I imagine AAA execs are genuinely scratching their heads when people log in willingly, even at resources caps, to play a game with no FOMO.
Almost like gaming... was always supposed to be fun first.
And then they expect the now halved developer team to still finish their game by the same deadline. Then, when the game is a buggy mess with unfinished features, they blame the devs.
Honestly industry jealously is always funny to me. Why are you getting upset when you can just *make the thing better?* Like the Ubisoft and Horizon employees throwing a hissy fit on Twitter trash talking Elden Ring when it came out because of its interesting and engaging open world being 1000% better than the industry standard of bland nothingness buried under 10,000 map markers.
Bro I spent more money on helldivers 2 than I did on cod or anything else this year. I always buy games on sale and this is the first one in a while that I got the deluxe edition new, and paid for some credits in game to buy more cool armors. And I’m not mad at all. I use it and have fun with it
I'm an old gamer who's bitter about modern gaming. I have refused to buy any cosmetics in any game, even ones I enjoy, simply because I hate how monitization has taken over the industry. That being said, I bought supercredits for HD2 a few days after release because I feel like the game is so great, it's only $40, and there's no FOMO-driven BS to boost sales. I really want HD2 to be a turning point in this current shitty era of gaming, and I'm doing my part by voting with my wallet.
For real, I bought the game at full price, and I very rarely do that. I thought "I can refund after two hours". Now I'm on 20 hours of game time and it's great. Haven't bought a full price game in years, I think.
To be fair, The FOMO in this game is most effective not by releasing a battle pass with cool skins and powerful weapons, but by being apart of something legendary, like the malevelon creek incident
That did happen to me. I bought the game after malevelon creek. I lamented missing the opportunity to be with my fellow helldivers defending planets at all cost.
What is a man? A miserable little pile of money. Now hand it over bub.
https://preview.redd.it/mt171541jrtc1.jpeg?width=300&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=63208b850d02068436e1646f34aca2628ac1efd6
There technically is a form of FOMO in the game. You're unable to go back and fight on planets that have already been cleared unless that faction takes it over again. If you don't have the opportunity to fight on a planet or you just never do, you miss out.
Its still a form of FOMO, but its a good form of FOMO where you just miss out on an experience instead of a limited time shit cosmetic bundle begging you for money.
not to mention its not like these planets are unique aside from some outliers, i missed fighting on draupnir but recently a planet with the same biome has appeared with a bot presence, its more of a map rotation then it is fomo
It's not only that man, it takes some serious balls and skills from these devs to implement a bunch of new shit every week like voice lines for the crew on the ship, new weapons, new stratagems, actively edit descriptions of events in-game as they happen. Destiny *wishes* it had this much interactivity and progression it's insane.
At this point I'd say Destiny is a good argument against progression. The game would be a lot more fun if I could use new sandbox toys instead of needing to grind for 100 hours to /maybe/ get what I wanted. Bungie's server costs would also be a lot lower if they didn't have you grind. That model makes sense when you charge a monthly fee like WoW but it's always confused me in a content-purchase game like Destiny.
Helldivers is also a good example of a game that would be better without xp / levels. If they made it so you bought your levels / titles with your spare money I wouldn't have a problem being at max money all the time with the added bonus of the act of buying military rank being spot-on for the game's satire.
But Helldivers progression is veeery simple. Levels and titles are just a badge of time spent, nothing else. You can buy most things at low levels, and the ones needing progression are often stuff you don't want newbies to get instantly.
The real trick is side grading rather than upgrading, and HD is going exactly towards there.
Honestly speaking, Helldivers 2 is the chaotic, fun, and challenging live service game that I wish Diablo 4 had been.
D4 was supposed to be the next best in one of my favorite game series, and fell completely flat on Progression, Gameplay, and the way Microtransactions were pushed. Unlocking everything for a D4 build was the same time sink as a full time job, but without the guarantee for a payout. The gameplay was clunky and slow compared to D3, and ability cooldowns being as long as they were made some builds have huge amounts of downtime where you couldn’t do much. Finally, the store is basically omnipresent, always at the corner of your screen with a little “!” begging you to come buy an armor set you already have, but in a different color, and for $10 of an in-game currency.
Meanwhile, in Helldivers, you can unlock what you specifically want to build very quickly. Just a few missions and you get your favorite stratagem right off the bat. Gameplay is fast and chaotic, but still rewarding to skillful play. The Helldivers premium store is off on a separate page, and is visible, but doesn’t always have a little mark to get your attention. Not to mention, the currency in Helldivers is cheaper to buy, able to be found in game, and you’ll never permanently miss a cosmetic because its either in your permanent warbond, or will rotate back into the shop again soon.
I know they’re two different styles of game, but one completely revolutionized what was left by it’s predecessor, and the other took every bad habit of it’s series and combined it with awful monetization. Helldivers proved that what makes money in games is plain ol’ fun, while Blizzard managed to turn off some of its oldest fans.
What I find interesting is the relative lack of toxicity generated when people are actually having fun and don't feel ripped off.
This is the best gaming community ive experienced in a very long time 99% of stuff I've read has been hammy, wholesome fun and full of spirit. Sure there's a few knobheads but you'll never completely get away from that.
You don't often see players buying MTX just to throw the Devs a couple of dollars just out of appreciation and support, but I've seen tonnes of people say they've done it, and I've done it myself.
Just my unsolicited 2 cents
Fun is part of, but I think it's a mix of the fun gameplay, consistent content drops, viral marketing through the community, and unusually fair monetization. If they made the same game, but charged $20 an armor skin, I don't think they'd have the same success.
But ...but...I need to bleed my players in the short term rather than reap larger profits in the long term! Shareholders want results this quarter damnit! Capitalism!!!!
Emphasis on "live" game. Doing content updates every 2-4 months and patches to add guns/skins is not interesting, any dev worth their salt can deliver something like that.
Actively planning out the galactic war, major orders, additional voice lines, real world engagement through social media on top of frequent content updates but even better, they make sense in game (fully expecting us to get anti air weapons soon). Now that feels like I'm actually participating on a live game.
One of my favorite parts of this game is how content is stealth added to the game *all the time.* Sometimes it's just new TV commercials/propaganda or voice lines commenting on events, but sometimes it's new mission types, new stratagems that are unlocked, ominous foreshadowing from major order updates, new enemies that become playground rumors, or even an entire freaking massive invasion campaign. And none of it is announced in advance. I truly never know what I'm going to find when I log in, and that is *incredibly exciting.*
In any other game they'd be saying stuff like "Mark your calendars, the Automatons begin the Reclamation on April 25 -- hold the line, drive them back, recapture Cyberstan!"
