From some interviews, it sounds like it was just an ambitious mess that didn’t have good testers. IIRC, they said something about everyone pitching 5 ideas every day, and added a couple each time. And it really shows, it is some kind of franken-monster that combines all kinds of ideas that make a patchwork of meh. And then the testers they had either all worked on the game, or were friends with those that did, and nobody wanted to be a downer so they always gave positive feedback.
Comment on Highguard will permanently shut down on March 12th.
Wammityblam@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Are games like this grifts?
Build hype, get whatever cash you can, and then shut them down?
AEsheron@lemmy.world 1 day ago
UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 1 day ago
That’s just the marketing cycle.
Is marketing a grift? I mean, kinda. But you’ll get marketing on good games and bad alike.
Nobody seemed to mind the endless marketing for Expedition 33 or Eldin Ring or Stardew Valley or Minecraft.
CosmoNova@lemmy.world 1 day ago
It didn‘t sell so no, it‘s not simply a grift. It’s just that nobody wanted it.
merc@sh.itjust.works 1 day ago
No, it’s a flop.
It’s hard to believe that a company would spend hundreds of millions to develop a game, only for it to flop. But, that’s how it works with live-service PVP only games. They depend on network effects. People want to play what their friends are playing. If a company gets this right they can be like Minecraft or Fortnite and it’s the game everyone plays, bringing in billions of dollars. If they miss, it can be a complete flop that nobody plays.
kittykillinit@lemy.lol 1 day ago
Kind of.
More like throwing shit at the wall and seeing what sticks.
Canconda@lemmy.ca 1 day ago
Google says they started development in 2022. I’m guessing Overwatch 2 going FTP in January made it seem like the genre was growing instead of trending sideways.
rtxn@lemmy.world 1 day ago
I don’t see how this would be a grift. Tencent’s funding seems to have been contingent on some kind of metric, and they pulled out because Highguard fell short.