COG Considers: Asking For A Friend (Every Developer)
Not only are we still getting new Battle Royale games, but one of them is from Vampire The Masquerade, of all places. I’m not here to tell you what to play, or ignore, or review bomb on Steam, but haven’t a bunch of these games failed recently? Such is the quandary I’m faced with now. Did the bubble burst a long time ago, only no one thought to tell the people who make video games? Or is there still a cash cow or two in those verdant fields?
Oh my, yes. Or at least, the biggest revenue earners are still making enough money that everyone else is sure and certain they’ll be the next Fortnite. Said game, by the way, is earning over a billion dollars a year, last time they checked. Apex Legends made 150 million last quarter, while PUBG raked in 1.6 billion throughout the last year. That’s the bottom line: So long as the big boys are raking in mountains of money, everyone else will at least try. Sure, games like Radical Heights will flame out so hard it blots out the sun, but some of them are still doing okay! Look at Call of Duty! Their Warzone mode is doing great! Probably because Call of Duty is the last word in FPS gaming, but still. Even PUBG is going strong, in spite of all those other Battle Royale games continuing to exist. You know. The better ones.
So what we’re saying is, strap in. This subgenre is a chemical weapon that makes money out of oxygen, is the lesson here. Vampire The Masquerade is just the beginning. Soon we’ll have Battle Royale games for every niche and major franchise alike. Forget Mario, let’s get that Pokemon BR game going? What about Zelda, or Bully, or Mass Effect? Hell, let’s make a Stardew Valley Battle Royale game (edit: damnit). It seems the blood you can squeeze from this cursed stone is endless. Soon, we’ll be writing listicles about the top 100 games in the genre (that released in the last year). So no, the genre isn’t going anywhere. Save those champagne toasts and party streamers for another day.