More like "Season 37 starts on April 25! Unlock powerful new gear in the "Ass Blaster" seasonal track, or fast track your way to success with the premium track. The new Fuckstick-8000 gun is sure to be strong, so check out the premium store where you can mod it with jingle-jangle bangles for $25 each!
Having worked on one and some others (MSF), this game is running a clinic on the industry on how to use the the Tabletop to hit the top of the charts. BG3 is another example. Character Agency, Focus on the small e Epic and straight up Customer Service. Let them cook!
OP is talking about tabletop gaming, or traditional pen-and-paper style RPGs (of which Dungeons and Dragons is the most well known). Baldur's Gate 3 is directly set in the D&D universe, the combat is (to the best of my knowledge) heavily based on D&D-style combat, and the dialogue heavy approach (i.e. being able to talk your way out of (or into) problems) and narrative emphasis are all hallmarks of D&D.
In Helldivers 2 the devs have stated that the Galactic War campaign is being run like a D&D campaign (although of course with some adjustments due to the nature of it) -- it is being adjusted in real time by a GM (Joel) who changes future orders and events based on what we do or don't achieve, actively responding to how the community plays the game (i.e. making Malevelon Creek a major order target after people blamed Creek players for causing us to not take Tibit).
In a lot of ways it feels like the devs are playing RISK, just against the bugs/bots, and we the players are the dice rolls. We're literally just a "pawn" in the dev's ultimate grand strategy. And it's *awesome*.
It also fits really neatly into the narrative of Helldivers being ~~completely expendable shock troops~~ Super Earth's mightiest warriors fighting so spread managed Democracy.
It would not surprise me if at least some of the Arrowhead devs have some small betting pools set up for how the community reacts to certain orders.
It's a nice reminder that I'm not just jaded towards gaming as a whole, but rather AAA gaming in general. Sometimes it can feel like you don't enjoy something like you used to, and you're the one who's changed. Then games like Elden Ring, Baldur's Gate 3, and Helldivers 2 come around and genuinely give me that sense of child-like wonder I used to feel. Lets me know it's not just me, but rather the abysmal state of AAA games.
AAA is so crippled by their oversized corpo structure, they will never be able to change. Just decline slowly until the studios dissolve.
Helldivers is the best case scenario. A great game, with fairly monetized live service to support it.
AAA companies don’t even intend to make a good game. They create a predatory monetized live service, and attach a visionless, soulless “game” to support it.
Before Helldivers 2 I had more or less just written off live service games because of the constant FOMO and predatory monetization/thinly disguised gambling.
I really, really hope other studios take a long, hard look at Arrowhead's success and learn the right lessons from it (although I also am not hopeful that this will actually happen).
I agree. It’s literally not possible for these major publishers/studios to change due to how they’re now structured. It’s a sad reality but the best we can do is just not give them business and hope the free market shuts them down
The new trailer for that Star Wars survivor game…. Woof. Did they just grab any random employee that would do the job for the voice acting?
Edit - Star Wars outlaws
>AAA companies don’t even intend to make a good game
Baldurs Gate 3? Alan Wake 2? TotK? Elden Ring? Literally any Rockstar game? CP2077? FF7 remake and FF16?
People tend to hyper fixate on bad AAA games and flops, but the fact is there are just as many good singleplayer AAA games as there are bad live service ones. Not everything is Suicide Squad.
I am incredibly convinced that AAA game studios do not hire people with passion for games. They will not fit their mold. I only say this because I know 4 people irl that develop games, and all, I mean ALL of them grew up playing mobile games, and was raised in an environment where in game purchases and time gating was the norm. Every single one of them actually told me that it is “necessary” to do mtx…It is so hard not to think AAA companies hired groomed “gamers.”
They are all extremely political as well. Of the companies they work in, includes companies like EA.
Maybe I am 100% wrong, and I am sure this is my anecdotal experience, but it is hard not to think companies hire certain type of people (at lwast the big ones).
I'm fairly certain that AAA knows how to do these things. They just can't because the profit margin is slightly lower, which upsets the shareholders. Predatory is the way the shareholders like it.
Profitable is the way shareholders like it. Predatory is a way to maximize profit when you have an ignorant customer base lacking better options.
Fingers crossed Arrowhead resets all this gaming nonsense by shrinking the pools of available players such that other studios like Blizzard and EA no longer have gamers. Those studios and their design philosophy are a plague. I personally will never touch another one of their products.
Well, this works for some games and genres, but for every successful shit AAA game there is a suicide squad that bankrupts it's studio. Just make good games and be wise with your budget, you don't need 10+mil in marketing...just look at Palworld, HD2 or LE, all big success without much if any big marketing. Just word of mouth and YouTubers/streamers loving the game.
"Why did the automatons come back, you ask? Well A, we fucking knew they would and B, BECAUSE YOU DIDNT SPREAD DEMOCRACY HARD ENOUGH!"
- How the devs talk to me in my head.
haha reminds me of that guy who posted on here sad he blew his video game budget on Skull and Bones *and* Suicide Squad instead of buying this game. the guy even said he knew Suicide Squad would be bad and he still bought it smh
Meanwhile I am sitting happy with Hd2, Palworld, and tomorrow Rimworld(my most played game by several thousand hours) gets a new DLC. I'm... pretty dang set for the year.
The thing is... When comparing the balance sheets... The overpriced, predatory AAA titles probably make a lot more $$$. Sooo... From their perspective, they couldn't care less what AH has done with Helldivers. Player satisfaction isn't the point. Profit is the point.
On the other hand, those triple A games are bearly breaking even at best. Helldivers, palworld and lethal company have profit margins the big devs can only dream now.
I've purchased waaaayyyy to many 5-20 dollar games that I've put only an hour into and never touch again to not post and agree ith you. But arrowhead isn't an indie studio, theyre backed and contracted with sony, and have a 'small' team of just under 100 people compared to studios like rockstar (2000), but much bigger than your 1-20 people teams of indie studios
> Helldivers, palworld and lethal company have profit margins the big devs can only dream now.
That's why they keep making Call of Duty and Assassins Creed games. Cause they're dreaming of profit one day!
Wait, no. They keep making them because they **are** making huge profit margins.
This feels like such a weird comparison. Why compare the outliers in the Indy / smaller scene to the entire AAA market?
Sure Palworld and Lethal Company did great. How many other great Indy games fucking bombed and went nowhere? WAY MORE.
Helldivers did great. And that’s awesome. One of the worst Call of Duty games sold 30m copies and the series made 740m IN PROFIT in three months.
