Comparing a 2D sprite-based Unity sidescroller, made by 4 dudes, to something like Death Stranding is not exactly fair.
Comment on Hollow Knight: Silksong Will Release for Only $20, Release Times Revealed
tiramichu@sh.itjust.works 1 week ago
Take note AAA studios - this is how you do it.
With this pricing, Silksong may be the only game this year that I’ll actually purchase on release day.
Lanusensei87@lemmy.world 1 week ago
TheLowestStone@lemmy.world 1 week ago
True. The 2D sprite-based Unity sidescroller will actually be fun.
tiramichu@sh.itjust.works 1 week ago
Depends on what basis one is comparing it.
They are very different kinds of game, but they have to exist within the same economic realities.
Big studios seem to be working on the basis that just because they spend millions on a game, the game automatically becomes worth whatever price tag they want to slap on it - as if it’s a natural law that pumping in more money should directly translate to more revenue, without fail.
But it turns out the value of a game is what players perceive it to be worth, not what publishers hope its worth.
So it’s no surprise that indie games with amazing price-to-value ratios are seeing a surge, while big studios are struggling and don’t seem to have any ability to understand why their business model isn’t working.
Publishers are all shocked pikachu when their big budget games fall flat, but If people don’t want to buy your $80 game it’s not their fault - it’s your fault for not doing enough to justify the price tag.
So my message to studios isn’t “your games should be $20” (although sometimes they should) it’s “you should provide value that matches the price tag” - and Silksong over here just laid down the gauntlet as a game which looks set to deliver tonnes of value for relatively little cost.
CosmoNova@lemmy.world 1 week ago
Unfortunately AAA studios have a long rat tail of unproductive execs and managers that take a huge pay cut so their games will soon cost $100.
Eranziel@lemmy.world 6 days ago
They also have dev/art teams orders of magnitudes larger than Team Cherry. (I do agree with your sentiment about useless managers and execs, of course.)
bless@lemmy.ml 6 days ago
Reducing team size and making smaller games to split the risk is also an option imo