Path: ...!Xl.tags.giganews.com!local-1.nntp.ord.giganews.com!news.giganews.com.POSTED!not-for-mail NNTP-Posting-Date: Sun, 05 May 2024 14:46:08 +0000 From: Spalls Hurgenson Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action Subject: Re: Next Fallout Game Coming... Sooner? Date: Sun, 05 May 2024 10:46:08 -0400 Message-ID: References: <0hk03j12svrrmkgp2d610ff9eth2nis25e@4ax.com> X-Newsreader: Forte Agent 2.0/32.652 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Lines: 81 X-Usenet-Provider: http://www.giganews.com X-Trace: sv3-3Tg1shOT86vbUzxoLAZssru7Z8UGSUizaAo9f+fM6Nx4wO8RyyGfWM7fy7YZNEDpUpxg4N4YTEuTkGB!KHEG6SBH4kpLeOxlqLTisBm2rGCThSjbo1OpufscgZjkOKeQtXZIUc7aLZm/eiZWh1vxb1A= X-Complaints-To: abuse@giganews.com X-DMCA-Notifications: http://www.giganews.com/info/dmca.html X-Abuse-and-DMCA-Info: Please be sure to forward a copy of ALL headers X-Abuse-and-DMCA-Info: Otherwise we will be unable to process your complaint properly X-Postfilter: 1.3.40 Bytes: 5245 On Sun, 5 May 2024 03:16:37 -0500, Lane Larson wrote: >Kyonshi wrote: >> On 4/30/2024 5:53 PM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote: >>> On Tue, 30 Apr 2024 08:14:07 -0600, "rms" >>> wrote: >>> >>>>> Rumors* have it that - due to the recent success of the TV show - >>>>> Bethesda is accelerating the release of the next Fallout game. >>>>> Because if there's anything we all want, it's a Bethesda game even >>>>> /more/ rushed out of production. After all, it's the bugs and janks >>>>> that make their games so memorable, right? >>>> >>>>    Perhaps they could reuse the same engine to save production time?  Or >>>> shorten the writing process by replacing writers with a chatbot? >>> >>> Procedural generation all the way, baby! Why hand-craft maps, quests, >>> characters, ANYTHING when you can get a computer to do it? >>> >>> I'm sure it will all work out fine. ;-) >>> >>> In truth, the rumor that Bethesda is expediting the next Fallout >>> remains just that: a rumor. But it's definitely something Bethesda >>> needs to get ahead of. They /don't/ have the best reputation right >>> now. A lot of their recent in-house productions have been >>> disappointments; maybe not flops, but seen as a step down from earlier >>> games. "Fallout 4" was fairly average. "Fallout 76" had an incredibly >>> rocky launch. "Starfield" failed to impress on almost every level. >>> They're continually milking "Skyrim". They're breaking mods. Their >>> trying to grift off the modder's hard work. They don't have anything >>> exciting in the pipeline. >>> >>> Their PR team needs to get out there and issue the usual platitudes: >>> 'of course we aren't going to rush out the next game. We're dedicated >>> to creating quality products. We're not simply chasing the next >>> popular trend. Other other IPs remain important to us.' The usual >>> schtick; say a lot without saying anything. That it's been several >>> days and Bethesda has remained silent does not speak well of their >>> management. >>> >>> >>> >>> >> >> Bethesda is in the slow downward spiral of death right now. It's gonna >> take a few years longer, but they will become irrelevant, their IP will >> get sold to a different company founded by one of the original people of >> whatever, and then stuff is gonna get released that's actually decent to >> good again. > >Don't you think they are making bank off of Elder Scrolls Online? I don't know if Bethesda is in a death spiral. I think it is struggling, perhaps not financially but instead in an attempt to remain relevant. "Starfield" was, at least in regards to expectations, something of a flop. It was hoped to be the next "Skyrim"; a massive hit that would not only fund the company for decades, but open up an entirely new IP. But it looks like it may be Bethesda's "Mass Effect: Andromeda". Elder Scrolls Online has been financially successful - it's earned the company $2 billion USD in the decade it's been active. It is definitely one of the more popular MMORPGs, with ~200,000 active daily users. But that number isn't really growing. Fallout 76 - despite some recent spikes due to the popularity of the TV show - is doing much worse, with only a quarter that number of active users. ESO brings in good money but that's still only around $200 million USD per year. Server costs, support personnel, and on-going development eat into that. In the end, it's the equivalent profits of one hit game per year for the company. It's nice to have - it gives Bethesda a nice solid financial base - but I wouldn't say it's 'making bank'. Bethesda isn't outputting a lot of other games, and a number of their more recent titles haven't been as succesful as they'd hope. ESO helps mask those wounds, but it isn't like Valve's money from Steam (or Epic's from Fortnite), which allows them to ignore pretty much everything else. And, like I said, ESO isn't growing... and it's ten years old.