The World Could Always Use More Lattepunk
Lattepunk
A few months ago a friend sent me an interesting video about how Blizzard Entertainment (makers of video games like World of Warcraft and Diablo) ruined one of my favorite games ever. It’s a lengthy video but the gist of it goes like this: They wanted more money. When I say I was a fan, I was a huge fan. Here’s a photo of me in California, at the Overwatch League arena:
I went to watch this esport be played in person. I was so disgusted with the actions of that company that I never even played Overwatch 2 when it came out. I actually haven’t played a single Activision Blizzard title since I vowed to not play Overwatch. Why do this to such a beloved franchise!?
Wait a second, are you talking about video games this week?
Uh…yeah.
Dude, I’m a grown ass adult! I don’t got time to play video games. Why should I even care about this?
I dOn’T pLaY vIdEo GaMeS! wHy ShOuLd I cArE aBoUt ThIs!? Reader…grow up. This is a multi-BILLION dollar industry. Almost a 400 BILLION dollar industry. Have you ever heard of a little game called Grand Theft Auto? You have! Cool, here’s an article from 2022 talking about how the game makes a half a BILLION dollars a year. I want to stress that point. Grant Theft Auto 5 came out in 2013…I played that game on my Playstation 3. Reader, the Playstation 5 is the current generation. It was making that much money almost 10 years later. Want to know what happened 6 months ago? The Guinness record for YouTube views in 24 hours was broken. What broke it you ask? This:
You’re right. Who cares about video games! Amirite!?
These major companies want money like this by any means. So even if you don’t play them, you may actually still indulge in them. Got Prime Video? Maybe you’ve watched their latest hit show? Netflix? They’ve got a few popular shows there. You like Peacock? Oh, Paramount+ type of watcher huh? OH YOU GOT THAT MAX MONEY!?
Actually I prefer my visual mediums on the big screen!
ohyoupreferyourvisualmediumsonthebigscreencauseyoursomefancydouchewhothinkstheyrespecial.letmeguessyoudrinkyouwinestraightfromfranceinthebackofyourrollsroyce.
I think you get my point. But alas reader, back to the topic at hand. Activision Blizzard, the company that ruined the game I started this with? Microsoft bought them for 69 BILLION dollars. When the big studios are spending big money on games, they expect big returns. Which leads to all sorts of problems. Being overworked and layoffs are the two biggest ones at the moment. This year alone, there have been over 10,000 people laid off in the video game industry. And as I’m writing this, more layoffs got announced. For such a massively successful and beloved medium, how can things be this bad?
Last year, Microsoft announced, and on the same day, released a game called Hi-Fi Rush. Check out the trailer:
The game was a hit! I played it myself. Extremely fun and unexpected. It got nominated for 24 awards and won 5 of them. That’s on top of all the rave reviews it got. Let that studio cook and make more games right? Nope. Microsoft shut the studio down. That’s after making a successful game!
Bloomberg writer, and author of two great books, Jason Schreiber dropped a huge piece last week about the Suicide Squad video game. Warner Bros spent $200 million dollars making the worst video game of the year. The article goes into the mismanagement of the project. In their defense, the year isn’t over. Maybe someone else can take the title from them.
Why am I bringing this up today? This past weekend was Summer Game Fest. The summer showcase where every video game studio and their mother showed off what’s coming out in the future. This is where I have to admit I watched an unhealthy amount of YouTube this past weekend. I watched most of the shows. A lot of hours, of bunch of games, from the big studios and the indie studio and even the little one person studios. We’re supposed to watch this stuff, get excited, and not pay attention to the people that are actually working on this stuff.
At least indie publisher New Blood Interactive (who showed off a trailer for Fallen Aces this weekend) had something to say. They bought a billboard outside of the event hall addressing all the recent layoffs. Granted it’s a big publicity stunt that ultimately gathers attention for them, but it’s the gesture that counts. Although success as an indie studio is possible, a lot of people aren’t willing to take the risk. I don’t blame them! In 2023, 14,534 games got uploaded to Steam (the main marketplace to buy games on PC). So far this year, 7851 games have been uploaded. It’s hard to stand out.
I have 105 games on my steam wishlist. I have no clue when I’ll ever get around to playing all them. But I got them there cause I’m rooting for the little studios to get success. And I’m rooting for the big studios to succeed as well. Everyone wins when this industry wins. Sure the capitalist pigs at the very top win the most, but at least you might get a good movie out of it.
Recommendations:
In the spirit of all the trailers I watched, I went through my wishlist and grabbed ten of them to hopefully entertain you with the variety of games that are coming out. In no particular order:
Replaced - A retro looking platformer that was announced a few years ago. Hopefully this game actually comes out, haven’t heard any updates in a while.
Anger Foot - A game where you wear sick sneakers and kick the living shit out of some bad guys, all while some dope club music plays.
Skate Story - You play a demon made out of glass that has to skateboard. This is being made by a single developer!!!
MOUSE - Steamboat Mickey entered the public domain. Naturally, you must give him a gun and shoot other mice.
Deathsprint 66 - Ever play Mario Kart? It’s like that but people running. Instead of getting hit by a blue shell, you get hit by a laser. And die.
Killer Bean - Ever want to play as an assassin to get revenge on your old employers for trying to kill you while also being a bean? Soon enough you can.
Tenjutsu - Another game by a one person studio. This was my favorite trailer from this past weekend. You play as an ex-yakuza member running around kicking ass. I’m sure there’s a story somewhere in there.
Screenbound - This game broke my mind when I saw it. You control the character in the 3D world at the same time you control the character in the 2D game they're playing. I don’t know if my brain can comprehend this when it comes out.
UNBEATABLE - A world where music is illegal and you’re in a band. Laid back, narrative heavy game with rhythm based gameplay. Demo was fun.
Last but not least,
Squirrel with a Gun - bruh…it’s a game about a squirrel…with a gun…what more do you need to know?
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