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Kiln, the Double Fine pottery game just released on Game Pass

kpopSuperstar

kpopSuperstar

Gold Member
Just a heads up. Lets get some impressions going, there are no reviews just yet.

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Microsoft buys all of these AA/small AAA studios(Compulsion, Obsidian, Double Fine, Ninja Theory) and none of them seem any better for it. Maybe these studios would have been closed down otherwise, but you would think these studios would develop games with more of a reach than the niche titles we have gotten. Bizarre
 
The usual DF junk. How this studio survives is a mystery.

If anyone has answers how a studio that releases so many games with such low sales can survive you'd win the nobel prize!
 
coachmcguirk91 said:
Microsoft buys all of these AA/small AAA studios(Compulsion, Obsidian, Double Fine, Ninja Theory) and none of them seem any better for it. Maybe these studios would have been closed down otherwise, but you would think these studios would develop games with more of a reach than the niche titles we have gotten. Bizarre
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This is what happens where there isn't ENOUGH oversight. Microsoft was giving these studios a blank check to make these quirky games that no one plays.
 
That's from the studio who released the walking lighthouse simulator last year?

Really curious about their next project lmao, it can't get more niche
 
BigBeauford said:
This is what happens where there isn't ENOUGH oversight. Microsoft was giving these studios a blank check to make these quirky games that no one plays.
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Given how poorly many if these games sell if MS was that desperate for some quirky indie kind of games with low appeal, just treat them as a third party and do a game pass deal for cheap. It's not like Keeper or Kiln are going to demand big money. You're talking pennies on the dollar as a toss in for GP.

Weird business strategy buy out the whole studio.
 
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StreetsofBeige said:
Given how poorly many if these games sell if MS was that desperate for some quirky indie kind of games with low appeal, just treat them as a third party and do a game pass deal for cheap. It's not like Keeper or Kiln are going to demand big money. You're talking pennies on the dollar as a toss in for GP.

Weird business strategy buy out the whole studio.
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Third party Gamepass deals aren't permanent, you would rather these studios be dead? There's nothing wrong with few smaller studios making smaller games.
 
I was hoping we would see this studio focus on making platformers for Xbox, similar to psychonauts 2. I get that it's okay to have a studio making small games, but it's possible to make small games that appeal to broad audiences.

Hard to see who this game is for.. and why on earth it was greenlit.
 
Pretty wild... do these things even get played on GamePass?

These look like something a much much smaller team would be putting out, like 1 person.
 
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coachmcguirk91 said:
Microsoft buys all of these AA/small AAA studios(Compulsion, Obsidian, Double Fine, Ninja Theory) and none of them seem any better for it. Maybe these studios would have been closed down otherwise, but you would think these studios would develop games with more of a reach than the niche titles we have gotten. Bizarre
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How these two in particular are still around after releasing nothing but turds is beyond me.
 
Interesting little game but I cant help but feel that 10-15 years ago this wouldve just been a minigame in a much bigger game
 
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High probability it's going to be Double Fine's last game. At least with a title like Keeper you could play it without having to form a group with other people.
 
How are these guys still around and would it kill them to make something that will actually appeal to people?

I'm surprised they haven't attempted to revive point n click adventure games similiar to the LucasArts ones from the 90s. Then again, I found Broken Age to be pretty shit.
 
xrnzaaas said:
High probability it's going to be Double Fine's last game. At least with a title like Keeper you could play it without having to form a group with other people.
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Keeper and Kiln were just side projects, made by small teams. The main studio is working on 2 more games at least, one of the big ones with Tim Schafer. Either Psychonauts 3 or something on that level.
 
StreetsofBeige said:
The usual DF junk. How this studio survives is a mystery.

If anyone has answers how a studio that releases so many games with such low sales can survive you'd win the nobel prize!
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They've released some excellent games too, but their whole ethos (or, it used to be) was to do a lot of experimental mini-projects on the side to keep their feeling of open creativity up while building the next headliner.

Psychonauts VR (Rhombus of Ruin) was great, actually a very well made VR experience & classic puzzle adventure. Psychonauts 2 is mixed for me, not as solid as 1 or the VR game but still enjoyable for fans. Broken Age turned out very well. Stacking was a neat side game that I enjoyed.

That said, I've long thought that their "primary" export is actually documentaries -- both are even more valuable than their underlying games, high production values and fascinating to watch:

Double Fine Adventure: 20 episodes


Double Fine Psychodyssey: 30+ episodes


As pure content creation, these are fantastic. Amazing insight into the art process, the internal debates, the game industry in general, and in the second one you get increasing tensions, firings, and a kind of time capsule documentary of some major shifts happening in gaming.

Chuck Berry said:
I'm surprised they haven't attempted to revive point n click adventure games similiar to the LucasArts ones from the 90s. Then again, I found Broken Age to be pretty shit.
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Broken Age was good. Lots of fantastic little bits of humor and misdirection in the writing, particularly in the back half.
 
Did a couple of matches.

Matches are fairly long. 10-15 mins. First 2/3 is generally unexciting. Last 1/3 is where its at. When both the teams are scrambling. Its designed to go down the wire, almost every match.

Simple, fun game.

One thing I like is live service part seems inspired by successful titles instead of old school feel that Halo / Gears tend to have. Easy to focus on fun stuff.
 
Tobimacoss said:
Keeper and Kiln were just side projects, made by small teams. The main studio is working on 2 more games at least, one of the big ones with Tim Schafer. Either Psychonauts 3 or something on that level.
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Psychonaughts 2 released in 2021. At best their next main entry is 2027, 6 years later. That is unacceptable for a studio developing platformers
 
coachmcguirk91 said:
Microsoft buys all of these AA/small AAA studios(Compulsion, Obsidian, Double Fine, Ninja Theory) and none of them seem any better for it. Maybe these studios would have been closed down otherwise, but you would think these studios would develop games with more of a reach than the niche titles we have gotten. Bizarre
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Dude. This is a side project from Double-Fine.......you know the company who made Psychonauts 1&2, Brutal Legend etc.....

They are still making their next AAA game

Don't be a douche!
 
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winjer said:
Seems like it has already peaked at 139 CCU and is now going down....

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Looks like it wont even beat their last beauty. Terrible studio and complete waste of money. There's going to be random games like some dude making the millionth version of solitaire that sells better than what DF releases.

But give DF credit for grifting to stay alive. There's some reason always big money floating around in tech. And DF pulled it off getting MS to be corporate coffers. In terms of pure business sense, got to admit that was well played.

By the looks of it, their games sell so low that even if the game was made by only one person working PT hours and making minimum wage it'd still lose money. How the hell is that possible?

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