Larian’s head of publishing has commented on the volatility of the gaming industry, arguing that games do not need to have broad appeal to succeed. He also pushes back against the belief that all games need to be free-to-play, and that gamers are willing to put down money for a game as long as it’s good.
This comes after the Xbox rolled out another wave of layoffs, resulting in studio closures and games being cancelled. Many in the industry have been critical of this, speaking out against the obsession with short-term success, and Xbox’s push to a subscription-based model with Game Pass.
Gamers Want Good Games, Not Necessarily Free Games, Says Larian’s Head Of Publishing
This latest critique comes from Michael Douse, head of publishing at Larian, best known for Baldur’s Gate 3.
“I think one of the fundamental misunderstandings is that idea that players want ‘free games.’ They want good games. They can be free-to-play, they can be paid, but they need to be good,” Douse says. “You can’t avoid that this is a hit-based industry. The problem is there isn’t enough mindspace for the amount of games that would ideally be hits. Therefore, the majority can’t be hits, even if they’re good.”
While that does sound like the industry is doomed to fail, Douse does have some practical advice on how companies can increase their odds of success. “If you have an audience and hyper-focus on your niche, you don’t need to be traditionally high scoring to succeed,” he argues. “Broad doesn’t necessarily mean successful. Farming Simulator will outlive us all.”
He also goes after studios that “buy a bunch of developers and churn content,” which could apply to any number of the giants in the industry. We’ve certainly seen this with Activision Blizzard, which was then bought by Microsoft. And then there’s Sony, which has its own issues with its live service endeavours.
In terms of what can translate to success, it’s very possible that this is what’s worked for Larian. Baldur’s Gate 3 was a monumental success, and that was without dulling down RPG elements for a wider audience. Turns out, many players were happy to learn the D&D mechanics and give turn-based combat a chance.
As for the prevalence of the free-to-play model, there’s some truth to that as well. Fortnite dominates the industry as a F2P title, but it is also a very good game. We also see this kind of huge ongoing success with Minecraft, which does have a pricetag. On the flip side, there are some who feel that Concord would have had a better shot if it were F2P, since other hero shooters are now (namely Overwatch 2, and after the Concord disaster, Marvel Rivals). But that’s all hypothetical – there’s a very real chance that being available for free wouldn’t have helped matters at all.
In the meantime, many devs have been left out of work, thanks to Microsoft’s layoffs. We are still seeing the fallout come to light, but in any case, it is clear that the industry at large is not in a good place.
- Date Founded
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1996
- Headquarters
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Ghent, Belgium
- Known For
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Baldur’s Gate