8 Video Game Developers Who Totally Sold Out
Integrity? Never heard of him.
At its very core, a video game developer begins a project with two simple concepts in mind.
To tell a story, and for that story to be successful. As horrible as it is to focus on, the pursuit of financial reward for their efforts is an integral part of the process, as not only is the livelihood of the developer at stake, but successful titles attract bigger budgets, bigger opportunities, and of course increase the reach the narrative their trying to tell can have.
Still, at some point, developers come to a crossroads, where the two ideals of storytelling and monetary gain don't walk the same path together but pull in different directions.
Maybe the narrative you're trying to tell isn't going to attract a mainstream audience, maybe it's not going to sell well because it doesn't tick the boxes that a lot of other successful titles have done in the past. In that case, the question is, "Are you ok with this?"
If yes, then you've chosen to forgo big bucks for some artistic integrity... and if you chose the other route?
Well, you pretty much confirm to the world that you may indeed be a sellout and you end up on lists like these.
8. Bethesda
It was the DLC drop heard around the world. A clattering mess of horse armour that some would argue was the slippery slope that led Bethesda from being one of the most respected video game developers to the questionable quagmire of desperate greed that it is today.
The moment that this completely useless horse-based accessory hit the market, the internet was awash in the hammering of keyboards expressing their resentment at being charged for this tin foil tat. Yet, Bethesda wasn't deterred by this, and over the years the increasingly alarming rate at which their titles have become bloated by DLC has only grown and grown.
As it stands now Fallout 76 may well be the monument to all their sins, a barely functioning mess of a title that favours stuffing the framework full of DLC skins and items over implementing critical feature fixing. A company of this size should never be releasing titles of this poor quality, especially given their history, and it's a damning indication that they've all but given up the ghost at this stage.
At least it'll be Microsofts problem now, and they have a great track record of handling developers... right?