I finished the Concord video and immediately found myself binge-watching your entire channel in one sitting. It is so refeshing to hear someone speak thoughtfully about games culture from the development side. You are passionate, succinct and don't insult my intelligence. I am encouraged by your optimism about where the artform is going, and I look forward to seeing more from you in the future. Great work.
Your channel is a gold mine. Good management explained. Bad management dissected. All with clarity, deep knowledge of the problems under all angles of attack, and unparalleled intellectual honesty. Thanks for what you're doing, I'd pay to learn what you're gifting us with for free.
I always wondered why companies say things like "appealing to modern audiences" when they have millions of fans already ready to consume products for the series. Whether it's Halo, Star Wars, or Lord of the Rings. Leading to questionable decisions that either stomp on the original visions of the IP or try to overwrite existing material established by series creators. It's like you're making less money, turning on the fanbase that made the IPs what they are, and not gaining enough new fans to justify the choice.
Quite simple, customers/audiences aren't the most important vector for companies these days, it's the money suits, that bring their own corporate agenda that often goes against public opinion, or perhaps it because they WANT to shape public opinion so they use games/moveies etc to push their goals even if it hurts the end product. If the company succeeds good, more profits, and if it fails they acquire the IP for their portfolio anyway, no loss to them. Games devs are waking up to this now, but too many have fallen not realising the Faustian bargain.
In my opinion, this happens as a consequence of a certain fallacy where instead of targeting established audiences that you already know the likes and dislikes of, you go and you seek out audiences that you do not have. They assume that the pre-established audience is with them for the ride, regardless of what they make. And they instead put their full attention into capturing new audiences. For example, newer younger generations, which they hope to convert into lifelong customers and fans. The problem with this approach is that it completely ignores the fact that established audiences already know what they like and will not be happy if you start to reimagine and reinvent what they already like in a very dismissive kind of way. They won't just eat up any slop you serve them just because you give it the wrapper of the IP that they love. And to make matters even worse, the new audience they're trying to capture, which is very often younger audiences, they don't even necessarily understand that audience very well nor what they like and dislike. And so what they try, is a spray and pray mentality with the themes and ideas that they present. Very often they fall back on design by committee approaches where they aggregate the numbers and look for the most popular keywords and try to cater the design to what they think is the most trending themes based on the statistical analysis. But this approach in itself is often extremely hit and miss because the sources from which they get their data are often not really representative of their audiences. Often, the methods that they had that were successful at gauging the interests of their older audiences are no longer effective for the newer audiences, and they haven't really evolved their approach for gauging their interests effectively. At this stage, if you have already changed the source material so much that you have betrayed the original audience that you've had and you no longer have their support or attention, and you've also flubbed the catering to the new audiences that you hope to attract, then you have no one left to consume your content outside of very fringe audiences that are merely present by accident.
I rarely comment but your videos are fantastic and give such a rich insight into the industry. The games I played as as kid (there are many) felt like the team had poured their heart and soul into it. As though they had been crafted to deliver a personal experience to you, the player. Sadly today I don't see that in games. They are completely risk averse and just regurgitate the same game with a new theme. Although I didn't end up in the games industry (general software development instead), I did get my university degree in games. The lecturers were actually teaching us not to innovate and instead to make the smallest number of changes possible between iterations of the game to maximize profit. That and encouraging microtransactions and freemium models...
When you were talking about Oculus development in that busy place that connected all areas of the project, I was thinking about Boeing deliberately moving offices away from factories and engineering so they don't complain too much.
This channel is pretty good! I like these background stories of game design. I've been gaming since 1978 and I'm surprised there aren't more channels like this. Her experience in the field and her ability to set a good pace while telling her story really makes this channel stand out. 💯👍🏾
People have asked me how I've done good licensed IP games. I tell them, "I respect the franchises. I add to and expand, sure... but at the core, it's about realizing the IP for gamers, NOT about ME and my ego adding or changing the IP." Hell, even the games I've worked on that aren't considered "licenses", I treat them like licenses. I make sure they don't forget the people that made it so someone wants to make a sequel/prequel/side-story/reboot.
@@mohamedab9033 a quick google search could answer that probably faster than I can, since I tend to be verbose, but quick & dirty; 40-year industry game dev, artist/designer/engineer/musician/producer, worked on and created many franchises and worked on some key cultural IPs.
I've been on an absolute tear commenting on your videos because I love your insider perspective on game production. What's really interesting is how applicable the process and work is to non-game stuff. Culture is culture and businesses are all working toward something. It's a low-hanging fruit comparison but restaurant franchises often fail because they expanded too quickly and aggressively after an initial success and along the way, they lose focus on the core ingredients that made it successful in the first place. They dig too deeply, too quickly and with too much pride, without self-reflection about what they're doing.
That Thomas Sowell quote is so true it hurts and it doesn't surprise me that it's not lost on the few people like Laura in the industry now. There's so much evidence in what works and yet the fan backlash continues to roll off upper managements feathers like it's nothing. This channel should be bookmarked in every dev studio computer.
"ive never understood why people dont want to learn from the experience of others" - i think about this every day. i remember an internship where the studio boss was baffled, confused and slightly angry talking to producers about how no TV network wanted to fund his idea for a cartoon staring space aliens as the main cast. at the same time i was listening to documentaries about british childrens tv show makers from the 60s and one of them said "dont make a show that doesnt have at least 1 human as a main character". the studio boss was raging over something someone else had learnt 60 years ago
I still remember the Mad World soundtrack for the Gears trailer. Absolutely unreal. Nothing has hit the same in terms of an advertising masterpiece like that for me.
This is a fantastic video that does a great job explaining exactly what has gone wrong with these once great franchises. I've been saying for a while now that companies should not hire someone to work on a franchise if they don't respect or don't like the source material. This discussion takes that point even further and I loved every minute of it. I also love the Thomas Sowell quote you put in there.
Engineer: makes off hand comment about there not being almond milk in the fridge at their workplace TH-cam commenter years later: lol that whole company
@@mechanicalmonk2020this isn't the polite way to challenge someone. You are both wrong and right at the same time but you aren't getting your point across with this approach
Man... this one hit home pretty hard. As someone who is mostly working on licensed titles right now, I... wish we had walked away from one of our projects that ended up failing and decimating our team.
