Sherbytes: Industry News Megathread, v.2

[KaNesDeath]

I haven’t played either game but is this a case of ARC coming out after and stealing the player base from BF6? I thought people were really enjoying BF6 so why the drop off?

Its a generically designed Battlefield game. While following a player retention model and monetization practices of past decade free2play games. In a game that has a $70 dollar barrier of entry price tag.

Can go into more nuanced detail from main menu UI all the way down to netcode. But i dont think people want to read paragraphs, lol.

 

[Valhoven]

I haven’t played either game but is this a case of ARC coming out after and stealing the player base from BF6? I thought people were really enjoying BF6 so why the drop off?

Part ARC, I have to think, because the game is lightning in a bottle and even unretiring players of the subgenre in what's being called a return to form albeit too evolution of MP. Am on the verge of buying myself because it's on sale until 8 January via PSN. Only 30€. Audio design is apparently without peer, full stop.

I still see a lot of people playing BF. Adding to ARC fire scorching the gamerverse, I think what's happened is BF cast a MF net in hopes of renaissance but instead of capturing a broad audience, it captured rather a niche one, so we're seeing broader player decay. From what I played via betas + REDSEC, there is a lot of fun/shenanigans to be had but the game UX is confusing and salesy plus gameplay is Red Bull chaotic (where the F is the front?) with no-fun TTD.

 

[KaNesDeath]

Part ARC, I have to think,

On Steam you can gauge where game communities go via Steam Charts. Detailed analytics is something Twitch/YouTube ad buyers and gaming content creators quickly learn through viewers previous watch history. Steam API data miners of Steam users game libraries take months for their daily queries were heavily restricted back around 2018'sh. BF6's launch till now, and launch to current day Arc Raiders player numbers is a convergence of dozens upon dozens of other game playerbases.

This was before your join date. An from your post history youve been strictly a console gamer. First non-Valve game that spurred Steam growth happened in the early 2010's with DayZ. On this specific subforum it even had a active thread of players discussing it. The extraction shooter FPS subgenre itself was birthed from DayZ. Then couple the most known and popular extraction shooter Escape from Tarkov impending 7+ year long Steam and 1.0 launch. Arc Raiders benefited the most by beating Escape from Tarkov to market while also being the better designed game. In a encompassing Pc online multiplayer survival genre that sporadically galvinized such active players this way over the past decade.

 

[KaNesDeath]

Steam hit a new active user count peak over the weekend:

 

[Valhoven]

Creative Director for Division series, Julian Gerighty, just left Ubi for EA's Battlefield Studios. Curious leap there to what he's taking lead on for Battlefield but given Division has remained one of few Ubi properties worth a darn, that's a W for EA-DICE.



Full read here. (External)

 

[method115]

Creative Director for Division series, Julian Gerighty, just left Ubi for EA's Battlefield Studios. Curious leap there to what he's taking lead on for Battlefield but given Division has remained one of few Ubi properties worth a darn, that's a W for EA-DICE.

View attachment 1129989

Full read here. (External)

Yea this is a good pick IMO.

 

[rikwebb]

Ubisoft have had a major company reset.

6 games cancelled, 7 games delayed and 2 studios closed and the creative operations being split into 5 separate divisions

Ubisoft details ‘major company reset’: 6 games canned, 7 delayed, and 2 studios closed | VGC

Prince of Persia remake among cancelled projects; Company reorganizes into five ‘creative houses’ specializing in genres…

www.videogameschronicle.com

The six cancelled games did not meet Ubisoft's new 'enhanced' quality expectations, it said, including the much-delayed Prince of Persia: Sands of Time remake, a mobile title, and four other unannounced game, including three original IPs.

In addition, Ubisoft said it's delayed seven games in order to ensure they reach quality expectations. That includes one title that was planned for release before April 2026, than will now release in before April 2027.

"Ubisoft has conducted a thorough review of its content pipeline over December and January," the company said. "This has led to the strategic decision to refocus its portfolio, reallocate resources and comprehensively revise its roadmap over the next three years.

"This will support the objective to return to exceptional levels of quality on the Open-World Adventure segment and step-change the Group's position in the GaaS-native experiences segment".

Two studios were closed as part of the reset, Ubisoft said: its Halifax and Stockholm studios, which were previously announced. On a webcall listen to by VGC, the company said it would consider the sale of other assets.

On Tuesday, Ubisoft detailed the other 'creative houses' for the first time, which will each be organized around a distinct genre. They are (in addition to Vantage Studios):

• CH2, dedicated to "competitive and cooperative shooter experiences", including The Division, Ghost Recon, and Splinter Cell.
• CH3, which will operate a roster of "select, sharp Live experiences", such as For Honor, The Crew, Riders Republic, Brawlhalla, and Skull & Bones.
• CH4, which will focus on fantasy worlds and narrative-driven universes like Anno, Might & Magic, Rayman, Prince of Persia, and Beyond Good & Evil.
• CH5, which Ubisoft says is aimed at "reclaiming [our] position in casual and family-friendly games" in brands including Just Dance, Uno, and Hasbro.

 

[Valhoven]

Ubisoft have had a major company reset.