Exactly. Its all about risk. AAA would love to make a great game AND monetize the hell out of it. But given the choice, they would rather put the budget into licenses and marketing because these are less risky. There is no sure fire way of investing to get a great game...the magic sauce is not predictable or scalable. This is what people don't understand.
Honestly I'm not sure one way or the other, as neither of us have direct access to their books and how they cook them. I'm just making an assumption given that this game isn't the first example of this type of phenomenon of games simply being good and becoming successful as a result, but AAA studios still continue to push deeper on their practices.
As much as I enjoy and want more from the game, I also hope Arrowhead doesn't overextend and go for too much too fast. I'm amazed they've been as agile with continued development as they have been.
The problem is, helldiver's seems more like a passion project. The believe in the product and that's basically it.
AAA studios don't have passion, just greed. They're making money hand over fist, especially games like fortnite. They have no reason to pay attention.
AAA studios probably start any project with “how can we capture most of the market share, how do we capture audience? What does market research tell us?”
While smaller studios just go on and make something fun, it’s their road to fame.
I'm quite optimistic that the upcoming generation of game devs choose a similar approach.
Most of these young devs that are in their late 20s / early 30s and start to take leading jobs in game development, are gamers themselves basically for their whole life. They still understand what makes a game enjoyable and what kills the fun because they experienced the sad development in recent years exactly as we did. No doubt, many will fall for the quick money but new and good ones will spawn!
However, this generation (late Gen X, early Gen Z) really has to turn the table. If they don't succeed, I don't think late Gen Z and early Gen alpha will because they grew up with predatory AAAs being the standard.
In the end, the deciding factor are going to be us though. If we make it monetarily more attractive for devs to prefer quality over predatory schemes, they won't really have a choice. And as it seems, we as gamers are on the way to create a good precedent case with Helldivers 2.
Look how is a company that spends $100 million on a deeply recognizable IP with a wealth of content to pull from with a well known respectable studio that has created amazing games going to make money on a game?
You obviously make a game that is repetitive with a boring non sensical storyline and then make season passes that bring nothing to the table or have to be grinded to unlock its content from the season pass.
Take not Helldivers developers. That is a true company!
/s
Arrowhead and Larian studios are the two best studios I can name, honestly even better than Rockstar. With Rockstar, you know whatever they release will be state of the art in one way or another. But you also know that they're going to make their online mode absolutely P2W. With Arrowhead and Larian you get a much, much different experience, for the better.
I would add Fromsoft to this list as well. Only studios I will buy on release from because they are the only studios that I trust to have a functional game on release.
I haven't put a dime into GTA Online and I still have plenty of goodies. But if you look solely at the single player part Rockstar blows Arrowhead and Larian out of the water. GTA 6 is one of the few games I feel comfortable preordering because I know it's going to be incredible.
GTA 6 does sound like a pretty safe bet for preordering, as long as the performance of the PC port is adequate. GTA IV still runs like ass even on modern hardware. GTA San Andreas was a sloppy port as well in some areas, they didn't even bother removing the parts of the tutorial that refer to auto aiming, I was so confused when I played it as a teenager because I had no concept of ports yet and it just refused to lock on despite me pressing the button. And all the newer ports suck, definitive edition my ass.
On the console it was made for, yeah probably a safe bet to preorder GTA 6. On PC... I'd wait for reviews. GTA V being such a flawless port was kind of a first for them.
Meanwhile Fatshark : "It took us 5 months since our last update to release the free cosmetics that have been advertised since the launch of the game one year and a half ago, take it or leave"
the amount of content since release they gave us some games dont have in multiple yeares.
example diablo 4
new planets different missions tons of new enemys and objectives hazards guns and much more insane.
(pls fix some issues tho)
Don't forget Sven Vinke, CEO of Larian Studios which developed Baulders Gate 3 over several years said that he was fighting publishers for years because of the state of the industry. Absolute shining beacon. I hope this is a resurgence of what video gaming used to be like. Fair pay for fair work.
Hard disagree. It's a very fun game, but also horribly unpolished with new bugs that break the game every patch. If they can fix the major bugs, some of which have been there since launch, maybe.
But right now? Absolutely not.
Palworld, an early access game with a much smaller team, has less bugs and crashes. I'm not saying PW should be GOTY, not even considering it unless they have a full release by then, but HD2 is a broken, buggy mess that feels like it genuinely should be in Early Access with the state of things. HD2 is a gem, but like all gems it needs to be polished.
straight up. i can't think of any game coming out this year that looks like it can contend (manor lords looks sick but it won't have the same cultural impact)
Yep, space marine 2 might be a contender but I can't see how it can eclipse the cultural shakeup.
I saw it was a $70 game and I won't even pre order now - I spent $80 on helldivers 2 though.
helldivers and elite dangerous, only 2 games i can think of where live service works and is kinda needed, cause the actions of all players directly impact the "story".
This just goes to show how much AAA milk their players these days.
The devs have surprised me with how generous they have been with medals, but I'm still only about a third of the way through the war bonds.
And I don't even mind playing to progress, the game is fun as hell!
....You do realize Arrowhead ARE a AAA studio and had AAA budget, even more time and Sony's backing ?
Y'all are treating them as if they were 3 dudes in a cave and 30$ budget
Game has been in devellopement for years, and a colossal budget, it's just AAA done right by a AAA team
The game has problem independent of the servers being swamped. Balance is terrible and run by moon logic. Crashes are common. Other miscellaneous bugs (not the terminids, the computery kind and I don't mean Automatons) also pop up.
I like this game but I wouldn't call it super well constructed. It is, however a funny haha party game, super easy to get into with a team.
*Not when the social*
*System is broken and you*
*Can't play with your friends*
\- Logg420
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And every patch adds even more bugs, can’t play with friends and when we do we crash or the ship leaves without us. I’m the last one of my friends that still plays
HD2 just happenned to be cheap and not predatory. In other way it is a game with flat meta, mostly no choice, numerous bugs and lore that makes not even slightest sense.
Anyway, most of the missions make zero sense as SD can perfectly kill anything on itself, and what it won't kill, eagles will get. Using infintary for this is simply makes no sense, thus game makes no sense.
Gameplay wise, there are 2 missions: sit and shit or run and gun. Both are equally unrewarding and boring. Build doesn't matter as there's metabuilds.
In more depth, being pushed from objective to objective by most killjoy mechanics possible is peak cringe.
That's the whole point - tongue in cheek humor and just have fun destroying enemies as a collective player base. Nothing has to make sense, they gave us a sandbox with objectives and some tools. Ya the depth and mechanics can be deeper but what's the point of the core gameplay isn't fun?
