Larian's head of publishing has commented on the volatility of the gaming industry, arguing that games do not need to have broad appeal to succeed. He also pushes back against the belief that all games need to be free-to-play, and that gamers are willing to put down money for a game as long as it's good.
This comes after the Xbox rolled out another wave of layoffs, resulting in studio closures and games being cancelled. Many in the industry have been critical of this, speaking out against the obsession with short-term success, and Xbox's push to a subscription-based model with Game Pass.
22 Comments
Who’s saying all games need to be free?
The volatility of the gaming industry…. like releasing unfinished games? Good talk Larian
Michael Douse, head of publishing at Larian:
>”I think one of the fundamental misunderstandings is that idea that players want ‘free games.’ They want good games. They can be free-to-play, they can be paid, but they need to be good,” Douse says. “You can’t avoid that this is a hit-based industry. The problem is there isn’t enough mindspace for the amount of games that would ideally be hits. Therefore, the majority can’t be hits, even if they’re good.”
>While that does sound like the industry is doomed to fail, Douse does have some practical advice on how companies can increase their odds of success. “If you have an audience and hyper-focus on your niche, you don’t need to be traditionally high scoring to succeed,” he argues. “Broad doesn’t necessarily mean successful. Farming Simulator will outlive us all.”
I’m fan of Larian given their track record…but I kind of feel that since BG3, people have been almost kissing Larian’s feet. Plus, I never really got the impression that majority of people demanded free games, let alone most gaming companies, so I don’t really see the point in saying what he said. Water is wet type of speech.
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mind blowing. people will play and even pay for good games.
maybe if those failing studios tried to make good games instead of trying to make money, they’d still be around.
If the games are good, they don’t need microtransactions to survive, just
>against the belief that all games need to be free-to-play
literally who believes this, though?
Good games are like good pizza, worth paying for if they get the recipe
Gamers say otherwise.
Nintendo: Super high quality games, high output, no microtransaction or live service, no layoff, minimal bug or DLC.
Gamers: NINTENDO IS ANTI CONSUMER, THEY WON’T SELL THEIR GAMES FOR -75% OFF LIKE UBISOFT
when Larian inevitably falls from grace, a lot of these quotes will look pretty comical.
When it comes down to it, video games is an art form, but corporate heads view it simply as entertainment. They think they are simply giving us something to do in exchange for our money, but they miss the fact that they need to give us a reason to want to do it. And for the customer to actually be satisfied, that reason needs to be something deeper than FOMO or fads. A lot of indy games achieve success simply because the developers actually have an artistic vision to speak of, and some of these big companies are ignoring that altogether and replacing it with a business model vision. But the business model doesn’t really matter, its the art that does.
I actively AVOID free games.
They are usually the most expensive.
Larian’s head of publishing is getting exhausting with all the preaching when you consider the fact that he had little to no function in BG3 as a product.
Larian Dev Farts. The Analysis Of The Gas Shows What He Ate This Morning. Also Good Games Sell Better.
It’s not always enough to be good anymore. Far too much quality, too frequently.
Certain games should be free. Games that are going to be supported by a million micro transactions, shouldn’t charge me $80 for a game. And good is subjective. A good PR team can make a decent game sell well.
Short term succes and the present and future of videogames doesn’t fit together.
Unlike the Arkane guy, who wants his less good games to be $70 and it is somehow down to gamepass. Good luck with deathloop 2.
Make a good game, advertise it and there is a good chance its going to be played
Obviously there are more factor but a lot of game that fail didn’t do one of the two
ngl BG3 was great and all but since its success Larian has kinda been on that “holier than thou” wave, this almost reads as the guy going “see? just make good games, like us, we made a good game and people love it, do more of what we do”
And it’s been like that on a variety of topics, we get it you’ve been around since 1996 and made one mainstream critically successful game, and mostly because it borrowed a wildly successful IP to begin with, like let’s be real it’s not like Divinity was in everyone’s mind, without the D&D name Larian would’ve just made another anonymous game.
I’m not trying to crap on the guys but It feels like they forgot where they came from real quick and are pointing fingers at other studios
Congratulations on your promotion to Captain