r/gaming • u/CiabattaKatsuie Console • Oct 01 '24

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'

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?

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u/kdebones Oct 02 '24

Welp, he was right in the first half, a lot of high budget games aren't selling. Tho because "they're not social enough" is a level of brain rot that's indicative of the overarching real issue.

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u/ReactionJifs Oct 02 '24

I love all of the social aspects of (checks notes) Elden Ring?

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u/Tillustrate Oct 02 '24

Elden Ring has social aspects, like the messages and invading. But yeah, it's not the reason why it became so popular.

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u/given2fly_ Oct 02 '24

Games like that are "social" in that people will talk about it online, watch streams of people playing it etc.

Surely that's got to be the goal? Make something that takes over the social conversation amongst gamers, without necessarily having to be a "social" game with online play?

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u/redfoobar Oct 02 '24

Yes, but I think this is confusing causation with correlation.

Arguably any really good game that gets a big user base has people talking about it regardless of genre or mechanics. So at that point is more a result of the succes rather than the source of the succes.

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u/CaptainBayouBilly Oct 02 '24

Organic melding into the human consciousness via a good game is the result of quality, not a feature set. I don’t think it’s really possible to plan that out. It happens it doesn’t. 

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u/GGG100 Oct 02 '24

It’s one of the reasons Souls games became popular. It was the Strand-type game series long before Kojima pulled the term out of his ass.

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u/PhotojournalistBig53 Oct 02 '24

The social aspects are organic with legends like Let Me Solo her. Elden Ring provided a perfect framework for a social community aspect that in no way interferes with your Gameplay and I think that’s the key. People wanna do quirky/impressive feats in a single player setting that can’t get griefed then share it with a community. 

Look at minecraft. 100% singleplayer on drop still 100% community driven growth with people showcasing so much cool shit.

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u/Punktur Oct 02 '24

The coop features were the biggest reason I bought Demons souls on the Ps3 in 2009 and every souls game after that (aside from Sekiro), to play with friends.

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u/Xonra Oct 02 '24

But even Fromsoft has even said most people don't interact with those that play the game (which surprised me). I turn off any online functions because I hate invasions. The messages are clutter, and I don't touch pvp.

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u/suthmoney Oct 02 '24

I found the messages to be pretty helpful a lot of the time. Like how else would I have known to do the O Mother gesture at some random statue to unlock a huge hidden area? I thought they did a pretty good job implementing multiplayer without hindering the single player experience.

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u/Tillustrate Oct 02 '24

It also makes me feel like I'm exploring the world along side other people. Makes it a bit less lonely.

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u/The_Maddeath Oct 02 '24

this, I never use the co-op so no invasions but seeing random ghosts of people fighting where I am or even just riding past is really neat, and I legitimately enjoy seeing all the deaths in random spots and being like "wtf how did they die here? oh they rolled off the ladder"