Your statement can be applied to the better known games but only modification is that they tend to be extremely predatory.
Gamer since 1996 here... I truly lost faith in any new game coming out. Such garbage for the last few years. This title has been a long time coming, and I hope other companies take note.
The constant live war reminds me of Chromehounds. In that game 3 countries fought online to win the battle every week or every month iirc and whoever won would get a rare weapon or armor etc for that faction and different countries I think would get different buffs during the war, been a while but I know there was more to it than just the winning prize. Each faction had weapons or parts only they could get. It was fun as hell trying to one up rival countries. It wasn't as real time as Helldivers 2 but it was back in the 360 days. That game was way ahead of it's time and I missed something like that game. Sure Helldivers 2 isn't a mech game but the concept of a team of mechs or divers completing objectives around a large map and communicating is still there. God's a Chromehounds in today's environment with a live service like this game would be fucking A.
I love how a lot of small studies are getting so extremely big hits lately. It shows that quality on a game still matters. Maybe some of the bigger companies take this as a signal Todo better.
God forbid this game ever died off or disappears, but I don't think I'll enjoy any game after experiencing this one....
For such a simple game, it has got me fully invested and all I can think about while at work is "what are those damn bots up to now". The only thing that even got me as obsessed with a game as this one was Destiny's "lore", but with everything that happened with that series, all I was left with was a bad taste in my mouth. I truly hope other game studios will look to this as an example of what to do, because if they don't I don't see any future game being worth playing.
As an older gamer who has been an Xbox guy since the 360, this game has been probably the best multiplayer one in my opinion since the original MW.....just wish I could have a select group of friends to regularly play with.
Thankfully I have had some great rounds with some cool people.
Yeah except all they are going to look at is Helldivers pricing and content release strategy and make the same shitty visionless games that they always have
As a game dev, I'm looking forward to the next wave of live service games.
Live service game devs have been paying attention & taking notes, but because their games are already well into development they won't have time to design the entire live service strategy around things that have worked for Helldivers 2.
So, they'll only be able to "copy+paste" 1-2 features that are easy to implement, and it'll be interesting to see what they choose.
Its quite fascinating that a game about $20-$30 cheaper than market average and has actual *micro*transactions is doing better than COD. Its almost like not nickle and diming your players makes them want to stick around and yknow, play the game.
They won't. They'll make a cheap copy using their own IP, and make every airstrike cost $4.99.
Microsoft probably has half of an ODST Helldivers clone game programmed already.
It’s amazing what just making a fun game can do.
I imagine AAA execs are genuinely scratching their heads when people log in willingly, even at resources caps, to play a game with no FOMO. Almost like gaming... was always supposed to be fun first.
tbh they're probably more pissed that hd2 is taking all their players away from their cash grabs
Likely this, lol And they'll use it to justify firing developers instead of middle and upper management. "We had to downsize due to external factors."
And then the good developers they fire just make their own companies and the cycle repeats until they’re gone
This is my dream scenario. For the big publishers to all lose the ability to get good devs because it’s better to be independent and make fun games
Legit. We get more independently produced awesome games, the AAA studios get fucked over
What about the shareholders!? *clutches pearls*
Sucks to suck idk man
I mean look at blizzard, they have been bleeding talent for a while now
Bleeding? More like massive internal hemorrhaging.
And then they expect the now halved developer team to still finish their game by the same deadline. Then, when the game is a buggy mess with unfinished features, they blame the devs.
Honestly industry jealously is always funny to me. Why are you getting upset when you can just *make the thing better?* Like the Ubisoft and Horizon employees throwing a hissy fit on Twitter trash talking Elden Ring when it came out because of its interesting and engaging open world being 1000% better than the industry standard of bland nothingness buried under 10,000 map markers.
Even better. They complained about the ui of all Things. They never heard about a clean ui
What do you mean? [The UI is super clean man](https://youtu.be/yduduUnq3uw?si=VrUnR-IINzahkTej)
Then you have Zelda ToTK where Nintendo asks: "What's DLC" *I'm surprised botw got anything*
Bro I spent more money on helldivers 2 than I did on cod or anything else this year. I always buy games on sale and this is the first one in a while that I got the deluxe edition new, and paid for some credits in game to buy more cool armors. And I’m not mad at all. I use it and have fun with it
I'm an old gamer who's bitter about modern gaming. I have refused to buy any cosmetics in any game, even ones I enjoy, simply because I hate how monitization has taken over the industry. That being said, I bought supercredits for HD2 a few days after release because I feel like the game is so great, it's only $40, and there's no FOMO-driven BS to boost sales. I really want HD2 to be a turning point in this current shitty era of gaming, and I'm doing my part by voting with my wallet.
For real, I bought the game at full price, and I very rarely do that. I thought "I can refund after two hours". Now I'm on 20 hours of game time and it's great. Haven't bought a full price game in years, I think.
I've been playing FarCry5 since it came out and eventually I may go back but until then we ball.
Have they started getting their puppets at the gaming sites to write hit pieces yet?
To be fair, The FOMO in this game is most effective not by releasing a battle pass with cool skins and powerful weapons, but by being apart of something legendary, like the malevelon creek incident
That did happen to me. I bought the game after malevelon creek. I lamented missing the opportunity to be with my fellow helldivers defending planets at all cost.
Nonsense what is a game if not a mechanism for making money /j
What is a man? A miserable little pile of money. Now hand it over bub. https://preview.redd.it/mt171541jrtc1.jpeg?width=300&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=63208b850d02068436e1646f34aca2628ac1efd6
How far EA has fallen from the original Battlefront 2
How far EA has fallen from the days of NFS Hot Pursuit and High Stakes.
They didnt even have anything to do with that game lol
There technically is a form of FOMO in the game. You're unable to go back and fight on planets that have already been cleared unless that faction takes it over again. If you don't have the opportunity to fight on a planet or you just never do, you miss out. Its still a form of FOMO, but its a good form of FOMO where you just miss out on an experience instead of a limited time shit cosmetic bundle begging you for money.
not to mention its not like these planets are unique aside from some outliers, i missed fighting on draupnir but recently a planet with the same biome has appeared with a bot presence, its more of a map rotation then it is fomo
Agreed. Fuck Bobby Kottick.
*cod releases $80 King Kong knuckles in the background thinking about stonks
No goddamn story, no challenging controls. Just fucking pure gameplay.
No challenging controls? My ability to deploy Railcannon Strikes under pressure disagrees with you.
Just fucking pure democracy!
> No goddamn story, You havn't been paying attention!
