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Yeah usually "innovation" comes with pandering to mobile users and microtransactions. So we're good, thanks.
I'd be happy if they pandered more to controller players without removing the decision making in base building, like Halo Wars did. I always look to Cannon Brawl as an indication of what RTS can still be (by which I mean, not exactly like Cannon Brawl).
And the AoE franchise tried that at least twice and failed.
Even as an RTS fan, I'm starting to think the genre is dead. AOE 3 actually had some nice updates to the genre, they abandoned most of it though. Sc2 improved on the DoW2 campaign, but it's been nothing since.
Part of the problem is the focus on competitive formats. Pretty much everyone admits it's the least popular format, but it also gets the most attention. Campaign, comp stomps, and co-op are by far the most popular formats, but they get little or no support. Part of it is the pressure to release so early, and competitive is just easier to focus on while fleshing out mechanics and factions. Another problem is listening to pro players of other games, they don't know shit about making a good game, they know what they like about an existing game and want that as much as possible.
Another big problem is focusing on players of well established games. The people still playing ladder on SC2 or AOE2 aren't moving anywhere, there's probably 20x players that have stopped with those games that would love something new. Instead all that gets released are shallow copies trying to get players to move off a game they've played for a decade.
It must be playable for casual and single player gamers for sure.
I've never seen a casual friendly multiplayer RTS I believe. The FPS genre manage to do this, so I think it should be possible. Hmm.. Nothguard, Dune: Spice Wars, Line Wars and maybe Total War. These could maybe be considered casual friendly multiplayer RTS.
Though I must admit I want a good e-sport RTS I can watch and maybe dip my toes in, now when SC2 and AOE both feel quite dead. It's the only e-sport that really entertains me. (we'll maybe chess is an e-sport as well nowadays)
I'm still extremely salty over Homeworld 2, that I waited like the messiah, for this...
Slightly different, but I stopped playing Rocket League not long after they abandoned all the cool weird arenas because it got boring playing exactly the same map with a different skin.
They standardised the arenas after listening to what the pro players wanted.
Which kinda proves that Nintendo is right with how to balance Smash Bros: it's a game to be played for fun, not for pro player tournaments (no items final destination fox only).
I watched the trailer and the evolution they're going with is apparently not making an RTS anymore, but an Action Roguelike. If that's the kind of evolution we're talking about, I feel we've already stuff in a similar vein (dunno specifically about roguelike though).
And that, too, isn't new. It's been done since at least the Spellforce series, or Dawn of War 2.
If you want to see what an "innovated" RTS looks like, check out Beyond All Reason. The base formula is Total Annihilation, but with nearly 30 years of player driven improvements and QoL. That game's UX is extremely smart, and you can keybind or automate so many things on the fly, freeing you up to make strategic and tactical level decisions , instead of spamclicking for micro. Which, you can also do if you want to.
zero-k is also like that, less emphasis on the graphics though but more on the gameplay
Thank you, zero k interface is amazing, and their "cold takes" show a design philosophy I constantly find myself wishing I'd find pretty much everywhere else.
Can you elaborate what you mean by cold takes and why that's something you wish more of?
Ooh, now this I gotta try out.
Thanks for the recommendation!
There's plenty of "evolved" RTSs in the indie scene:
The genre is far from dead, but the problem might be audience. When they demand "evolution" that means it should pander to recent trends like survival crafting and roguelikes and whatnot. Problem is some of these formulas don't usually pan out well for RTS games. Then there's multiplayer and, like other commenters mentioned, ranked multiplayer usually devolves into a bunch of strangers playing the same few maps over and over, but gamers still demand multiplayer.
Alas, I see the genre as not dead but in a "doomed if you do, doomed if you don't" spot. Meanwhile I'm sitting here waiting for a regular old historic RTS like Empire Earth or Rise of Nations.
I'd add They are Billions as another evolutionary branch that's doing something different. Starting to see some clones of this formula.
That said, I don't think Against the Storm or Manor Lords are the kind of games Pottinger is talking about. Against the Storm doesn't even have combat. Those are more in the city builder realm.
As long as the evolution doest involve micro transactions.
I thought everything just went to the 4x formula and/or the micro/hero focused route. I actually wish there were more simplistic Warcraft 1/2 or C&C type games to come out, but I'll admit I haven't paid much attention to the genre for awhile, pretty much since StarCraft 2.
Beyond All Reason (open source with FOSS engine), Stormgate (proprietary but made by ex-SC2 devs) are separate attempts at what I would call innovating the RTS genre.
AoE2 DE by Microsoft is tried, true and super popular still but many aspects are still from the original game 20 years ago. AoE 4 seems to kind of be the attempt at improving the formula, seems okay.
The Starcraft 2 engine is amazing but now under Microsoft ownership, I was hopeful initially but it looks as though it will continue to be left to rot. If only they could give it a Halo makeover using the same engine that would be awesome.
As someone who loved sc2 and had high hopes for Stormgate, it's pretty hot garbage in its current state. Micro-transaction central before it's even in a close to finished state.
Devs or more specifically the parasitic executives who want nothing that a money machine look no further than Factorio as a shining example of how to innovate a gaming experience and genre. It is as easy or difficult and as simple or complicated as the player wants it to be and it's not because difficultly settings. Your playstyle is the difficulty setting and it feels like there is ALWAYS something new to do, or a wildly different ways to do the same things. Also, their mod support and integration is unparalleled as far as any other game that comes to mind. No micro transactions, no ads, just an excellent game and experience. Sure, Factorio isn't for everyone but the way it has been build, supported and all of those other elements that make it what it is beyond the core factory building sim ARE FOR EVERYONE. These aspects can be applied to other RTS games in general and can make it feel like a brand new experience while still being exactly what draws players into a specific RTS game.
Mmhhmm, factorio team is top tier. Excited to see what they make next.
AoE4 strikes a nice balance between old AoE and more modern games if you ask me. You can even play it with a controller if you want.
If anything, I think RTS need to go back to its roots. I’m not a huge RTS fan, and I’m not particularly nostalgic about the genre, but I have played a few games. My favorite? AoE2! It’s just a damn good game.
They are evolving. Just look at battle aces
That's what it was called, I tried to remember the game from a couple of months ago, when a bunch of big RTS streamers were suddenly all playing it for a few days. I've never seen a game that got boring so fast.
Typical micro-only focus with basebuilding and economy completely automated and a extremly limited pre-selected tech tree.
It was fun to play. Early Access / beta access ended which is why everyone stopped playing it.
Looking forward to release
It's people that need to evolve, not games