 20 years like COD tho

[@Draffut2003]

@@chiquita683 Only a couple of the many many COD entries will last 20 years.

[@twomours6198]

@@chiquita683COD games don’t even last a year before they’ve pumped out the next one 😂

[@DonutSteel]

Indie devs doing their own thing regardless of AAA nosediving is super comforting

[@codyt8541]

And we're getting more and more absolute banger indie games by the day!

[@holap2104]

​@@codyt8541pizza tower

[@joaocarloscarvalhopereira4300]

Hollow Knight, Shovel Knight, Stardew, Dave the Diver, Supergiant Games entire library, the list goes on... Back in the day I used to play indies bcs my pc was horrible, now I play them bcs they're truly works of art. Maybe all these layoffs would encorage these devs to start their own games. I couldn't care less about realistic graphics and next gen tech. Give a cool game, with a cool story and cool pixel visuals.

[@BungieStudios]

Said by someone that can’t afford MW3.

[@Cringe_department_15]

Indie games on his way to make another story about depression and loneliness with Japanese influenced art

[@Jess-76507]

The big problem in the triple-A industry is that companies, in a bid to appease shareholders, are prioritizing short-term profit over long-term sustainability. Given the choice between a million dollars now or a billion dollars in a year, they'd choose the million dollars now because it makes their charts look nice, and gives them something to say to shareholders. This, consequentially, also means they're unwilling to try something new, as they are terrified of seeing red for even a single quarter.

[@specialnewb9821]

A company controlled by one person can easily go totally off the rails too.

[@schoo9256]

​@specialnewb9821 I think the lesson is that when companies go too big they either start to serve themselves at the expense of all else, or they start to serve the ideals of one individual at the expense of all else. Either way, everyone else suffers.

[@Warmachine_23]

Good old fiduciary responsibility to shareholders.

[@cjwalker8701]

Well said!

[@kicapanmanis1060]

You try something new when a AAA game costs $100mil to make......and that's not even as high as some of Sony's games which are in the $200mil mark. (we got that info from the FTC MS case. Specifically TLOU2 and Forbidden West are already 200+mil).

[@StylusShade]

The worst part is... the CEOs won't even feel the effects. They'll just lump the consequences of their own greedy actions onto their employees and walk away with the money they don't even deserve.

[@ravenpotter3]

And they will do layoffs and give themselves raises

[@juanrodriguez9971]

Most of the time is not even the fault of the CEOs but the shareholders pushing them into doing generic shit or firing people while they have to hire more people in order to look like they are succeeding in order to get more investors which will make the situation even worse. It's a bubble, no companies should depend on investors, and no investor should be so ignorant of the market they are supposedly supporting.

[@CEOofGameDev]

Welcome to late capitalism, baby!

[@Chaoitcme]

CEOs love to layoff employees, as when a large company does that their stocks usually go up in value, which makes their shareholders money, making them happy.

[@XenoJehuty84]

There needs to be better law and systems in place so that management at all levels should be the first to feel the sting if something goes wrong in a company. Unless it can be proved the flaw is in the lower ranks camp (which sometimes it is) management should take any cuts, bumps or layoffs first. Alas we know it'll be never or a dogs age before such things are in place.

[@RachelRoseMitchell]

watching neil newbon get cut off so quickly while we later had to sit through that one guy going 'shut up' for ages was a kick in the guts

[@anaguma90]

Dude was making an impassioned speech about BG3 giving downtrodden people hope. That shit really hurt.

[@R3TR0J4N]

oh that, it was a trailer awards

[@WafflezDay]

I love Anthony Mackie as much as the next guy, but holy hell the Game Awards have lost priority.

[@hosvet_animation]

THANK YOU for phrasing it from a AAA perspective and not, "Games are dying." Like you said, indie games can be made from a bedroom by someone who doesn't care if it doesn't make money, games are fine.

[@Evan.280]

The bigger problem with the game awards is the presentation of it. Instead of focusing on one category at a time with announcements in between them they speedrun the awards then go multiple announcements at once. That shouldn’t be the case. I think with all the criticism this awards show has gotten hopefully we see a change next year

[@jonathanmendezperez7818]

They know the people are there mostly there for the announcements and that they could possibly care less of the awards since its probably rigged anyways.

[@0Synergy]

Also they treat it like the Oscars lmao.

[@Mr.encore]

I mean no wonder why nintendo never does any announcements at the game awards it's a joke at this point and i think the higher ups need to get fired not Geoff because he's really a nice dude but it's more fault on the higher ups that need to get fired and higher new ones that will revamp the entries games awards and yey some will point fingers at goeff but he's really a sweet dude and tries to improve the awards and tries to be aware but the problem lies on the higher ups that refuses to listin to goeff about what the people really want to see with the game awards

[@chiquita683]

The biggest problem is the DEI forced into a game. When I buy a Spiderman game I want to play as Spiderman, not MJ, not some random handicapped person, not Miles Morales. Spiderman. These companies need to learn the lesson Disney is being taught

[@Mr.encore]

@chiquita683 ok that's way too far for mj 1 and 2 and miles before being spiderman segment 1 I understand but come on spiderman 2 had you playing both peter and miles and miles is spiderman and large amount of game was on peter and mile while the mj segment was pushed down to only three and for haily it was a side misson option

[@RocketDoesStuff]

I love how Arlo can provide serious commentary on the game industry while also making taco metaphors. Never change

[@RyanStorey1231]

Though, I'd gladly eat tacos every day

[@user-sw7js4jw7v]

I laughed so hard I’m glad I wasn’t drinking anything at the time

[@quotetry8998]

How in heck did that blue buffoon know what I had for dinner TONIGHT? The second I got finished eating some homemade soft-shell burritos, two seconds later I get recommended this. *_Witchcraft!_*

[@nerobiblios4086]

@@RyanStorey1231 I used to think I could back in college, but damn did the 4th day of having a Taco straight made me kinda hate it.

[@silentdrew7636]

Yeah, but DougDoug did the taco metaphor better.

[@r3tr0sp3ct3r]

I think events like the game awards are important, it shows us how cringe the industry actually is

[@mr.x2567]

And just how cringe humanity is in general.

[@miketaggard309]

I consider the game awards to be the Dorito Pope’s annual circlejerk.

[@w花b]

​@@mr.x2567I guess that's reassuring? "You're not the only one who's cringe" is a powerful message.

[@chainswordcs]

it's a great opportunity to bring attention to industry-wide issues that the general public usually doesn't hear anything about.

[@bencarlson4300]

I was gonna say that the Oscars are the same… but Hollywood doesn’t need an awards show to demonstrate their collective corporate cringe like the gaming industry

[@SonNeoKaku]

I feel so bad for the developers who have to work 10+ hours a day on a product everybody knows will flop only to get laid off later due to poor sales. Crunch is no joke😔 It's great to see you doing opinion pieces again, though, they're definitely necessary in today's climate!

[@Alex-1776]

hopefully more small studios will emerge as a result where they can go back to making something they actually want to make without corporate overlords telling them what to do

[@nailinthefashion]

Finals/Suicide Squad having stellar teams but misused HURTS. I wish I could direct the games so bad. I'd have Harley looking immaculate, with IVY, and know my market. They're so dumb

[@notrod5341]

And get abused online for it, don't forget that lovely part.

[@roarbertbearatheon8565]

10 hours is not that much I bet you call a 45 hour work week “crunch”. Ridiculous

[@Miccat87]

This is why, over time, I've come to further appreciate the games made by smaller developers that actually care about video games as a form of art. The business side of gaming can be so ugly sometimes.

[@chiquita683]

Theres almost no videogame that came out in the last 4 years thats worth $60 or more. Small developers win because their games are under $20 and thats a great value. Triple A studios at $60 is ridiculous

[@keeganmcfarland7507]

​@chiquita683 And that's why indie games and AA games are going to overtake the entire triple AAA industry.

