curl-6 said:
Yeah when you have to sell 10 million plus to turn a profit, it tends to lead to homogenous products to appeal to the broadest possible audience. AA games often have more style and flavour as they can afford to commit to a specific target audience. |
I know we are talking about the industry in general but these kind of comments always draw my attention because some people are used to describe PS games like "products to appeal to the broadest audience" but if the transition to pc has highlighted something is that PS games aren't what the "broadest audience" wants. Actually PS is focused in a very specific audience, the PS (current, sorry old folks) fanbase a fanbase that has been cultivated since the moment TLOU came out in 2013 and was one of the factors that saved Sony from bankruptcy. Yes some of those games sell a lot of copies on PS but that's just because the fanbase can be that big for some IPs. That's why when I see comments criticizing those game trying to show fake superiority (not talking about you btw lol) I can't help but think that the real reason that people is mad is because as good or as popular as PS games can be, they weren't made for them.
Ironically the two PS games with the biggest launch on pc are the perfect example of what the broadest audience actually wants.
Helldivers 2: Online-cooperative game
Stellar Blade: Oversexualized female character.
With those two concepts you can describe some if not most of the most profitable games every year on console, pc and mobile. And that's of course without counting the huge impact that the internet now has in what audiences want. Elden Ring a game that is focused in a specific kind of player now is played by people who don't give a damn about the game itself, all they want is to be part of the cool team who knows about what real games are all about. They don't want to be part of the lame group of people who likes super hero games LOL.
