Community MetaSteam | September 2023 - The galaxy awaits
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Would you have to delete this file every time you boot up the game or when it's doing shader precompilation?
Still, rather neat discovery. Hope nixxes can still patch the game to make this unnecessary on fast ssds
Unlike many people here, I don't think Embracer had the wrong idea with their acquisitions. I read some news a while ago that annual revenue from the gaming industry was more than the movie and music industries combined. Now I'm not sure how recent these figures are and whether or not they were skewed by the pandemic but Embracer didn't just start now. They saw this coming a long time ago. They have been doing this for at least 10 years (since the time they bought THQ assets after that company's demise).
Sweden's Embracer weighs options for Borderlands maker Gearbox Entertainment -sources
Embracer is considering options for its U.S. game developer Gearbox Entertainment including a sale as Europe’s largest gaming company looks to shore up its finances, three people familiar with the...www.marketscreener.com
The thing about this game publishing business is that it takes aeons to get it going if you're starting from scratch. If you think about it, all the big publishers that exist today (EA, Activision, Take 2, Ubisoft, Square Enix) got their start in the 1990s. The console platform holders are all at least 2-3 decades old and even then we've seen how the youngest of them (xbox) is having some trouble keeping their house in order with publishing. The only way to get into this business right now is through acquisitions.
And while it hasn't turned out well for Embracer, there are some mistakes they made and some things that were out of their control. The thing that couldn't have done anything about was the Covid pandemic. The monetary policy adopted by the central banks of many countries during that period contributed to the global inflation we're seeing today and now central banks are trying to walk it back by raising interest rates. Money has gotten more expensive to borrow. Which means the input costs for running a business have gone up. This is not an Embracer problem... this is affecting every single business in the world today. Everyone is trying to cut costs right now.
I personally think Embracer made two big mistakes. The first one, and this going to sound unkind, is that they bought up a lot of garbage. Remember they started their acquisition spree about 10 years ago when THQ went bankrupt. And while it might have been worth it to buy up those studios and IPs if they were cheap enough, you have to remember that THQ went bankrupt for a reason. These were the very studios and IPs that did not lead to THQ remaining above water. Ever since then, with few exceptions, they have been buying up mid tier studios and IPs. They built up a portfolio of what we usually refer to as AA games/IPs. The problem is those kinds of games do not have much of a market anymore. Consumers have spoken and we do not buy those games in big enough numbers to justify their production. Meanwhile game development has consistently gotten more and more expensive over time. People sometimes say that they could just manage their sales expectations and adjust the budget accordingly but development is so expensive that that would mean cutting many people out and having much shorter dev cycles which would lead to the product not reaching the quality standards that consumers demand anyway. There's a reason AA games have basically gone extinct in the current market.
The other big mistake they made is that they didn't go for a GAAS studio. Every publisher these days is either running a hit GAAS game or is searching for one. EA has FIFA ultimate team money that lets them try out a Dead Space or Immortals of Aveum once in a while. Activision has Call of Duty and Blizzard money which lets them try a Crash Bandicoot once in a blue moon. Take 2 has GTA money which lets them take a punt on something like The Outer Worlds now and then. Ubisoft is forever searching for their own GAAS hit lol. Only the platform holders can afford to go without that kind of money and even they are searching anyway with Sony getting Destiny and soon Microsoft will have Call of Duty. Recurring, persistent revenues from ongoing games is what lets companies take risks or absorb shocks when they happen. To my knowledge, Embracer didn't buy any company that would give them that cushion.
And so now we arrive where we are. They're looking to sell Borderlands which is one of their crown jewels in terms of IP and revenue potential. Things must be really bad at the company if this is where they are at. They still do have some companies doing well. Remnant 2 and Dead Island 2 did well. Satisfactory as well. Hopefully Amazon and Microsoft funding will keep Tomb Raider and Crystal Dynamics alive. Hopefully Eidos will get a chance to go back to Deus Ex. Some of their companies will be fine. Others will not survive. People lament the closure of Volition but to be blunt it's kind of a miracle they were alive this long to begin with. They haven't had a hit since Saints Row 4 came out 10 years ago. You absolutely cannot remain unprofitable for 10 years and hope to survive. What exactly was Embracer supposed to do then? They could try and sell the studio but are there any buyers for a studio with this track record and IP? That buyer would be making the same mistake Embracer did. Were they supposed to go to Volition and say "Hey, here's another 100 million dollars. We'll see you in 5 years with your next game. Maybe you'll make us money this time?". Were they supposed to fire 80% of the studio, kill all morale and then tell the remaining 20% that they have 1.5 years to put out another Freespace game? The truth is Volition was on borrowed time long before Embracer ended it. And I expect this might happen to some more studios. I hope places like Piranha Bytes can survive but the sad truth is that these companies are in a business (AA games) that does not have a sustainable market anymore. Embracer's mistake of buying them would not have changed that basic reality and they would have had to face it independently anyway. It's all pretty unfortunate.
