I Can't Get Excited About (AAA) Games Anymore

[Decay]

Corporations suck for doing corporate things. Consumers are equally to blame for paying for it. Vocal minorities on social media don't weigh the same as unit sales. If the pigs are happy enough eating shit, why give quality feed?

 

If you want to see change, you need a movement.

[DiavoJinx]

15 hours ago, Astar said:

I understand your feelings. It's hard to enjoy games when you're burnt out and  shit is going on around you.

But the gaming industry has actually almost always been like this. The gaming industry has always been crap and there used to be a huge number of shitty games, self-repeats, copies and conveyors.

 

Often nostalgia makes us think that things were better before. In fact, history is cyclical and repeats itself again.

Bad games were released in the past mixed with good ones, and they are still being released now.

 

And the game industry, from the very moment of its founding, has always been a machine for pumping out money

Yes, and in case anyone forgot their '90s PC games' history:

Before they were called "first person shooters", all games of that genre were called Doom clones for years.

[OpenRift]

The AAA games industry as we know it needs to go. I know there's going to be a lot of fallout from that, and there already is, but ultimately I think indie and AA studios hold the key to the future of gaming and its innovation. The way that AAA studios and publishers operate now just isn't sustainable long-term, and we're starting to see the consequences of that as suits are throwing their expendable employees off the ship to keep them afloat.

 

What I'm hoping for is that from the ashes, more new studios and publishers will form from those who were laid off and create competition in the space again, which can bring the industry standard back to where it should be. We're already seeing the likes of Larian, New Blood and Arrowhead doing what all the AAA fools don't have the balls to do and getting the success they deserve. I think I can reasonably say that with the collapse of AAA, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. The general disillusionment amongst a lot of gamers has a lot more influence than what you'd see in other media industries like music and film, because games have another level of engagement they have to make work.

 

Games studios have to make their games good if they want long-term customers. That's why Valve (despite their current issues) has been so successful. They made solid games that have been pillars of PC gaming for years and have generated an enormous community with an ever-expanding catalogue of user-generated content. That legacy is how you earn long-term customers. Of course, there's the argument that they're successful because of Steam, but even then, there's a reason they've remained the most popular distribution platform on PC. They provide a quality service and the community features that the userbase will actually use, which I can't really say for any other storefront (and I say this as a GOG fan). Your alternative is the Activision route of producing Call of Duty slop every year, being just good enough for the knuckle-draggers that play every entry in the series and passable enough to keep out of trouble in the press, all while spending enough money to fund a small country in the process. Most studios can't make that work, and we're starting to see that. I can't really see any underhanded schemes AAA can still pull at this point that aren't just straight up breaking the law.

[LadyMistDragon]

I guess I'm just glad I don't go out of my way to play AAA games anymore. Really, there hasn't been anything recently in years that has really excited me. I think Doom Eternal looked kind of good, but didn't have the time then and now seeing the utterly bloated filesize it apparently is, I have no interest in checking it out. Cyberpunk 2077 is probably much better now but that doesn't mean I'm very driven to play it. Odd how that works sometimes.

[taufan99]

At this rate, I feel like the modern reactions toward AAA gaming industry are a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" affair. Sure, we may abhor them a lot, but for every group of Average Johns/Janes that get disgruntled, there will also always be a group of Average Johns/Janes that just want to have fun, feel the latest technological advance (provided there's any, no matter how minuscule and/or mundane), etc. Who doesn't want an excuse to produce new devices and/or upgrade their rig(s), after all?

 

That's not to say we're not getting the edge with it, though. Neoclassical indie scene is flourishing, with both old games being revisited and done more justice, and new games formulating with old methods (whether they actually work or don't highly depends on the sub-niche of players).

4 hours ago, Firedust said:

There are still some AAA games I get excited about - it's just there is so much rushed uninspired paywall-ridden jank, it sort of depresses the general outlook on the industry as a whole. There are still a handful of titles that I've greatly enjoyed over the past few years (like the recent God of War games and RE Village).

 

Besides, there have been some indie (ish) studios that have also dropped utter shite in recent memory (Slipgate Ironworks ololol with Wrath Aeon of Ruin, Phantom Fury, Graven, and Kingpin, what a fucking shitshow), but in this case, this is offset by the great influx of fantastic releases spanning pretty much every genre - Sea of Starts (jrpg), Blasphemous 1 +2 (Metroidvania), and obviously the bazillion super well done boomer shooters we've been blessed with (Prodeus, Supplice, Turbo Overkill, etc.)