[@matthewoburke7202]

I agree 100000%. Indie games tend to be waaay better than triple A games these days because the developers are driven by passion for making a great video game while triple A developers are driven by deadlines set by greedy corporations.

[@brandonquist8394]

@@matthewoburke7202 It's not that AAA devs don't care about their games, it's that AAA studios have a much larger percentage of non-dev employees (business people, lawyers, accountants, marketing, etc.) who gum up the works with opinions and actions they have no business making. Indie studios rarely have more than one or two staff who aren't primarily developers.

[@Miccat87]

@@brandonquist8394 This is true. I'm sure there are plenty of individuals working on AAA games that do genuinely care about them. However, the non-dev people kind of end up overshadowing that, as you said. It kind of makes me feel sorry for those developers that are being forced to abide by ridiculous rules to please people from the business side of things.

[@Draylin41]

The thing that gets me the most is not all the high-end businessmen are blind to what's happening. This has happened many times in multiple other markets. There's even been cases of a big CEOs encouraging this so that they can squeeze more out of the company before retiring or even worse, jumping to another company to do it all over again.

[@boomstickYT]

This industry needs AAA studios to be humbled. I'm glad it's bursting.

[@TMS-Oddbot]

Every industry needs the big guys to be humbled right about now

[@user-sw7js4jw7v]

@@TMS-Oddbotbingo

[@chiquita683]

📠

[@keeganmcfarland7507]

​@@chiquita683yup, and most of those triple AAA companies will get wiped out by indie game developers and AA game studios.

[@defordumbas9302]

Its only going to be the workers suffering though since the golden parachutes will save any high paid ceo who completely failed their mission

[@redlethal4358]

As an environment artist who graduated right at the end of the pandemic, there have been very few job openings and thousands of experienced devs who have been laid off competing for them. It has been a heartbreaking realizing that my odds aren't much better than winning the lottery. Its really frustrating since the industry's big build up was happening while I was studying, so me and my classmates all thought we had a future there. And all the people who managed to make it into the industry, just to get laid off the next year must be having a rough time as well. Certainly not ideal.

[@daRealB-Rex]

I was originally going to school in hopes of getting a job at a studio as a level or combat designer, but saw the bubble bursting and quickly changed course.

[@janayjerez3962]

graduating from a game industry focused school in April and I've never been more scared. I feel like I made a huge mistake following this career path.

[@naturesfinest2408]

Do your own thing. It wont be easy, it wont be quick, but itll be worth it. There are thousands of layoffs because of stale games. There is a huge open market for something new and good. What is new and good? No idea. What you do doesnt have to be huge. Short and sweet. Proof you can. A learning experince on top of it. I think youll see a lot of indie companies opening. The people who are laid off arent going to do nothing. I would look for smaller studios who are trying to take off and need workers/consultants. This is where you can make your resume shine. Along with personal work to prove yourself. I think there is a bright future.

[@ravensharpless]

Sitting in the same boat. Did a bunch of volunteer work and built up a pretty good starter resume for environment art through covid but now it looks so grim. I'm focusing on asset creation now to see if that provides fruit

[@michaelofbuhl1315]

@@daRealB-RexI wanted to go for school for it but think I’ll become and indie developer instead

[@SnowyNowak]

My favorite part about live service games is that publishers present them as "endless fun" but in reality they launch with so few things to do that people get burned out almost immediately. It's gotten to the point where announcing your game as GaaS is an easy way to kill off interest; look at what happened to Babylon's Fall, for example. Tons and tons of hype until it was announced to be a live service game, and then it was shut down after less than a year with a player amount you can count on one hand. (Platinum somehow didn't get the hint btw) That infographic by Ubisoft about live service games being easy, guaranteed profits with maximum player retention continues to be evergreen.

[@icecube9765]

Live service games are also the ones that dont respect you for your time They want to keep you hooked by grinding the egregious content theyve locked behind monetization

[@kpegc]

@@icecube9765 And either forcing you to be connected to the Internet to progress (even in single player modes), or making said items time-exclusive so that you pretty much have to log in regularly if you want them-therefore making the game itself a full-time job.

[@icecube9765]

@@kpegc Yea but the truth is being forced to go online for a single player game is a form of DRM game companies dont want to admit lol

[@abrenmam]

Live service games single handidly killed the multiplayer games market. Indie games that are good are barely even multiplayer like they were in the past. Lethal company and deep rock and DBD are all small pve 94 pv1 experiences that don't match the fun of server hopping in tf2 or quake. When indie game try to reach those types of game they get bloated with live services bullshit. See splitgate being riddled with progression mechanics and battlepass bullshit

[@paperdawn]

It really sucks that the main villains to blame for all of these corporate issues, are the most likely to NOT be financially hurt by all of this. A lot of the biggest CEOs are well aware and lay-offs, budget cuts, etc are just ways to cushion their asses when this all blows up in their face.

[@silentdrew7636]

It's worse than that. The layoffs and budget cuts exist specifically to impress shareholders. The CEOs and companies will be rewarded for this.

[@Cringe_department_15]

We need to abolish the position of CEO

[@wiegraf9009]

CEOs pretty much get ahead no matter what. If they get terminated they get a huge golden parachute.

[@R3TR0J4N]

as soon as games become mainstream theyre treated as products by CEO's tyring to appease everyone instead of its main playerbase

[@wiegraf9009]

These games are treated like that before they even get started, that's why they're so samey @@R3TR0J4N

[@ksemanr]

The layoffs are greedy executives, but they aren't "poor planning" but rather super cynical over-hiring as part of investor hype, and then laying them off to show "responsibility" to those same investors to lessen the post-hype dip. It's incredibly scummy, but its not a sign of AAA companies struggling. Moon Channel has an incredible video going over this strategy of theirs in detail

[@TheFunfighter]

Glad to see another Moon viewer. I was also immediately ready to suggest the same video when I read the title

[@NSJ90]

Same here. As Moon says, it's just business as usual.

[@tksm97]

another Moon Channel viewer!!!! So glad he’s getting a shoutout, he makes some of my favourite videos and is such a breath of fresh air. He offers such a unique and important perspective on video games and the industry as a whole, it’s really great. When I saw this video I immediately thought of him as well!!

[@hurgcat]

moony stays based

[@Silvercruise]

It all goes back to that awful supreme court decision in the 1900s that a public company has to benefit the shareholders not the employees.

[@annanz0118]

As someone who doesn't enjoy shooters or even most action games this has been happening for a decade now. Every game and game series now is basically a shooter or an openworld RPG with action based combat. I enjoy turn based RPGs and puzzle games and they have been harder and harder to find in the AAA sphere for a long time now.

[@SirCanuckelhead]

It breaks my heart for final fantasy to go real time. I always hoped they would be my constant for a good turn based rpg, sadly the series is no longer made for me, a fan who has been playing them since snes.

[@THEONETRUEOVERLORD]

Yeah but this is a case of “go cry about it” type thing because puzzle games and turn based RPG’s just don’t have a same appeal. Yeah BG3 won GOTY but it’s still more action-y and was just D&D the game(and D&D is awesome). As long as action games make more money they will keep making them… they will ALWAYS make money.

[@kovec681]

I feel you but at the same time based on what AAA is doing in the other genres, they'd just screw it up anyway so i think we're better off.

[@drewpatterson9712]

As someone who is literally graduating with a degree in game design this week watching the industry fall apart is heartbreaking.

[@Surkk2960]

As someone who has a Bachelors in that same degree for over 4 years now... I agree... at least you could always try indie, there is always a place there.

[@ancientalienss]

there are always going to be opportunities out there, despite layoffs and everything else! don't lose your passion because of the corporate overlords at the very top of the chain. underneath them are hundreds and thousands of designers, artists, testers, etc that are looking out for you! and i agree with the person above, there are always indie studios available as well, and even going solo or working as a very small team can work really well if you find the right people

[@FrahdChikun]

You can always enter the indie industry!

