Yeah they're just one of a few examples of people who should've said something by now. Their secrecy makes zero sense, compounded by the fact that they released two cryptic tweets four months apart with no end in sight.
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Is the secrecy surrounding the games industry warranted?
- Thread starter Secretofmateria
- Start date
I think these are the biggest reasons games aren't announced earlier to be honest. Video games are more prone to being cancelled than Movies. There are a lot more dynamics that go into Video games obviously. I think just hearing a lot of other scalebounds, star wars 1313s, and Silent Hills early on would be disappointing. Also a lot of games drastically change after initially being shown especially considering if they show gameplay. I can see all of the puddle-gate, and watchdogs controversies happening 10 times over if games are announced earlier and show gameplay. Also the speculation of if something exists or not is pretty fun. Sure leaks are becoming more prominent nowadays, but a lot of them are fake so there's still a grain of salt before getting that ultimate payoff/confirmation when a game is officially announced. Overall, I'm a fan of the secrecy. Let me know when it's pretty much close to being done.
Yeah I mean more in that 2015-16 was kinda the last time it really happened, for the most part. We've had things like
The question is if Naughty Dog and Square Enix avoid it going forward with their next projects
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Gamers being so reactionary is probably the industry's own fault tbh, they encourage the behavior with marketing strategies. There are more than a few cases of companies being really transparent and that being recieved positively, like the MP4 being rebooted announcement. Id rather things be less secret.
I used to think the industry needed more transparency, but considering the maturity levels of the average gamer and the immediate cries of "downgrade" or what have you when anything is shown early makes me think it's best that gamers learn patience.
People are already going "Guess this is cancelled, probably because it was really bad or development was fucked" when you don't hear about a game for 3 weeks.
OP
OP
i think the only game that could get away with that is half life 3
I think they should be more open about their projects. The secrecy gets tiring. I'm not saying you need to show gameplay that might change, but concept art, ideas, and updates on progress would all be nice to see. Even behind the scenes, and discussions with the staff. Twitch streams with developers where they talk about their game. Once everyone gets use to this I'm sure it would be fine.
Gamers are largely an immature, impatient and reactionary lot and there's almost no winning with them. I'd say the secrecy is warranted. Probably easier for companies to handle complaints of "Where's the game?!?!" than literal threats when final products don't entirely resemble what was shown 2-4 years prior.
oh i dunno, lets ask the no mans sky team
i bet they have acquired strong feels about premature announcements
i bet they have acquired strong feels about premature announcements
They'll announce things when they feel it's best to. Gamers need to stop being so crazy impatient. I'm surprised no one's thrown out "anti-consumer" in this thread
Ah right, forgot about that since they barely showed anything for years. Still, there are plenty of other games coming out soon/that came out within the past 2 years that had pretty short announce-to-release schedules.
Oh for sure, I just thought your inclusion of Cyberpunk was funny.
Oh, without a question, are you kidding me? Hype is worth a lot in this industry... look at the hype that built around FF7R when they first announced it at E3. If that announcement would've leaked with a couple of dingy images beforehand, the excitement level would've been much less. Instead, everything went properly and those videos of people jumping up and down is worth a ton in terms of marketing value.
A lot of stuff can change in game development. Way more than in movies or any other medium.
Games can get cancelled, gameplay can undergo large changes. I can imagine it would be hard for devs to say anything when anything they say might not end up working out.
Consider how people react to games where the trailer was way better with AI or graphics. The devs get attacked for bullshots, scripted trailers, etc.
Developers have a lot of competition so they have to work hard to please their audience. Any backwards steps in features can be quite a throw back. And the announcement hype can be a powerful marketing tool.
Maybe the industry would be fine without the secrecy, but it would be a very different industry and not likely for the better.
Games can get cancelled, gameplay can undergo large changes. I can imagine it would be hard for devs to say anything when anything they say might not end up working out.
Consider how people react to games where the trailer was way better with AI or graphics. The devs get attacked for bullshots, scripted trailers, etc.
Developers have a lot of competition so they have to work hard to please their audience. Any backwards steps in features can be quite a throw back. And the announcement hype can be a powerful marketing tool.
Maybe the industry would be fine without the secrecy, but it would be a very different industry and not likely for the better.
Yup.
Revealing games early rarely has benefits that outweigh the risks
Actually yes, because most project are either too different in the beggining compared to the final product or are cancelled.
Development hell is a thing, I was super eager about Retro's next game but since I have no idea what they were working on, I can only care so much. P.T., Platinum's dragon game, Metroid Prime 4 etc.
