A small number of mobile games sell better make obscene money, the vast majority make a pittance or lose money. But corporate types cant stop salivating at the thought of being the ones to own the next candy crush, so they'd rather take a shot at that than produce something with merit that will likely make a reasonable return.

[–] filcuk@lemmy.zip 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Yeah it's depressing, I'm amazed we're getting anything good at all by this point

[–] Kerred@lemmy.world 4 points 2 days ago

It was tricky to find actual numbers so correct me if I am wrong, but if you look at the entire lifetime net profit (not revenue) of Elden Ring since it's launch, it appears that Dragon Ball Bokken made all of Elden Ring's profit in just 2024 alone.

When you read Bandai's financial reports they always open with their mobile games, with From Software titles getting an "honorable mention" at the end.

[–] Kecessa@sh.itjust.works 8 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Half life is far from Planescape Torment...

[–] mosiacmango@lemm.ee -1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

2d isometric vs 3d first person. One format clearly lets stories breathe better, but that doesn't mean half life isn't story driven.

[–] Kecessa@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Never said it isn't, I said story isn't the thing that made it and Valve popular.

I'm old enough to remember when it released, story wasn't the focus.

[–] Klear@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

I would argue the storyline was a big part of it. While barebones by today's standards, compared to the likes of Doom, Quake or even Unreal, it was pretty amazing to have a continuous narrative throughout the game.