If you don't feel like reading, this is a very good video that covers a lot of what I'm going to talk about. Mind you, YongYea is long-winded, but still a good video nonetheless.
That statement miffs me. So John Garvin, the lead designer on Days Gone, is passing the buck off to us, the consumer, as to why Sony axed the sequel to Days Gone. Supposedly, it didn't sell enough copies or we didn't buy enough at full price. Yet, Days Gone sold millions of copies. It was the best selling game for the month of its release. It was also the best selling game Bend ever put out, selling more than all previous games they ever made. It was profitable. So, if Days Gone sold, why did the sequel get canceled?
Because it got a 71 on Metacritic. Now, you can make the argument all you want about how too many publishers focus on Metacritic scores, but review aggregate sites are a fantastic tool to see how well a game's quality is fairing at a glance, and it's not just the industry that follows these scores. We do, too, obviously some more than others, but it's simple math here. Let's say I have 90 dollars left from payday. And I can only afford two games for the month. I'm looking at God of War, which is a 94, and Days Gone which is a 71. Obviously, I can't afford both games at full price, so my 60 is going to God of War and my 30 is going to Days Gone when it goes on sale. But according to John Garvin, because I don't make all the money, he can't make all the money, thus it's my fault that we're not going to get a Days Gone 2.
Whatever. The onus on making a quality product worth full price is ALWAYS ON THE DEVELOPER, and the publisher if they apply unreasonable requests, but an average game not selling as well as it should or scoring higher than it could IS NOT THE FAULT OF THE CONSUMER. Of course, I don't blame Garvin coming to this conclusion as he seems to be buddy buddy with David Jaffe, another game developer who attacks gamers for not shelling out their hard-earned dollars not paying full price, and equates the used game market to piracy.
I cannot stand this mentality the industry has of expecting its consumers to only buy games new and at full price. It's unreasonable. What is with the gaming industry being the only industry that feels so obligated to get every last dime out of us? Gaming is for everyone and unfortunately, we are all not rich. We can't afford to buy all the games we want and we can't afford to buy all the games we can at full price, so pardon us for not wanting to drop 60 (and now 70 for most PS5 titles) on games that barely break 70 on Metacritic. If you want us to buy your games at full price, make them WORTH buying and full price! I'm sorry your game didn't sell enough, but your issue is with Sony's high demands of wanting millions of sales PLUS high Metacritic scores. You can either aim higher with your next project and increase quality control, or you can try to reason with Sony to lower their expectations, but you are NOT putting YOUR failures on US.
Sad to say, Garvin, I've never viewed your studio to be AAA quality. Even the Syphon Filter games you were known for before you started dabbling with Uncharted and other franchises weren't really all that great. The first game, yes, but as fun as it was, it was still rough around the edges. I wanted to get Days Gone at some point, but unfortunately, it just wasn't scoring well enough for me to put it higher on my priority list, because you must realize you aren't the only people making games. THOUSANDS of games get released every generation. THOUSANDS. There are so many studios vying for people's dollars and one of the best ways to ensure a high number of sales is with high review scores. "Review scores don't mean everything." True, because a lot of average games are fun, but again, when you have higher quality games on adjacent shelves, people with less income are going to pick those over yours. And Sony also wants awards attached to their best-selling games, which high scores grant, and if they feel they aren't going to get them, regardless of how well a game sells, well, that's their business model and YOUR problem. Leave and make a new studio if you can't work with Sony's expectations.
It's funny that you mention PS+, Garvin, because that's how I finally got around to getting your game. Then mere days after, your run your big mouth. I'm glad I didn't buy it at all now, even used, because now no one made anything from this particular copy of your game. Call me petty, but your sudden outburst at us has made me not care about you or your studio any longer. I'm sorry you got thrown into this horrible situation with Sony, but just as with any business, you don't take it out on your customers. I truly hope Sony comes around and changes their minds and lets you make your sequel, because I always feel devs should have an opportunity to improve on their games, but if you do get your sequel, best believe I'm going to wait until it drops on PS+
POST EDIT: I just realized I made another Sony blog, which I promised I wouldn't do in the previous blog. But, I did say "unless they do something stupid again," which they did. Ah well.
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