Re: Kingdom Come Deliverance II Wins Big

On 06/02/2025 15:45, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

But as important, KDC2's success proves that not only are
single-player, non-'live service' games still popular, they're also
financially viable. You/don't/ need to make a $500 million game to be
successful. KDC2's development budget was ~$40 million, and it looks
as good as anything Ubisoft or Electronic Arts shits out. Is it a bit
smaller? Is the gameplay perhaps not as refined? Maybe. But I'd rather
a dozen 'slightly imperfect' games released per year to one of EA's
mammoth annual blockbusters.

Yep, the impression I get is that triple-A developers have almost backed themselves into a corner in which they feel they have to produce 'mega' games as that's just what they do and those budgets also effectively force them to be risk adverse. You'd think they'd have woken up by now and realised that just throwing money at a game isn't a recipe for success and instead is often a recipe for getting a studio closed down or 'restructured'.
Saying that like you I and tempted to buy it but have held of so far as my anchor point for what a game is worth has shifted downwards as there are just a lot of games that I've really enjoyed in the £10-£20 bracket.

     [Meanwhile, EA is suggesting that "Dragon Age: Veilguard" might
      have been more successful had it been released as a live-service
      game. Because the lack of 'shared world features' in DA:V was
      what held it back, right?]

Yes I saw that and well what can you say, just how out of touch are they. Then again I'm sure the grand formages will be the ones carrying the can for this costly mistake and not the dev's :-)
 From what I've read about the game it's not that it's a bad game but that it's just an ok game compounded by things that people liked about the series, such as good writing and meaningful choices, aren't there. I can't say it bodes well for the next Mass Effect as it sounds that a lot of the talent that understands how you make a good Mass Effect game have been told their services are no longer needed.