 

So, all in all, there are great games to be played regardless of budget/team size, but obviously in terms of good-to-bad release ratio, the AAA industry has def been on the decline. Maybe I'm not being harsh enough but I don't really keep up with the news anymore - other than game announcements, studio openings/closures, and trailers.

Oh, but the whole games as a service thing needs to die already, but I highly doubt it will.

This is an interesting perspective all in all. Just because we're mostly critical against AAA gaming industry, doesn't mean we must instead grow this "indie studios can do no wrong" mindset, even if only to an extent.

 

I wonder if we're getting our generation's Capstone, though. Are they really that bad or is it just that their delivery is less-than-stellar, especially at later levels? (I'm aware of both the crappy Kingpin remaster and the whole 3D Realms fiasco regarding Phantom Fury, mind you.)

Edited June 10 by taufan99
Slight grammatical mistake fix.

[Major Arlene]

43 minutes ago, taufan99 said:

This is an interesting perspective all in all. Just because we're mostly critical against AAA gaming industry, doesn't mean we must instead grow this "indie studios can do no wrong" mindset, even if only to an extent.

Having worked in the indie scene, I can fully agree with this sentiment. I also made a point of this in the article that indies will absolutely not be able to prop up the industry on their own. AAA's are a necessary evil to an extent but the way they operate needs to change.

Edited June 11 by Major Arlene

[Astar]

58 minutes ago, taufan99 said:

At this rate, I feel like the modern reactions toward AAA gaming industry are a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" affair. Sure, we may abhor them a lot, but for every group of Average Johns/Janes that get disgruntled, there will also always be a group of Average Johns/Janes that just want to have fun, feel the latest technological advance (provided there's any, no matter how minuscule and/or mundane), etc. Who doesn't want an excuse to produce new devices and/or upgrade their rig(s), after all?

I can't even say it better.

I used to kill myself over games too. The only thing that helped me was changing my attitude towards games.

At some point, I simply realized that I was no longer so young and that I would not live forever. And while life gives me such an opportunity, I need to enjoy it as much as possible (only safely, of course).

I realized that games should be treated only as an entertainment industry, nothing more.

 

After I recently bought a new computer, I thought "hmmm, I'd like to play a shooter with top graphics and realistic shooting."

 

 And I went looking for information on the new Call of Duty. I saw that they added Nicki Minaj and Snoop Dogg to the game and people are freaking out about it.

Is this stupid? Yes.

Is this ridiculous? Absolutely.

But it made me laugh so hard that I just can't be mad at it.

 

No matter what, after my death all my grievances will simply dissolve into oblivion.

But the gaming industry will still develop and improve. Sooner or later there will be people who will move the dead center. 

 

Now I prefer to just play games that I like, because I am simply too tired and have too little time to figure out who is "bad" and who is "good".

Because there are no clearly bad and good people here.

 

Except for the CEOs, lmao

[oneselfSelf]

1 hour ago, taufan99 said:

I wonder if we're getting our generation's Capstone, though. Are they really that bad or is it just that their delivery is less-than-stellar, especially at later levels? (I'm aware of both the crappy Kingpin remaster and the whole 3D Realms fiasco regarding Phantom Fury, mind you.)

 

IMO calling them "this generation's Capstone" is the nicest insult anyone could possibly feel about them.

 

I'm in the belief that nu3D Realms exists to cash in on the boomer shooter craze because it has failed to even release a game without strings attached to it and drama buried within it. Slipgate can't make a stable game for the life of them either. I cannot imagine the mindset that must have been floating around to conclude releasing Kingpin Reloaded in the state it was in other than to declare easy layoffs.

 

It's amazing that somehow out of all of the old company revivals, Apogee is the only one to be completely normal and not try any bullshit.

[Major Arlene]

3 minutes ago, oneselfSelf said:

It's amazing that somehow out of all of the old company revivals, Apogee is the only one to be completely normal and not try any bullshit.

Seemingly so, yes, but I tend to remain skeptical of everyone out of caution.

[Mr. Freeze]

The difference is that Capstone was trying to make games, Nu-3DR is a complete grift. 

[Kinsie]

4 hours ago, oneselfSelf said:

 

IMO calling them "this generation's Capstone" is the nicest insult anyone could possibly feel about them.

 

I'm in the belief that nu3D Realms exists to cash in on the boomer shooter craze because it has failed to even release a game without strings attached to it and drama buried within it. Slipgate can't make a stable game for the life of them either. I cannot imagine the mindset that must have been floating around to conclude releasing Kingpin Reloaded in the state it was in other than to declare easy layoffs.

