Allergic to money.

[Doclector]

There's evil actions that games companies do. There's stupid reactions that games companies do.

Then there's this. When their actions make you think they are actively avoiding profit.

So what's your favourite/mosted hated actions like this?

I have c couple.

1) The lack of "true horror" on consoles. Come on. I'm sure some of them can do it. There must be more than just indie developers who "get" horror. Even if it's the publishers pushing "broader audiences" it makes no sense.

See? See this massive f***ing gap in the market where the console's own "amnesia" should be? Fill it. Lots of people want something they aren't getting. You make it, they will buy it, there's barely even any competition! F***ing fill it. FILL THE F***ING GAP, YOU F***WITS!

Oh. Unfortunate wording.

2) The sabotage of battlefront 3.

I'm pretty sure we've all heard of this. Lucasarts did everything in their power to stop battlefront 3. They didn't even just stop it, they just bit by bit took the project apart.

 

[Loop Stricken]

Most of EA's recent business decisions in general, I feel.

 

[AD-Stu]

Is the market for horror games really that big though? Big developers working on a title means big development costs and big marketing costs, which in turn demand big sales. My understanding is that while horror games might sell, they don't sell in quite the numbers required to justify a big studio/console release.

Happy to be proved wrong on that if you've got figures, obviously...

 

[tippy2k2]

EA introducing "Battlefield Premium" so long after the game has come out.

Great! I can buy BF and get all the maps!....I already bought one of the packs though and now it feels like a waste of money. Had this been available before I put down some cash on a map pack already, I would at least consider this but now it just feels wasteful.

EDIT: Whoopsy, had the wrong developer in. Thanks "LooK iTz Jinjo" for the heads-up

 

[LooK iTz Jinjo]

Most of EA's recent business decisions in general, I feel.

This^

Also Squares stubborn refusal to do an FFVII remake, everyone would buy it and the lack of a Star Wars: Battlefront 3 by Lucas Arts.

Activision introducing "Battlefield Premium" so long after the game has come out.

Actually that was EA... Not Activision... Activision is COD.

 

[Rumpsteak]

I suppose the relatively recent press releases relating to the PC port of dark souls. You'd get the idea they don't want it to sell any copies.

 

[Dryk]

Big developers working on a title means big development costs and big marketing costs, which in turn demand big sales.

Horror games don't need that many people or that much marketing. If they put a small team on it and don't market it much it won't need anywhere near as many sales, and the target audience will still find out about it.

 

[shrekfan246]

Big developers working on a title means big development costs and big marketing costs, which in turn demand big sales.

Horror games don't need that many people or that much marketing. If they put a small team on it and don't market it much it won't need anywhere near as many sales, and the target audience will still find out about it.

Not to mention that when it comes to a truly great Lovecraftian horror game, less is often more. The less you see something but the more you hear it, or get the feeling something is lurking down the dark hallway or just around the corner, the more your mind is going to drag you into the game. You see a shadow being cast from a light but when you get closer it darts away, you hear the distorted growls and moans off in the distance, or the shuffling footsteps outside of a room that you're in, or the creaking of a door from the opposite end of the hallway you just entered. They don't need to pour hundreds of thousands of dollars into making limb physics for dismemberment, or developing all of the smooth, crystal clear animations so that every monster can come jumping out in front of you shouting "ABLOOGY-WOOGY-WOO!"

In fact, I'd say that a well-crafted, disturbing looking monster would probably be even creepier if it had the uncanny-valley effect caused by stilted, wonky animations, provided they aren't just hilariously bad.

EDIT: Oh, I didn't post anything OT. So here we go:
Every publisher that thinks they can't release games between June and August, leaving a two-month gap where almost nothing worthwhile is being released. It's stupid.

 

[AD-Stu]

Big developers working on a title means big development costs and big marketing costs, which in turn demand big sales.

Horror games don't need that many people or that much marketing. If they put a small team on it and don't market it much it won't need anywhere near as many sales, and the target audience will still find out about it.

Sure - but then why have a big developer do it at all? Big production with big marketing is kind of what they do. OP already said there are small developers doing the genre.

Anywho, my actual point (and again, I'd be happy to get proved wrong by figures on this) was that the horror genre doesn't actually have that big of a market so developers aren't avoiding it because they're stupid or allergic to money, they're just avoiding it because there's not that much money to be made. It's the same reason most horror films are low-budget affairs - the market just isn't that big.