I found your channel through the Concord piece since that’s trending and I’m glad I did, you have such a depth of industry knowledge I left games seven years ago to work in high tech and I’ve always loved these retrospectives. As a side note, I totally share your feelings on e day. Gow2 is one of my all time favorites, I can still Visalia and hear the intro to the big assault in tip of the spear. I hope they also nail the military themes and the tumultuous world the cog faces in e day’s setting.
One thing I’m curious about your response on is the idea that many franchises should end. In my mind, narratives are satisfying in their arc, and simply rehashing, retconning, or reskinning old arcs feels bad. Similarly, just reaching back for prequels and flashbacks can feel hollow.
I just found your channel and have watched 4-5 videos today. Your examples, editing skills, and ability to draw from your own experiences add so much to the points you make. It’s a treat to see videos and game references from my teenage years. The icing on the cake is your calm and intellectual tone, which is a pleasant contrast to the tirades I typically hear on these topics. Would love to see a collaboration between you and Timothy Cain.
I just found you today. Watched the last 6 or so videos you’ve posted. I can’t get enough. Your messages, philosophy, and wisdom is what the game industry is in dire need of! I’d love to sit around a coffee table and just listen to all your stories. So interesting. Thank you.
i discovered this channel yesterday with the culture video about concord and i must say, this is probably one of the most interesting and insightful channels out there. this will be a binge watch for sure
Firstly I want to thank you Laura for producing these videos. I worked in the industry for a spell in the early 2000s and it's genuinely incredible to hear your insight as someone who was around at the same time. I'd love to hear more about the Internet Gaming Zone vs Xbox Live situation and how it panned out. From my perspective MS made the right call with Xbox live. Broadband penetration at the time the Xbox launched was considerably lower and it made sense to launch later rather than getting mixed up in the console launch window. Devs were still getting a handle on a whole new platform and I don't really think it would have been reasonable to push devs to integrate XBL into titles from day 1. Also even though XBL launched late and was a bit half baked the level of integration was still light years ahead of other consoles.
You were there so it's great to see my content resonating with you! Completely agree with you that Xbox Live was a good idea given we were doing Xbox! Thank you for your kind comments!
I’ve watched a few of your videos and I have to say, you can swap so many details for other details and come away with generalized advice. I really appreciate how level headed you are and how you’re able to parse out the nuances of a variety of issues.
Binge watching this channel and definitely want to comment to help the algorithm. Your explanation really helps explain why some movie or game sequels just fall flat or some new media with established IP fail. The producers don't respect the source material and the target audience. Disney Star Wars is one where the sequel movies are meh (depending on who you ask 😅) while most of the animated ones are excellent, like rebels and bad batch. Dave filoni single handedly saved Star Wars, in my opinion. There are also some outliers like the Judge Dredd movies. The sly stallone one was popular because he was one of the action heroes of the time. But as a comic book fan, I prefer the grittier more recent dredd where he never removes his helmet. So, as a long-time fallout and halo fan, I never saw the tv series as I'm afraid they would make me hate the franchise more, just like what star wars is doing with their tv shows. That and Fallout 76 already did that
Currently binge watching all of your videos. Lifelong gamer since the Atari 2600 and listening to your experiences from inside the game industry is so enjoyable. Leaders like you are giving me hope that my beloved lifelong hobby/passion is still in good hands. You get it!!! Thanks for your honest transparency and years of hard work. YOU have given me HOPE!!
Your experience and perspective is so valuable for understanding what shapes the games on the market today. Thanks for making these videos, they're very informative.
Laura, you are a true gift to gaming, your insights are incredible and you have an absolute incredible regalness to your demeanor. Please consider collaborating with other "essay style" TH-camrs to expand your reach so that you can connect with more people that can hear your message.
How in the world doesn't this channel have more subs?! I've just binged a few of your videos and as an author who is teaching herself RPG Maker to adapt oneshot VN adventure games for her books this channel is such a wealth of information! You clearly love video games and have real respect for the artform which so many of the people in charge now lack. They don't play games or care to even try them and they don't care about established lore and story when adapting a franchise to another medium (not just video games). I can't imagine disrespecting a creative work that I've been trusted with. I can't even write fanfiction out of character. Thanks so much for sharing your wisdom with us! It's a much needed beacon of light in these dark times.
This is such a great video, been binging your channel. Shared it with a buddy, as this seems criminally underwatched. This is such a rare perspective for devs to hear from in an unfiltered manner, and from someone who clearly gets it, so can really underline what went wrong. I’m subbed and hoping for more.
I'm in a dev lead/ architect role with 10 years of experience in a non game it industry. Every word you say resonates with me and my experience, the good, the bad. Also it makes me wonder, maybe its not too late to get into gaming.
Laura I love this channel and the insight you provide. Would you consider doing a broad video on tooling and developer workflows and how they impact production? Apparently 343 had a hard time with Halo Infinite's engine, Bungie famously had issues with developers using tools before they were ready, BioWare struggled with Frostbite, etc.
...if only the decision makers at Netflix had listened to you when they screwed up The Witcher... Great content on your Channel! It`s a real treasure trove for aspiring game designers! Thank you!
I really love your videos. You respect the intelligence of the audience and the passion of the fans but you also understand that video games are a business and that banks on finding a balance in making a viable product. These new devs think gamers are mostly teenagers but I noticed it's mostly mid 20s to early 40s, people who grew up with franchises and are attached to these titles. I understand they want to try something new but the blatant disrespect and disregard towards a large portion of the gaming community is mind-boggling. If a restaurant gave me the wrong order and mislead me with the menu pictures, I'd get mad and wouldn't support their business anymore. Now imagine if the restaurant told me to eat what I was given and I should be grateful. Wow. Just... wow.
You're exactly right! If you ordered an amazing steak that you've had before and they handed you a hamburger, you'd be justifiably upset about it. If instead they told you they didn't have steak, you'd probably order something new or leave and be happy. Thank you for your kind comments!
Excellent channel! This is like seeing history come to life. You’re an unsung heroine. I would love to see a video from you dissecting the polarization of gaming and the amplification certain voices from political actors.
