The games industry is undergoing a 'generational change,' says Epic CEO Tim Sweeney: 'A lot of games are released with high budgets, and they're not selling'
The games industry is undergoing a 'generational change,' says Epic CEO Tim Sweeney: 'A lot of games are released with high budgets, and they're not selling'
The world of videogames is changing, and the Epic chief believes the future is social.
Two reasons:
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The money is mostly spent on visual production, graphics, and big name actors to voice characters, which doesn't automatically make a game good.
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Season passes, MTX and other bullshit being shoved down our throats in big budget games is getting even worse.
I will always choose a smaller project of passion over a lackluster, watered-down AAA game with an overinflated budget.
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These big companies have it all backwards. We don’t need them; they need us. I don’t suddenly like slot machine video games just because their fucking bean counters say so. Ever since I bought a Steam Deck, I’ve played nothing but indie and old games, and I ain’t going back. You can keep your 3 bundles and your $70-110 price tags. I’ll play 500 hours of Vampire Survivors before I’ll buy another casino that they happened to build a game around.
In the wise words of the Soulsbourne community: GIT GUD (at not making shitty games).
Modern Ubisoft are the prime example of this. They churn out loads of games every year and they're just the same old formulaic crap that you've seen before. How can you have so much money and so many studios but you can't get decent voice actors or writers? How can your AAA games still have clunky mechanics and absolutely no original ideas?
Oh look, it's another shitty enemy outpost, let's scout it with my drone/bird/binoculars and mark all the enemies so I can see them through walls. Maybe I'll not use stealth on the next one because it's a waste of time as the game is piss easy anyway and I'll be able to kill all of the enemies in a straight fight. And the reward is the same either way. Now I've found [collectible item] 37 of 200, I wonder where the rest of them are in this massive vapid open world?
It's because the games are mid or worse. Took me one google search to find a plethora of games released in the last few years that had high budgets and sold very well. God of War: Ragnarok, Ghost of Tsushima, Elden Ring, Horizon: Forbidden West, Doom Eternal, Hogwarts Legacy, Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, The Last Of Us Part II, and so many more. These are just the ones I played. Just because the only game you guys make is Fortnite after abandoning all your IPs and that your Epic Games Store money isn't as high as you thought it would be doesn't mean other people aren't making amazing games. It's just you, my guy. I consider myself a patient gamer and I've bought more full price games over the last 5 years than I ever have.
Those studios have been pouring huge amounts of money on graphics under the assumption (i.e. idiocy) that better graphics = more sales. Tim Sweeney is shifting it towards yet another assumption/idiocy: that more forced socialisation = more sales.
And they still don't get the picture. People won't buy your games if they're boring, if they're too expensive, or if they think that you're an arsehole. Roughly in this order. That's it.
I'm gonna take a wild guess that the games with high budgets that aren't "selling", are just not selling "enough" to cover the "costs" of the executives. I guess it wasn't much of a guess:
and they're not selling nearly as well as expected," Sweeney said. "Whereas other games are going incredibly strong
Do they think that these other games "going incredibly strong" are making the money they hope to make? They're probably making much less but managing it much better. The savings are almost infinite when you don't approve every executive bonus pay package.
It's because video games turned into investment vehicles where companies want to make at least 50% return on their investment instead of create a fun and engaging peice of entertainment.
Because budget alone doesn't make a good game. It's a lack of creative vision and churning out safe bets that mean people just aren't excited anymore.
Teams of thousands working on a game designed by committee means no single group really has a vision of the creative vision of the project.
I get it that the marketing budget is important, they need big flashy games to justify the marketing budget required to get cut-through.
Ultimately I think it's the case that these dev teams are too large, and aren't making true art anymore, because true art is risky.
Small studios are the ones making art, and some of them are getting cut through into the mainstream. This is where good games exist now.
Well, when you invest $$$ into something that's meant to be fun and it's not fun, then there's your problem. Why not invest in the game designers and scale down the graphics/fancy stuff and exec salaries?
Remove all the garbage. The DRM, the proprietary launchers and the requirement to constantly pay to win.
Ok. Interesting take. Let’s look at Alan Wake 2. High Budget and pretty good. One of the best games I played in recent years I would say.
And why did it sell poorly, I hear you ask? Well, maybe it had something to do with the fact that you published it on your Epic Store only, being fully aware that the overwhelming majority of PC players are on Steam (and very lazy when it comes to switching away from it). Also you didn’t produce physical copies for consoles. Download only for an environment known for being fiercely pro physical copy.
But we all know it’s not about these things. It’s about calming down investors. That’s why you use buzzwords like “metaverse” and shit. I am actually impressed you didn’t ramble about AI.
Dear Mr. Sweeney, I fixed your words, thank me later:
A lot of games are released with CEOs earning more money than all developers of the game including outsourced work together, that makes the games too expensive. If the budget would actually go into the game we could have great games that sell.
Unfortunately you rather lay off your employees, pay them less, crunch them and burn them out, save on quality control, sell road-maps instead of a finished game and give your customers a lesser and lesser experience instead of accepting a pay cut.
And I have not mentioned the money you throw out of the window and burn because of your dreams of an "EPIC metaverse".
F you Mr, Sweeney.
Yeah, it's fucking awesome! Nothing makes me happier than seeing a AAA studio sink big bucks into a project that was destined to be a dumpster fire, then release it as a timed exclusive loaded with DRM for good measure. I really hate that there are developers falling victim to the overall shittiness of the games industry, but I don't know how else studios are supposed to learn that people want to buy games, not lease online storefronts. On that note, anyone have any good indie recommendations?
'A lot of games are released with high budgets, and they're not selling'
The good ones are.
Tim Sweeny when he notices that enshittification in games doesn't seem to work very well anymore: industry is going through a "generational change".
Company that makes its money from fraud screams at customers for not being suckers.
News at 7.
Gee, I wonder fucking why Tim. What a clown.
So his big revelation is that Fortnite is really popular with kids.
That's because they suck ass
I don't see Elden Ring devs complaining, maybe focus on gameplay and style more than graphics and MTX and hollywood actors?
I liked it when they were Epic Megagames and made fun games about green rabbits, savage jungle women, and giant fighting robots
This is the part of the capitalist grift where they manufacture apathy and indifference towards the gutting of a (relatively) decent career, in this case videogame development, as a skilled highly paid profession in a way they hope permanently damages the perceived societal value of the career.
Umm 🤔, they have weekly free games. Epic games had effectively trained me to not pay for games.
There are no game manufacturers, just licenses to rent from subscription parasites. Sell me a product as an entire industry standard. NEVER ask me to trust you. NEVER try to steal from me with legalise. My terms of purchase are ownership of my purchase with no strings attached whatsoever. I will continue to play and mod open source games or play nothing at all, but I will never cross that line. I have a 12th gen i7 and Nvidia 16 GB GPU. I can absolutely play the AAA titles of today, but there are no game manufacturers, just worthless criminal feudalism and subscription extortion parasites.
So basically he said that the entire game industry leans towards… Fortnite?
Anything out of his mouth you need to take with a giant grain of salt. But exclusive salt.