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In an industry plagued by stagnation and monotony, "I never would have proposed making Pentiment without Game Pass" - Josh Sawyer

I get it. I also saw some of the blue team members calling it very quickly a PowerPoint presentation game. And I hate that. Game looks awesome and I’m bitter I can’t play it. But it’s not like obsidian is an underground game developer on their first game release.

Disco and Pentiment to me look at the same level in terms of being “niche”.

Fuck em

I was this close to having to drink cum because of this fucking powerpoint game
 
While Pentiment in particular is not my cup of tea I love the idea that Obsidian can spun off smaller teams to create something interesting not as a part of AAA game industry treadmill. Grounded was just great.

I really doubt Sony would allow same thing for Naughty Dog or SSM, while they allowed it in SSM in past thanks to their "incubation projects"
Sony funded a game called Dreams, which is wildy more ambitious than any Indie game ever released on an Xbox....so why would they ask Naughty Dogg to make an Indie game when they are making tech leading graphical masterpieces? They can continue what they are doing now, which is finding new industry talent and Independent studios to work with, by funding their projects in some form or another in exchange for exlusivity or marketing rights.

Yeah, this is bs PR talk that fans will eat up. Games like Pentiment exist outside of Xbox and gamepass. The reason why you never hear much about them is because theres no shortage of games like it.
 

DenchDeckard

Moderated wildly
Sony funded a game called Dreams, which is wildy more ambitious than any Indie game ever released on an Xbox....so why would they ask Naughty Dogg to make an Indie game when they are making tech leading graphical masterpieces? They can continue what they are doing now, which is finding new industry talent and Independent studios to work with, by funding their projects in some form or another in exchange for exlusivity or marketing rights.

Yeah, this is bs PR talk that fans will eat up. Games like Pentiment exist outside of Xbox and gamepass. The reason why you never hear much about them is because theres no shortage of games like it.

What games like pentiment exist that are from larger studios?
 
Yeah, I’m pretty sure Cuaron could have made Roma for one of the big studios but there would have been compronises, creative or budgetory. Yet he made exactly the movie he wanted to make for Netflix. I think it is not too far fetched to compare these teo cases.

P.S. Not even exactly a fan of Roma but I’m glad it exists.
Same didn’t love Roma but love that it was made. The passion projects are important. Kojima seems like the only AAA director who still takes risk.
 

feynoob

Banned
Subscription services give these games a chance. How many people will actually buy or even know of these games otherwise?
Chances are slim.
You have to have the stars aligned, in order for these games to be a hit.

Among us is an example of a niche game, which become popular due to a platform (twitch).
 

Thebonehead

Banned
Fuck em

I was this close to having to drink cum because of this fucking powerpoint game

ZFxy9gc.png



Star Wars GIF by Johanna Healy
 

Warablo

Member
Ok, so we just came in hot off the biggest indie generation for games like this and he wouldn’t have suggested if not for gamepass? He said it out loud, I’m not buying that.
Isn't gaming like the biggest every new year because gaming is constantly growing?
 

Jennings

Member
I'm seeing a lot of comparisons to Disco Elysium in this thread. I don't have Gamepass, so which game should I buy and play, Disco Elysium or Pentinent? I'm on the fence for both but would like to try just one.
 
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Mr Hyde

Member
What games like pentiment exist that are from larger studios?

While not exactly a game like Pentiment, but the most recent example of a high profile studio making something small and "niche" would be Song of the Deep by Insomniac. It was released in 2016.
 
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I'm not sure. Microsoft approved a game like Pentiment - which they wouldn't have if not for GamePass.

But, Sony released God of War Ragnarok and Horizon Forbidden West. Two games that likely wouldn't exist if they had to go to PS+ day one.

I'm not sure I take this as a positive for subscription services.
 
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TonyK

Member
Just today (at last!) I found a Xbox Series X in stock to join my PS5 and Switch. I bought it and it's in home, but I can't open it until Christmas because it will be my gift. Pentiment is one of the first games I want to play (with Somerville, Scorn, Ori 2, Gears Hivebusters, Halo Infinite...). I'm happy 😊
 
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Topher

Gold Member
Just today (at last!) I found a Xbox Series X in stock to compliment my PS5 and Switch. I bought it and it's in home, but I can't open it until Christmas because it will be my gift. Pentiment is one of the first games I want to play (with Somerville, Scorn, Ori 2, Gears Hivebusters, Halo Infinite...). I'm happy 😊
Congrats on finding one, dude! It's great. You'll love it.
 

bender

What time is it?
Just today (at last!) I found a Xbox Series X in stock to compliment my PS5 and Switch. I bought it and it's in home, but I can't open it until Christmas because it will be my gift. Pentiment is one of the first games I want to play (with Somerville, Scorn, Ori 2, Gears Hivebusters, Halo Infinite...). I'm happy 😊

Scorn is my favorite Christmas game ever.
 