Loving your content! As a product designer I also often see companies going for a mismatch between the end product and the market. Continuous research and feedback is the only way to stay on the top of the game. I bet if key elements of Rings of Power, Concord or Acolyte were shown to the fans they’d tell the creators how they feel about it.
Refreshing to hear someone with a level headed take on the current state of the gaming industry and the software / gaming development lifecycle. It's clear that you know how to deliver 😄
Your channel is wonderful! A lot of these concepts are applicable to working with a team regardless of profession. I especially like the tactic of holding your thoughts until the rest of the team has shared theirs. Some members of my team always bring me ideas 1 on 1, but in a team meeting with management, they never speak up because our management tends to commandeer the meeting. Also, your point on only taking on work that you know your team is suited for (or assemble a team that is) is a hard pill to swallow for far too many people. Knowing your limits is hard but it's the only way to achieve repeatable results.
I agree! Many people won't bring something up in front of management so you have to seek out the information. I'm glad you are enjoying the channel! Thank you for watching!
@@laurafryer6321 I'm an mechanical engineer and gamer. Your channel is the first time I've seen analysis of game development from both the bottom up and the top down. I like spotting the parallels with my own career. New subscriber here 👋!
I loved the Mad Max game. It’s one of the few games that I enjoyed every bit of it, from story to gameplay, to those stunning sky-boxes. I only wish it was more successful.
Love your videos. I feel gaming and movies have abandon us in a way. Creators forgetting who they are making them for. Hope you are right about it turning around. I haven't gone to the movies or bought a new AAA in quite a while. Now, can you put a bug in someone's ear about putting Gears 2 and 3 on PC? It is time.
They absolutely haven't. Watch the stuff that's right for you (I guarantee you it exists) rather than bemoaning what you dislike in the popular thing. I've been gaming for 35 years and there's loads more unique and interesting games now than there were when I was a kid.
You seem so smart, business savvy.i feel as an xbox fan they should give you an over seeing position.for their big franchises.like Killer Instinct,they revive (finally) the franchise to let it slip into oblivion again.to this day still the best fighting game to date (only true rival is MK).
Firstly, an excellent video discussing the state of the industry. Secondly, I loved the Mad Max game, it truly captured the essence of the Fury Road film. My favourite memory was the unique aesthetic of each different zone. So thank you to you and your team for being true to the original work.
I know everyone desperately wants this to change and to turn around, and potentially even see some of these beloved franchises return to glory. But, we didn’t end up in this situation overnight, and we aren’t going to turn it around overnight either. I think it’s really an issue of the culture in the creative industries, and it’s very pervasive. It’ll take either drastic and deliberate change which seems incredibly unlikely, or slow and steady change due to market pressures from these massive repeated failures.
That last scene with Marcus and Dom reminded me of Halo reach when new Alexandria was being glassed by the covenant and noble team was standing waiting for evac while noble six was carrying kat after she was sniped.😢such powerful scenes.
Another awesome insight from inside game industry itself, as commoner its help me so much putting in perspective of whats going on inside game development. Thank you
This is just lovely, pretty much info straight from the source I've always wanted to see something like that, it's hard to find something more than development notes and even there the game is the bigger focus than the process behind it
Thank you for the video... It is always interesting and fun to listen to the insight you have for, and within, the entertainment industry... You sound like a very passionate person when it comes to the various industries which you've taken part in... Although I'm very sure there are still some gaming industry companies that have that same sort of passion and drive, it does at the surface feel like some of that same passion has faded from so many companies in recent years... The quality of so many entertainment spaces has waned, to a point where it feels like they care more about ideological messaging and internal politics, over entertaining folks who are passionate about the various IP's... The number of indie studios in the gaming market have grown, especially with the early access model, that many of adopted... Yet I find that early access has far too many times been a losing bet, as they are very much a gamble... Will they ever finish, will they be any good, will they stick to their promises, and how long will it take to get there? Those are just some of the questions and/or worries when buying into early access... There are lots of various game titles coming out over the next year or so, that look very promising... We'll just need to hope they deliver on the promises and hype the marketing teams love to throw out into the void...
I do miss games like Gears 1 and 2. Best times in story driven game history. I do wonder how long until deva will open their eyes and start making good games again. I am so tired with broken games or ones with garbage stories and characters.
3:00 This .. soo soooooo sooo much this, I will never ever understand it when someone makes a Spinoff to something and they boast with "Yah our Writers never cared for the source material so they can do their own spin" it nnnneeeeveeeerrr works out.
Its interesting you use Shadow of Mordor as a reference to honouring the creators because I don’t think the story of that game was particularly faithful to the lotr story. The setting was good and the game was certainly entertaining, but could the game had worked in another setting? No way to know I suppose, but I am interested to know why you chose Shadow of Mordor as an example of staying faithful to the base material. Is it the environment and setting you find this faithfulness, maybe in the character of the Orcs? Thank you, and great video ❤
You, and not this sweetbaby crap are what these devs need to be paying for and listening to. I've watched a few of your videos now, and I honestly believe that you "get it", far more than most of the people in charge of these "modern audience" game flops.
Another excellent video, and another outstanding Tom Sowell quote! When you say it doesn’t matter WHY these things go wrong, I’m not sure I precisely agree. I think it may come down to a philosophical and/or cultural issue. These creative conflagrations don’t have to happen, they’re willed into existence by arrogant people. Amazon’s tepid Rings of Power series might be a great example of the ethos I’m getting at. The attitude being, “We’re going to do it right this time.” Like you pointed out, there are multiple blueprints of how to, and even better how NOT to. Lastly, that Gears of War trailer was phenomenal. I’m extremely excited to get my hands on it and am cheering for The Coalition!
Agreed. The why absolutely does matter. It tells us what is at the root of the problem: arrogance or incompetence. The solutions to those two issues are wildly different.
I work in the film industry and I think it is unfortunately very common for directors to ignore source material in order to make an IP "their own". Blatant disrespect for source material is a lazy trend that is rampant through the modern media landscape. Disney Star Wars, Halo, Netflix animation adaptations like Avatar, and Rings of Power are all examples of this. It is hard to manufacture genuine passion for something which is why you need to pick people who care about what they are making. It seems like common sense, but studios have repeatedly messed this part up.
