1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,400 The year is 2002. I approach the desk at the rental store with a freshly minted copy of the 2 00:00:06,400 --> 00:00:12,240 Elder Scrolls 3 Morrowind. After handing over my change and scurrying home, I proceed to play for 3 00:00:12,240 --> 00:00:18,880 roughly 24 hours straight, more captivated by this finely crafted world than anything I had seen 4 00:00:18,880 --> 00:00:26,000 in my entire 11 and a half years of life. Even boobs. I woke my dad up the next morning by professing 5 00:00:26,080 --> 00:00:31,520 my love of this game and begging him to buy a real copy of it to replace my rental version. 6 00:00:31,520 --> 00:00:37,360 To my surprise, he agreed. My dad and I would take turns playing on a shared save file where one of 7 00:00:37,360 --> 00:00:42,160 us would read through the player's guide and direct the other who would control the character. 8 00:00:42,160 --> 00:00:47,360 These are some of my favorite gaming memories ever. We use that player's guide so much it 9 00:00:47,360 --> 00:00:52,720 barely holds together at this point. The cover has been missing for decades. I was driven to get 10 00:00:52,720 --> 00:00:58,480 into software development because I wanted to work for Bethesda for Todd Howard. I wanted to make 11 00:00:58,480 --> 00:01:03,680 things like Morrowind, this piece of art that means so much to me. To say this is my favorite game 12 00:01:03,680 --> 00:01:10,560 ever would be an understatement. Fast forward 21 years to Starfield's release and I tried with every 13 00:01:10,560 --> 00:01:16,160 fiber of my being to find that diamond in the rough but it just wasn't there. I bought the 14 00:01:16,160 --> 00:01:20,640 collector's edition. I tried to fight off the haters. I streamed it to try to add to the hype 15 00:01:20,640 --> 00:01:27,200 but it just fell flat. What went wrong? I don't really know. I work here, not in the gaming industry 16 00:01:27,200 --> 00:01:32,240 and there are people out there that have deconstructed Starfield far better than I can. I suggest 17 00:01:32,240 --> 00:01:36,880 Nakey Jakey's video on the topic he shares nearly identical views to me and is a better 18 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:42,160 presenter so just go watch that. What I want to talk about today isn't actually Starfield itself 19 00:01:42,160 --> 00:01:48,640 but the machine and the environment that made it. The industry is sick, not just Bethesda. 20 00:01:48,640 --> 00:01:53,520 Off the top of my head, other studios that have fallen from grace include Activision, 21 00:01:53,520 --> 00:02:00,400 Ubisoft, Blizzard, EA, 343 Studios and more. All titans of the industry that used to be known for 22 00:02:00,400 --> 00:02:07,840 releasing generational bangers over and over again but now seem to just fart out quadruple A grade 23 00:02:07,840 --> 00:02:14,720 trash. And it's not just bad games, it's bad culture, bad PR, bad management. From the very 24 00:02:14,720 --> 00:02:20,080 serious sexual harassment issues at Blizzard, EA claiming egregious microtransactions are there 25 00:02:20,080 --> 00:02:26,640 to enable a sense of pride and accomplishment and rampant layoffs. It's clear something is wrong 26 00:02:26,640 --> 00:02:32,560 and no I'm not here to suggest a fix but I am here to identify a pattern. See we've seen this 27 00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:38,960 before. Look at Atari and Activision from back in the late 70s. Atari's leadership was floundering 28 00:02:38,960 --> 00:02:46,800 and some of their key talent broke off freeing themselves and forming Activision. I might be 29 00:02:46,800 --> 00:02:52,960 grasping at straws here but it feels cyclical. Many giants of the 90s and early 2000s are losing 30 00:02:52,960 --> 00:02:58,320 their spark and in some cases splinter teams are starting to form. Some examples of this would be 31 00:02:58,320 --> 00:03:03,680 Dreamhaven and Frost Giant, Splinters from Blizzard or Stoic Studio, a splinter from EA. 32 00:03:03,680 --> 00:03:09,920 There are others as well and more are forming all the time and you can feel it too right. It's not 33 00:03:09,920 --> 00:03:16,000 just those. A new dawn seems to be rising. Steam records are getting smashed left and right 34 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:23,040 unexpectedly. Arrowhead Studios, the makers of wildly successful Helldivers 2 proudly proclaims 35 00:03:23,040 --> 00:03:29,760 on their website that a game made for everyone is a game made for no one. From software unabashedly 36 00:03:29,760 --> 00:03:35,200 sticks to their guns when it comes to difficulty and game design, eventually releasing the utterly 37 00:03:35,200 --> 00:03:41,600 jaw-dropping Elden Ring. Larian Studios takes a risk releasing a D&D format game in 2023, 38 00:03:41,600 --> 00:03:47,840 something many people and studios balked at. Yet gamers can't get enough and it easily won Game 39 00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:54,560 of the Year continues to receive endless praise and their leader Sven Vicki seems to be incapable of 40 00:03:54,640 --> 00:04:00,160 saying or doing anything not completely based. The future is bright. It's a great time to be a 41 00:04:00,160 --> 00:04:06,240 gamer. Try not to sweat the failures of the old gods and instead enjoy the successes of the new 42 00:04:06,240 --> 00:04:11,840 ones. Thanks for listening to me ramble. Thanks for being subscribed to Flowplain and I'll see you next time.