The future of gaming belongs to weird little games

Following Baratro, Animal Well, Content Walking, and the Aviotic Factor of 2024, small games in small studios are more innovative than anyone else.

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(Image quoted source: Miscellaneous)

People who make up the game industry in the world have witnessed thousands of peers, and continues to be covered in unstable situations.Famous studios are depending on the owner of a trillion dollarThe economy of toys where the closing of the prestigious studio by the owner of the $ trillions of $ trillions does not mean survival.Success does not mean survival..

However, if you want to hear it from the bottomless swamp and hear it, there is at least one message that is clear and encouraging screaming from the roof.

Let's look back on this year's unconventional violence:

1. "CO-OP staying in a half life that makes alias soup in Black Messa" developed by a 10-member group in New Zealand.
2. "Poker, but crazy" by Canadian premier game developers.
3. "What if Pikachu has a gun and can make the Pikachu you don't choose?
4. "Metroid, but you always ball."
5. A medieval city builder that micromatage 14 families to make bread
6. Resident Evil, but station wagon
7. "What if YouTube is hell?
8. "Vampire Survivors, Deplock Galactic
9. "Diablo, but just stock the dungeon as it is."

This is not a cute trend, but a seismic activity. He has been on PC Gamer for 16 years, but has never seen such a dense outsider success. There is a number and time peak, from 1 million sales of Palworld in 8 hours to 8 million units in six days. Since January 1, unexpected foreigners have appeared on average every 16 days.

Why being small is an asset

It is not a coincidence that all these newcomers are small studios and small publishers. Small studios are usually willing to take more creative risks than listed companies. howeverThere are exceptionsUbee isoft, EA, and blizzards are more curious than you want.

In the case of larg e-scale games, it takes time to develop a strategic weakness. "Diablo 3" and "4" took about 10 years, respectively. Starfield] took eight years. The Suicide Squad / Justice League took seven years. New GTA and Fallout,Some fans lament.It'll take a decade, as we saw in April when it aired on very good television. At such a sluggish pace, one wonders how any big-budget game can keep up with any trends.

(Let's not give unnecessary sympathy to major game publishers): Imagine you're the CEO of a major game developer in 2017. The American superhero film Logan was the first of its kind to be nominated for an Academy Award.Free-to-play licensed hero shooterThis is arguably the weakest period for both Overwatch and Marvel) and goes into beta seven years later.

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"Content Warning" is the latest evolution of the thriving category of "Discord hangout horror games," which are based on melee chat and jumping. (Image source: Landfall)

Compared to these slow-moving frigates, smaller games can take advantage of the ever-changing winds of interest by showing their sails. The content warning, scaled back in March, was a take on the salt around the deadly company Aura, itself the work of one 21-year-old developer inspired by other weird little games, including Fascophobia. The content warning was a surprise to many developers,made almost in a monthduring a trip to South Korea. Thanks in part to the ubiquity of dissent since the pandemic, the content warning understood that the general public was very comfortable buying a $10 can that would make them and their friends laugh.

High replayability is one of the quiet big trends. Compared to five or ten years ago, players expect high replayability from more types of games, whether single-player or not. This expectation has led most of the world's biggest developers and publishers to produce projects with five- or ten-year lifespans, like Destiny 2, Overwatch, Apex Legends, and Rainbow Six Siege.

Small games fit into our lives, which are already occupied by one or two big games.

To be playable forever, these giant games need to constantly replenish themselves with new material and operate ever-evolving (usually competitive) multiplayer modes, which require enormous resources to maintain. In comparison, small games that are "forever replayable" tend to rely on things like mechanics-driven systems, roguelike formats, or procedural level generation.SPELUNKY 2's Cosmic Ocean FinaleSmaller studios have this premise up front for their Balatro fix, so they often cook up the weirdest and most fascinating ideas, like Phasmophobia's security camera booth, Balatro's satisfying jackpot, or using Phasmophobia's open source screen recorder to splice video clips into actual WebM files.