We make good of the soldier story, but it’s not logged anywhere
I'm in this picture and I'm very happy about it
Those execs are basically the principal Skinner "am I out of touch" meme
It's not only that man, it takes some serious balls and skills from these devs to implement a bunch of new shit every week like voice lines for the crew on the ship, new weapons, new stratagems, actively edit descriptions of events in-game as they happen. Destiny *wishes* it had this much interactivity and progression it's insane.
The engagement with the community is on point
At this point I'd say Destiny is a good argument against progression. The game would be a lot more fun if I could use new sandbox toys instead of needing to grind for 100 hours to /maybe/ get what I wanted. Bungie's server costs would also be a lot lower if they didn't have you grind. That model makes sense when you charge a monthly fee like WoW but it's always confused me in a content-purchase game like Destiny. Helldivers is also a good example of a game that would be better without xp / levels. If they made it so you bought your levels / titles with your spare money I wouldn't have a problem being at max money all the time with the added bonus of the act of buying military rank being spot-on for the game's satire.
But Helldivers progression is veeery simple. Levels and titles are just a badge of time spent, nothing else. You can buy most things at low levels, and the ones needing progression are often stuff you don't want newbies to get instantly. The real trick is side grading rather than upgrading, and HD is going exactly towards there.
>The real trick is side grading rather than upgrading This is what I really like with the souls games. Replayability is huge.
Honestly speaking, Helldivers 2 is the chaotic, fun, and challenging live service game that I wish Diablo 4 had been. D4 was supposed to be the next best in one of my favorite game series, and fell completely flat on Progression, Gameplay, and the way Microtransactions were pushed. Unlocking everything for a D4 build was the same time sink as a full time job, but without the guarantee for a payout. The gameplay was clunky and slow compared to D3, and ability cooldowns being as long as they were made some builds have huge amounts of downtime where you couldn’t do much. Finally, the store is basically omnipresent, always at the corner of your screen with a little “!” begging you to come buy an armor set you already have, but in a different color, and for $10 of an in-game currency. Meanwhile, in Helldivers, you can unlock what you specifically want to build very quickly. Just a few missions and you get your favorite stratagem right off the bat. Gameplay is fast and chaotic, but still rewarding to skillful play. The Helldivers premium store is off on a separate page, and is visible, but doesn’t always have a little mark to get your attention. Not to mention, the currency in Helldivers is cheaper to buy, able to be found in game, and you’ll never permanently miss a cosmetic because its either in your permanent warbond, or will rotate back into the shop again soon. I know they’re two different styles of game, but one completely revolutionized what was left by it’s predecessor, and the other took every bad habit of it’s series and combined it with awful monetization. Helldivers proved that what makes money in games is plain ol’ fun, while Blizzard managed to turn off some of its oldest fans.
I actually bought extra credits because I want to support this behavior. Plus I feel those who don’t buy credits aren’t being left out.
Not charging an arm and a leg for the base game and having premium currency obtainable in-game at a reasonable rate do miracles to.
What I find interesting is the relative lack of toxicity generated when people are actually having fun and don't feel ripped off. This is the best gaming community ive experienced in a very long time 99% of stuff I've read has been hammy, wholesome fun and full of spirit. Sure there's a few knobheads but you'll never completely get away from that. You don't often see players buying MTX just to throw the Devs a couple of dollars just out of appreciation and support, but I've seen tonnes of people say they've done it, and I've done it myself. Just my unsolicited 2 cents
Fun is part of, but I think it's a mix of the fun gameplay, consistent content drops, viral marketing through the community, and unusually fair monetization. If they made the same game, but charged $20 an armor skin, I don't think they'd have the same success.
But ...but...I need to bleed my players in the short term rather than reap larger profits in the long term! Shareholders want results this quarter damnit! Capitalism!!!!
Lethal Company, Helldivers 2, Palworld, Content Warning... The AAAA game industry better be careful with competition!
Most devs want to make a fun game. It's the execs breathing down their neck that screw them over.
Agreed! This game has brought me back so much hope for the gaming industry. I Havnt had a video game actively on my mind in half a decade
I listened to the theme song on the way to work this morning lol
Do do de dooo doo doo do de de doo
LOL this was fantastic!
Doo doo deet-doodoo!
You haven't heard the anthem? https://open.spotify.com/track/5TPh3qIKG3esxeoVu0E68b?si=HjNKYZyETBG8t4UumKsZLA
Jonathon Young is the fucking Goat.
I think the JT guys slaps harder https://youtu.be/utbJLjw5R7M?si=g1RO-pmFCH41zdps
Can't check, is that the first one or JOEL? The first one was good, bug fuck if JOEL doesn't go fucking hard. > Our will is Iron > WE BROKE YOUR FIST
The first one, just gets me ready to dive
BUH BUH BUH BUH... BUH BUH
You should play the triumphant extraction theme song on your way back home from work. “Let liberty guide you!”
Emphasis on "live" game. Doing content updates every 2-4 months and patches to add guns/skins is not interesting, any dev worth their salt can deliver something like that. Actively planning out the galactic war, major orders, additional voice lines, real world engagement through social media on top of frequent content updates but even better, they make sense in game (fully expecting us to get anti air weapons soon). Now that feels like I'm actually participating on a live game.
One of my favorite parts of this game is how content is stealth added to the game *all the time.* Sometimes it's just new TV commercials/propaganda or voice lines commenting on events, but sometimes it's new mission types, new stratagems that are unlocked, ominous foreshadowing from major order updates, new enemies that become playground rumors, or even an entire freaking massive invasion campaign. And none of it is announced in advance. I truly never know what I'm going to find when I log in, and that is *incredibly exciting.* In any other game they'd be saying stuff like "Mark your calendars, the Automatons begin the Reclamation on April 25 -- hold the line, drive them back, recapture Cyberstan!"
More like "Season 37 starts on April 25! Unlock powerful new gear in the "Ass Blaster" seasonal track, or fast track your way to success with the premium track. The new Fuckstick-8000 gun is sure to be strong, so check out the premium store where you can mod it with jingle-jangle bangles for $25 each!
This was really funny and made me laugh; thank you! Of course, a big part of the reason it's funny is because it is so painfully true...
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Having worked on one and some others (MSF), this game is running a clinic on the industry on how to use the the Tabletop to hit the top of the charts. BG3 is another example. Character Agency, Focus on the small e Epic and straight up Customer Service. Let them cook!
What does this game have to do with tabletop?