[@Frogwai]

The writing has been on the wall for many many years. This didn’t just happen out of nowhere. The chance of you doing anything worthwhile with that wasted degree has been close to zero for probably as long as you have been alive.

[@MB-cb2he]

The industry isnt falling apart. 2023 is one of the record biggest gaming years in history Even mobile/iphone games today get more money than 1990s/2000s' games. Its a you problem

[@DeltathRiylaan]

I've been waiting for this. Obviously I don't like people losing their jobs, but it just wasn't sustainable. The forever growth, games always getting bigger and pricier. I want to see the return of the mid tier game and the end of the bloated AAA budgets.

[@XDD50Hz]

i mean the big companies can’t even fix their bloated game storage for shit, i don’t even know why a call of duty game would need 100+gb storage ffs

[@princessmanitari4993]

Also they mainly fired folk to make the people on top their salary's just rise more, it's a tactic

[@w花b]

​@@XDD50HzThey're the kind of people that don't clean their room. All that junk ended up reaching 100GB

[@lonomx7887]

A streamer girl I follow used to be Bethesda's community manager and she just got laid off I feel so bad for her, can't help think that Starfields relatively big flop and all the backlash had a part of the reason.

[@undercoverduck]

EDIT: Why did everyone suddenly decide that this is the comment to air out all their misgivings on indie games and/or devs? It's so uncalled for. I didn't even offer my own opinion on the current state of indie games. Y'all have so much overgeneralized reactionary internet hatred brewing inside that you've forgotten that people (you including!) are allowed to enjoy the media they enjoy and skip the media they don't like. It's not a competition of who can consume the best media. You have nothing to prove to yourself or others. Please treat yourself to an evening of something you'll allow yourself to enjoy fully without actively looking for problems that you can complain on social media about. I promise it'll do you so much good. EDIT 2: I deemed it necessary to change the order of my original comment and the edit(s). ORIGINAL COMMENT: "Indie games will always be around" is genuinely such a comforting thought. It's just nice to know that, as long as modern computers exist, the art of video games will almost certainly persist.

[@zzskyninjazz1821]

Yeah but let’s be honest a good number of indie games suck For every Ori game you have 100 terrible ones

[@themc3140]

​@@zzskyninjazz1821That's fair, but you can just stick to the more mainstream stuff if you're worried about that. Popular indie games usually get popular for a good reason, imo.

[@agamersinsanity]

indie games has more soul.

[@undercoverduck]

@@zzskyninjazz1821 And for every Fortnite there are a hundred indistinguishable mediocre copycats. What's your point exactly?

[@mr.awesome6011]

Yay more farming games and Metroid clones/s

[@DaizoDeeVonOfficial]

When the entire awards show this year can be summed up by their own practice of holding a giant sign saying "Please Wrap It Up" in front of the Zelda director, there might be an issue.

[@johnathanegbert9277]

I have a feeling that Nintendo will survive unscathed. Because of course it will.

[@captainforrix956]

Nintendo Fanboys are the most desperate. It's sad

[@poudink5791]

Nintendo can't fail. To a Nintendo fan, playing anything but Nintendo is unthinkable. They're convinced that the games Nintendo makes are unimitable masterpieces that can be found nowhere else. They pretend to care whenever Nintendo does something bad, but their actions show how little they really do.

[@CHURCHISAWESUM]

Nintendo is the Apple of gaming. It can get away with anything because its fans are enamored with its ecosystem

[@Jedi-xm7rw]

Bit of a fanboy comment, but nowhere near as weird as the anti-Nintendo fanboys in the replies lol

[@miketaggard309]

Nintendo’s employee retention is like 98%. Devs who worked on the original Super Mario Bros from 1985 also worked on Super Mario Wonder.

[@noampresnete8677]

My biggest hope is that after all the layoffs, the workers could use their experience on aaa titles to make smaller more inspired games

[@nailinthefashion]

That's what happens, typically. There's some people from Riot working on a similar game, I forget what it's called. There's another one called Evercore with a similar style, focused on pvevp. We're getting that growth, albeit slow and sporadic

[@keeganmcfarland7507]

​@@nailinthefashionAKA, most of those triple AAA companies are going to get wiped out by indie game developers and AA game studios.

[@nailinthefashion]

@@keeganmcfarland7507 they'll have competition but they aren't getting wiped out lol. COD has fans, regardless of our opinions

[@Commander6444]

​@@keeganmcfarland7507 Modern Warfare II made a billion dollars within ten days of release. And while Modern Warfare III's sales are lower thanks to colder critical reception, it's still the second-highest selling game this year. This isn't any remark on quality or artistic merit, just that I don't think Activision is exactly quaking in its boots.

[@2-Way_Intersection]

exactly, my main hope from all of this is that it leads to a massive indie push from studios with the budget and name power to actually get proper marketing

[@patrykprime1134]

I don't think I'm in the minority when I say that if your award show doesn't have the awards as the biggest focus, then you failed to make a good awards show. It's why I haven't cared about them for years now.

[@nailinthefashion]

The only things I care about are the trailers and opinions about them... the awards are popularity contests and superficial from the gate, not my vibe. Plus, Baldur's Gate should have swept almost everything alongside Spiderman or whatever. The winners are too obvious to me

[@chiquita683]

Why would you even care about awards? You'd want to see games. Seeing some random developer crying on stage does nothing for anyone but their family. Gamers want games

[@patrykprime1134]

@@chiquita683 If I'd want to see games, I would watch a direct, presentation, or anything else that focuses on that. An event that labels itself as an awards show that wants to be the Oscars of video games probably should put more time and effort on the awards.

[@patrykprime1134]

@@nailinthefashion That is another complaint I have about the TGA. You don't see that much variety for games being nominated. Lots of the big names of the year get on multiple categories and it does indeed become a big popularity contest aside from the handful of awards dedicated to smaller games.

[@TheDapperDragon]

To be fair, Cyberpunk won best ongoing game. Do you REALLY think any of those awards are legitimate?

[@MattwosRandomNonContent]

17:42 Video games _were_ over, at least in the US. Then Nintendo sold the NES as a toy while the Master System failed miserably here and the UK and Japanese video game computer markets were still going strong with their Amigas, their PC Engines, their ZedX Spectrums (ZetX in Japan) and their Commodore 64s. Hell, Famicom literally means "Family Computer." Nintendo knew exactly what they were doing with the NES and how to break into the dead console market without making people think they're selling video game consoles.

[@robertwolff3580]

Baulder’s Gate winning was the biggest middle finger to aaa studios releasing unfinished games or mediocre games (Neil Newbon winning also made me scream with happiness)

[@nailinthefashion]

10/10 moment for me. Make a good game and we will play it and make it successful and give it endless resources for more. They're trying too hard to just get the money these days, so backwards, so naive. Once we see more gamers as CEOs like Dunkey, we'll be fine

[@cadendicky1855]

Definitely deserved the award, although even Baldurs Gate 3 still had some issues, the devs still learned, fixed it, and moved forward, and that is what makes me most happy about devs like these: the ability to learn from mistakes.

[@mandoguy78]

i think Yuri shoud've won but its still good for Neil

[@desperados9376]

Baldurs Gate was in early access for years, it didn't release finished

[@jaretco6423]

At least it's not Tears of the Kingdom.

[@Purpylon]

I think many have focused too hard on open worlds, gritty realism, blood and gore, and massive online. Open worlds usually increase travel time, and can also make you tired of the world before seeing it all. Gritty realism makes every game look the same. Blood and gore is more of an extension of the gritty realism, but it makes violence more realistic which makes it gross. Massive online means that while it's popular you will get stomped by people using exploits that are not fun to learn, and when the game stops being popular it's unplayable.

