For those who played video games in the “old school” days, completing them without tutorials because the internet wasn’t readily available at home, you’ll agree that the industry has changed significantly. Back then, we didn’t focus on reviews from media outlets or people we didn’t know. Instead, we relied on our own intuition and, of course, recommendations from friends, family, or partners. Today, this is becoming increasingly rare. It’s now common for gamers to be constantly ‘influenced‘ by the scores and opinions on games given by other media and, naturally, by influencers. This is something that the co-creator of Fallout agrees with.
As video games become more complex, they require longer development times, a trend we’ve observed in the industry, especially in AAA studios. Years ago, it was common for a game to take one or two years at most to develop, and we saw frequent releases from game franchises. This is becoming less common in AA and AAA titles, where budgets exceed hundreds of millions of dollars and development spans many years. Despite this, more video games are being created and published than ever before, thanks to the growing number of indie developers and studios.
Tim Cain, the co-creator of Fallout, states that gamers are dependent on the opinions of content creators and influencers to decide whether to buy a game.
Given the sheer volume of games released, making it impossible to play everything, we can understand the tendency to look at reviews and opinions when a new game comes out. If we have doubts about purchasing a game, it’s not a bad idea to check sites like Metacritic (or better yet, OpenCritic) to see a media score average and pay less attention to user scores. We can also follow YouTube channels and other platforms that analyze games. The problem is that many justify their purchase based on the score and review given by their favorite content creators, which is a problem according to Tim Cain, co-creator of Fallout.
Tim suggests that ‘players are thinking less for themselves’ when forming their own opinions after viewing content about a game they want to buy or play. It’s understandable that you can’t form a complete opinion by watching videos without playing, but it’s worth remembering that we are returning to the golden age of demos, and more and more games offer a small free trial. While this might not represent even 10% of the game, the important thing is that we enjoy the gameplay, the story premise, the mechanics, and how it functions.
According to Tim, players adopt the opinions of creators as their own, and that’s a mistake.
Tim acknowledges that what’s happening is due to the internet and changes in video game design, one of the topics he discusses in his video. Regarding the video’s subject, the former Fallout developer admits that in this era, we are ‘influenced by influencers,’ websites, and generally everything we read, watch, and follow occasionally. We might not even be fans of the content they create or follow them frequently, but they can still change our perception of things.
At least, that’s what he believes: that many people are influenced by so-called influencers. Curiously, he doesn’t talk about game reviews, but about opinions. The issue with an opinion is that it’s something entirely personal, subjective, and generated by an individual based on their experiences and perceptions. Therefore, you can probably guess where this is going: an opinion is unique and personal, and although we can ‘share’ the same feelings and experiences, we must first live them.
In the case of games, this means playing and experiencing them. The examples he gives of opinions include the dreaded comparisons between game X and game Y, comparisons of game genres, such as more combat, less story, more puzzles, and so on compared to other games. This creates a feeling that games are all the same and erases their essence or what makes them unique. In reality, there are unique games with their own personality and characteristics. The moment these types of opinions are adopted by others, a generalized way of thinking is formed, and a mass of people emerges saying the same thing about a specific game.