What games like pentiment exist that are from larger studios?
None, and that's my point. I could ask what other AAA devs are taking time away to make low risk passion projects that are subsidized by a gaming service? That answer also proves my point.

This notion that Sony somehow wouldn't greenlight an Indie game like Pentiment because they're creatively bankrupt is just nonsense. They arent taking time away from creating games like GOWR to reach a niche market that wouldnt even play the game unless it's on sale or a streaming service anyway.
 

tmlDan

Member
it only has 248 steam reviews, is it even worth MS letting them spend dev dollars on something a few people will even try on GP?

I guess time will tell.
 

Robb

Gold Member
I’m thinking MS greenligh stuff like this, and will greenlight more, is just to get more variety on the service.

Given that Obsidian would have had infinite money before the acquisition I doubt they wouldn’t have made this game. Doubt GamePass itself was the main factor.
 

Markio128

Member
I don’t know. If there’s an audience for your game then it will sell. I’m sure Pertiment would have done fine without Gamepass, just like a lot of other smaller budget games managed to achieve success well before gamepass existed.
 

Drewpee

Banned
Yeah, this is bs PR talk that fans will eat up. Games like Pentiment exist outside of Xbox and gamepass.
Literally anything said by an Xbox employee that might have any type of positivity associated with it is considered PR around here.

Logically you can understand exactly what he is saying even if you might not agree. It's amazing that some people will be willfully ignorant over something so small.
 
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Topher

Gold Member
Literally anything said by an Xbox employee that might have any type of positivity associated with it is considered PR around here.

Logically you can understand exactly what he is saying even if you might not agree. It's amazing that some people will be willfully ignorant over something so small.

If a PlayStation employee said a game couldn't exist without PlayStation Plus then there would be a folks saying the same thing. What the guy is saying is pure hyperbole. There is nothing "willfully ignorant" about pointing that out.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
I get the general sentiment because the big advantage of a sub like this is that it removes risk from smaller projects, so although more experimental projects have been part of the industry for a long time there’s more incentive than ever to make them.


Me agreeing with Thirty7ven Thirty7ven

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Mmm neither.

The controversy stems from Phill Spencer's Promise land. The assumption and expectations of these AAA games Day One on Game Pass.


There have been, and will continue to be, plenty of AAA games day one on game pass. We're already living in Phill Spencer's Promise land.
 
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Drewpee

Banned
If a PlayStation employee said a game couldn't exist without PlayStation Plus then there would be a folks saying the same thing. What the guy is saying is pure hyperbole. There is nothing "willfully ignorant" about pointing that out.
You either assume this guy is lying to make Gamepass look good or he legitimately feels like his passion project was possible because of Gamepass. You don't have to agree to think he is telling the truth from his lense.

To pretend like his comment is automatically PR spin is being willfully ignorant and locking yourself into a perspective that is infected with bias. It's just weird to me that there are multiple pages of people shitting on this guy over a simple comment
 

GhostOfTsu

Banned
Weird because the Pentiment OT is going very slow, struggling to reach 3 pages. We have so many GP users here.

How come I don't see them in that thread? Specific posters kept name-dropping that game but they are nowhere to be seen. Curious.

Adventure games, VNs, PnC, text adventures or other text heavy RPGs are the oldest genre in gaming. Lots of them on Steam and new ones come out regularly. They don't need GP.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Weird because the Pentiment OT is going very slow, struggling to reach 3 pages. We have so many GP users here.

How come I don't see them in that thread? Specific posters kept name-dropping that game but they are nowhere to be seen. Curious.

What does people not posting in the OT change, or have to do with what Josh Sawyer said ? 🤔
 

Topher

Gold Member
You either assume this guy is lying to make Gamepass look good or he legitimately feels like his passion project was possible because of Gamepass. You don't have to agree to think he is telling the truth from his lense.

To pretend like his comment is automatically PR spin is being willfully ignorant and locking yourself into a perspective that is infected with bias. It's just weird to me that there are multiple pages of people shitting on this guy over a simple comment

People can disagree with the guy and believe he is over-inflating the significance of Game Pass when there are plenty of examples of games that have been made without Game Pass. That doesn't make him a liar. I'm sure he believes what he says. Doesn't mean people have to buy his take. It is ok to disagree with a dev.