[@Anna-dd4rh]

This is why I appreciate the cozy gaming space so much more. Sure, there are hundreds of samey farming sims and gacha nonsense, but there’s also color and hope and stuff like grapes and turnips as main characters. Feels like the escapism aspect has been lost for AAA productions-at least the escape I’m looking for 🙃 Edited to fix an autocorrect 🤦

[@daRealB-Rex]

Minecraft is the only open-world/massive online game that i’ve never felt burnt out with, because it can never get boring imo. I’ve been playing it nonstop with friends the past week and absolutely loving it

[@TimothyCHenderson]

@@Anna-dd4rhAgreed! Cozy and building games with strategy elements are my lane now. I have no interest in the genre's mentioned by the OP with the exception of BOTW and TOTK for open world.

[@TheGallantDrake]

So… stop letting gutless marketing grads and shareholders make the decisions.

[@poopscoop5836]

I really don't think modern games are incredibly bloody and gorey? If anything they are much much less so on average than they were 10-15 years ago. Your average M rated game from 2000- 2011 is much gorier than your average M rated game of recent. Of course there are exceptions to this but we don't have titles like Manhunt now and we simply couldn't at a mainstream level.

[@Mechpilot0790]

The AAA studios that i could see thriving in a crash like this are the ones with a specific identity that their audience has gravitated to because they maintain it. Nintendo, Fromsoft, and even a studio that makes as many mistakes as Bethesda, all have a feel to them distinct enough to consistently scratch a particular itch their fans look forward to.

[@Cute___E]

It's almost like people want projects with strong ideas an identities behind them instead of market tested, ultra-'safe' BS that every other company produces. Who would've thought 🙃

[@GutsTheBeast]

@@Cute___E But........wouldn't that take out Fromsoft and Besthesda from the list? Considering how those studioes are also part of the problem, not the solution?

[@robsomethin4415]

​@@GutsTheBeastI don't think Fromsoft is the problem. People try to copy them, but rarely tend to match their style well enough. People are tired of regurgitated slop, but they keep playing the games of the big OG's of the genre

[@grimms1916]

As painful as it might be in the short term, I think that a crash/burst is long overdue and can only do good for the industry, at least for a few years, before a new bubble starts inflating

[@dingus_maximus]

While I really hate that the people on the ground floor just doing their best have to suffer from this the most, I’m actually excited for the AAA space to collapse in on itself. It’s inevitable, and I’d like to get it over with so we can restart the cycle and go back to a period of genuine creativity and passion. From the ashes, a phoenix may rise…

[@NeilHaskins]

I'm hopeful that this collapse could lead to a time when the people on the ground floor aren't subject to regular hiring/firing cycles. I believe it's a cycle that leads to lower quality products, in the long run. I also think we can help regular employees by spending our money ethically, i.e. when we're aware a company is acting unethically, try to avoid spending money with them, at least as is practical. If we don't buy games from companies which mistreat their employees, and let them know that that's why, the industry will get the message. Which, by the way, is a great reason to avoid using Amazon.

[@MaxAndrew]

@@NeilHaskinsBoycotts never work though.

[@NeilHaskins]

@@MaxAndrew I think the Bud Light boycott earlier this year had a fairly major impact. Also, it doesn't really even need to be an active boycott per se. If a sizeable proportion of people simply decide to avoid doing business with a company, that will weaken them. And if others see there's free money on the table, someone will step up to grab it. Regarding video games, if people avoid buying loot boxes, and help promote a cultural sense that those who purchase loot boxes are sort of losers, companies will move away from it as a business model, since it will be less profitable. Even if it's only 5% less profitable, that can be 5% fewer gatcha games, and 5% more decent games. I think the ability to accept small wins as wins really can hep when pushing for corporate change. It's a lot easier to keep going, and so to build enough steam to make an impact, if you can accept that causing a 1% drop in their profits is a victory, instead of deciding you may as well just keep giving them your money unless you can convince half of society to no longer do business with them.

[@thrufirefirst2156]

It's a dangerous thing to ask for less competition in this sphere. The more games companies there are, the better. The problem isn't that there are so many games. The problem is the mindset these publishing and development companies have. They've been so focused on making all the money that they forgot to make good games. I hope they take a massive hit, and the indie scene spits out some new classics that form the bedrock of a new era of gaming. But who knows what will really happen?

[@ShadowWolfTJC]

I suspect that these gaming companies haven't forgotten how to make good games, but rather, that their management no longer seems to care about making good games. To them, making money seems to be all they care about. As for your belief that it's better that there be more gaming companies, I strongly disagree with that, since the market for these games isn't as infinite in size as you might've liked to believe. After all, there are only so many people in the world that are around to enjoy these games, and there's so much time that each of us can afford to play them. When there are too many games being produced than there are people with the time and the money to play them, then what you have isn't a paradise, but a glut.

[@w花b]

​@@ShadowWolfTJCMakes sense, they have talented and skilled people. They just don't get to work on good things.

[@Shaes_Projects]

Wow, seeing all those headlines about mass layoffs scroll by was genuinely depressing that this is just commonplace, and it’s not even just the game industry that does this. I worked for a pretty large national law firm as a paralegal and it was pretty much a fire and hire revolving door. It hired for permanent positions but pretty much nobody stays there longer than 2-6 months.

[@Dre2Dee2]

Where have you been the past 40 years?

[@weregretohio7728]

Late-stage capitalism

[@obee58]

My mother also works at a firm as a paralegal where she's practically the only non-attorneys/manager that's been there as long as she has. They borderline underpaid her for ages until she got a job at another firm, and when she went back (because the management elsewhere was grossly invasive), they were desperate enough to bump her salary a bunch. It's pretty shit, and business types think they can get away with whatever they want, then suddenly the rug is pulled out from underneath and actual productivity crumbles

[@RockyRZ]

What is that fucking ding

[@Shaes_Projects]

⁠@@Dre2Dee2I just turned 24 and I graduated college half a year ago so even fresh into the workforce it’s easy to see.

[@FredTheRed27]

> incredible developers making incredible games > corporate tells them to make another multiplayer shooter > team does their best to make it as interesting as possible within corporate confines > game fails as everyone expected > the incredible developers get laid off as a result > people who made the bad decisions stay employed It’s almost like having the people who do management and business be completely unaccountable and for the people who actually make the games to be the ones taking all of the losses is a /bad/ way to run things

[@blulikefriendlyhit1213]

@@quantumpassport3573 Which is a concept that is so mind-boggling to me. The executives not facing the consequences of their actions, when the sole reason they are paid that much is because they are responsible for the success of the product.

[@Sines314]

Silly commoner. The whole point of being a noble is to do as you wish!​@@blulikefriendlyhit1213

[@Cyberbrickmaster1986]

What ended up killing off E3 was a combination of both Covid-19 and Geoff's departure into starting a new mid year event, with the Nintendo directs leading to the rise of direct presentations as opposed to live events. And without Geoff taking control of the Game Awards, along with this year's event pushing so many passionate developers to the sideline in favour of having more ads and celebrities having a lot more screen time, the same will happen to the awards in only a matter of time. Just like how the fall of AAA publishers is slowly taking place, leading to the rise of the indie gaming scene. The industry needs to crash a second time, just so we can get a resurgence of quality video games again that don't try to nickel and dime every cent we have. And hopefully, it won't be for at least a long time after that point, before the same thing starts happens again, since history has a tendency of repeating itself if people don't learn from or forget past mistakes.

[@theobell2002]

I hate this "monetization = bad game" sentiment. Yes, monetization has become a problem in video games. But just because a game has microtransactions doesn't mean the game is bad.

[@Cyberbrickmaster1986]

@@theobell2002 No, but it still ruins the overall experience.

[@Big-Chungus21]

The biggest problem is that its not like those thousands of people working in the industry arnt going to start up hundreds of their own indie studios. Theres just so much competition in the industry already that that just isnt possible, most will have to move on to other industries and possibly even let go of the skills they developed there.

[@mrshmuga9]

It won’t even be that. Most of them will just shuffle between the same AAA studios. From EA to Activision to Ubisoft, to someone else. Layoffs are kind of funny because it’s temporary. They’re just going to balloon their studios back up to the same number they lost, because they need X amount of people to develop these huge games.