Ms. Fryer I feel infuriated! I want to be a game developer but the industry is so brazenly unprofessional. It’s like momma and dadda didn’t raise us right. Were we raised? What the hell happened?!? I can’t believe that I used to think like them, ignoring my instincts so I could fit in, until I didn’t have those instincts anymore. For EIGHT years. I’m such a damn fool.
Arrogance is definitely a contributor, if not the prime contributor. All people really want is a mostly faithful adaption with minimal divergence. They aren't looking for something completely new with the skin of a franchise or an alternate timeline, usually.
Hi Laura, I just wanted to say I would have been lucky to get to work with you. If I can’t then I would love to work with a person who is like you. I feel like you have an ocean of knowledge and I can learn so much from you. I belong to the younger generation but I always hate to see so much carelessness while working. I really admire how you approach your tasks. Thank you for inspiring me.
I just wanted to say, that I've recently played Mad Max for the first time, and it's definitely an underrated gem. It was sad to hear George Miller's harsh words about it.
I know we can literally never have what once was with some of these franchises, but I sat up and yelled when Dom grabbed Marcus’ hand and mad world played….so many memories. We need a trailer like this with Chief and Johnson if they’re truly remaking Halo 1. “crazy fool, why do you always jump?” (We literally never see him jump any other time like this in the series…so a call back to that in a trailer would get the Halo 3 vibes in a CE remake for sure.)
great channel, i grew up with atari starting out and ive seen the rising and the mega crash of games. there are a few that makes gold and the others i moves to books
My first experience with Gears of War was going over a friends house to check out the game. When Marcus Fenix started shouting for "Carmine" I was like "HOW DOES IT KNOW?!?!" (and then I realized it's someone in the game). hah
Hey, no idea if this comment will get lost in the sea of others, but I heard you had experience at the Facebook offices in Seattle and I feel I need to say my piece. I worked there once. I was one of the janitors, in charge of keeping the green roofs clean of leaves, along with the driveways. The entire building was surrounded by poop every day. No other building in town or place I worked at was ever surrounded by so much before, I just want that to be known. I can attest to the general carelessness and even incompetence of the staff in the building, there were some days I came into work and didn't even work, I just said I did and nobody could ever tell the difference. I didn't start out so flippant, but after noticing how many people were spending their time partying over doing actual work, I wondered why I had to, either. It seemed like people would spend more time playing ping-pong and their Nintendo Switches than doing anything else.
Omg, this is the amazing. I couldn't agree with the things you say even more if I tried. I think if you were in Sarah Bond's position right now, Microsoft would be in a LOT better place. Also respect, you worked in two of my favorite games ever. Gears 1/2 were AMAZING, and Shadow of Mordor/War were incredible. The only downside to them is I wish they didn't patent the Nemesis system! It is such an incredible game design and I WISH it was in more games. It would make ANY open world infinitely more interesting, add replayability, and just make it better. My only hope is that Monolith makes a great Wonder Woman game and it's a badass superhero game for fans.
"It also wasn't serving the creative teams and their need to express a story and build the world through their eyes." And then they went on to create one of the most vapid, creatively bankrupt stories ever. Most people who call themselves creative, or think of themselves as creative, aren't. They think only in terms of what they have seen that's popular. A creative person can work within restrictions, and often flourish; a person who is not creative cannot work within restrictions, because with restrictions they can't think of a creative way to express whatever idea they saw someone else do.
This is an underrated channel
That's very kind of you to say! Thank you!
I came in from the concord video. Now I'm binging it haha😅
@@laurafryer6321A hidden gem for sure!
@@yobodev Same, the content here is super insightful. I have a feeling this channel will blow up once more gamers get a whiff.
@@yobodev lol same thing. Her insights are very interesting and she backs up everything with examples. Love it.
I finished the Concord video and immediately found myself binge-watching your entire channel in one sitting. It is so refeshing to hear someone speak thoughtfully about games culture from the development side. You are passionate, succinct and don't insult my intelligence.
I am encouraged by your optimism about where the artform is going, and I look forward to seeing more from you in the future. Great work.
Me too man! I will be doing the same thing over the next few days.
The channel's vibe feels like a vault of memories from the early 2000s, and I love every second of it.
same bro
In a world where TH-cam videos want to be edgy and regurgitate the same old unsubstantiated comments, This channel is a joy!
I'm in the middle of doing the same thing!
"The creatives are there to serve the franchise, not the other way around." - Excellent point.
We went too far telling people to believe in themselves. So we created a generation of narcissistic creatives high on their own farts.
Your channel is a gold mine.
Good management explained. Bad management dissected.
All with clarity, deep knowledge of the problems under all angles of attack, and unparalleled intellectual honesty.
Thanks for what you're doing, I'd pay to learn what you're gifting us with for free.
Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying my videos!
I always wondered why companies say things like "appealing to modern audiences" when they have millions of fans already ready to consume products for the series. Whether it's Halo, Star Wars, or Lord of the Rings. Leading to questionable decisions that either stomp on the original visions of the IP or try to overwrite existing material established by series creators.
It's like you're making less money, turning on the fanbase that made the IPs what they are, and not gaining enough new fans to justify the choice.
Do you think Jackson's LOTR movies are faithful adaptations?
because they want more money
Quite simple, customers/audiences aren't the most important vector for companies these days, it's the money suits, that bring their own corporate agenda that often goes against public opinion, or perhaps it because they WANT to shape public opinion so they use games/moveies etc to push their goals even if it hurts the end product.
If the company succeeds good, more profits, and if it fails they acquire the IP for their portfolio anyway, no loss to them.
Games devs are waking up to this now, but too many have fallen not realising the Faustian bargain.
@@Sam-uz4iy "How business doesn't work 101"
In my opinion, this happens as a consequence of a certain fallacy where instead of targeting established audiences that you already know the likes and dislikes of, you go and you seek out audiences that you do not have. They assume that the pre-established audience is with them for the ride, regardless of what they make. And they instead put their full attention into capturing new audiences. For example, newer younger generations, which they hope to convert into lifelong customers and fans.
The problem with this approach is that it completely ignores the fact that established audiences already know what they like and will not be happy if you start to reimagine and reinvent what they already like in a very dismissive kind of way. They won't just eat up any slop you serve them just because you give it the wrapper of the IP that they love. And to make matters even worse, the new audience they're trying to capture, which is very often younger audiences, they don't even necessarily understand that audience very well nor what they like and dislike.