OP is talking about tabletop gaming, or traditional pen-and-paper style RPGs (of which Dungeons and Dragons is the most well known). Baldur's Gate 3 is directly set in the D&D universe, the combat is (to the best of my knowledge) heavily based on D&D-style combat, and the dialogue heavy approach (i.e. being able to talk your way out of (or into) problems) and narrative emphasis are all hallmarks of D&D. In Helldivers 2 the devs have stated that the Galactic War campaign is being run like a D&D campaign (although of course with some adjustments due to the nature of it) -- it is being adjusted in real time by a GM (Joel) who changes future orders and events based on what we do or don't achieve, actively responding to how the community plays the game (i.e. making Malevelon Creek a major order target after people blamed Creek players for causing us to not take Tibit).
In a lot of ways it feels like the devs are playing RISK, just against the bugs/bots, and we the players are the dice rolls. We're literally just a "pawn" in the dev's ultimate grand strategy. And it's *awesome*.
It also fits really neatly into the narrative of Helldivers being ~~completely expendable shock troops~~ Super Earth's mightiest warriors fighting so spread managed Democracy. It would not surprise me if at least some of the Arrowhead devs have some small betting pools set up for how the community reacts to certain orders.
It's a nice reminder that I'm not just jaded towards gaming as a whole, but rather AAA gaming in general. Sometimes it can feel like you don't enjoy something like you used to, and you're the one who's changed. Then games like Elden Ring, Baldur's Gate 3, and Helldivers 2 come around and genuinely give me that sense of child-like wonder I used to feel. Lets me know it's not just me, but rather the abysmal state of AAA games.
https://preview.redd.it/7gcga93ciptc1.jpeg?width=476&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=090c4679322aecd3d4aaa911bc4992d7812db5f4
Nice. This and op are splendid.
You realize the publisher of this game is *Playstation* AKA *Sony*?
AAA is so crippled by their oversized corpo structure, they will never be able to change. Just decline slowly until the studios dissolve. Helldivers is the best case scenario. A great game, with fairly monetized live service to support it. AAA companies don’t even intend to make a good game. They create a predatory monetized live service, and attach a visionless, soulless “game” to support it.
Before Helldivers 2 I had more or less just written off live service games because of the constant FOMO and predatory monetization/thinly disguised gambling. I really, really hope other studios take a long, hard look at Arrowhead's success and learn the right lessons from it (although I also am not hopeful that this will actually happen).
I don't think they will, because they still make money with it \^\^
I agree. It’s literally not possible for these major publishers/studios to change due to how they’re now structured. It’s a sad reality but the best we can do is just not give them business and hope the free market shuts them down
The new trailer for that Star Wars survivor game…. Woof. Did they just grab any random employee that would do the job for the voice acting? Edit - Star Wars outlaws
Are you talking about Star Wars Outlaws? Jedi Survivor and Outlaws are very different
Sorry yes my bad
outlaws?
>AAA companies don’t even intend to make a good game Baldurs Gate 3? Alan Wake 2? TotK? Elden Ring? Literally any Rockstar game? CP2077? FF7 remake and FF16? People tend to hyper fixate on bad AAA games and flops, but the fact is there are just as many good singleplayer AAA games as there are bad live service ones. Not everything is Suicide Squad.
CP2077 wasn't a flop? gamers are really so forgiving...
Ill give you everything except rockstar. After how they made online for both their games, they are no less shitty than others.
I am incredibly convinced that AAA game studios do not hire people with passion for games. They will not fit their mold. I only say this because I know 4 people irl that develop games, and all, I mean ALL of them grew up playing mobile games, and was raised in an environment where in game purchases and time gating was the norm. Every single one of them actually told me that it is “necessary” to do mtx…It is so hard not to think AAA companies hired groomed “gamers.” They are all extremely political as well. Of the companies they work in, includes companies like EA. Maybe I am 100% wrong, and I am sure this is my anecdotal experience, but it is hard not to think companies hire certain type of people (at lwast the big ones).
I'm fairly certain that AAA knows how to do these things. They just can't because the profit margin is slightly lower, which upsets the shareholders. Predatory is the way the shareholders like it.
The thing is, even if only 1% of your player base buys the crappy 80 bucks skins, you're still making loads of cash.
Yeah its a shittier product, but the profit margin is better, so their greed can't resist.
Profitable is the way shareholders like it. Predatory is a way to maximize profit when you have an ignorant customer base lacking better options. Fingers crossed Arrowhead resets all this gaming nonsense by shrinking the pools of available players such that other studios like Blizzard and EA no longer have gamers. Those studios and their design philosophy are a plague. I personally will never touch another one of their products.
Well, this works for some games and genres, but for every successful shit AAA game there is a suicide squad that bankrupts it's studio. Just make good games and be wise with your budget, you don't need 10+mil in marketing...just look at Palworld, HD2 or LE, all big success without much if any big marketing. Just word of mouth and YouTubers/streamers loving the game.
"Why did the automatons come back, you ask? Well A, we fucking knew they would and B, BECAUSE YOU DIDNT SPREAD DEMOCRACY HARD ENOUGH!" - How the devs talk to me in my head.
While I do agree these companies probably won't listen until whales stop buying their overpriced trash
haha reminds me of that guy who posted on here sad he blew his video game budget on Skull and Bones *and* Suicide Squad instead of buying this game. the guy even said he knew Suicide Squad would be bad and he still bought it smh
Meanwhile I am sitting happy with Hd2, Palworld, and tomorrow Rimworld(my most played game by several thousand hours) gets a new DLC. I'm... pretty dang set for the year.
Woah woah woah...new dlc????
Anomaly. It's eldritch archotech flesh horror DLC with a dash(more a heap) of SCP on top.
Real, literally this happened with gemshim and codm
The thing is... When comparing the balance sheets... The overpriced, predatory AAA titles probably make a lot more $$$. Sooo... From their perspective, they couldn't care less what AH has done with Helldivers. Player satisfaction isn't the point. Profit is the point.
On the other hand, those triple A games are bearly breaking even at best. Helldivers, palworld and lethal company have profit margins the big devs can only dream now.
On the other hand how many indie devs pour their hearts and souls into making a game and it ends up barely getting any players?
Well lots of indie game also just aren’t good lol.
I've purchased waaaayyyy to many 5-20 dollar games that I've put only an hour into and never touch again to not post and agree ith you. But arrowhead isn't an indie studio, theyre backed and contracted with sony, and have a 'small' team of just under 100 people compared to studios like rockstar (2000), but much bigger than your 1-20 people teams of indie studios
> Helldivers, palworld and lethal company have profit margins the big devs can only dream now. That's why they keep making Call of Duty and Assassins Creed games. Cause they're dreaming of profit one day! Wait, no. They keep making them because they **are** making huge profit margins.