About the only sin of Capstone's that can be attributed to nu-3D Realms is the quality of the end products and the lack of QA (or at least, lack of ability to act on QA's findings)

 

• Capstone hired inexperienced people straight out of high school, while 3DR racked up a fairly impressive headcount of industry and modding veterans.
• Capstone allotted only ~6 months or so of development time per game (not even enough to create design docs!), while seemingly every 3DR game wallowed in the mire of development hell for years before occasionally wallowing in a second, even murkier mire of Early Access.
• Capstone had terminally low budgets while their management was too busy desperately hustling for investors to go public, while 3DR was tied to a gargantuan megacorp hustling for a multi-billion dollar investment while the leadership was too busy demanding the making of dogshit public access TV to actually manage staff or projects properly.

 

History didn't repeat, and I'd hesitate to say it rhymed, but it was in a similar time signature.

 

4 hours ago, oneselfSelf said:

It's amazing that somehow out of all of the old company revivals, Apogee is the only one to be completely normal and not try any bullshit.

 

4 hours ago, Major Arlene said:

Seemingly so, yes, but I tend to remain skeptical of everyone out of caution.

History dictates that Scott Miller is an unreliable narrator, to put it politely. Nu-Apogee seems to be doing well and he seems like a nice enough guy to grab a beer and trade war stories with, but like, maybe don't put immediate faith in his word and definitely get a lawyer involved before you sign anything.

[oneselfSelf]

30 minutes ago, Kinsie said:

History dictates that Scott Miller is an unreliable narrator, to put it politely. Nu-Apogee seems to be doing well and he seems like a nice enough guy to grab a beer and trade war stories with, but like, maybe don't put immediate faith in his word and definitely get a lawyer involved before you sign anything.

 

Okay yeah, I am absolutely putting a little too much faith in a company that could always just turn around and shit on everything. Kinda reminds me of a story I hear about now and then.

[june gloom]

Scott also recently slagged off the Selaco devs then blocked everyone who called him on it.

 

As far as Ion Fury et al are concerned, Voidpoint is pretty closely tied to the culture at Duke4.net. Now, Duke4.net is a good place to keep abreast of what the Duke community is up to, but it's also an incredibly toxic place with some of the worst people -- almost as bad as a certain Doom forum that shall not be named. All that drama over Ion Fury is because Richard Gobeille, despite his invaluable work with Eduke32, is kind of a shithead. That whole fight he had with Randy Pritchford didn't make either of them look good.

[Kinsie]

Nobody posts on Duke4 anymore. It is bereft of human life and by and large irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.

 

Kind of a pity, considering some of the wonderful things still being pulled out of the engine by Death Wish and friends, and especially compared to the frantic activity both here and in the Quake scene, but such as it is.

[Gravepicker]

14 hours ago, jazzmaster9 said:

Everything sounds bad if you exaggerate enough. This isn't the gotcha moment you think it is. 

 

Thanks for reminding why I don't talk about Elden Ring or Doom Eternal in this cesspool known as the internet 

 

Fair enough.  I probably shouldn't be shitting all over a game I mostly enjoyed, even if I personally don't really like the direction it takes the series in. Sorry for being an overly negative dickhead in that earlier comment.

 

About the state of AAA game development, a lot has been said already in this thread, and I certainly don't have any insider info or insight into it. But I do agree with the view that the way it's going is absolutely unsustainable longterm, even for those companies that are doing fine right now. Or at least I really wish it will be. Trained and tested professionals should be a commodity to companies, not just a fungible resource.

 

As a teenager, I dreamed of entering the field of videogame development, as probably a lot of other posters of this site did. My life took a different path pretty early, but when I see the state of the industry right now, can't help but think that it was for the best. I would have liked to be working as idSoft was back in the early/mid nineties: in games that me and the whole team really wanted to play. Triple A companies, which is probably where most people in the industry work, don't seem to have that environment at all.

[jazzmaster9]

8 minutes ago, Gravepicker said:

 

Fair enough.  I probably shouldn't be shitting all over a game I mostly enjoyed, even if I personally don't really like the direction it takes the series in. Sorry for being an overly negative dickhead in that earlier comment.

All good, I also came off super defensive there so apologies. Being cautious with Triple A developers, even Namco-Bandai, is a very reasonable stance to have considering the OP thread as well as many of the stuff posted.