[@Dre2Dee2]

Going to another more useful industry is a good thing. Society does not need 500 new video games a year, I promise

[@2-Way_Intersection]

​@@Dre2Dee2yeah, fuck the arts...

[@alessandrobaggi6129]

@2-Way_Intersection COD, FIFA and akin AAA-yearly-produced-slogs aren't art... at all. 😏😏😏

[@Kadaspala]

​@@mrshmuga9Yeah, but as per usual this fucks the workers (and consumers) for the benefit of the executives and investors.

[@WaluigiisthekingASmith]

This is super interesting because my favorite games and the games I play the most have all been pretty exclusively single player. I looove well done progression systems and the ability to become better than the game which is something that necessarily cannot exist for multiplayer (symmetrically, when you are doing well at a game someone else is doing poorly and its very rare that you are the best person in the room). I basically haven't noticed the oversaturation of shooty games. I honestly thought that everyone understood that the genre was oversaturated back in the fortnite/pubg/apex legends/whatever else days.

[@Vaquix000]

Never understood the "fun" of online multiplayer. I like playing with friends, not a bunch of strangers who play only to win and not to enjoy themselves. I like it when funny things happen, I don't play it to be the "best" because what does that gain me? Oh awesome, I'm really good at a game... and? Don't get it at all.

[@JoSephGD]

We've seen the oversaturation of a specific genre of game and the effects of it before in the industry. - Mascot platformers in the 90's. - Collect-a-thon's in the late 90's to early 00's. - Gritty FPS's in the late 00's and early 10's. In all of these situations, one genre was seen as "hip and cool", so everyone made them. However, that led to the individual value of these games being lower and lower, despite them being made with higher and higher budgets. Combine that with the goal of each one of these to be "one of the only games you play", and it's no wonder why so many of these are failing.

[@austinreed7343]

The 90s also had fighting games as something oversaturated. These lasted longer than mascot platformers, unless you count stuff prior to 1991. The mascot boom really started with Mario in 1985. Mons games also had a boom around the same time as Collectathons.

[@rewpertcone8243]

As tools become stronger, I believe the rise of Indie/AA experiences are opon us. Every year new indie and AA games are recived better and better, and will get released quicker than any AAA game

[@DanGamingFan2406]

Triple A gaming has been on this downward slope for a while now. Not only do most studios spend hundreds of millions, sometimes billions of dollars on the same live service, looter shooter, shlockfests with only a slightly different coat of paint, but they lay off hundreds of employees a year, even after the previous year was successful, and we are sick of all of it. It really feels like the industry's slowly collapsing. The sheer number of recent indie tiles that have outsold AAA giants, (Lethal Company beating the new COD being particularly satisfying,) and the blah-ness of this year's game awards only exemplify it. AAA studios really need to take a que from them soon if they want to stick around, and honestly, I don't know how they haven't figured it out sooner.

[@watershipup7101]

Very much agreed

[@genjis5155]

Glad people are finally waking up.

[@garnetbird7557]

You can say that again.

[@alessandrobaggi6129]

Because, like in many other industries, if not all fields, they are listening to "market and economic experts" instead of "(their own field) product experts"... sadly, the objective is the money and not the product... corporativism 101 for you.

[@ling8956]

​@@alessandrobaggi6129That is business. Just as most employees would quit their job if they were hired for a company that paid more. Just like a company would not hesitate to lay off employees if it was in their best interest.

[@feralchild2633]

I think the bubble extends to any sort of creative industry. I keep meeting people with more experience than me who tell me about the rise of marketing and how it totally changed their process. When before a movie, a game or an advertisement was motivated by a creative idea and a vision (and the will to profit from it of course), nowadays it really feels like it's only about calculating risks, imitating what works and try to talk to the largest audience possible. It's super reassuring at first but it makes industries really dependant on trends instead of creating new ones. I feel like it's not about making one good "thing", it's about finding a formula to replicate a hundred times until it fails. Then the same people who advised doing something different was risky will sell their soul to copy the new profitable formula. The cycle repeats, instead of creating IPs and innovate properly to create steady and long-terms projects. What you said about the AAA Games could be said about the Marvel Franchise and its imitators, and we can all see how good it's going. I personally think for example that a movie like The Matrix would have been dismissed entirely if was produced nowadays, because it absolutely goes against marketing views of challenging the audience. Yet it's been a monstruous success that changed the industry and now is a reference for blockbusters movies. Marketing sells the power to give the people what they think they want uncompromised, this has never made good art, shows, movies, ideas or games.

[@penguinjay]

the broad appeal tactic is awful. Action movies have to be comedies, which have to have love sub plots and the characters have to be xyz LMNOP. All these boxes have to be checked, and genres have to be merged, and the product comes out COMPLETELY DILUTED to appeal to as many as possible. It also doesn't help that stories are written shallow and shiddie like choose your own adventure stories, then cut together based on test screening reception. It makes for awful entertainment that don't tell a story they set out to tell, they just aimlessly wander through a bunch of inconsequential circumstances. The audience are probably just turning their dial at all the big CGI moments, and the "boring" parts get cut out. It's terrible writing bc it has no vision, they need a feedback cycle to tell them it's a safe bet before they even know what they are putting out. The film is shot, the actors don't even know the story or what ultimately happens or what their characters would even be feeling, so characters are shallow too, written that way to fit cohesively together with w.e nonsense version of the film the end up going with. It's all pretty terrible, but people still spend their money on it, don't they. Until the consumer learns to close their wallets and stop chasing the trends, we're in a feedback loop where the bar is on the ground right now. by appealing to everyone, the product should satisfy nobody, but these days people will buy a ticket to eat a turd so they can tell everyone with stank breath exactly how crappy it tasted. I blame social media.

[@Bonaboo]

@@penguinjayyou seemed to be starting an interesting point, until the anti-woke mental illness jumped out.

[@aloe7794]

@@penguinjay "By appealing to everyone, it satisfies nobody" great words, and comment, fully agree

[@64bitratchet49]

This is why I generally gravitate towards first-party games. I can't think of many AAA and AA games like Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, Hi-Fi Rush, and Pikmin 4 outside of other first-party titles. Even when it comes to live services, Nintendo does them the best, with Splatoon giving you basically every update for free and having single-player expansions instead of nickel and diming you for every cosmetic in the game

[@marmilaied5218]

@64bitratchet49: Ahem.... Nintendo Switch Sports would like to say "hi".

[@nojuanatall3281]

I've had that game for over a year and am yet to play it.

[@anon2427]

Yeah they only nickel and dime you to unlock extra Pokémon to catch that were all free in the previous games! While removing more content at the same time! Isn’t Nintendo awesome

[@thespeedyyoshi]

It’s amazing how many synonyms Arlo can come up with for “sludge” 😂

[@aamonesamiit-baur2857]

Arlo says the word Slurry 8 times, and uses words similar to slurry (Slurpee, slew, stew) for a total of 15

[@facilityhues]

This is such a good video! I attended the Game Awards in person and the general opinion was annoyance at the amount of ads and lack of time for the actually awards (Eiji Aonuma and Larian Studio in particular were disrespected during their speeches.) As someone studying to be in game development, the future looks very uncertain, and we all hope that the scene changes for the better. Amazing piece Arlo!

[@Dr_Bille]

The future is indie my guy, do your own thing

[@arenkai]

Ah someone who works in "AAA", this is more a case of the covid bubble bursting than AAA in itself. Companies grew bigger and bigger with no concern for what would happen after the lockdowns. We are now paying the price of greedy excecutives getting pay raise after pay raise for profit they only owe to the covid context. But when comes the time to reduce costs, those excecs aren't going to get a pay cut of course... Better to cut entire employees than a percentage of one excecutive..

