Gamers love to passionately discuss their hobby, often even before a game is released. It’s not uncommon for opinions to solidify prior to release regarding how good or bad something will be – and whether a new idea should even succeed. Recently, there was such a discussion about Dragon Age: The Veilguard, but this is far from the only game.
In recent years, various studios have repeatedly attempted to try something new and to move away from the formula and the type of game that made the studio famous:
- The role-playing giant BioWare, for instance, wanted to develop a multiplayer shooter with Anthem, which did not go particularly well.
- Bethesda has attempted twice to transform well-known role-playing series into an MMO or MMORPG.
- Other studios jump on trends that sound promising, sometimes without understanding where the success of a genre actually comes from – at least according to our author Schuhmann.
Such ideas of moving away from what made the studios great and trying something completely different are not always well received by gamers. Fans of the old games often look enviously at the new releases. Sometimes, the new games are even wished to fail outright. This has happened in the past before.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard
The latest example is the new Dragon Age. After a 10-year wait, fans finally received a new installment in the series. There were directly two major discussions prior to release:
- On one hand, The Veilguard was said to be too colorful in the first trailer, with the community comparing it to Fortnite.
- On the other hand, the new Dragon Age is said to be “too woke”, which sparked a direct controversy.
Until shortly before release, the squabbling about the game continued to escalate. The lines have hardened. Some gamers wished for a game that is so “woke” not to succeed.
This is how The Veilguard is doing now: The new Dragon Age launched with strong reviews on Steam and has attracted over 80,000 players on the platform alone. This includes PS5 and Xbox.
There are certainly games that launched stronger, especially in the AAA area. However, The Veilguard cannot be labeled a total flop.
However, the discussion about the game continues: There is intense debate in the reviews.
Fallout 76
The latest Fallout is actually what fans of the series have been wishing for all along: a real Fallout with integrated multiplayer. Fallout 4 only managed this with mods.
Fallout 76 was still rejected by a large part of the community immediately upon announcement because it is not only “always online”, but also announced as a survival game.
The biggest criticism was that Fallout 76 was supposed to exist completely without NPCs and solo mode – exactly the things that were so important for the story in earlier installments of Fallout. A decision that fans could not understand.
This is how Fallout 76 is doing today: After a disastrous start, Fallout 76 has worked its way up to a stable position in recent years. The ratings have significantly increased and on Steam alone the game has consistently maintained between 7,000 and 8,000 players (via steamcharts).
Bethesda also continuously delivers new updates and expansions with content. The missing NPCs have been in the game for years, the story continues, and even popular factions like the Steel Brotherhood are included. The latest update delivers an endgame dungeon with the “biggest challenge” for players yet.
Diablo Immortal
Hardly any game has received as much hate upon its announcement as Diablo Immortal. While all fans of the series were expecting Diablo 4, Blizzard instead announced a mobile spin-off at BlizzCon 2018.
After the somewhat clumsy response: “Don’t you guys have smartphones?” from chief developer Wyatt Cheng, gamers had nothing good to say about Diablo Immortal until release. The biggest meme regarding the game: “Is this a late April Fools’ joke?”
This is how Diablo Immortal is doing today: Despite significant criticism of monetization, Diablo Immortal is a complete success. The game has numerous pay-to-win mechanics, yet it has generated a tremendous amount of revenue – a good portion of it from German players.
Generally, the game is quite well received among its fans. Aside from the greedy shop, Immortal is a solid Diablo and free for everyone who simply wants to play it. Diablo Immortal has already experienced 32 seasons.
Some other games have not fared as well as the three listed here. The shooter Concord, for example, was also criticized even before it was released. However, Concord was discontinued shortly after its release. And that had even harsher consequences: Sony dealt the maximum penalty, closing the studio that developed one of the biggest flops for PS5