Edited June 11 by jazzmaster9

[kevansevans]

3 hours ago, Kinsie said:

Nobody posts on Duke4 anymore. It is bereft of human life and by and large irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.

 

 

Not that I have my fingers on anything Duke related what so ever, let alone Duke4, but you did remind me of this, which is really worth playing.

[mrthejoshmon]

AAA gaming is less black and white and more grey for me, granted, the shade is anthracite.

 

Seeing companies boast record profits whilst jettisoning entire studios on top of releasing mass produced "me too" live service and battlepass infested half finished con-jobs that die within literal months or complete clunkers that come out half born in a state between semi built and screaming mass of misbegotten mess (but hey at least the premium shop works) that they'll "fix later" (and then never do) I must say have grown mighty tired of it all.

 

But there are still things that get me excited, now just with an air of caution:

 

• Space Marine 2 (I think that might be actually AA but the rate at which it is advertised says otherwise)
• There's a Gears of War prequel coming about Emergence Day, I hope it returns to the true Gears gameplay formula
• Perfect Dark is a fucking imsim now and I'm all for that
• Super looking forward to picking up Ghost of Tsushima later on
• Monster Hunter Wilds is more Monster Hunter, that's all I want
• Whilst sceptical, I am still looking forward to finally seeing S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2, even if it sucks I still get to see another DNF tier release happen

• Age of Mythology: Retold is on the way, I'm currently blasting away at Age of Empires 2 remastered and hell yeah

• As much as I complain about the tone, I'm a fuckin mark and will play the next Doom eventually

None of these are day one purchases mind you, I have long since figured out that letting others go in and find out that the new hotness is actually shit (dodged the disaster of Dragon's Dogma 2 because of that, was super looking forward to it too). It is easy to be excited for new releases but it is also easy to remain cautious and wait (it isn't going anywhere after all).

 

Which is what I wish I did with the previously mentioned 3DR games I purchased in Early Access, "redefining AAA" my fucking arse all they did was perfectly match stereotypes of unfinished rushed garbage releases and mass staff executions.

[Lila Feuer]

We can sum up virtually all the complaints of AAA in here by virtue of: the West. This kind of shit that happens is virtually unheard of in the east. Pretty much all the AAA stuff I've been excited for or interested in is Japanese. Not to say they can do no wrong, but when you involve us it's capitalism first and quality second.

[magicsofa]

3 hours ago, Gravepicker said:

As a teenager, I dreamed of entering the field of videogame development, as probably a lot of other posters of this site did. My life took a different path pretty early, but when I see the state of the industry right now, can't help but think that it was for the best. I would have liked to be working as idSoft was back in the early/mid nineties: in games that me and the whole team really wanted to play. Triple A companies, which is probably where most people in the industry work, don't seem to have that environment at all.

 

A lot of people do feel this way... but at the same time, the more rotten the big machine gets, the more opportunities open up for developers at small companies to provide a refreshing alternative (and for consumers to actually appreciate it).

 

20 minutes ago, Lila Feuer said:

We can sum up virtually all the complaints of AAA in here by virtue of: the West. This kind of shit that happens is virtually unheard of in the east. Pretty much all the AAA stuff I've been excited for or interested in is Japanese. Not to say they can do no wrong, but when you involve us it's capitalism first and quality second.

 

An interesting point... but are they really that much better? My last experience with a new J title was Tekken 7, which to me was a massive disappointment. Season passes, shitty DLC, you have to pay to play Tekken Bowl, literally don't even unlock characters like a normal fighting game (all unlocks are DLC), and the most awful story mode. And the arcade mode is awful too. Honestly I have nothing good to say about the game that wasn't already part of the previous installments.

[enigma101]

The state of AAA games now is quite similar to the state of AAA movies. Mass layoffs, products coming out unfinished or being completely cancelled only for the benefit of the studios and sequels and remakes being the only films/games that get made. But, I've seen loads of films in 2024 that have kept me excited and there's way more films to come this year that I'm excited for. The same is true with the games I've played this year. Granted, I don't play many AAA games now, but that's largely due to their price rather than me not being excited for any of them. 

 

The recent game announcements from Summer Games Fest have been pretty bland and unimpressive, but some of them seem really cool. Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, Slitterhead, Dune - Awakening, Life is Strange: Double Exposure, Doom: The Dark Ages, all of that I'm looking forward to. Also Blumhouse Games stuff that's been announced I'm pretty excited for, although I'm not sure how far Blumhouse can be considered a AAA studio. GTA 6 is also coming out in the relatively near future, which I'm incredibly excited for. Sure, I probably won't pick up all these games when they release (Other than Doom: The Dark Ages and GTA 6), but most of them I'll get if they go on sale, or are absolutely amazing.

