I don’t really see why public or private status matters in the picture. It will be still be the same culture (and leadership?). They try something new, but if will still be the same old IMO.
I could be wrong though, I don’t really have much interests in AAA outside of a few exceptions.
On one hand this is big news, on the other hand, I don’t really see how this matters.
The last EA game that I bought was SimCity (2013) and that was comically bad. Just my experience, but it’s not like fans of their sports games will be looking for alternatives (irrespective of what EA does).
Please post the video on games/pcgaming when you are done.
Soma is one of my favourite games of all time. Finished it two sittings (needed a break for sleep). I think it took me longer than most, but I was also exploring the world a lot.
I remember them announcing that SQ404 was entering a “polishing” phase in late 2023.
At that point and to this day, they failed to finalise a flight model, develop an armour/shield system and implement engineering gameplay.
Arguably these are critical elements for a release with space sim gameplay. Although if SQ404 does release, I think it will be 30 hours of Wing Commander The Movie level cut scenes (space bulldozer) and script, with bored sounding Hollywood actors counting the seconds till they can leave Chris Roberts’ mocap studio.
Inside Chris Roberts’ Mocap Studio:
Roberts: Hehehe. Hey, Mark! You know how I came up with the Vanduul? Hehe.
Hamil: No, how?
Roberts: Ehehe. Vandals to Vanduul! Get it? Hehehe. Pretty smart, right? Hehehe.
Hamil: Very original.
Roberts: Did you know the Vandals were a Germanic tribal grouping that raided the Roman Empire? Bet you didn’t know that! Hehehe.
Hamil: I am in awe of your creativy!
Roberts: I know, right! Hehehe.
Ok Mark, enough farting around. Pretend you are riding a space bulldozer!
Can’t speak for competition in consoles, but parts costs have radically increased, particularly GPUs (and it’s getting much more difficult to have generational leaps in graphics quality).
If the game is formally released, it is reasonable to provide refunds (irrespective of purchase date) for cash shop items that don’t exist or don’t work.