[@SonofMrPeanut]

I was lucky enough to win a ticket to that 2015 The Game Awards. A real thrill to be there in person, especially w/ the afterparty upstairs where they had a metric ton of arcade cabinets available on free play. It was my first time using a Punch-Out!! cabinet.

[@CarlMakesVideos]

With regards to layoffs and studio shutdowns, I recommend the video "The Video Game Industry is NOT Collapsing. A Lawyer Explains." by Moon Channel. It delves into the standard practice of laying off en masse despite having a profitable year that Arlo touched on briefly.

[@Cute___E]

Great, so it's just capitalism being the absolute fucking worst as always Fan-fucking-tastic

[@CarlMakesVideos]

@@Cute___E sort of. It's more an issue of patterns that emerged in tech investing specifically, where "growth" is valued highly by investors. But in other still very capitalistic parts of the world, the same patterns do not hold, just because either the companies or the investors don't operate like that (the example Moon Channel gives is Nintendo, who actually increased pay across the board, but many Japanese companies similarly don't follow the pattern of mass expansion followed by layoffs in a repeated cycle). I highly recommend you watch the video I mentioned, it explains (and understands) it all better than I can.

[@Cute___E]

@@CarlMakesVideos I've got it queued up in my to-watch list, will definitely get around to it. Generally I find though that any system of unchecked capitalism results in this sort of greed - it's definitely not exclusive to tech.

[@doctordice2doctordice210]

⁠@@Cute___Ereplace "capitalism" with plain "greed" and you'd be one the money The core problem here isn't the system, but the people with power being the real life equivalent of a cookie clicker addict who likes seeing the number get bigger You can be a *filthy* capitalist while also being smart with your money and making for situations where everyone wins

[@mitwhitgaming7722]

One of my favorite games I have gotten into this past year is Deep Rock Galactic. That game does so much with so little and it has really puts many AAA companies to shame.

[@RegalRoyalWasTaken]

If you want a good 'live service' game, you cant go wrong w/ Deep Rock.

[@istealpopularnamesforlikes3340]

The only companies that can reliably make a good AAA game are Nintendo and Rockstar. And honestly who knows if GTA6 will even live up to the enormous hype…

[@RegalRoyalWasTaken]

FromSoft has also been fairly consistent tbh. But I get whatcha mean.@@istealpopularnamesforlikes3340

[@treddox5880]

I have only heard good things about this game, and the community feels really positive. I don’t even like shooters, but Deep Rock Galactic’s reputation is so good that I’m considering getting into it.

[@leotheliongames]

Coffee Stain Studios is one of the best in the business. Satisfactory, Goat sim, Deep rock, everything they’ve made is so good

[@BagMonster]

Always appreciate Arlo for having some spine and being willing to stand up to huge gaming corporations and events.

[@blazzmatazz9051]

The corporations are scared of a muppet.... fucking hell humanity is so pathetic

[@istealpopularnamesforlikes3340]

That’s why we click the Like Button and comment. And thats also why we donate during the streams

[@nailinthefashion]

I'm always shocked when he reams the half assed mainline Pokegames. Like, he could be shilling and making millions but he stays humble and honest instead, geeks out about Pikmin and Zelda. It's awesome

[@jameslawrenson1208]

He's up there with some of my favorite youtubers.

[@blazzmatazz9051]

@@nailinthefashion yeah he's just like every other youtuber!!!

[@brentclouse7791]

That shot of an unenthusiastic Reggie at 2:44 sums up TGA 2023 perfectly for me

[@yakumorisuke9403]

I'd watch a 'Mid-Tier Game Awards' that focussed on the smaller studios - not just indie games, but the middle-level studios that put out smaller often niche titles. I think it would be a great way to be exposed to genres that I otherwise wouldn't necessarily pay any attention to.

[@ling8956]

You mean, online streams/shows that already exist but are less relevant due to less viewers?

[@blakecook9266]

@@ling8956maybe if you actually linked something or stated a name, rather than just be rude, your comment would have meant something

[@jennifergriel861]

That SEGA trailer was a light in the darkness imo. Hopefully more companies can be like them in the future.

[@jameslawrenson1208]

YES.

[@llmkursk8254]

Exactly. SEGA finally giving us more of their IPs got me excited and I’ve never played anything outside of Sonic.

[@nailinthefashion]

That's part of why their releases of old games have been successful. Why not play Gargoyles again when it's not only fun but beautiful?

[@nailinthefashion]

​@@llmkursk8254genesis games are some of the best platformers ever made and still hold up to modern standards. Toy Story, for example, is a 10/10 game imo. If you're into a lot lf genres, I'd go back and try to find emulators at the least

[@mrshmuga9]

I don’t even have any nostalgia for those series and I was excited. They all look like _fun_ games instead of chores or minor activities between exposition dumps. That, and it’s a big company willing to make multiple, smaller projects. Rather than hedge their bets on some $100 million dollar, 5 year dev cycle game that people could tell you they didn’t want in the pre-production phase.

[@PhirePhlame]

And honestly, even if the bubble burst does crash the industry comparably to the 80s, the Nintendo-led gaming renaissance has taught us the lesson you yourself summed up soon after mentioning the crash: that good games will always exist.

[@Cute___E]

Ironically, Nintendo will probably still be one of the giants that would remain

[@aijsdijdni3401]

@@Cute___EBecause they’re the only ones consistently putting out incredible and high quality first party games

[@Cute___E]

@@aijsdijdni3401 Damn straight. Crazy how treating your employees well and not forcing your developers to shoe-horn in anti-consumer bullshit results in better games.

[@Door227]

@@aijsdijdni3401yeah they’re one of the few big gaming companies that hasn’t been laying off employees. Some people who worked on the first Mario game in 1985 were still here to work on wonder

[@thelastwindwaker7948]

I felt the space shooter thing on a personal level. As someone who mostly sticks close to Nintendo for their colorful, charming franchises, the amount of gritty, realistic games I see in these award shows is exhausting. 10:40 "Telekinetic threat in student debt" How do you do, fellow kids!

[@Anna-dd4rh]

Omfg I didn’t even notice that character tagline. So gross, esp when most of the staff working on that game probs weren’t making enough to pay their student loans! Big same on gritty, realistic space shooter. If I want to experience grittiness and shootings, I’ll just drive around my city at night. Give me color and goofiness and heart!

[@Khalith]

I know making critical vids can be tough to make Arlo, but points like this are important. They’re worth talking about and discussing.

[@pandabon2269]

It's kinda like that one Nintendo direct where they had way too many farm games except like 20x worse

[@Jellyman1129]

Arlo is getting EVERYTHING this year! Pikmin 4, the AAA bubble bursting, and World of Goo 2.

[@patrickthebunny2626]

HELL YES WOG 2

[@markthomaskiec2453]

What's World of Goo

[@sprucemaroose]

World of goo 2? ❤ finally

[@sprucemaroose]

​@@markthomaskiec2453go buy it and play it. Now

[@Purpylon]

Also Metroid Prime HD.

[@IzzyBFX]

Something about Arlo tackling topics like this is really satisfying

[@imjust_a]

The one hope I have for all the layoffs is that those talented people will go on to form new studios, creating a plentiful array of creative AA studios as opposed to the monolithic AAA studios we have right now. Layoffs are never fun to hear about (or experience), but fortunately that talent doesn't necessarily disappear forever.

[@capnjohn7455]

This reminds me in the 90’s when Sonic the Hedgehog came out, every other company scrambled to make their own animal mascot with attitude platforming game. Then when Mario 64 came out, all these companies were trying to make a Mario killer 3d platforming game. The main difference is the games were quicker to make and needed less staff back then so there was less risk than today.