Well this is just amazing.
Unlikely as it already has a decent EA discount (13$ vs 20$ for 1.0).
But, at the consoles release we had articles saying PC would hold gaming back?
Call me jaded but I think that file and behaviour is there by design in order to make the PS5 look better in comparisson.
If this actually makes significant use of my CPU, I'd be kinda stunned. My PC has an i5 12600K and an RTX 3070, I have yet to play a game that makes my CPU sweat, the GPU's always the one that makes performance bottlenecks happen.
...Though looking at the game now, it does make all 16 threads hit 60-70%.
Ooooh, neat!
...Wait, the font for number hints is the same one used in Picross games on the Switch. Like, it's the exact same one. Huh.
Nah, Nixxes has no issues with making the consoles look bad, they even added plenty new futures to their PC ports, like ray traced shadows for the spidey games. We are also talking about a second or so improvement, so it's quite possible that they simply thought it was "good enough" and didn't consider further optimisations.
If they wanted to make it artificially slower, then there's far easier things they could do than checking whether a random file is there. This looks a geniune bug
Unity plan pricing and packaging updates | Unity Blog
In January 2024, Unity will introduce a new Unity Runtime Fee based on game installs. Prior to this, Unity subscription plans will add cloud-based asset storage, Unity DevOps tools, and AI at runtime at no additional cost.
Fuck off Unity
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I misread that as unlimited kinks
Finished Remnant From the Ashes and honestly I have no idea why I put myself through that ordeal. At least solo the game isn't fun maybe playing in co-op improves things but there were certain core mechanics and design decisions that even playing with friends can't save. The tedious and unrewarding exploration, the endless waves of brainless enemies, the minion-spawning bosses (one of which is almost an exact copy of a Dark Souls boss), the repetitive levels and world architecture... it's all so bland and uninspiring.
Midway through the game I came to the conclusion the best comparisson to it is Dragon Age 2 and I also hate-played that game to completion, so I clearly have a problem.
I also love the fact that after beating the final boss you're teleported back to base and no one aknowledges what you just did. Just the cherry on top of a crap cake. Unless the sequel made significant structural changes I won't bother with it.
Midway through the game I came to the conclusion the best comparisson to it is Dragon Age 2 and I also hate-played that game to completion, so I clearly have a problem.
I also love the fact that after beating the final boss you're teleported back to base and no one aknowledges what you just did. Just the cherry on top of a crap cake. Unless the sequel made significant structural changes I won't bother with it.
Publisher released his unfinished game without approval.
They were supposed to help with completing the production.
(｡•́︿•̀｡)
Someone on Era said this might be retroactive.Unity plan pricing and packaging updates | Unity Blog
In January 2024, Unity will introduce a new Unity Runtime Fee based on game installs. Prior to this, Unity subscription plans will add cloud-based asset storage, Unity DevOps tools, and AI at runtime at no additional cost.blog.unity.com
Fuck off Unity
If so, expect a bunch of Unity games to get delisted from stores as cash-strapped indies and small publishers try to avoid having the rug pulled from under their feet.
That I can't believe, shit like that HAS to be illegal. Changing the terms and contract after the fact.
I mean, if you agree to terms that suggest Unity can change those terms at their whim, there might not be much you can do.
Thankfully it can only apply going forward, so developers won’t get rinsed for previous installs, but I expect many may pull their games to avoid accidentally crossing the $200k earnings threshold and getting a surprise bill.
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Giveaway
Hello, I'm the Giveaway Bot! Falexandre is giving away 3 gift(s).
