Gaming has become so much more than just a pastime; it has evolved into a source of comradery, income, and even a professional sport that has reached a competitive level. However, there is still a massive demographic that is inclined to play casual or single-player games, as those have an entirely unique appeal to them, and, more often than not, would prefer to wait for massive triple-A titles that take years to develop.
As the name suggests, triple-A games are viewed as the best games because the developers have put their heart and soul into creating them, resulting in a combination of gripping gameplay and storytelling. However, in recent years, the title ‘Triple-A’ has been devalued, as once-great game franchises or studios now create bottom-of-the-barrel products; whether they are because of a terrible story, clunky mechanics, game-breaking glitches, or even shipping an unfinished product, many people are no longer willing to spend hundreds of ringgit for a game that is virtually unplayable.
In its place, audiences have moved on to games from smaller companies or even ones made by a singular person, called indie games, which have received multiple critical reviews and a dedicated fanbase. This begs the question, “What happened?” Why do games from decorated developers fall from grace, and why have indie games continued to improve despite having limited finances, resources, know-how and manpower? Why are full-rendered, high-definition 3D games getting stumped by 2D, pixel art games?
Suits & Creatives: Lack Of Creative Control
One thing that has significantly changed game development for the better and for the worse is the involvement of suits or businessmen in the workforce. If the creative team is in charge of creating ideas and mechanics that can elevate their game sky-high, the suits will ground them back to reality, assessing whether or not what the creative team is proposing is do-able within the allocated budget and timeframe given.
However, this has resulted in some dead dreams, as businessmen are more likely to pressure developers to do what’s in the budget or something that has been tried and tested before, with only a few new changes that would justify making a new game. Indie developers don’t really have this problem, as they are their own bosses; there is no manager telling the creative to put their dreams down out at the back, Old Yeller style, allowing for creative games that we have never seen before, like “Inscryption”, “Super Meat Boy”, and “Undertale”.
Killer Deadlines: Yearly Releases & Workers Sleeping In The Office
Once a company or development team has gained traction and widespread notoriety because of their games, people will watch their careers with great interest, eager for the next game they will create. And to capitalise on the hype of the people, major companies create yearly release schedules for their games, like “Call of Duty” or “Assassin’s Creed”. Unsurprisingly, once-dedicated players began to experience fatigue and burnout, and those who still choose to stay are often those who essentially sold their soul to the franchise.
As mentioned in the previous point, workers are placed under incredible amounts of pressure to keep up with the set deadline and terrible work conditions, resulting in a lack of innovation. Back in 2018, during the development of “Red Dead Redemption 2”, Rockstar Games came under fire for enforcing 100-hour work weeks and forcing employees to sleep in the office. More disturbingly, what the workers are calling “crunch culture” is something practised in the gaming industry at large. Red Dead Redemption 2 was successful at launch, but it is forever associated with the negative PR leading up to its release.
Again, indie game developers don’t face these problems as they are largely hidden from the public eye, allowing them time to perfect the game they are making (imagine Spongebob creating a single krabby patty against King Neptune’s hundreds of disgusting burgers.) Regardless of the games’ success, these developers rarely adhere to these strict deadlines, as they understand that doing so will be devastating to their work.
We’ll Fix It Later: Complacent Companies
Of course, there are some that couldn’t be bothered to even finish their game, just releasing it unpolished. This has been the most recent and off-putting trend that has persisted in the last few years and shows no signs of stopping anytime soon. After the widespread success of “Goat Simulator” and “Skate 3” because of YouTubers covering the buggy games, companies have become more confident in releasing games that still need a few months of development, hoping to give them an update patch later down the line.
These instances range from a minor nuisance to making the game unplayable outright. As a result of this move, many games have lost millions of dollars worth of revenue due to negative reviews, telling people to stay away from this game until it is fixed, not to mention the piss-poor graphic quality of some games, like “Mass Effect: Andromeda”, is like adding salt to the wound. Whether they are on time with their schedule or not, this is still viewed as something that is unacceptable. Indie games do not have the “luxury” of being complacent, as doing so would severely hurt them; thus, they must release their games with the utmost quality whenever possible, something triple-A developers seem to have forgotten.
This is not to say all triple-A game developers are bad, as we still get games like “Elden Ring”, “God of War Ragnarök”, “Monster Hunter: World”, and “The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom”, but this does not invalidate the whole. In fact, it is because of this deteriorating quality in games and increasing standards that we are able to weed out the bad from the good and not simply follow them out of blind loyalty or brand loyalty. It is through this disparity and general disinterest in recent triple-A games that we are able to notice the small indie games that we now know and love, and if these major companies do not shape up soon, they might just be left by the wayside. There is no perfect triple-A nor indie game – as long as it delivers joy to the gamer then it has served its purpose.
Source: PCGamesN, TruScribe, Glassdoor, Entrepreneur, Flickr [1], [2], [3] Polygon, Trusted Reviews, GameSpot, Wikimedia Commons, Gizmodo Australia
