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'

[u/CiabattaKatsuie]

https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/the-games-industry-is-undergoing-a-generational-change-says-epic-ceo-tim-sweeney-a-lot-of-games-are-released-with-high-budgets-and-theyre-not-selling/

Tim Sweeney apparently thinks big budget games fail because... They aren't social enough? I personally feel that this is BS, but what do you guys think? Is there a trend to support his comments?

[u/trtwrtwrtwrwtrwtrwt → u/[deleted]]

Movie business has always been cyclical and we are on the verge of next crash. Either the suits have too much power and make soulless cash graps that eventually fail(we are here); or the creative side has too much power and some of them bankrupt studios with their massive projects.

I wonder if the gaming is heading in the same direction. Making decent games with less money has always been possible so we prob don't get terrible decades, like 80's for movies, where suits are calling all the shots.

[u/trtwrtwrtwrwtrwtrwt → u/[deleted]]

Sure all decades have something going on, but comparing 80's to 70's and 90's makes it look like a bad joke.

None of these movies would get even top 10 in 70's or top 20 of 90's; except 'Empire Strikes Back', but lets be real, that was riding the 70's greatness as sequal.(Aliens too)

The fact that all these amazing directors managed to make only one masterpiece per person, many at their prime, tells all you need to know.

[u/GimmickNG → u/[deleted]]

I'll believe it when I see an AI generated video of Will Smith eating spaghetti to not turn out like a fever dream

[u/whistleridge → u/[deleted]]

That’s not actually saying much. Prices always go up, so recent is always biggest. The biggest paid sports stars ever are all current players, by huge margins. The biggest successes ever are always recent films, by huge margins. Or the biggest losses.

If you adjust for inflation, there’s only a few recent films that make the lists:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_biggest_box-office_bombs

[u/searcher1k → u/[deleted]]

isn't there more movies being made than ever before? in that case, it's not saying much.

[u/The_Funkuchen → u/searcher1k]

During covid many people stayed at home and watched movies and played videogames. Market analysis saw that and as a result, a lot of money was invested into movies, TV shows and games. The problem is that after the pandemic we saw the inverse development. While leisure spending is up, an increasing amount of it gets spent on activities in public like live sports and eating out. So now we have overwhelming amounts of media produced for a market that is much smaller than anticipated. There is just to much media.

[u/johnydarko → u/[deleted]]

I mean... that includes basically the entirety of covid lol, so those numbers deserve a bit of a star next to them.

[u/RandomBadPerson → u/[deleted]]

Every review I've seen for Furiosa has praised it to. I think that movie may have been a victim of bringing the wrong vibe at the wrong time.

[u/johnydarko → u/[deleted]]

5% of the worst flops in Cinema history happened in the last .5% of history.

I mean tbf 100% of all movies happened in the last .5% of history

[u/CaptainBayouBilly → u/[deleted]]

Maybe there shouldn’t be an industry solely focused on such a high bar, but rather an industry where creators are trusted? 

The whole concept of the AAA blockbuster depends on repetitive success that leaves no room for failure. So we get creative stagnation, burnout, and collapse. 

Ray tracing, photo realistic visuals, epic soundtracks, famous voice overs, all of that is impressive, but little of it contributes to why games exist- to be fun. 

Tetris is still fun. 

[u/Lysmerry → u/[deleted]]

People aren’t going to the movies, but the gaming market is growing. I think the issue is that each game wants to be massively successful and take the market share of another game rather than establishing a niche. And there can only be a few truly blockbuster success games.

[u/marmite1234 → u/[deleted]]

The comparison of AAA games and cinema does not hold up.

You could argue that cinema is a dying medium whose days are numbered. It will eventually became similar to what vaudeville/the theatre are. Niche entertainment for a small group of enthusiasts.

You cannot say the same at all about video games, even AAA video games. The audience is not in decline. The problem is that creative design and truly interesting with has taken a backseat MBAs whose only goal is to maximize profit for shareholders. The problem is this makes for boring games. The game industry leadership needs to adjust.

[u/PriorWriter3041 → u/[deleted]]

Well, they're afraid to experiment. So they go with what worked before and that gets boring, because why would we want to watch a repeat?