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Focus Home Interactive doesnt get enough recognition as a publisher

Dr. Caroll

Dr. Caroll

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
8,111
They published Crimes and Punishments and The Devil's Daughter, two of the finest detective games ever made. I've always found it strange how Crimes and Punishments in particular is so overlooked despite being so outstanding.
Lord of Ostia said:
Well, they are kind of all over the place in terms of what they publish. Stuff like Vampyr, Call of Cthulhu and The Surge are solid AA efforts. Stuff like Bound By Flame, well...I mean I had fun with that game but I wouldn't call it 'good', and Lords of the Fallen was bad, period.

They've definitely published some good stuff though, and I pay attention to their catalog now.
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They didn't publish Lords of the Fallen. LotF was a CI Games joint with Bandai Namco and Square Enix handling some regions.

Bandai Namco are trying a similar approach to Focus, incidentally. They publish a bunch of stuff and see what sticks. They published Get Even, for instance, which sold really poorly but was absolutely amazing, so bless them for that. Lower budgets, lots of titles. The ones that succeed cover the rest. It's similar to what ‎Blumhouse Productions‎ do in the film world. The obvious problem is that it's way easier to get a successful film than a successful game.
 

Rondras

Banned
Aug 28, 2018
538
I actually discovered them by accident, there was a summer sale in steam and Focus had a full bundle of their games for like 30-50 bucks. Bought it and I'm a fan since then, great publisher.
 
OP
OP
Theorry

Theorry

Member
Oct 27, 2017
60,973
Reddaye said:
They also now publish Farm Simulator, which is nothing like the games you mentioned. It's also a pretty fun series for people into management/work simulators. Pretty fun stuff. Recently very much enjoyed Vampyr. Looking forward to CoC when there's a light sale.

Focus do a really good job filling the AA space with some pretty unique experiences. Hope they continue to thrive.
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Farming Simulator I mentioned in the OP. :)
 
AudioEppa

AudioEppa

Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
4,639
Nothing about their catalog looked interesting until I saw A Plague Tale. If they get behind more story focused titles in the future, i'll keep them on my radar.
 
Cirrus

Cirrus

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,116
Svart said:
This place isn't a big deal dear.
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Can you give examples places that are a big deal? What other sites have game developers, journalists and other industry insiders posting as themselves regularly? I don't see how people can dismiss ResetEra or what GAF used to be as not being hardcore when it is so focused around the industry of games.
 
Aztechnology

Aztechnology

Community Resettler
Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
14,134
I'm happy for them. I play quite a few of their games. Yea they aren't the most polished. But they are willing to go where so many other studios are not. With their settings and narratives especially. Not many other publishers would help publish these unique titles.
 
His Majesty

His Majesty

Member
Oct 25, 2017
12,171
Belgium
I actually buy most of the games they publish. Indeed a great publisher for AA titles, which people here love to derogatorily refer to as eurojank. Usually games with a lot of heart and ambition but without the 100 million dollar budget to back it up.
 
Noodle

Noodle

Banned
Aug 22, 2018
3,427
Svart said:
I'll be the first to admit I'm a condescending cunt, I derailed and went a bit too harsh on OP, but I reckon you're taking the piss with this.

You have to be, this has to be a fucking joke. Otherwise I'm not having this nonsense.
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It's a deliberate invocation of the old "over-emotional woman" stereotype. Why else would you have inserted exclusively feminine terms if they weren't meant to be condescending as you admit?

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/apr/27/cameron-calm-down-dear-sexist-put-down

Theorry is male. Why go out of your way to portray him as female unless you believed being feminine was an insult ("you run like a girl", etc)?

"Not having this"? What are you going to do about it?
 

Deleted member 7450

User requested account closure
Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,842
Cirrus said:
Can you give examples places that are a big deal? What other sites have game developers, journalists and other industry insiders posting as themselves regularly? I don't see how people can dismiss ResetEra or what GAF used to be as not being hardcore when it is so focused around the industry of games.
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Twitter, Reddit... Never said it wasn't hardcore, just not the big deal it thinks of itself to be.

Half a dozen industry professionals posting here is nothing. People look at it as some sort of validation.

Look, I don't want to derail this any further. I'm here everyday, I post here often, I try to share and discuss stuff I like @ every opportunity, but if it came to be that this site or NeoGAF shutdown tomorrow it wouldn't be a big deal.
 
Philippo

Philippo

Developer
Verified
Oct 28, 2017
7,903
100% agree.

They are the very definition of "swimming in 7s" developer, and i hope they stay this way.

If anything we need more publishers/devs in the same league, on the Japanese side as well.
 
GTAce

GTAce

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,163
Bonn, Germany
Theorry said:
FeistyJollyHorse-size_restricted.gif
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More info please, that looks amazing.
 

Zelas

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
6,020
How many games do they completely fund the development of as opposed to just handling the marketing and publishing red tape?
 
ArjanN

ArjanN

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,106
Derrick01 said:
This place is on the more casual side of the game spectrum. If it's not AAA it may as well not exist in a lot of cases.
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Not really, unless you're comparing it to some PC grognard forum with 100 active posters.

The casual audience barely even knows what publishers are.

SPDIF said:
That shouldn't be surprising considering NeoGAF has been around for a lot longer. And just because a mass exodus occurred, doesn't mean people's accounts were purged from the site.
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The couple of times I checked back into GAF it seemed like a complete ghost town with only like the same 50 4chan dudes talking to themselves. That said it would suprise me if they eventually got a bunch of new people in who don't know any better, but since the foundation is rotten I don't see it ever go back to being worthwhile.
 