And so what they try, is a spray and pray mentality with the themes and ideas that they present. Very often they fall back on design by committee approaches where they aggregate the numbers and look for the most popular keywords and try to cater the design to what they think is the most trending themes based on the statistical analysis. But this approach in itself is often extremely hit and miss because the sources from which they get their data are often not really representative of their audiences. Often, the methods that they had that were successful at gauging the interests of their older audiences are no longer effective for the newer audiences, and they haven't really evolved their approach for gauging their interests effectively.
At this stage, if you have already changed the source material so much that you have betrayed the original audience that you've had and you no longer have their support or attention, and you've also flubbed the catering to the new audiences that you hope to attract, then you have no one left to consume your content outside of very fringe audiences that are merely present by accident.
I rarely comment but your videos are fantastic and give such a rich insight into the industry. The games I played as as kid (there are many) felt like the team had poured their heart and soul into it. As though they had been crafted to deliver a personal experience to you, the player. Sadly today I don't see that in games. They are completely risk averse and just regurgitate the same game with a new theme. Although I didn't end up in the games industry (general software development instead), I did get my university degree in games. The lecturers were actually teaching us not to innovate and instead to make the smallest number of changes possible between iterations of the game to maximize profit. That and encouraging microtransactions and freemium models...
Thank you! It's disappointing that they were teaching you not to innovate. Thanks for sharing that information.
It destroys creativity completely. Kinda sad
She’s giving us all this experience for free. Unsung queen of game dev
When you were talking about Oculus development in that busy place that connected all areas of the project, I was thinking about Boeing deliberately moving offices away from factories and engineering so they don't complain too much.
This channel is pretty good! I like these background stories of game design. I've been gaming since 1978 and I'm surprised there aren't more channels like this. Her experience in the field and her ability to set a good pace while telling her story really makes this channel stand out. 💯👍🏾
People have asked me how I've done good licensed IP games. I tell them, "I respect the franchises. I add to and expand, sure... but at the core, it's about realizing the IP for gamers, NOT about ME and my ego adding or changing the IP." Hell, even the games I've worked on that aren't considered "licenses", I treat them like licenses. I make sure they don't forget the people that made it so someone wants to make a sequel/prequel/side-story/reboot.
I agree, stowing the ego is key. Thank you for sharing your experience!
Who are you Tony Barnes?
@@mohamedab9033 a quick google search could answer that probably faster than I can, since I tend to be verbose, but quick & dirty; 40-year industry game dev, artist/designer/engineer/musician/producer, worked on and created many franchises and worked on some key cultural IPs.
@@tonybarnes2920 You made 2002's Buffy the vampire slayer? lol You're awesome, man.
Thanks Laura
Wow I think you're the first! Thank you very much!
I've been on an absolute tear commenting on your videos because I love your insider perspective on game production. What's really interesting is how applicable the process and work is to non-game stuff. Culture is culture and businesses are all working toward something. It's a low-hanging fruit comparison but restaurant franchises often fail because they expanded too quickly and aggressively after an initial success and along the way, they lose focus on the core ingredients that made it successful in the first place. They dig too deeply, too quickly and with too much pride, without self-reflection about what they're doing.
That Thomas Sowell quote is so true it hurts and it doesn't surprise me that it's not lost on the few people like Laura in the industry now. There's so much evidence in what works and yet the fan backlash continues to roll off upper managements feathers like it's nothing. This channel should be bookmarked in every dev studio computer.
"ive never understood why people dont want to learn from the experience of others" - i think about this every day. i remember an internship where the studio boss was baffled, confused and slightly angry talking to producers about how no TV network wanted to fund his idea for a cartoon staring space aliens as the main cast. at the same time i was listening to documentaries about british childrens tv show makers from the 60s and one of them said "dont make a show that doesnt have at least 1 human as a main character". the studio boss was raging over something someone else had learnt 60 years ago
I still remember the Mad World soundtrack for the Gears trailer. Absolutely unreal. Nothing has hit the same in terms of an advertising masterpiece like that for me.
The Halo 3, Reach, and ODST trailers are just as good. Real cinema
It gave me cold chills! And it made me want to play the game, even though I hate games like that. Truly a masterpiece.
This is a fantastic video that does a great job explaining exactly what has gone wrong with these once great franchises. I've been saying for a while now that companies should not hire someone to work on a franchise if they don't respect or don't like the source material. This discussion takes that point even further and I loved every minute of it. I also love the Thomas Sowell quote you put in there.
I played Mad Max recently and I gotta give you credit. You did the best with what you had to work with and I really enjoyed it :)
Thanks for sharing your insight on all of this, Laura! Facebook spending an entire day bemoaning a lack of almond milk explains a lot in hindsight 😂
You're welcome! Thank you for watching!
Engineer: makes off hand comment about there not being almond milk in the fridge at their workplace
TH-cam commenter years later: lol that whole company
@@mechanicalmonk2020 details were “complained all day”, not “mentioned there was no almond milk”. Get your ears checked
@@mechanicalmonk2020this isn't the polite way to challenge someone.
You are both wrong and right at the same time but you aren't getting your point across with this approach
Man... this one hit home pretty hard. As someone who is mostly working on licensed titles right now, I... wish we had walked away from one of our projects that ended up failing and decimating our team.
Super sorry to hear that! : (
I found your channel through the Concord piece since that’s trending and I’m glad I did, you have such a depth of industry knowledge
I left games seven years ago to work in high tech and I’ve always loved these retrospectives.
As a side note, I totally share your feelings on e day. Gow2 is one of my all time favorites, I can still Visalia and hear the intro to the big assault in tip of the spear. I hope they also nail the military themes and the tumultuous world the cog faces in e day’s setting.
One thing I’m curious about your response on is the idea that many franchises should end. In my mind, narratives are satisfying in their arc, and simply rehashing, retconning, or reskinning old arcs feels bad. Similarly, just reaching back for prequels and flashbacks can feel hollow.
I just found your channel and have watched 4-5 videos today. Your examples, editing skills, and ability to draw from your own experiences add so much to the points you make. It’s a treat to see videos and game references from my teenage years. The icing on the cake is your calm and intellectual tone, which is a pleasant contrast to the tirades I typically hear on these topics. Would love to see a collaboration between you and Timothy Cain.
