Level 38: Riot Games Begins its Valve Takeover
Riot's Project A gives killer impressions and is looking be the game that overtakes CS:GO
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney (Source: The Verge)
Politics & Games: Figuring out how to strike a balance
Much like movies and books, video games as a form of entertainment are also an important platform for self-expression and exploration of important themes. Except, unlike movies and books, video gaming gives us a profound push and pull; that is, the very nature of the ecosystem is built on investing in player autonomy; empowering players through narration, content creation, live streaming, and of course, gameplay.
I bring this up because CEO of Epic Games, Tim Sweeney, recently gave a talk calling for a more delicate balance of politics in games. I’m not sure I agree, but with the massive Asian gaming market teetering toward different political ideologies (i.e Blizzard’s controversy in China), I appreciate the complexities of his statement.
Tim began his talk by discussing the 1960 Harper Lee novel To Kill a Mockingbird and how art, like games, can serve as a discussion piece from politics. "If you think back to To Kill a Mockingbird and the impact that had on people's views in the time, I think that's a genuine outlet for games. It really makes people think about things." Sweeney changed lanes from the idea of games as a political medium and talked about the need for a “separation of church and state” model between politics and gaming companies. Sweeney argued that game companies “should get the marketing departments out of politics.” -- Matt Kim of IGN referencing Tim Sweeney’s Keynote
How do you even begin to create games for a global economy? How can your game expand without interest from Asia? Is it the responsibility of game developers, like authors and artists, to use their mediums to take a stand? This is so complicated, but will the trade-off of decadence without politics be worth it? Not every game can be cartoony and disconnected from reality as Fortnite has been. Some of the industries best titles are quite the opposite.
Later, on Twitter, Tim qualified his earlier statements, calling that it would ultimately be up to the creatives to moderate the game from a neutral perspective. I believe that this is an important point. What’s the purpose of a game? To get people thinking; perhaps to create social cohesion; to make a point? When creating the game, those who are in charge must be absolute “else the potential for undue influence from within or without is far too high.” At any rate, food for thought when consuming video game content. What is the messaging behind what you’re playing? How are you playing, and how does it make you feel? How might it be received in different environments or cultures? What does a truly global game devoid of ‘undue influence’ look like?
His main point: games can be political from a creative perspective, but should never be from a marketing standpoint. Link
Riot Games’ Project A
This was by far the coolest thing of the week. CS:GO commentator HenryG was one of the first people to try out one of Riot Games’ newest titles, CS:GO-esque Project A. Riot Games, historically known for being the creator of League of Legends has been heavily investing in a variety of new titles/genres for release in the coming years. HenryG loved the demo, and shared some much requested info about what to expect from this title:
The game is a 5v5, round based, tactical shooter
The game mixes elements of class/hero based games (think Overwatch) with FPS elements (like CS:GO)
The “hero” abilities are a secondary-focus in the game. Think a souped-up perk from Call of Duty, rather than the overt game-changing actions of Overwatch
The game runs on an economy system; getting kills, planting a bomb etc. gives players more currency to power-up as the rounds continue
If that wasn’t enough, HenryG, an ex-CS:Go pro, said with definitive certainty that Project A is the best game he has played since Counterstrike.
All of this bodes extremely well for Riot Games. Their onslaught of new releases and media coverage is building steady hype in a multitude of different fanbases. It also helps that every game they’ve teased is drawing comparisons to some of the industry's juggernauts. I’ve been considering what is going through the minds of Riot Execs when deciding what to build and how to announce it over the course of the last few years, and arrived at a few conclusions:
Riot is confident in the staying power of any title they release. They’ve built an empire on a single game, and they’re confident they can do it again
League has shown Riot how to build a successful professional esport, and now they’re taking their learnings where the lion’s share of non-MOBA money lies (fighters and shooters)
Riot is uniquely positioned to take Valve’s approach of parlaying a steady stream of blockbuster hits into some sort of platform play.
The thinking here is that the real money lies in letting others use your platform. Valve games can only be bought on Steam, so other developers followed suit. This puts Riot in a position away from current second-tier platform competitors (like Discord or Epic Games)
The above points are just the tip of the iceberg. New advancements in competitive platforms, streaming, chatting etc. will allow Riot to keep an iron hold on the industry for years to come. If you’re interested in the future of esports, best to keep eyes on anything with their name on it.
Quick Bites:
Lots of people (including us at PB) were baited into a fake Nintendo Direct. @NintwndoAmerica — the spread of misinformation is so real. Link
In their mounting efforts to make Dota 2 a better community, Valve banned 40,000 accounts for matchmaking abuse. This likely encompasses ‘smurf’ (skilled players playing on less experienced) accounts and players who troll during matches. Link
Flyquest’s newly appointed CEO, Tricia Sugita, practices what they preach: environmentalism, the representation of the color of green, shared visions, collaborative philosophy. This interview is authentic and genuine. Link
Op-ed from the creators of Dead Cells on why they released (and the importance of releasing) their legacy update. Link
Every one of your Pokemon Home questions answered. The expensive price point of $16 demonstrates the inertia and staying power or IP. Will people readily pay for this as it stands without the Pokemon Go integration ? Link
A short opinion piece on Facebook Gaming’s recent and rapid growth. Link
Olebe claims that beyond what Facebook can offer creators in contract money, its advertising infrastructure is better established than those of Twitch and Mixer, and eventually it will be able to offer gamers better opportunities to monetize their streams that don’t involve big contracts. - Chris Stokel-Walker
Gamesindustry.biz partnered with Epic Games to release tutorials on Unreal Engine. Link
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