[@Dre2Dee2]

I disagree completely. Graphics were improving so quickly you could release a new product that was obsolete by the time you were done. It was insanely more risky in many ways than today

[@lemon5000-tj6nv]

3d platformers should make a comeback

[@AkameGaKillfan777]

*What could possibly go wrong!?!*

[@fornavnefternavn208]

@@Dre2Dee2 No it was NOT, first there was much less competition back then you didn't compete with F2P games or mobile games, it took like 10x less people to make a AAA game and graphics didn't improve so quick that stuff got obsolete unless you are talking about a big tech leap like 3D stuff with Ps1/n64/ and how the Saturn changed course. Pc also wasn't really a factor because home computer and console was so different, Before that most was 2d sprite based or very few pseudo 3d. I just looked up like a most expensive games developed list adjusted for inflation and the earliest thing there is FF7 and Shenmue from 97 and 99. And FF7 was the biggest to date with around 100-150 people which is nothing by todays standards with i think around 1-2 years dev time and before that Square usually had around 20 people it said. So yea it's much more expensive and risky today to stay competitive. Im curious the many ways you think it was more risky though? the only thing i can see being more risky is discoverability with no internet marketing or digital store fronts, so you had to get on the shelfs.

[@mkv2718]

nah, this is getting closer to ‘83, when everyone was just releasing shovelware and the market crashed so bad, no thought it would ever recover…. we’re just in 1980 right now.. give it some time. personally, i think western media as a whole is gonna crash soon. just look at the slop they’re attempting to feed us: tv and movies are all remakes, reboots, and sequels, and so are AAA games. i mean, Sony is remastering TLoU part 2… a game that just came out a few years ago, and the “remaster” looks EXACTLY the same. AAA devs are out of ideas, and so is the rest of the American “old guard,” at least as far as creative fields are concerned. it’s all just a big ole jenga tower, with some guy has been smacking blocks out one by one, sending them across the room, and yet, the tower still stands. but as it get higher, the risk of falling gets greater, and greater. and the taller it gets, the messier it’s fall will be. but the 83 crash also ushered in the golden years of gaming with the NES, somas far as i’m concerned, American media companies can’t fall apart soon enough.

[@artieee]

Dave the diver indicated as an indie game and the developers only having 30 seconds speechs (maybe to avoid protests about the recurrents lay offs in the industry) tell a lot about the way that not only the Game Awards, but game journalism as whole has turned into.

[@roarbertbearatheon8565]

Has turned into? Like it’s new? Did you sleep through gamer gate or did you just wake up from a coma

[@Cute___E]

@@roarbertbearatheon8565 Gamergate didn't do anything to actually address the myriad of issues in the gaming sphere, it just harassed women - and if you still believe otherwise nearly ten years later, you really need to re-evaluate what happened, because it's long since been well documented. As for the "has turned into" line, it's not like it didn't have faults, but things have certainly gotten worse and worse over time.

[@DjimonMoz]

As someone who still loves some of the things AAA are putting out, I'll just afirm this: Indies are fucking DOMINATING. Maybe not in sales. Maybe not in revenue. But definetly in quality and inovation. All of my favorite games to come out the last few years have been indies (or AA at most).

[@violentoutburststudios8897]

One of the things I love about this industry is the variety. How you can have a massive game like God of War ragnarok, where you explore beautiful world and fight in epic boss fights, but you also have a game like Ace attorney, where you look a still images and solve mysterious, and still get an amazing experience out of both of them

[@21powah]

Man, with the amount of control I lack in my own life, and with all the issues piling on all over... All I can do is live honestly, do my best, spend wisely, and turn to the words of Spike Spiegel. "Whatever happens, happens."

[@ttuesdayy1]

Honestly, this video does so much to explain why i haven't been able to care about AAA games in years. I don't know what's going on in corporate gaming anymore, and i don't really care to. But indie games rule! It's kind of exciting to imagine what the future of games will look like with corporate games tanking and indie games (hopefully) prospering, but the fear of just finding a new wave of AAA studios where those indie devs once were is somewhat terrifying in itself.

[@Buglin_Burger7878]

This isn't a strike against Arlo, but the very notion they "Have a responsibility to go where the money is" is why things have gotten so bad, the same thing where customers started calling themselves consumers where the name consumer comes from CONSUMER PIGS that don't think or care. We are being taken advantage of as a whole. If companies pushed "We can imprison those who disagree with us" then people would actively start to support that even if it only hurts them. We've actively started to willingly give away common sense and freedom to these notions. The only responsibility companies have is to be sustainable and support their employees in a healthy ethical manner. Once they start chasing more and more they have started being greedy and working at the expense of humans. We are not consumers, we are customers and some of us are preyed on by manipulative tactics and can't do anything because these tactics exist to take away our free will and agency or at least mitigate ourselves as much as possible.

[@nailinthefashion]

America is a society quite literally based upon those concepts, so I don't know what we do from here. People willingly poison themselves, alcohol is just one way, fast food another, we're so lazy it even applies to media. What does one even do when that is the culture? When people HAPPILY spend 20 dollars on a skin, knowing that is one third the cost of an average gaming experience? I think apathy is a drug too, and so thus it is us the rare few who feel slighted that must do something, anything, even if it's just playing the games you like. Someone will support COD yearly, give them thousands, it's inevitable. So there needs to be a more powerful, concentrated effort to empower anyone who feels like they have a good idea for a game that isn't predatory. I think we mirror that greed with a similar kind, one that helps stuff like Celeste off the ground floor.

[@chiquita683]

If people buy trash games then they should expect more trash games. People need to silent boycott and start emulating PS2 and earlier when gaming was peak

[@rewpertcone8243]

They have a "responsibility" becuase a CEO of a public company that doesn't only care about profits gets replaced. This is why all CEO'S are evil, if they weren't then they wouldn't still have a job.

[@cherubin7th]

Same with copyright. Our ancestors would be ashamed that we artificially limit infinite goods. If I copy your car, we both have a car. And even worse we see that open source devs can make a lot of money too, but big investors couldn't become billionaires.

[@ilexdiapason]

ceos DO have a legal responsibility to attain infinite growth and profit, actually. (and, obviously, that's bad.)

[@TurtleCraftZ1]

A lot of the stuff in The Game Awards this year was incredibly same-y, but I did actually give The Finals a shot and I have to say it's pretty incredible. I gave it a shot with a few friends and we had a blast

[@TNTales]

Best case scenario is that you'll get more games with smaller budgets that can experiment more broadly. Bring back the AA game (we're starting to see it)

[@nullzilchzero]

A similar thing is happening in the film industry especially in animation. It’s indie renaissance time

[@harshmalhari8519]

Yeah, when I found out how the Spiderverse staff was being treated, that really hurt. As much as I love the Spiderverse movies, if the staff working on it are being mistreated like that, I don’t want it.

[@russellpengilley5924]

I think it's related to the cost of money, since 2010ish interest rates were very low and all that capital was chasing a return. It's been a couple of years now since money started to get more expensive, so there is less capital around to fund these kind of projects. It's impacting lots of businesses that have high upfront costs before you get any return.

[@Anna-dd4rh]

@@russellpengilley5924Exactly. I’m in book publishing, and it’s the same story there. No one wants to fund a book with an original concept for 2+ years and risk it selling like 100 copies. Instead, they green light the same five authors churning out the same two BookTok concepts bc they have a guaranteed reader base. Maddening considering how many talented writers (and devs, and filmmakers) that are out there with awesome ideas

[@dcbandit]

Sometimes a cool, small game that does something cool very, very well is all you need. Not everything needs be an HD multi-player game. One game I decided to use my time over any of these games was a pixel art based puzzle game. Completely single player, just 100 levels, but I loved it more than any huge multi-player game I've played lately. You just don't need it to be so huge and expensive to be popular.

[@mcstrategist]

names please

[@dcbandit]

​@@mcstrategistDungeons of Dreadrock. Top down pixel art game, where you navigate levels in a dungeon to save your brother, and you die after one hit. The room resets after you die, and you can reset the room if you want, and each room is it's own puzzle. It has a lot of very clever puzzles, not the easiest thing around, but also has a story that makes it feel worth finishing.

[@mcstrategist]

@@dcbandit thank you.