Such a great channel with interesting insights, keep up the great work! I love how mellow and informative the commentary is.
Thank you for watching!
Liked this content
Just a question
Well you need making a video on soulslike and soulsborne games ?
The new genre that's making games more replayable
I just found you today. Watched the last 6 or so videos you’ve posted. I can’t get enough.
Your messages, philosophy, and wisdom is what the game industry is in dire need of!
I’d love to sit around a coffee table and just listen to all your stories. So interesting.
Thank you.
i discovered this channel yesterday with the culture video about concord and i must say, this is probably one of the most interesting and insightful channels out there. this will be a binge watch for sure
I come from your video "games industry bubble" and by now i am binge watching your content. Love your videos.
this channel is hella underrated. keep up the great content. subbed.
Thank you for your kind comment and for subscribing!
Firstly I want to thank you Laura for producing these videos. I worked in the industry for a spell in the early 2000s and it's genuinely incredible to hear your insight as someone who was around at the same time.
I'd love to hear more about the Internet Gaming Zone vs Xbox Live situation and how it panned out. From my perspective MS made the right call with Xbox live. Broadband penetration at the time the Xbox launched was considerably lower and it made sense to launch later rather than getting mixed up in the console launch window. Devs were still getting a handle on a whole new platform and I don't really think it would have been reasonable to push devs to integrate XBL into titles from day 1. Also even though XBL launched late and was a bit half baked the level of integration was still light years ahead of other consoles.
You were there so it's great to see my content resonating with you! Completely agree with you that Xbox Live was a good idea given we were doing Xbox! Thank you for your kind comments!
I’ve watched a few of your videos and I have to say, you can swap so many details for other details and come away with generalized advice. I really appreciate how level headed you are and how you’re able to parse out the nuances of a variety of issues.
Binge watching this channel and definitely want to comment to help the algorithm.
Your explanation really helps explain why some movie or game sequels just fall flat or some new media with established IP fail. The producers don't respect the source material and the target audience. Disney Star Wars is one where the sequel movies are meh (depending on who you ask 😅) while most of the animated ones are excellent, like rebels and bad batch. Dave filoni single handedly saved Star Wars, in my opinion.
There are also some outliers like the Judge Dredd movies. The sly stallone one was popular because he was one of the action heroes of the time. But as a comic book fan, I prefer the grittier more recent dredd where he never removes his helmet.
So, as a long-time fallout and halo fan, I never saw the tv series as I'm afraid they would make me hate the franchise more, just like what star wars is doing with their tv shows. That and Fallout 76 already did that
5:50 I wasn't expecting a quote from my hero 😂
Thomas Sowell mentioned.
Currently binge watching all of your videos. Lifelong gamer since the Atari 2600 and listening to your experiences from inside the game industry is so enjoyable. Leaders like you are giving me hope that my beloved lifelong hobby/passion is still in good hands. You get it!!! Thanks for your honest transparency and years of hard work. YOU have given me HOPE!!
Thank you for watching my videos! I'm glad you like them and never give up hope!!
Your experience and perspective is so valuable for understanding what shapes the games on the market today. Thanks for making these videos, they're very informative.
Laura, you are a true gift to gaming, your insights are incredible and you have an absolute incredible regalness to your demeanor. Please consider collaborating with other "essay style" TH-camrs to expand your reach so that you can connect with more people that can hear your message.
Thank you! I appreciate your comments! I haven't thought about collaborating but that's an idea to consider.
How in the world doesn't this channel have more subs?! I've just binged a few of your videos and as an author who is teaching herself RPG Maker to adapt oneshot VN adventure games for her books this channel is such a wealth of information!
You clearly love video games and have real respect for the artform which so many of the people in charge now lack.
They don't play games or care to even try them and they don't care about established lore and story when adapting a franchise to another medium (not just video games). I can't imagine disrespecting a creative work that I've been trusted with.
I can't even write fanfiction out of character.
Thanks so much for sharing your wisdom with us! It's a much needed beacon of light in these dark times.
absurd amounts of leadership game in all these videos, thank u
Thank you!
Laura is gifted with clarity of mind, thanks for sharing your experience!
I just found this channel and it is a privilege to hear your insight and experiences from IPs that I loved.
This is such a great video, been binging your channel. Shared it with a buddy, as this seems criminally underwatched. This is such a rare perspective for devs to hear from in an unfiltered manner, and from someone who clearly gets it, so can really underline what went wrong. I’m subbed and hoping for more.
Thank you for recommending my video and for subscribing! I'm glad you like my channel!
I'm in a dev lead/ architect role with 10 years of experience in a non game it industry. Every word you say resonates with me and my experience, the good, the bad. Also it makes me wonder, maybe its not too late to get into gaming.
Gears is my fave game series of all time no questions asked. Thank you for being a part of the team to bring this franchise to life.
Wow. You earned another subscriber. This channel is a hidden gem.
I found your channel today. Articulate and insightful. Thank you for your work.
This video deserves millions of views. Thank you for sharing!
These are some of the sanest videos Ive seen on TH-cam in forever. Subscribed
Laura I love this channel and the insight you provide. Would you consider doing a broad video on tooling and developer workflows and how they impact production? Apparently 343 had a hard time with Halo Infinite's engine, Bungie famously had issues with developers using tools before they were ready, BioWare struggled with Frostbite, etc.
Thank you! That's an interesting idea. I'll think about it!
...if only the decision makers at Netflix had listened to you when they screwed up The Witcher...
Great content on your Channel!
It`s a real treasure trove for aspiring game designers!
Thank you!
I have binge watched so many of Laura’s videos today hahahaha! Just found this channel, a real Dimond in the rough!
I really love your videos. You respect the intelligence of the audience and the passion of the fans but you also understand that video games are a business and that banks on finding a balance in making a viable product. These new devs think gamers are mostly teenagers but I noticed it's mostly mid 20s to early 40s, people who grew up with franchises and are attached to these titles. I understand they want to try something new but the blatant disrespect and disregard towards a large portion of the gaming community is mind-boggling. If a restaurant gave me the wrong order and mislead me with the menu pictures, I'd get mad and wouldn't support their business anymore. Now imagine if the restaurant told me to eat what I was given and I should be grateful. Wow. Just... wow.