The other (small) elephant in the room is fitting a small toy into our lives, which are already occupied by one or two big toys. In 2023, according to an analysis by one data company,60% of playtime will be spent on games that are more than six years old.. Dota 2, Escape from Tarkov, LOL, Counter-Strike, WOW, etc. are because it feels like the horizon of games is forever a theme.

If you are one of the many people who have sworn off one of the 1. 000-hour giants (Hunt: Showdown), you know that it is easier to incorporate small and unusual games into your daily routine than something skyscraper-shaped. You don't need to convince your entire Discord server to change your lifestyle to enjoy Baratro.

"Vampire Survivors 2022" was another small game that leaned into weirdness. (Image credit: Poncle)

Small infinity

The enthusiastic reception that small games enjoyed in the first half of 2024 is not coming. It's the age of the warlords. This trend will continue because the conditions that create it will continue:

• The tools to make toys have never been more affordable.
• Anyone can publish a game on Steam for $100.
• It allows for a domino effect of popularity by capitalizing on the motivation of filmmakers to react to the latest unexpected hit.
• Games tend to follow their predecessors, so user tastes evolve rapidly.
• In terms of visibility, digital distribution is an ecosystem where smaller studios can enjoy the same level of entertainment as the world's largest studios, compared to decades ago when most people bought games at retail stores.
• PCs are platforms where small games are likely to be born, and is also a place for historical game experiments.

What I want to say is that the great game is not hopeless. As mentioned above, I think it will continue to be a relatively fixed set in the future.~The 20 service games seem to be established forever in the landscape.Many of us are exhausted by the shape of the business model and content aisle..

Heldiver 2, the biggest hit this year, has just realized our awareness of what an excellent service game is.

When thinking about this trend, it cannot be ignored that Heldivers 2, the biggest surprise of the year, recorded the highest sales in Sony's PC game history.Recorded the best sales in Sony's PC game.By upgrading our awareness of what the PlayStation public service should be. In 2023, about 100 Arrowhead developers were not small, but only a few of DEVs of 2, 000.CorpsThis is part of the biggest game franchise. Heldivers 2 is a proud heritage of Arrowhead, which has been making strange games.Appointed a game masterAs a doll supporting SF, pseudo MMO, shooting games, and parody of system cooperationBizarre firearmsStrange marketingSprinkle misinformationAnd a strangely fused battle pass.

The open production was the good part of "Dave the Diver" (Image Quoted: Mintrocket)

Speaking of recent games that have been sitting at the big and small intersections and some people feel uncomfortable, Dave the Diver is simple but deep.Best Design Award 2023Ο ο"Indies?"Last year's Dave Dave was irritated because many commentators were all about meaning.

It was a creative achievement that Nexon, a $ 14 billion company, made a game that really felt like a small group's vision. The complex history of a major publisher to spin indie game labels indicates how difficult it is to make unique things like Dave the Diver, regardless of the support of major companies. RiotCurrently closedHe won the League of Legend five times in four years. 2K private departmentDeveloped in front of youDespite the good movements of RollerDrome, Penny's Big Breakaway, and the Kerbal Space project, which represents the indie, are doing good movements. Square Enix Collector has a 1 0-year history, hitting the simulator Powerwash. And last week, Ubee IsoftEarly access to Prince of Persian Roglite"DEAD CELLS: RETURN TO CASTLEVANIA" produced by Evil Empire, a studio named Triple-I.

The small spirit of the game is alive. It is a sign of vitality that mediocre studios can be punched frequently as in 2024. We intend to show the forefront of a more curious small game at the PC Gaming Show held on June 9th.June 9th PC gaming showIn the summer. & amp; lt; Pan & amp; gt;, "RollerDrome", "Penny's Big Breakaway", and the indie project "Kerbal Space", despite the good movement of games. Square Enix Collector has a 1 0-year history with the simulator "Powerwash". And last week, Ubee Isoft