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FallenGrace

FallenGrace

Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,035
MatrixMan.exe said:
What are the two games in those gifs, OP?
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The first is a new RPG called Greedfall by Spiders (The Technomancer, Bound by Flame). It seems to be a fantasy take on the journey to americas with elemental and muskets.

The second is A Plague Tale. A story adventure set in France about a sister and two brothers surviving in the Hundred Years' War with a rat outbreak.
 
ericsp17

ericsp17

Member
Oct 27, 2017
480
Yeah Focus is quickly becoming one of my favorite publishers. The industry needs more like them. They make a lot of games that wouldn't get made otherwise.
 

Harlequin

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
1,614
AudioEppa said:
Nothing about their catalog looked interesting until I saw A Plague Tale. If they get behind more story focused titles in the future, i'll keep them on my radar.
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They do have more story-focused titles:

The Council is already out. It's sort of a blend between adventure game and RPG where all of your skills are centered around conversation and investigation. instead of combat. I haven't finished it yet but it's pretty cool from what I've played. Some of it is a bit janky and you can tell that it didn't have a very big budget but it's entertaining and it's very story-focused.

Vampyr is also already out. It does have more action in it (and some of it can be a bit difficult and/or frustrating) but also has a big focus on story. Lots of interesting characters whose arcs you can influence, etc.

Greedfall isn't out yet but it's basically a BioWare-esque RPG with more of a focus on diplomacy and navigating your way through a world filled with rivalling factions. That will definitely be very story-focused.

They've also already teased new collaborations with Dontnod (Vampyr) and Asobo (A Plague Tale) which will undoubtedly be narrative-heavy, as well.
 
Rhaknar

Rhaknar

Member
Oct 26, 2017
42,466
as someone that JUST finished The Technomancer, my feelings are this:

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I like that they exist, and I actually like (well...I dunno about "like" lol) Spiders as a dev, but I dont think I've ever played a Spiders game I would call "good". And yes I know they dont just publish Spiders games, but it seems to be what they are most known for.
 
crazillo

crazillo

Member
Apr 5, 2018
8,177
Great thread! I absolutely agree, maybe they should try to up their PR a bit and find novel ways to get on everybody's radar.
 

Harlequin

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
1,614
Rhaknar said:
as someone that JUST finished The Technomancer, my feelings are this:

source.gif


I like that they exist, and I actually like (well...I dunno about "like" lol) Spiders as a dev, but I dont think I've ever played a Spiders game I would call "good". And yes I know they dont just publish Spiders games, but it seems to be what they are most known for.
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Perhaps to you but they've had a bunch of other successful, relatively well-known games: Vampyr, The Surge, Sherlock Holmes, Styx,...

Reducing them to just Spiders games feels kind of uninformed on your part, no offence. (That being said, I enjoyed Technomancer a great deal despite all its jank and am very much looking forward to Spiders' next game, Greedfall.)
 
Jawmuncher

Jawmuncher

Crisis Dino
Moderator
Oct 25, 2017
38,396
Ibis Island
I think it's because of their name. They need to change it. "Home Interactive" just makes you sound like a cheap brand, which they might sort of be. But you don't want to remind people of that . I'm always reminded of this when I hear their name.

maxresdefault.jpg
 
Norwegian_Imposter

Norwegian_Imposter

Circumventing a ban with an alt account
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
1,757
Holy hell, looking back at this and seeing the amount of banned members is quite startling.
 
Mentalist

Mentalist

Member
Mar 14, 2019
17,976
Focus Home is unquestionably the most interesting mid-tier publisher. They publish a wide variety of lower-budget titles, which I feel is great, because it generates a lot more new IPs and gets some genuinely novel ideas out there.

And their games are usually priced below AAA release price, which makes me more likely to pick them up close to release.

Here's hoping Plague Tale does good numbers, and I'm excited for GreedFall.
 
Mentalist

Mentalist

Member
Mar 14, 2019
17,976
Birdseye said:
Is it specific to European games?
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Not really (Outward had the same thing said about it and it's a Canadian dev team).

Basically it's a designation for RPGs whose ambition and scope outweighs their budget, leaving some aspects feeling unpolished or "janky" .

Spiders (French RPG developer whose 5 games have been published by Focus Home) is quintessential euro-jank.
 

Harlequin

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
1,614
Jawmuncher said:
I think it's because of their name. They need to change it. "Home Interactive" just makes you sound like a cheap brand, which they might sort of be. But you don't want to remind people of that . I'm always reminded of this when I hear their name.

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I agree, their name isn't doing them any favours. They could maybe just shorten it to Focus. Or Focus Interactive? Focus Games? TBH, I like just Focus, actually.
 
FallenGrace

FallenGrace

Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,035
Norwegian_Imposter said:
Holy hell, looking back at this and seeing the amount of banned members is quite startling.
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Yeah no kidding, I feel pretty honoured to have posted in this thread a fair bitand survived based on the account bans in here 0_o

Loving the good scores for Plague Tale, can't wait to play it but I can't afford it right now and still haven't got to Vampyr yet....
 
Acorn

Acorn

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,972
Scotland
They are one of the few publishers that are making middle tier games. It had hollowed out last gen just leaving Indies and AAA, killing off many Devs and publishers in the process.

It's good to see because some of my favourite games growing up have been mid tier stuff.
 
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