This is a first-come, first-served giveaway. Once you enter, your key will be delivered to you instantly via a PM.
The following games are being given away:
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- Amerzone: The Explorer’s Legacy
- won by freshVeggie
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- Syberia
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- Syberia II
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I got less and less interested the more I read thorugh that. :V
This used to be great, dont think it works anymore.
Steam Community :: Group :: OG Skin 2004
OG-Steam is a skin I created to replicate the style of Steam from around 2004. I have restored as much as I can without losing any functionality. Since Valve kicked off the move to a web-based Steam client, certain components of Steam no longer use VGUI (Valve Graphical User Interface) for...
they could let you to buy any of the games released on Steam for these 20 years as a 20th anniversary gift.
I want Outrun 2: Coast to coast XD is the only game I miss in my collection : (
I want Outrun 2: Coast to coast XD is the only game I miss in my collection : (
is out
New character for KOF XV (included with character pass)
New character for KOF XV (included with character pass)
Free stuff celebrating 20 years of Steam on the point shop
Small indie game Only Up! delisted on September 8th
Only Up! was originally removed from Steam on June 30th, 2023 due to copyright claims. The game made it back to Steam briefly, but on September 6th, 2023, developer SCKR Games announced the impending removal of the game in a posting. SCKR Games also changed the name in the Steam entry to “not available” and the developer name to “Indiesolodev.” Here’s a look at the Steam entry from the Wayback Machine to see how it was. SCKR Games penned the following:
Wow!!, this game got viral on Twitch this summer by a lot of japanese streamers.
Only Up! was originally removed from Steam on June 30th, 2023 due to copyright claims. The game made it back to Steam briefly, but on September 6th, 2023, developer SCKR Games announced the impending removal of the game in a posting. SCKR Games also changed the name in the Steam entry to “not available” and the developer name to “Indiesolodev.” Here’s a look at the Steam entry from the Wayback Machine to see how it was. SCKR Games penned the following:
Code:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2381590/not_available/Wow!!, this game got viral on Twitch this summer by a lot of japanese streamers.
I looked through all the highlighted games thoughout the years. Up to and including 2019, I own about 80-90 % of the highlighted games.
From 2020 and forward, I own exactly.... 0 of the highlighted games.
EDIT: And even Fortnite gets a mention!
For Donghua I recommend Ling Cage. It's incredible, but also extremely heavy, so ymmv. Has a really distinct OP.
A Will Eternal is very fun too. Banger OP as well.
I was thinking I'd buy myself a game or two off my wishlist that's on sale for the Steam anniversary but surprisingly few of my wishlist games are. Not sure if I dare look at what deals they have going on and add to my list though
The Halloween Sale next month is probably gonna be better for general purpose buys. Unless you're eagerly looking for something new to play now, I'd recommend waiting until then.I was thinking I'd buy myself a game or two off my wishlist that's on sale for the Steam anniversary but surprisingly few of my wishlist games are. Not sure if I dare look at what deals they have going on and add to my list though
Early days but Yakuza 4 seems like a massive improvement over 3. This new guy Akiyama seems cool.
At this point between AC6, BG3 and Sea of Stars I might just not need to play any other games this year.
Unity plan pricing and packaging updates | Unity Blog
In January 2024, Unity will introduce a new Unity Runtime Fee based on game installs. Prior to this, Unity subscription plans will add cloud-based asset storage, Unity DevOps tools, and AI at runtime at no additional cost.
Fuck off Unity
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Cyberpunk 2077 is already (pre-2.0) one of the better-optimized games when it comes to effective CPU parallelism.If this actually makes significant use of my CPU, I'd be kinda stunned. My PC has an i5 12600K and an RTX 3070, I have yet to play a game that makes my CPU sweat, the GPU's always the one that makes performance bottlenecks happen.
...Though looking at the game now, it does make all 16 threads hit 60-70%.
If you look at how it performs at a given level of fidelity compared to other recent open world releases it's actually quite impressive IMHO.
Ricciatello is an inside man, a double agent. He probably works for Epic.
This sounds so monumentally stupid I can't believe this is a real thing.
The worst part about Unity shooting themselves in the foot is that it makes Unreal's position in the third party engine market that much stronger.
I own almost every highlighted game at least from the first decade. I'm hitting 20 on my first account in exactly a week.
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