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Are indie games really destroying the industry?
Saneless
Member UncommonPosts: 45
Im just curious what everyone thinks, it seems like since PC gaming has made a comeback that the market is now just flooded with of a bunch of sub par games.
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I guess they don't need to even try anymore - people are buying all the shit they produce anyway.
ofc it doesn't help when giant names like d&d put out the kind of crap we saw with d@dO ... obviously just trying to cash in on the name with minimal investment... I suppose with mmos indie may be ok after all ... BUT NOT BEER!
AAA market is horrid. Indie market is thriving with great titles if you need a recommended list of games to look at just let me know, and no I am not joking or trolling when I say this so please if you address it take it seriously. I am more than willing to give examples and more details
Please do not respond to me, even if I ask you a question, its rhetorical.
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The only thing Indies have been good for are single player and multiplayer titles. And even there, for every several thousands of the damned things, there's only a handful of good ones. Steam is overflowing with crap games.
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I think the indie games are saving the PC gaming community that the big corporations are unintentionally trying to destroy, and succeeding.
Indie games are supposed to be shitier than big budget games, so when some of the best games I play are indie, that says something about the big wigs.
If I want a world in which people can purchase success and power with cash, I'll play Real Life. Keep Virtual Worlds Virtual!
Let me explain how what I said is true while at the same time what you say is true.
Hypothetical numbers
-Indie Released games that are good: 10%
-AAA released games that are good: 50%
-number of indie Released games that are bad: 100
-number of AA released games that are bad: 10
that looks really good for AAAs doesnt? here is the problem
-Number of released AAA titles total: 20
-Number of released indie titles total: 2000
That means in a year indies have 200 good titles while AAA has 10 even though indies produce more bad titles AND have a lower %
and that is EXACTLY what is going on at the moment. would you like me to provide you some concrete titles of which in total likely total more in numbers then ALL the AAA titles released in 2 years?
Please do not respond to me, even if I ask you a question, its rhetorical.
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This is probably more true for AAA games. If something like Mass Effect: Andromeda is hyped to insane heights, but then delivers a buggy sub-par product, people will be less inclined to buy the next big game. This is a snowball effect, people have to get let down multiple times before they find another hobby.
There are probably certain "critical" titles, where a failure would set the industry back just by one sub-par game alone. The next Elder Scrolls game, or the next MMO from Blizzard (if there is one).
Indie games probably don't create enough hype for this to be an issue. No Man's Sky comes to mind as an exception. Other than that, it probably doesn't matter that there are 40 crappy games on Steam each day, as long as you get to see the good ones in the highlights. And the non-highlight indie games that actually end up being good can be found using the review (or curator) system.
Developers across all genres/games cost doesn't matter,they are building games that are easy to manage,low risk,low cost,unfinished,it is a really bad era for gaming.
I'll use an example of passion and gaming.
John Carmack,he was building his game engine while working another job,he took years to pull it off.Now we see a game like Electronic Arts ,a giant,loads of money sp[ending less than 2 years to build Star wars battlefront.Not only less than 2 years,they feel justified in adding a cash shop to this half assed effort to boot...sigh.
Look at Blizzard,loads of money,they haven't come close to releasing another large game like Wow,it is all low budget crap with again,cash shops.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
2. Although its becoming less true then it was a few years ago the best titles (in my view) are either in early access or came from early access. Great titles like Kerbal Space Program, 7 Days to Die, Space Engineers, Subnautica just to name a few all have far more depth of game play then the vast majority of all AAA titles AND they are solid games
its like we live in two different universes isnt?
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So basically Valve wants to be like a warehouse of games, with 3rd party curators being the front store. Makes total sense to me, I think its a good idea, but why is it not happening I dont know.
Reason we need 3rd party curators is because what you look for in a game is not the same as what I look for in a game, standards of quality are NOT universal but they do exist in groups
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You can see my sci-fi/WW2 book recommendations.
Your question is based on the assumption that the gaming industry is being destroyed. That is a false assumption with no basis in reality. There is no objective measure that I can think of that would support your assumption. Industry turnover, profit, number of companies, games and players are all going up. The gaming industry continues to grow and expand every year and shows no sign of stopping.
The only subjective measure I can think of is average quality. Until recently, it was hard to make an indie game so there were less of them. The majority of games were made by professionals and went through rigorous quality control measures. Now, between cheaper/free toolchains and engines, combined with free worldwide digital distribution, it is easier than ever to create an indie game and release it to the world and that is what has happened. Steam is swamped in piss poor quality indie titles.
But, as I said, it's a subjective measure and normal market forces result in them disappearing quickly. With a minor amount of research, it is very easy to spot those sub-par indie games and avoid them in favour of higher quality, be it from a AAA game or just a high quality indie game.
The only thing that has the potential to destroy the gaming industry are the massive publishing companies, like EA and Ubisoft. Their ever increasing control of the market place, combined with their complete aversion to risk, has resulted in stagnation at the top of the market. This would normally be countered by the mid-tier companies, however EA and co have bought out the majority of those mid-tier companies, allowing the stagnation at the top to continue almost unchallenged.
Eventually, normal market forces will correct that stagnation, it just may require the top companies to crash and burn first.