MS flipped a coin on if they should make a new Hellblade game or close Ninja Theory. It came up heads.
Thread: Looks like Hellblade 3 has been greenlit already
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The optics would be bad now. They'll wait a couple years into the 7 year cycle it'll take NT to make it and close the studio quietly due to lack of progress or something. I'd keep my CV refreshed if I worked at NT is what I'm sayin'.
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Punishing success, rewarding failure.
Hostile_18
Face/Off
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It won't happen now. Companies must get relaxed on MS money, or MS just can't manage previously competent studios.
Sometimes crunch and pressure *can* be good things. Creatives need to be teamed up with solid producers, that have a track record of getting good products out the door.
Otherwise you end up waiting for a book for 10 FUCKING YEARS, GOD DAMN YOU GEORGE.
Sometimes crunch and pressure *can* be good things. Creatives need to be teamed up with solid producers, that have a track record of getting good products out the door.
Otherwise you end up waiting for a book for 10 FUCKING YEARS, GOD DAMN YOU GEORGE.
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Hostile_18
Face/Off
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It's a funny predicament though.. they have shown they will close studios for far, far less but on the flip side they really don't want any more egg on their face by closing another studio.
ExpandKong
Post-Approval Survivor
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This basically means nothing though. Do they think studios that are actively working on something don't get shuttered? And with how long games like this take to make they could just eat the cost for a year for optics' sake and then close it down for "lack of meaningful progress."
Well, neither Redfall nor Hi-Fi Rush were successful. It's very understandable these studios got closed after like five years of development for games that bombed.
Absolutely. I'd like to see them tackle a different kind of game. More like... You know. A game.
Cravis
Member
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I actually really enjoyed their Devil May Cry reboot.
Hellblade, nope not in the least bit. If I wanted to play games that wanted to be movies with limited gameplay, I'd pull out my Sega CD.
Hellblade, nope not in the least bit. If I wanted to play games that wanted to be movies with limited gameplay, I'd pull out my Sega CD.
ExpandKong
Post-Approval Survivor
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It was a weird kind of CW-style take on DMC but in the end I think it did get more hate than it deserved. That Bob Barbas level was pretty dope. I need to go back and play the definitive edition.
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I approve another HB but this 3rd time around, they need to expand on the world and give Senua skills that people can choose from for different combat abilities like in God of War. They also need to have her do more than walking and moving the story forward. They have a great game to build off of and make better.
Ryse Son of Rome called. It wants its excuses back.
Umm...do you realize that Senua is a full-blown retard?
They need to create an entire new character that isn't retarded.
Senua, at this point, is too retarded to have a GOW-Tier arc
How about using all this amazing tech and development to make a game that will sell numbers? Mentally challenged Viking Woman isn't cutting it with the public. The first game wasn't massive, the second game doesn't appear to have set the world alight, why would they believe that a 3rd game is going to change trajectory?
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Hostile_18
Face/Off
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I like the first game but what metric makes it a good concept to build upon? It can't be sales, critical reception, consumer engagement etc.
Best off applying the tech to a different IP if they are getting a second chance and significantly overhaul the production pipeline.
In business, a good concept is making a game that wins plaudits and makes bank. You might get wet in the pants over this stuff as some crowning achievement of Technical performance by Xbox, which I can accept, but if a game is launched and no one buys it that is not a victory, that is a flop.
gameragodzilla
Member
In the case of Arkane Austin, not-Prey also bombed. In fact, Redfall was greenlit precisely because not-Prey flopped. Couple with mass staff turnover during Redfall and I can understand why it was closed. Studios can possibly weather one flop. But they can't weather multiple plus internal studio instability.
Never should've called the 2017 game "Prey". Arkane's future was forever screwed over due to Bethesda and Human Head's slap fight.
Stifler's Mom
I've got some Scotch
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I think what made the first game kind of successful was, that they managed to create it with only a handful of people in a sane amount of time.
You can do niche stuff, if you keep the costs down.
Not everything has to sell millions to be financially viable.
But to do the same thing, just with 20x the budget and then still having only the same audience you had on the first game is a big mistake of course.
You can do niche stuff, if you keep the costs down.
Not everything has to sell millions to be financially viable.
But to do the same thing, just with 20x the budget and then still having only the same audience you had on the first game is a big mistake of course.
gameragodzilla
Member
Yeah, sometimes the best way to stay solvent is to just budget accordingly. I bring up Robocop Rogue City a lot since it's the perfect example of a AA game to me. It has the hallmarks of a AA game, like the poor quality character models, animations, and iffy voice acting, since those are very expensive. However, because they skimp on the budget in those areas, they're able to make a game that only has to appeal to Robocop fans and it'll be profitable. And as long as they nail the important stuff, including getting Peter Weller back to reprise the role, fans will be perfectly happy. So while other studios either have to add a ton of bullshit microtransactions into their game, or worry about keeping the lights on because their more niche game failed to make back their initial investment, Teyon doesn't have that problem. The future is quite bright for that studio and people are only discussing which nostalgic 80's action franchise they should tackle next because their budgets mean they can stay afloat and keep making games without having to sell gangbusters.
Also highly recommend their Terminator game before as well, which is also a great example of a AA game. So long as you accept some corner cutting, it's the best Terminator thing since Terminator 2: Judgement Day.