 

It's completely understandable to get disillusioned by AAA games and not be excited for them anymore, but personally I think there's a good amount to be excited for at the moment, even while AAA studios are complete shitshows.

Edited June 11 by enigma101

[Lila Feuer]

18 minutes ago, magicsofa said:

An interesting point... but are they really that much better? My last experience with a new J title was Tekken 7, which to me was a massive disappointment. Season passes, shitty DLC, you have to pay to play Tekken Bowl, literally don't even unlock characters like a normal fighting game (all unlocks are DLC), and the most awful story mode. And the arcade mode is awful too. Honestly I have nothing good to say about the game that wasn't already part of the previous installments.

That's modern fighting games for you lol. But as far as story rich and gameplay rich games that release complete and will at most have a substantial DLC that's 1/3 or 2/3 of the base game in length, they are killing it in that department. But again, they've made blunders before, Capcom's dropped the ball super hard a few times but other than that they've had an amazing track record. Fromsoft are also especially good.

Edited June 11 by Lila Feuer

[Lucius Wooding]

1 hour ago, Lila Feuer said:

We can sum up virtually all the complaints of AAA in here by virtue of: the West. This kind of shit that happens is virtually unheard of in the east. Pretty much all the AAA stuff I've been excited for or interested in is Japanese. Not to say they can do no wrong, but when you involve us it's capitalism first and quality second.

 

This is a pretty willfully blind take tbh. Because you like it, it must not be capitalism I guess.

 

Admittedly I'm a fan of Nintendo and other Japanese studios and titles. Making quality games is a pretty good deodorant to their less savory practices. But to act like their shit doesn't stink because of some "Japanese Benevolent Corporate Culture" myth is just falling for their carefully cultivated image. You should read up on Nintendo's treatment of third party devs such as Retro Studios, whose main crime was not being Japanese. Or the fact that they crack down on fan projects and emulation in ways no other studio does, and they make you buy the same games multiple times and offer minimal control of your library, and they're draconian about any kind of publicity or events relating to their products, good or bad. Maybe they prefer to be assholes through their lawyers while western companies do it a different way. And all those studios milk sequels like no other; but again, if you like it it's not capitalism.

 

Spoiler

Also, I've played some very shitty first party Nintendo titles and been charged full price for the privilege. Admittedly they're in the minority, but I've learned to be very careful with my money. The Zelda franchise has fucked me with the Link's Awakening remake, one of my favorite games of all time that was not even the best remake that game had, and cost full price when it should've been far less (and played and ran inexcusably poorly, and lacked any number of obvious features to add to make it worth it. And by the way this is their new business model for their older titles, now that they're releasing full price minimal effort remakes of many classic titles). I gave it away to some coworkers to save them the cost of buying it, and kept the copy of the original on the 3DS Eshop that I paid 2$ for. The Mario franchise has fucked me with Sticker Star, probably the worst game by way of disappointment I've bought from Nintendo. And Pokemon, not to be outdone, has fucked me with Legends Arceus, a flaming turd with massive hype behind it that could have been a masterpiece if it weren't made by amateurs. Take a guess as to whether I got a refund or apology in the form of 1,000 paper cranes.

 

And they're equally guilty of creating greedy mobile games, some of which have massive revenues to show for it. Personally I feel they're just as out of touch with their fans as any company, but the strong loyalty of their fans enables them to go about this kind of bullshit and yet never catch blame for it. That and the fact they're doing so well in terms of profits. Like I said, I'm still a fan of many of their games, and I'm not ruling out buying their stuff in the future, but gone are the days I'll be part of a cult for any brand, no matter how much I enjoy their products.

 

Does "Eastern" also include Chinese developers who have brought us the likes of Genshin Impact, by the way? Or are we just strictly venerating Japan here?

[Lila Feuer]

@Lucius Wooding Oh no I get you, regardless of the hemisphere anyone who's adopted this philosophy in higher society has an image to uphold and when money's involved all bets are off in regards to things like human decency and peoples' wellbeing, but it's not willfully blind IMHO; no matter how blunt and brutally forward I am to raise the red flag that there's a systematic problem here with western game companies being more openly extreme about it. We can't pretend like the mindless masses don't continue to promote bad business practices and then wonder why there's no joy in anything anymore. Gee, perhaps because these workers are depressed overworked human cattle who can barely afford to care that your game isn't fun while the overpaid higher ups don't care at all so long as there's money to be made in it, while Entitled Gamer on social media screams at the wrong people for "ruining" their game. It's a dystopia now.

