Stardew Valley’s success had more to do with smart marketing than anything. The game has the exact same formula as Story of Seasons and Rune Factory, which are very corporate-run series, just not at AAA scale. The difference was Eric Barone cultivating word-of-mouth marketing via influencers and online communities to reintroduce the genre to the Western market (along with lucking into capitalizing on what was then a more nascent pixel art indie gaming trend).
Undertale’s a good example, though (I’ll still note this particular example is a huge spoiler). I did the thing and it was a very fresh idea, and one of the best hooks I’ve seen in a video game. Thing is though, I doubt even 10% took that route to see it. That’s something the game has in common with Baldur’s Gate 3, which is full of those low-percentage moments. AAA devs don’t like investing a lot of resources into things most people aren’t going to see.
Stardew Valley? At a certain point of the game, you start to genuinely care about the characters. Not just as in-game characters, but as virtual people with their own backstories, goals, dreams. You relate to them.
I just like to make the cute farm go brrrrrrrr. Honestly, I’m annoyed that marriage (or “roomieship” with the monster) is required to 100% the game.
Reminds of how Delta Heavy - Ghost got recommended to many people on YouTube recently, because the ever-present soulless algorithm detected people mentioning Clippy, engaging with videos mentioning Clippy, putting Clippies as their profile pictures, etc. - despite the fact that the entire Clippy surge is entirely against the endless data vacuuming and the algorithmisation of everything.
I really hate what data has become for the modern consumer at large - something’s everybody after to try and capitalize for, at an active disadvantage for you.
Cue the still growing thirst for more control, more data, more censorship.
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Stardew Valley’s success had more to do with smart marketing than anything. The game has the exact same formula as Story of Seasons and Rune Factory, which are very corporate-run series, just not at AAA scale. The difference was Eric Barone cultivating word-of-mouth marketing via influencers and online communities to reintroduce the genre to the Western market (along with lucking into capitalizing on what was then a more nascent pixel art indie gaming trend).
Undertale’s a good example, though (I’ll still note this particular example is a huge spoiler). I did the thing and it was a very fresh idea, and one of the best hooks I’ve seen in a video game. Thing is though, I doubt even 10% took that route to see it. That’s something the game has in common with Baldur’s Gate 3, which is full of those low-percentage moments. AAA devs don’t like investing a lot of resources into things most people aren’t going to see.
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I just like to make the cute farm go brrrrrrrr. Honestly, I’m annoyed that marriage (or “roomieship” with the monster) is required to 100% the game.
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On that we can agree. The game is great at giving players a plethora of paths and options.
They made it so you couldn’t save scum killing her? lol
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Reminds of how Delta Heavy - Ghost got recommended to many people on YouTube recently, because the ever-present soulless algorithm detected people mentioning Clippy, engaging with videos mentioning Clippy, putting Clippies as their profile pictures, etc. - despite the fact that the entire Clippy surge is entirely against the endless data vacuuming and the algorithmisation of everything.
I really hate what data has become for the modern consumer at large - something’s everybody after to try and capitalize for, at an active disadvantage for you.
Cue the still growing thirst for more control, more data, more censorship.