You're exactly right! If you ordered an amazing steak that you've had before and they handed you a hamburger, you'd be justifiably upset about it. If instead they told you they didn't have steak, you'd probably order something new or leave and be happy. Thank you for your kind comments!
Your insight has the experience an nuance to cut through the BS without dog whistling. thank you.
Underrated Channel. Im watching all your videos now. Love your commentary!
Excellent channel! This is like seeing history come to life. You’re an unsung heroine.
I would love to see a video from you dissecting the polarization of gaming and the amplification certain voices from political actors.
came from the conrod video on Gameranx but now love this channel. Subscribed and binging. Also, thanks for making games for gamers over the years.
Just found you through the concord video as well. Your doing amazing work!
Loving your content! As a product designer I also often see companies going for a mismatch between the end product and the market. Continuous research and feedback is the only way to stay on the top of the game. I bet if key elements of Rings of Power, Concord or Acolyte were shown to the fans they’d tell the creators how they feel about it.
Refreshing to hear someone with a level headed take on the current state of the gaming industry and the software / gaming development lifecycle. It's clear that you know how to deliver 😄
Your channel is wonderful! A lot of these concepts are applicable to working with a team regardless of profession. I especially like the tactic of holding your thoughts until the rest of the team has shared theirs. Some members of my team always bring me ideas 1 on 1, but in a team meeting with management, they never speak up because our management tends to commandeer the meeting. Also, your point on only taking on work that you know your team is suited for (or assemble a team that is) is a hard pill to swallow for far too many people. Knowing your limits is hard but it's the only way to achieve repeatable results.
I agree! Many people won't bring something up in front of management so you have to seek out the information. I'm glad you are enjoying the channel! Thank you for watching!
@@laurafryer6321 I'm an mechanical engineer and gamer. Your channel is the first time I've seen analysis of game development from both the bottom up and the top down. I like spotting the parallels with my own career. New subscriber here 👋!
I loved working with the mechanical engineers at Oculus. They were incredibly creative. Thank you for the sub!
What an insightful, well done video this is. Well done.
I loved the Mad Max game. It’s one of the few games that I enjoyed every bit of it, from story to gameplay, to those stunning sky-boxes. I only wish it was more successful.
Amazing insight you deserve more subs !
Great video! It's really great to hear insider info from games industry!
I haven't yet played Mad Max game, but heard it's a cool game!
Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed the video!
"Honor the creators. Respect what came before."
**Glares at Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League**
Love your videos. I feel gaming and movies have abandon us in a way. Creators forgetting who they are making them for. Hope you are right about it turning around. I haven't gone to the movies or bought a new AAA in quite a while. Now, can you put a bug in someone's ear about putting Gears 2 and 3 on PC? It is time.
They absolutely haven't.
Watch the stuff that's right for you (I guarantee you it exists) rather than bemoaning what you dislike in the popular thing.
I've been gaming for 35 years and there's loads more unique and interesting games now than there were when I was a kid.
Thanks! It was a bummer with Gears PC because it didn't get the reaction we wanted even though we made new content for PC. Maybe now is the time. :)
You seem so smart, business savvy.i feel as an xbox fan they should give you an over seeing position.for their big franchises.like Killer Instinct,they revive (finally) the franchise to let it slip into oblivion again.to this day still the best fighting game to date (only true rival is MK).
@@mechanicalmonk2020ah I think you have missed the point.
They LOVE 'popular thing' which is why when it changes direction they are saddened
Firstly, an excellent video discussing the state of the industry.
Secondly, I loved the Mad Max game, it truly captured the essence of the Fury Road film. My favourite memory was the unique aesthetic of each different zone. So thank you to you and your team for being true to the original work.
Amzing video. Subscribed and notifications turned on
I really enjoyed Shadow of Mordor, despite not being a LOTR fan. It was just a great stealth combat game! Thank you :)
I know everyone desperately wants this to change and to turn around, and potentially even see some of these beloved franchises return to glory. But, we didn’t end up in this situation overnight, and we aren’t going to turn it around overnight either. I think it’s really an issue of the culture in the creative industries, and it’s very pervasive. It’ll take either drastic and deliberate change which seems incredibly unlikely, or slow and steady change due to market pressures from these massive repeated failures.
The level of candor from an industry insider is unbelievable. 👍👍
Thanks for watching!
That last scene with Marcus and Dom reminded me of Halo reach when new Alexandria was being glassed by the covenant and noble team was standing waiting for evac while noble six was carrying kat after she was sniped.😢such powerful scenes.
Another awesome insight from inside game industry itself, as commoner its help me so much putting in perspective of whats going on inside game development. Thank you
I'm glad you found the video helpful. Thank you for watching!
This is just lovely, pretty much info straight from the source
I've always wanted to see something like that, it's hard to find something more than development notes and even there the game is the bigger focus than the process behind it
Hollywood and Game execs will never understand this, unfortunately
Keep fighting the good fight
Another great video. I love your insights and stories about the video game industry.
Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed the video!
Thank you for the video... It is always interesting and fun to listen to the insight you have for, and within, the entertainment industry... You sound like a very passionate person when it comes to the various industries which you've taken part in... Although I'm very sure there are still some gaming industry companies that have that same sort of passion and drive, it does at the surface feel like some of that same passion has faded from so many companies in recent years... The quality of so many entertainment spaces has waned, to a point where it feels like they care more about ideological messaging and internal politics, over entertaining folks who are passionate about the various IP's...
The number of indie studios in the gaming market have grown, especially with the early access model, that many of adopted... Yet I find that early access has far too many times been a losing bet, as they are very much a gamble... Will they ever finish, will they be any good, will they stick to their promises, and how long will it take to get there? Those are just some of the questions and/or worries when buying into early access... There are lots of various game titles coming out over the next year or so, that look very promising... We'll just need to hope they deliver on the promises and hype the marketing teams love to throw out into the void...
Good points! Thank you for watching!
I do miss games like Gears 1 and 2. Best times in story driven game history. I do wonder how long until deva will open their eyes and start making good games again. I am so tired with broken games or ones with garbage stories and characters.
