devolution@lemmy.world 1 week ago
Well… It’s kinda like this.
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People love to waste money thinking they will make a profit. - Gambling.
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People love pussy. And girls turn 18 every day so there is never a shortage. From Christy Canyon to Reilly Reid to Sweetie Fox- Porn
2a. Just to be inclusive, people like dicks too. Johnny Sins is never out of work.
- People REALLY love to waste money thinking they will make a profit. - Crypto
Meanwhile,
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AAA studios are doubling down on micro transactions, “performative” social justice, AI slop, and live service slop. - AC Shadows
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Expedition 33 and Silk Song are the exceptions to the rule as far as how the AA performs financially. - No One Wants to Die
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Private Equity and MBA majors have too much influence on the game space. - Embracer Group
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Gamers just grow up. Some things you just grow out of. - Inflation, fascism, life, etc.
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And most modern games just cost too damned much! - GTA 6 projections.
tal@lemmy.today 1 week ago
I think that one factor driving either microtransactions, freemium, free-to-play stuff that does data-mining, or “incomplete” games with expansions is resistance to a higher initial price. I mean, if a studio isn’t making their return on the initial price, they’re going to look for alternate routes. AAA games cost more than ever to make these days. If people say — and I’ve seen plenty of people on here do so — “I absolutely will not buy a game with an up-front price of more than $N”…but then they’re okay playing freemium stuff or games with microtransactions, I mean…that’s what game studios are going to do.
I’m generally okay with an expansion model, because I like the idea of giving the studio the option to expand really popular games, and it de-risks things for both the player (you just buy the base game and get expansions if you want) and the publisher (you don’t put down a ton of money to create massive amounts of stuff for a flop), though honestly, I do agree that I miss the “just pay and get a complete game” approach.
alsimoneau@lemmy.ca 1 week ago
The way to make your return on the initial budget is to shrink the initial budget. You can’t scale these things forever.