It's not news that Nintendo are anti-preservationist and are a shadow of their former self in this day and age, so if you live for Nintendo games specifically then yeah they're not doing a very good job at taking care of you, and I frankly don't know what the hell Sony is doing anymore to try to hang on, besides cater to Western audiences with their cinematic interactive movie box which has most of its library on PC now anyway. It's just the AAA games that are good from Japanese studios are really good and I tend to be more excited/look forward to more releases over there than I do over here. We still have them over here occasionally too; when they're not a total launch disaster, something that doesn't seem to really happen in the Japanese space (usually the game itself is just plain bad,) but it's peanuts compared to the numbers we were doing two console generations ago. It's just not the same world anymore.

Also there really isn't a lot of places left in the world that aren't capitalist at this point lol, it's seeped into a lot of places and money is the god of the planet. Oh yeah, and the gacha game bullshit and pachinko nonsense is very much obviously a thing too, while we're on the topic of Japan being greedy corporatists like the West is. And yes I meant Japan. China is an entire other ballpark, they're as bad as us however with Tencent.

[june gloom]

3 hours ago, Lila Feuer said:

We can sum up virtually all the complaints of AAA in here by virtue of: the West. This kind of shit that happens is virtually unheard of in the east. Pretty much all the AAA stuff I've been excited for or interested in is Japanese. Not to say they can do no wrong, but when you involve us it's capitalism first and quality second.

 

This really ignores the deep issues with Nintendo and other companies in the Japanese gaming industry.

[Major Arlene]

3 hours ago, Lila Feuer said:

We can sum up virtually all the complaints of AAA in here by virtue of: the West. This kind of shit that happens is virtually unheard of in the east. Pretty much all the AAA stuff I've been excited for or interested in is Japanese. Not to say they can do no wrong, but when you involve us it's capitalism first and quality second.

Um, Nintendo?

 

EDIT: keep in mind my issues are not specifically with game quality. AAA makes good games, but at what cost?

Edited June 11 by Major Arlene

[roadworx]

3 hours ago, Lila Feuer said:

We can sum up virtually all the complaints of AAA in here by virtue of: the West. This kind of shit that happens is virtually unheard of in the east. Pretty much all the AAA stuff I've been excited for or interested in is Japanese. Not to say they can do no wrong, but when you involve us it's capitalism first and quality second.

ah yes, because we all know how wonderful the likes of konami and sega are

 

this has nothing to do with western or eastern culture. it's a worldwide problem with the industry

Edited June 11 by roadworx

[Mr. Freeze]

The West has a capitalism-first mindset, unlike the East and their over 130 Mega Man games. 

[Lila Feuer]

9 minutes ago, roadworx said:

ah yes, because we all know how wonderful the likes of konami and sega are

 

this has nothing to do with western or eastern culture. it's a worldwide problem with the industry

Konami is barely a games company anymore but yeah they're the outliers; basically the equivalent of Japan's EA and Activision though I don't know if they can exactly out-Activision Activision or out-EA Electronic Arts, they don't even have an Ubisoft (though they're French but Western all the same). Konami is rightly clowned on for many good reasons. My point still stands however when I say we're still the greed kings when it comes to producing literal slop with overinflated budgets and being openly aggressive towards workers and players. If you want to get deeper into it the entire work culture of Japan is pretty fucked; they're backwards in ways we're not, but we're still the worst overall for just simply the one job of delivering a video game that isn't broken or rushed on release because we're so fixated on making money that nothing else matters. We're way ahead of the curb. The only one that comes to mind from the East's end in recent memory and one of the rare Capcom L's was the launch of Street Fighter V which was abysmal. That was in 2016. My favorite games growing up and for the most part still are have been Western developed; and all those companies I liked outside of id have gone to hell. So outside of some indies I pretty much only have Capcom and Fromsoft to not screw things up, whereas id has gotten mostly lucky, they don't really have a bad reputation.

[Dynamo]

1 hour ago, Lila Feuer said:

It's just the AAA games that are good from Japanese studios are really good and I tend to be more excited/look forward to more releases over there than I do over here.

This to me sounds like you have an immense bias in favor of games/companies from over there and are willing to look over how practices from Nintendo, Konami and countless others have been fucking awful for years and years.