Trying to deflect any and all rebuttal to what he says and trying to make it the people expressing those opinions is a take just as "infected with bias" as any other.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
People can disagree with the guy and believe he is over-inflating the significance of Game Pass when there are plenty of examples of games that have been made without Game Pass. That doesn't make him a liar. I'm sure he believes what he says. Doesn't mean people have to buy his take. It is ok to disagree with a dev.

Trying to deflect any and all rebuttal to what he says and trying to make it the people expressing those opinions is a take just as "infected with bias" as any other.

I think we're taking the wrong takeaway.


He's not saying a games like this won't be possible without game pass, more that he wouldn't propose a project like that without the service as a backup, because of the modern AAA studio mentality of larger investments into bigger projects from studios like this. For example, I think it will be a lot less likely for Niel Druckmann to break off for a couple of years from AAA development at Naughty Dogs and propose a Fallout Shelter style game set in a Last of Us adjacent world, as an example, if it wasn't for a service where ROI is not the biggest concern.
 
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Topher

Gold Member
I think we're taking the wrong takeaway.



He's not saying a games like this won't be possible without game pass, more that he wouldn't propose a project like that without the service as a backup, because of the modern AAA studio mentality of larger investments into bigger projects from studios like this. For example, I think it will be a lot less likely for Niel Druckmann to break off for a couple of years from AAA development at Naughty Dogs and propose a Fallout Shelter style game set in a Last of Us adjacent world, as an example, if it wasn't for a service where ROI is not the biggest concern.

That's fair. That article you posted has more context that is missing in the thread. I don't think most would disagree that Pentiment would be a hard sell in a traditional environment.

"In a traditional model, I just don’t think I would have even bothered, because no one’s gonna pick that up,” said Sawyer. “Even if my boss were supportive of it, it would’ve been so incredibly difficult to get a publisher to pick it up. And that’s why this specific environment is the only way in which I really conceive of it being viable.”
 
It's quite simple, Gamepass allows gamers to take risks when determining what to play, and allows MS to take risks when determining what to greenlight.

When gamers think they're making off like bandits, and MS is still making a profit you know it's working.
The one thing you really don't hear about Game pass is that it is a bad deal gamers. Profits for companies and value for consumers is the definition of a win-win.
 

GhostOfTsu

Banned
What does people not posting in the OT change, or have to do with what Josh Sawyer said ? 🤔
You're the GP Queen and you're not even playing it. Darkmage already liked your post. I ask him his opinion on Pentiment, no answer.

You guys keep praising MS for taking a big risk while throwing shade at others making "remakes of remasters" (I wonder who that is 😏) but none of you is actually playing the game. Day 1 first-party and barely any interest from their target audience.

It's very telling. Bunch of fakes here.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
You're the GP Queen and you're not even playing it. Darkmage already liked your post. I ask him his opinion on Pentiment, no answer.

You guys keep praising MS for taking a big risk while throwing shade at others making "remakes of remasters" (I wonder who that is 😏) but none of you is actually playing the game. Day 1 first-party and barely any interest from their target audience.

But what does me, or any 4 people you can name, not playing it at this very moment have to do with what Josh Sawyer said ? GP subscribers putting it on the back burner without worrying about spending money on it, or Obsidian not getting high sales from it, is kinda exactly what Sawyer is talking about.

You're so awfully concerned about game pass in almost every thread, don't come off so desperate :messenger_grinning_sweat:
 

ergem

Member
You don't need gamepass for creative games to exist. All it takes is a publisher willing to gamble and provide variety. Exhibit A: Death Stranding

I'm sure Stray, Deathloop, or Bugsnax would have been made even without the money from day 1 release to PS+.
 

CatLady

Selfishly plays on Xbox Purr-ies X
But what does me, or any 4 people you can name, not playing it at this very moment have to do with what Josh Sawyer said ? GP subscribers putting it on the back burner without worrying about spending money on it, or Obsidian not getting high sales from it, is kinda exactly what Sawyer is talking about.

You're so awfully concerned about game pass in almost every thread, don't come off so desperate :messenger_grinning_sweat:
You know I find it interesting the people most concerned about Game Pass are those that are highly unlikely to have Game Pass and they are ALWAYS in every damn Game Pass thread to let those of us that are happy and content with Game Pass to let us know how concerned they are.
 

Drewpee

Banned
People can disagree with the guy and believe he is over-inflating the significance of Game Pass when there are plenty of examples of games that have been made without Game Pass. That doesn't make him a liar. I'm sure he believes what he says. Doesn't mean people have to buy his take. It is ok to disagree with a dev.

Trying to deflect any and all rebuttal to what he says and trying to make it the people expressing those opinions is a take just as "infected with bias" as any other.
Disagreeing with his take and saying the guy is lying for PR are not the same.
 
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