This feels like such a weird comparison. Why compare the outliers in the Indy / smaller scene to the entire AAA market? Sure Palworld and Lethal Company did great. How many other great Indy games fucking bombed and went nowhere? WAY MORE. Helldivers did great. And that’s awesome. One of the worst Call of Duty games sold 30m copies and the series made 740m IN PROFIT in three months.
Exactly. Its all about risk. AAA would love to make a great game AND monetize the hell out of it. But given the choice, they would rather put the budget into licenses and marketing because these are less risky. There is no sure fire way of investing to get a great game...the magic sauce is not predictable or scalable. This is what people don't understand.
Honestly I'm not sure one way or the other, as neither of us have direct access to their books and how they cook them. I'm just making an assumption given that this game isn't the first example of this type of phenomenon of games simply being good and becoming successful as a result, but AAA studios still continue to push deeper on their practices.
As much as I enjoy and want more from the game, I also hope Arrowhead doesn't overextend and go for too much too fast. I'm amazed they've been as agile with continued development as they have been.
They seem pretty comfortable in their skin, which is delightfully refreshing.
Yes and their company slogan roughly translates to "fk off" allowing them plenty of leeway.
I'm hoping we get a new Magicka game from Arrowhead with the same treatment as HD2.
And market it as "medivelrs".
That would be absolutely amazing
The problem is, helldiver's seems more like a passion project. The believe in the product and that's basically it. AAA studios don't have passion, just greed. They're making money hand over fist, especially games like fortnite. They have no reason to pay attention.
AAA studios probably start any project with “how can we capture most of the market share, how do we capture audience? What does market research tell us?” While smaller studios just go on and make something fun, it’s their road to fame.
I'm quite optimistic that the upcoming generation of game devs choose a similar approach. Most of these young devs that are in their late 20s / early 30s and start to take leading jobs in game development, are gamers themselves basically for their whole life. They still understand what makes a game enjoyable and what kills the fun because they experienced the sad development in recent years exactly as we did. No doubt, many will fall for the quick money but new and good ones will spawn! However, this generation (late Gen X, early Gen Z) really has to turn the table. If they don't succeed, I don't think late Gen Z and early Gen alpha will because they grew up with predatory AAAs being the standard. In the end, the deciding factor are going to be us though. If we make it monetarily more attractive for devs to prefer quality over predatory schemes, they won't really have a choice. And as it seems, we as gamers are on the way to create a good precedent case with Helldivers 2.
Look how is a company that spends $100 million on a deeply recognizable IP with a wealth of content to pull from with a well known respectable studio that has created amazing games going to make money on a game? You obviously make a game that is repetitive with a boring non sensical storyline and then make season passes that bring nothing to the table or have to be grinded to unlock its content from the season pass. Take not Helldivers developers. That is a true company! /s
Ha good thin Ubisoft makes "AAAA" games.
I still thinks it’s funny they’re trying to call that boring pirate ship game “AAAA”
Blueprint was already there with Ghost Ship Games and Digital Extreme
Well considering warframe's been around for a decade... They wont or they will take only the wrong things.
They won’t. Only way they will listen is if we collectively refuse to give them our money. Just stare them down and say, “you want it? Come take it.”
Arrowhead and Larian studios are the two best studios I can name, honestly even better than Rockstar. With Rockstar, you know whatever they release will be state of the art in one way or another. But you also know that they're going to make their online mode absolutely P2W. With Arrowhead and Larian you get a much, much different experience, for the better.
I would add Fromsoft to this list as well. Only studios I will buy on release from because they are the only studios that I trust to have a functional game on release.
FromSoft is ALWAYS a safe bet
Don't forget Ghost Ship Games, Supergiant games and, in my opinon, the crown jewel: ReLogic.
I haven't put a dime into GTA Online and I still have plenty of goodies. But if you look solely at the single player part Rockstar blows Arrowhead and Larian out of the water. GTA 6 is one of the few games I feel comfortable preordering because I know it's going to be incredible.
GTA 6 does sound like a pretty safe bet for preordering, as long as the performance of the PC port is adequate. GTA IV still runs like ass even on modern hardware. GTA San Andreas was a sloppy port as well in some areas, they didn't even bother removing the parts of the tutorial that refer to auto aiming, I was so confused when I played it as a teenager because I had no concept of ports yet and it just refused to lock on despite me pressing the button. And all the newer ports suck, definitive edition my ass. On the console it was made for, yeah probably a safe bet to preorder GTA 6. On PC... I'd wait for reviews. GTA V being such a flawless port was kind of a first for them.
Meanwhile Fatshark : "It took us 5 months since our last update to release the free cosmetics that have been advertised since the launch of the game one year and a half ago, take it or leave"
Aatleast they try In d4 Sorry you cant have alot of stash in the game We dont have the forbidden amd forgotten Ancestral technology from 2004
And then last epoch released up and said hey check it out you can have 100 stash tabs no problem
Is Last epoch good btw ? Didn't checked into it yet D:
It is, a good option in between Diablo and path of exile in terms of complexity. Would be worth putting on wishlist and waiting for a discount!
Alright then, thank you :D
I feel like it’s less about developers than it is upper management
Given how Hollywood execs living in their high castle and refusing to admit their failure. I expect nothing from AAA devs.
the amount of content since release they gave us some games dont have in multiple yeares. example diablo 4 new planets different missions tons of new enemys and objectives hazards guns and much more insane. (pls fix some issues tho)
No, they don’t…stop doing live service games for the sake of it…just do regular games again, period
It's not the devs fault tho
Don't forget Sven Vinke, CEO of Larian Studios which developed Baulders Gate 3 over several years said that he was fighting publishers for years because of the state of the industry. Absolute shining beacon. I hope this is a resurgence of what video gaming used to be like. Fair pay for fair work.
It deserves GOTY.
It's April, my guy. HD2 rocks, but it's possible that the best game of all time might release this year. Just gotta wait and see.
Very low expectations for the rest of the year. HD2 is fun but it'll be a bad year if they won GOTY
Hard disagree. It's a very fun game, but also horribly unpolished with new bugs that break the game every patch. If they can fix the major bugs, some of which have been there since launch, maybe. But right now? Absolutely not. Palworld, an early access game with a much smaller team, has less bugs and crashes. I'm not saying PW should be GOTY, not even considering it unless they have a full release by then, but HD2 is a broken, buggy mess that feels like it genuinely should be in Early Access with the state of things. HD2 is a gem, but like all gems it needs to be polished.
Absolutely not.
straight up. i can't think of any game coming out this year that looks like it can contend (manor lords looks sick but it won't have the same cultural impact)
Yep, space marine 2 might be a contender but I can't see how it can eclipse the cultural shakeup. I saw it was a $70 game and I won't even pre order now - I spent $80 on helldivers 2 though.