So there is little to gain unveiling things too early.
Games are cancelled and change drasticlly right up to the last stretch, its risky showing anything before that point, and by waiting people do their marketing via hype threads and word of mouth. Its Win-win for them to wait
How else can you keep wages down and workers' rights limited if not for massive NDAs and other secret-keeping measures?
No, it's not warranted. It's a sign of an immature industry. The notion that if a game is announced it'll lead to constant questions or harassment from fans is baseless. A very, very small minority of fans would act that way.
The overwhelming majority of gamers would like to know if there's going to be another entry in their favourite series. You don't need to give out all the details mechanics, etc, because obviously things change.
But I find it bizarre that it's still a mystery whether another, say, Splinter Cell or Bioshock is in development.
The overwhelming majority of gamers would like to know if there's going to be another entry in their favourite series. You don't need to give out all the details mechanics, etc, because obviously things change.
But I find it bizarre that it's still a mystery whether another, say, Splinter Cell or Bioshock is in development.
Look at any thread for a game that was announced and then canceled. It gets ugly.
OP gave their interpretation to the prompt, "Is the secrecy surrounding the games industry warranted?"
With GDC coming up soon, I'm giving a realistic, but different, perspective of that question.
Hell, I joined a game production job for a title with a peak CCU of 1,000 a decade ago and if I even gave basic comments about what lies they offered to the public about non-privileged aspects of community management they can still try to sue me. Even if I don't think I'd lose, still having that hang over me eight years show an insane level of secrecy the games industry looms over its workers.
It's telling that the biggest argument for why the secrecy is warranted is because gamers are such utter trash that they have to be actively pacified to minimize fallout.
There's so much toxic shit in this industry and medium, from the constant never-ending hype cycle for announcements to the way gamers constantly get whipped up into a frenzied fervor (both by companies and by themselves) to all of the cults of personality from news watchdogs to reaction farms to clout-chasers to the encouraged overall perpetual immaturity of essentially the entire damn industry. All the secrecy really does is fuel all of that shit.
The hyper-secrecy isn't just unwarranted, it's unnecessary. And if this space could actually fucking behave itself it wouldn't be this huge problem.
And I say all this while being addicted to Smash reveals, for the record.
There's so much toxic shit in this industry and medium, from the constant never-ending hype cycle for announcements to the way gamers constantly get whipped up into a frenzied fervor (both by companies and by themselves) to all of the cults of personality from news watchdogs to reaction farms to clout-chasers to the encouraged overall perpetual immaturity of essentially the entire damn industry. All the secrecy really does is fuel all of that shit.
The hyper-secrecy isn't just unwarranted, it's unnecessary. And if this space could actually fucking behave itself it wouldn't be this huge problem.
And I say all this while being addicted to Smash reveals, for the record.
Gamers are a very toxic bunch, even in forums like ours (where we're suppose to be the good ones), things can get pretty hectic. It's just not worth it for developers to put it all out there and then received critical backlash when things are rightfully scrapped or changed.
Announcing games too early leads to lowered sales because the hype died off. Only the biggest, most well-known franchises can get away with announcing a new game years from launch. And Nintendo has proved that waiting to announce a game as long as possible doesn't hurt anyone.
The movie industry is just as secretive, it's just harder to keep the secrets when you have to do your filming where other people can see, and have so many people involved in many different production companies working together.
The movie industry is just as secretive, it's just harder to keep the secrets when you have to do your filming where other people can see, and have so many people involved in many different production companies working together.
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I like how capcom's approach has been this gen of a quick turn around from announcement to release.
Jeez I hope so. Whenever SE decides to announce FF XVI I want it to be released within the following year - 18 months.
I feel like the industry has to allow for a strict balance of necessary privacy and transparency. Do I need a leak of the next big game to come? No. Especially if it affects people jobs. Do I want a full glass door view of the development next Conker x Banjo? From concept to development to cancellation? Nope. Some ideas don't deserve publicity when they aren't fully realized. Once it gets out, the judgement begins. Sometimes reveals at the wrong time can completely destroy the rollout before it begins.
Console information is similar too. I always appreciate official info, albeit without the PR tinged seasoning, vs random leaks. But at the same time, I appreciate surprise and a good hype train makes me tingly lol...
Console information is similar too. I always appreciate official info, albeit without the PR tinged seasoning, vs random leaks. But at the same time, I appreciate surprise and a good hype train makes me tingly lol...