6 games cancelled, 7 games delayed and 2 studios closed and the creative operations being split into 5 separate divisions

Ubisoft details ‘major company reset’: 6 games canned, 7 delayed, and 2 studios closed | VGC

Prince of Persia remake among cancelled projects; Company reorganizes into five ‘creative houses’ specializing in genres…

www.videogameschronicle.com

Major news. Thanks, rik.

Open to sale of other assets really caught my eye and so had their explicitly naming For Honor in one of the properties to be lifted by live service CH3. Bittersweet a read as it's been ruinously undersupported.

I put so much time into it over the years but ultimately got tired of seeing such a brilliant foundation wasted (proprietary Art of Battle system) + razor-thin content creation.

 

[Zebra Cheeks]

What a good looking trailer - some of the game elements seem outstanding. It seems like a breathing living super cool world. Excited for this

 

[TeTe]

Forza horizon 6 will be in Japan!

Watched a 12 minute game play video. Looks incredible. Apparently in this one you can get a plot of land and put structures on it and build your own racetrack on it.

 

[Wrath of Foamy]

What a good looking trailer - some of the game elements seem outstanding. It seems like a breathing living super cool world. Excited for this

I thought Fable was great when I played it back in the day. I used to spend hours levelling up with dashes in Hobbs Mine.

I remember people slagging it off for not being open world and underperforming, but it was very charming.

 

[rikwebb]

Baldur's Gate TV show in the works at HBO that will follow on from 3's story with Craig Mazin and Hasbro Entertainment involved

‘Baldur’s Gate’ TV Series Continuing Game’s Story In Works At HBO From ‘The Last Of Us’ Co-Creator Craig Mazin & Hasbro Entertainment

A ‘Baldur’s Gate’ TV series in development at HBO will Game 3's story. It comes from 'The Last of Us' co-creator Craig Mazin and Hasbro Entertainment

deadline.com

 

[Valhoven]

Expedition 33 devs literally knighted by French cabinet, wow. Hilarious would be if French gov now emails Ubi in offer of the same but only if they pay a microtransaction fee for the afterparty cheese and grapes.

 

[Law Talkin’ Guy]

France has knighting ceremonies? I didn’t know that an certainly wouldn’t have expected that given they did away with their monarchy over 200 years ago.

 

[Law Talkin’ Guy]

So Diablo II got some DLC after 25 years which introduces an 8th class, the Warlock. Going to have to check this out.

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/major-diablo-2-dlc-adds-features-fans-have-waited-decades-for-but-itll-cost-you/1100-6538086/

 

[Wrath of Foamy]

https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/console-gaming/the-father-of-sega-hardware-has-passed-away-hideki-sato-worked-his-way-up-from-engineer-to-become-segas-acting-president-spending-33-years-at-the-company

Hideki Sato died.

Dude was a key part of my childhood favourite consoles.

Legend.

 

[Madmick]

Oh, FFS, I was wondering why my nightly updater was failing, so I Googled, and...

Switch emulator Citron is being discontinued and Ryubing enters maintenance mode​

Citron, one of the big main 3 Nintendo Switch emulators that came out of Yuzu's downfall is sadly being discontinued.

Yesterday on Citron's subreddit. one of Citron's moderators, lockhart1433, announced that the Citron emulator will be discontinued due to internal conflicts, citing one of the major problems being that one of the lead developers got doxxed, leaking the real name and location of the developer, as well as still some lingering issues with the whole fallout from last year between Citron and some of its developers, which led to the creation of the Eden emulator, as well as the controversy when they switched how their internal Discord server operated, which happened alongside it.

This decision seems to be a culprit of all the previously mentioned topics, and now all of Citron's servers and websites have all been taken down, including their own self-hosted repository.

Citron has been discontinued after the recent drama involving eden. To keep a long story short, theres a new .tar file floating around called the citron files. Inside of these are zephyrons full name, location and camilles side of events mirroring the fall of citron post from last year. To add fuel to the fire, scubasteve a verified admin of citron may have been the one adding fuel to this. The files basically summarize every event leading up to camille getting a cease and desist from zephyron due to accepting donations claiming to be the lead developer. Everything died down for a year and now its back again. So i guess eden wins. Camille wins and is to blame for this. No more stolen commit posts. No more reverse engineering to improve switch emulation for everyone. Now all eyes are on you to step up since LotP is the only one with the knowledge. Reminder that totk and botw wouldnt work on 20.0 without their knowledge. So we bid you all goodbye and await the next project or maintainer to step up. The drama is now...finally...over and we are free.

Not only that, but also one of the other main 3 Switch emulators, Ryubing, will also change, with the main developer GreemDev no longer maintaining the Ryubing project. However, the Ryubing emulator will still remain in "maintenance mode" by other users, like LotP, but GreemDev will no longer be involved in the development of Ryubing going forward.

So I guess Ryubing will tentatively remain the best Switch emulator for accuracy, not sure how long that will last, while Eden now takes over unopposed as the premier emulator for those with less powerful hardware. Neither was able to run Metroid Prime 4: Beyond viably at all as of a few months ago (hadn't tested either since late December). Constant visual glitches, freezes, crashes, and distorted audio. It usually takes time for emulator teams to sort out issues, but Citron was the only one that has offered a viable experience in that game so far.

All of this gayass drama has been a real thorn in the top emulation communities. Shit needs to stop.