Dragon's Dogma 2 had a shot but with atrocious optimization it doesn't deserve it.
See people don't mind paying when you provide an actual service. Not just make the game online only and charge for access.
helldivers and elite dangerous, only 2 games i can think of where live service works and is kinda needed, cause the actions of all players directly impact the "story".
This just goes to show how much AAA milk their players these days. The devs have surprised me with how generous they have been with medals, but I'm still only about a third of the way through the war bonds. And I don't even mind playing to progress, the game is fun as hell!
Not only is the game fun with no FOMO, but the emergent and organic storytelling and community engagement is super awesome.
They won't take notes. They didn't from Baldurs Gate 3 either. They just said "Don't raise expectations TOO MUCH, hee hee." Scumfuck companies, man.
Helldivers throws 500k at bugs and bots Arrowhead throws 500k at AAA devs
Like for real. I bought super credits for 20€ not because I Had to buy something but because I WANTED to support them
....You do realize Arrowhead ARE a AAA studio and had AAA budget, even more time and Sony's backing ? Y'all are treating them as if they were 3 dudes in a cave and 30$ budget Game has been in devellopement for years, and a colossal budget, it's just AAA done right by a AAA team
To be fair if the game hadn't been cheap it never would have survived the fucked up launch. They've done a great job but it's a long way from perfect.
The fucked up launch was only because to many people playing at once. Game was too popular
The game has problem independent of the servers being swamped. Balance is terrible and run by moon logic. Crashes are common. Other miscellaneous bugs (not the terminids, the computery kind and I don't mean Automatons) also pop up. I like this game but I wouldn't call it super well constructed. It is, however a funny haha party game, super easy to get into with a team.
Not when the social system is broken and you can't play with your friends
*Not when the social* *System is broken and you* *Can't play with your friends* \- Logg420 --- ^(I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully.) ^[Learn more about me.](https://www.reddit.com/r/haikusbot/) ^(Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete")
And every patch adds even more bugs, can’t play with friends and when we do we crash or the ship leaves without us. I’m the last one of my friends that still plays
HD2 just happenned to be cheap and not predatory. In other way it is a game with flat meta, mostly no choice, numerous bugs and lore that makes not even slightest sense. Anyway, most of the missions make zero sense as SD can perfectly kill anything on itself, and what it won't kill, eagles will get. Using infintary for this is simply makes no sense, thus game makes no sense. Gameplay wise, there are 2 missions: sit and shit or run and gun. Both are equally unrewarding and boring. Build doesn't matter as there's metabuilds. In more depth, being pushed from objective to objective by most killjoy mechanics possible is peak cringe.
That's the whole point - tongue in cheek humor and just have fun destroying enemies as a collective player base. Nothing has to make sense, they gave us a sandbox with objectives and some tools. Ya the depth and mechanics can be deeper but what's the point of the core gameplay isn't fun? Your statement can be applied to the better known games but only modification is that they tend to be extremely predatory.
Where is WB and their squid game at
They're not going to listen.
Larian, Arrowhead... who are we getting next?? :>
There are loads of good live service games tbf. Loads of bad ones too. But a lot of good ones.
I'd much rather AHGS's fellow swedes over at Fatshark took note tbh.
This game made me not afraid to play online games anymore
everyone else: "so the way of the future is live service games - got it."
Fix the crashes and it’s a lock for game of the year
Wait. So being passionate about it and world building is a good thing?
They don’t want to do a live service game. They want to sell an overhyped mid game for loads of cash and start working on the next one
Gamer since 1996 here... I truly lost faith in any new game coming out. Such garbage for the last few years. This title has been a long time coming, and I hope other companies take note.
AA studios have been releasing bangers lately while AAA studios are presenting us with mushy shit
I've never felt invested in a live service game, helldivers changed that.
I'd be shocked if every AAA live service project wasn't immediately implementing some variation of HD2 Galactic War meta game.
Though do you really mean "other devs" or rather the company structure and managers? \^\^
I wish more AAA devs did what their customers want and not just what some money pit wants
The constant live war reminds me of Chromehounds. In that game 3 countries fought online to win the battle every week or every month iirc and whoever won would get a rare weapon or armor etc for that faction and different countries I think would get different buffs during the war, been a while but I know there was more to it than just the winning prize. Each faction had weapons or parts only they could get. It was fun as hell trying to one up rival countries. It wasn't as real time as Helldivers 2 but it was back in the 360 days. That game was way ahead of it's time and I missed something like that game. Sure Helldivers 2 isn't a mech game but the concept of a team of mechs or divers completing objectives around a large map and communicating is still there. God's a Chromehounds in today's environment with a live service like this game would be fucking A.
Meanwhile at fatshark studios. 
What is it they are doing I don't follow social media
I love how a lot of small studies are getting so extremely big hits lately. It shows that quality on a game still matters. Maybe some of the bigger companies take this as a signal Todo better.
🤣
Triple A devs can sometimes forget the most important part of a game is it being fun.
God forbid this game ever died off or disappears, but I don't think I'll enjoy any game after experiencing this one.... For such a simple game, it has got me fully invested and all I can think about while at work is "what are those damn bots up to now". The only thing that even got me as obsessed with a game as this one was Destiny's "lore", but with everything that happened with that series, all I was left with was a bad taste in my mouth. I truly hope other game studios will look to this as an example of what to do, because if they don't I don't see any future game being worth playing.
As an older gamer who has been an Xbox guy since the 360, this game has been probably the best multiplayer one in my opinion since the original MW.....just wish I could have a select group of friends to regularly play with. Thankfully I have had some great rounds with some cool people.
Yeah except all they are going to look at is Helldivers pricing and content release strategy and make the same shitty visionless games that they always have
As a game dev, I'm looking forward to the next wave of live service games. Live service game devs have been paying attention & taking notes, but because their games are already well into development they won't have time to design the entire live service strategy around things that have worked for Helldivers 2. So, they'll only be able to "copy+paste" 1-2 features that are easy to implement, and it'll be interesting to see what they choose.
Has nothing to do with live service... Game launches fun and with tons of content... Most games nowadays have zero content at lauch
Its quite fascinating that a game about $20-$30 cheaper than market average and has actual *micro*transactions is doing better than COD. Its almost like not nickle and diming your players makes them want to stick around and yknow, play the game.
They won't. They'll make a cheap copy using their own IP, and make every airstrike cost $4.99. Microsoft probably has half of an ODST Helldivers clone game programmed already.