[@dcbandit]

​@@mcstrategistyou're welcome

[@Moostar95]

Roboquest for me.

[@OliGaming-d1u]

At this point I think we actually do need a crash.

[@quazillionaire]

Just want to say that I love to hear your thoughts on stuff like this, and while of course I don't want you burning yourself out on depressing topics, I always appreciate when you saddle up Roberta and say your piece. :P Keep up the great work!

[@Glory2Snowstar]

I remember being terrified back then of indie game production not being attainable with all the AAA competition. But now, whether or not that’s changed, I’m happy we’re finally seeing examples of love for the medium paying off. People are putting their money where their mouths are and giving time/praise to well-made games filled with effort and integrity. Most importantly, games that are given proper time to cook, made by employees with healthy work/life balances. Profitable or not, I’m more excited than ever to get into the ring and make stuff. And I’m beyond hyped to see the craziness that awaits from all the other devs out there!

[@CAMSLAYER13]

Indie games will always be around even if making games somehow became entirely unprofitable . Many are passion projects with no real expectations of profit

[@mauree1618]

It’s so cathartic to listen to someone eloquently present your own thoughts.

[@CooperCreations1]

There is also the tendency for alot of people to write off games that are not attached in some way to a series that is already established. It is a increasingly common negative trait to see people who are unwilling to branch out and try new things.

[@ericwindsor339]

It's easy to say try new things, but consumers have to be safe too. Games are only getting more expensive, and cost of living is getting higher, which means you need to be more selective about where your 'gaming money' is going. It makes sense people are picking the safe or reliable choices instead of branching out

[@DigitalStatic]

I completely agree, but I've noticed a lot of trailers (mostly by triple a studios) show absolutely nothing about the game and then reveal a new IP name and expect us to immediately get hyped about it. I want to see what this new experience is going to be!

[@straightjak1t]

I completely agree with the “sameyness” deal. I was thinking the same thing while watching this year. The majority of the games we saw were just a sci-fi shooter type game. I couldn’t think of any of their names when it was over, it felt like they were all the same game.

[@spidaaahs]

its really funny you included Helldivers 2 footage considering the overwhelming runaway success of the game

[@ryanhodgson8676]

Extremely well put together video. I hope we get lots more of these.

[@Spined1234]

Maybe if these developers didn't spend billions of dollars trying to make every blade of grass look as realistic as possible there wouldn't be this problem.

[@mattcardarelli]

While most people play on monitors or tvs that can’t decipher the difference

[@YapsiePresents]

We reached peak creative bankruptcy in gaming when devs has to resort to just improving the grass or god forbid lean hard on "procedural generation" for their games.

[@PauLtus_B]

I think there's a big problem where a lot of studios want their flagship titles to look arbitrarily "AAA", so basically look expensive and like it really pushed the hardware, wether the aesthetic is actually nice is secondary. I wish major studios would be confident in releasing games that are clearly not on that technical level, and are probably cheaper to produce too, leaving room for experimentation.

[@CrizzyEyes]

@@YapsiePresents It's not off-brand for Bethesda. Daggerfall had an entirely procedurally generated world. Of course, that game also leaned _heavily_ on fast travel because the open wilderness was almost completely barren. You can choose any point to travel to in the entire game without having visited it first.

[@poorlymadeproduction]

it was someones job to sit there for weeks making the highest poly trash can

[@PlebeianTheWise]

I think we’re in a similar space as the late 00’s and early 10’s where every game was either a gritty reboot of a dormant franchise, a brown shooter filled with chest high walls, or both. The Indy scene is where the innovation is happening so we just need to look there for the next big thing.

[@AlucardsQuest]

I love how about half of this is talking about everything wrong with the Game Awards, (justifiably) and it ends with Alro saying "Check out my VOD of me watching the Game Awards, it was a lot of fun!". Yeah... it sounds like it.

[@williamrosa4005]

One of your better video essays, Arlo. Thank you.

[@TeaIngyer]

I get what you mean about the bubble, and I think what might be breaking soon is that human beings only have so much room for "Hype". We're also seeing this in Marvel, Star Wars, and Magic The Gathering, it's a point where you can't hype people up anymore because without any calm between the energy, all you have is over-stimulation. Hype is defined by its contrast between high energy and low energy states. If there is literally ALWAYS something being beamed into your eyeballs with the expectation that you get excited, you lose your ability to be excited. People ask me what games I'm excited for, and my answer is "None". I'm burned out.

[@crimsoneye575]

“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” -Henry Ford Games like Demon's Souls, Cuphead, and Baldur's Gate 3 are so successful because they are tapping into markets nobody considered or perhaps even knew existed. I really hope companies like Square can learn from the success of their own smaller-budget games like Nier or Octopath.

[@seafoam6119]

I think that’s the sauce. Smaller budgets, bigger ideas.

[@quintonconoly]

Arlo always has real good takes on situations

[@hypernova5249]

What devs forget to realize is that humans are not numbers. We are still concious people who want to play with our friends but we also want to play alone sometimes. We want a story that we can engague with and will remain in our memory for a long time afterwards. And finally, people don't want to spend hundreds of dollars on their favorite games! And developers can cut costs on developments to give us something cheep and spend more on creatives and writers to give an interesting story. Maybe but-out of the production process a little and leave the creatives to do their job.

[@supadupt7278]

Christmas came early this year with this Arlo video. I’m so glad to see an analytical video like this, they’re always my favorite of yours.

[@InkyMuste]

Good to hear Arlo call this barrage of homogeneous games "slop"

[@THEONETRUEOVERLORD]

It’s funny how the helldivers 2 clips aged like milk because visually it may look same-y to other live service shooter but yet it is still a unique game. Helldivers 2 is for now still my GOTY.

[@SonofMrPeanut]

Additional Historical Note: The SpikeTV game awards were preceded by G4's Gphoria. The very first one had a one-off special starring Adam West, telling you how to achieve the gamer Nirvana state known as "The Glow."

[@evil_yami]

the glow??? terry davis thrashing in his grave rn

[@BeffJezos185]

While watching with friends, we had a bit running where we were looking for games containing Guns, Robots and Rain There was a disappointing, bloated amount.

[@nebula8893]

rain is an interesting one but i kinda get it 😂

[@TMS-Oddbot]

How many? I didn’t…actually watch. I learned Nintendo doesn’t show up with reveals usually. I’m thinking about researching the reveals to see what ppl are talking about.

[@sabermajora408]

Time for the AA and Indie games to rise up

[@byletheisner5006]

Finally someone acknowledges AA games

[@austinreed7343]

@@byletheisner5006 Nobody cares for single A games…

[@adlerlp4388]

​@@austinreed7343 bro what?

[@WoogieIsABear]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels this way. I've said for years that a Triple AAA gaming crash could happen but not a gaming crash like in 1983. Too many great games and the industry is too big for it to crash like back in the day.

[@keybrd9877]

I’ll be honest I loved the game awards this year, the only issue I had with it was the failure to show much in terms of accessibility achievements and the stupidly short speech time

[@hackcubit9663]

This has been both adorable and insightful! Thank you for your hard work, Arlo, I've learned a lot from this video.

[@Z0ink1nat0r]

Even though this year did suck for the most part, It honestly made the few legitimately exciting announcements really good. New Mana game is hype The RPG from the No Mans Sky devteam looks really exciting New IP from the Ori devs is awesome World of Goo 2 was unexpected but really appreciated And also who could forget... JET SET RADIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO This year's game awards were scummy and corporatized, but at least the few smaller dev teams that were given the spotlight were able to give some cool updates, to nobody's surprise

[@uberculex]

Pony Island 2? Anyone? Well, I'm excited about it.

[@Clownbelt-u2s]

And don’t forget Big Walk

[@sharkchannel61]

And new Monster Hunter looks cool too

[@peterbraunschweig2779]

World of Goo 2? What!? That's not something I ever expected to see.