3:00 This .. soo soooooo sooo much this, I will never ever understand it when someone makes a Spinoff to something and they boast with "Yah our Writers never cared for the source material so they can do their own spin" it nnnneeeeveeeerrr works out.
Its interesting you use Shadow of Mordor as a reference to honouring the creators because I don’t think the story of that game was particularly faithful to the lotr story. The setting was good and the game was certainly entertaining, but could the game had worked in another setting? No way to know I suppose, but I am interested to know why you chose Shadow of Mordor as an example of staying faithful to the base material. Is it the environment and setting you find this faithfulness, maybe in the character of the Orcs?
Thank you, and great video ❤
Right? I was about to comment about this. When the game came out it was as ridiculous with lore as Ring of Powers 😂
You, and not this sweetbaby crap are what these devs need to be paying for and listening to. I've watched a few of your videos now, and I honestly believe that you "get it", far more than most of the people in charge of these "modern audience" game flops.
Another excellent video, and another outstanding Tom Sowell quote!
When you say it doesn’t matter WHY these things go wrong, I’m not sure I precisely agree. I think it may come down to a philosophical and/or cultural issue. These creative conflagrations don’t have to happen, they’re willed into existence by arrogant people.
Amazon’s tepid Rings of Power series might be a great example of the ethos I’m getting at. The attitude being, “We’re going to do it right this time.” Like you pointed out, there are multiple blueprints of how to, and even better how NOT to.
Lastly, that Gears of War trailer was phenomenal. I’m extremely excited to get my hands on it and am cheering for The Coalition!
That's a fair point! Thank you for watching!
Agreed. The why absolutely does matter. It tells us what is at the root of the problem: arrogance or incompetence. The solutions to those two issues are wildly different.
This hits home for me with the Tomb Raider franchise and how far removed its gone from its groundbreaking beginnings.
How did I not find this channel before???
I work in the film industry and I think it is unfortunately very common for directors to ignore source material in order to make an IP "their own". Blatant disrespect for source material is a lazy trend that is rampant through the modern media landscape. Disney Star Wars, Halo, Netflix animation adaptations like Avatar, and Rings of Power are all examples of this. It is hard to manufacture genuine passion for something which is why you need to pick people who care about what they are making. It seems like common sense, but studios have repeatedly messed this part up.
Bedankt
Thank you! I appreciate your support!
Ms. Fryer I feel infuriated! I want to be a game developer but the industry is so brazenly unprofessional. It’s like momma and dadda didn’t raise us right. Were we raised? What the hell happened?!? I can’t believe that I used to think like them, ignoring my instincts so I could fit in, until I didn’t have those instincts anymore. For EIGHT years. I’m such a damn fool.
Arrogance is definitely a contributor, if not the prime contributor. All people really want is a mostly faithful adaption with minimal divergence. They aren't looking for something completely new with the skin of a franchise or an alternate timeline, usually.
5:55 Quoting Thomas Sowell, touché
Hi Laura, I just wanted to say I would have been lucky to get to work with you. If I can’t then I would love to work with a person who is like you. I feel like you have an ocean of knowledge and I can learn so much from you. I belong to the younger generation but I always hate to see so much carelessness while working. I really admire how you approach your tasks.
Thank you for inspiring me.
very insightful, very refreshing videos. finally some words of whisdom. keep it up :D
I just wanted to say, that I've recently played Mad Max for the first time, and it's definitely an underrated gem. It was sad to hear George Miller's harsh words about it.
Wonderful channel!
I know we can literally never have what once was with some of these franchises, but I sat up and yelled when Dom grabbed Marcus’ hand and mad world played….so many memories.
We need a trailer like this with Chief and Johnson if they’re truly remaking Halo 1.
“crazy fool, why do you always jump?” (We literally never see him jump any other time like this in the series…so a call back to that in a trailer would get the Halo 3 vibes in a CE remake for sure.)
That moment was awesome! Thanks for watching!
my new favorite youtube channel
great channel, i grew up with atari starting out and ive seen the rising and the mega crash of games. there are a few that makes gold and the others i moves to books
I would love to hear your take on Avowed
I find this is definitely an issue with a lot of new shows: the showrunners just ignore the source material. Look at the Witcher.
My first experience with Gears of War was going over a friends house to check out the game. When Marcus Fenix started shouting for "Carmine" I was like "HOW DOES IT KNOW?!?!" (and then I realized it's someone in the game). hah
Hey, no idea if this comment will get lost in the sea of others, but I heard you had experience at the Facebook offices in Seattle and I feel I need to say my piece. I worked there once. I was one of the janitors, in charge of keeping the green roofs clean of leaves, along with the driveways. The entire building was surrounded by poop every day. No other building in town or place I worked at was ever surrounded by so much before, I just want that to be known. I can attest to the general carelessness and even incompetence of the staff in the building, there were some days I came into work and didn't even work, I just said I did and nobody could ever tell the difference. I didn't start out so flippant, but after noticing how many people were spending their time partying over doing actual work, I wondered why I had to, either. It seemed like people would spend more time playing ping-pong and their Nintendo Switches than doing anything else.
Omg, this is the amazing. I couldn't agree with the things you say even more if I tried. I think if you were in Sarah Bond's position right now, Microsoft would be in a LOT better place.
Also respect, you worked in two of my favorite games ever. Gears 1/2 were AMAZING, and Shadow of Mordor/War were incredible. The only downside to them is I wish they didn't patent the Nemesis system! It is such an incredible game design and I WISH it was in more games. It would make ANY open world infinitely more interesting, add replayability, and just make it better.
My only hope is that Monolith makes a great Wonder Woman game and it's a badass superhero game for fans.
"It also wasn't serving the creative teams and their need to express a story and build the world through their eyes." And then they went on to create one of the most vapid, creatively bankrupt stories ever. Most people who call themselves creative, or think of themselves as creative, aren't. They think only in terms of what they have seen that's popular. A creative person can work within restrictions, and often flourish; a person who is not creative cannot work within restrictions, because with restrictions they can't think of a creative way to express whatever idea they saw someone else do.
Imagine if Microsoft truly capitalised on being a true digital storefront before Valve made Steam.
This channel is a diamond in the rough! Have you made a video about the culture shift in bungie? I would love you hear your thoughts on it!