Don’t Think, Just Jam
I started a screenshot album for my virtual adventures. Check it out if you’d like.
It’s a group representing the biggest publishers in the industry, used as a front to pretend they’re able to self-regulate when it comes to consumer laws vs business wants. So no, not a governing body but more of a cartel or lobbying group, I guess? One with A LOT of money on the line and enough lobbying power to push against things like the Stop Killing Games campaign the moment they feel threatened.
Either way it’s pure speculation considering something truly massive would have to happen for Steam to even get to this point.
He did say something similar years ago if I recall correctly but we never got any details and it was so long ago it’s hard to guess whether that’s still the plan. Reassurance or update on that wouldn’t be unwelcome, that’s for sure.
Here are the board members of this organisation in case someone is curious about their relevancy/neutrality on the matter:
You know, the people who “ensured that the voice of a responsible games ecosystem is heard and understood” (direct quote from their website).
Fresh update video from Ross about the campaign.
TL;DW:
That’s actually one of the most annoying parts about the whole thing. SKG campaign has been running for what, a year now? Barely anyone with an audience cared enough to even look into it, let alone spread the news. Now that things came close to failing suddenly everyone thinks it’s an important topic and scrambled to make videos/posts/whatever. I’d like to give them the benefit of the doubt but I just don’t have that in me any more…
We could’ve been in so much better place with awareness, petitions and general sentiment if people in the industry actually cared about these things from the start.
Better late than never, I guess. I just hope there’s enough time to push through the EU petition as well.
After Ross announced the campaign is dead a bunch of YouTubers (and media, I think?) picked up the topic and started spreading the word far and wide. This is the result.
He actively misrepresented the campaign and spread misinformation about its goals. I don’t know if he genuinely didn’t understand or if he was too embarrassed to admit to a mistake but he did a lot of damage to the momentum and perception of the whole thing.
It sucks these big creators only now pick up the mantle but it’s better than nothing. There’s still some time left.
You can try reporting the video but that probably won’t do much (doesn’t mean it’s not worth a try). The best you can do is treat it as free advertisement and hope it’ll encourage people to buy the game if they like it.
Remember that pirated copy does not equal lost sale, especially for an indie title most people won’t even hear about.
Edit: well, the double check by the other user makes this thing pretty sus. Either way, my comment still stands in case this really happens for someone.
Yeah, I’ve seen it after writing this. Thankfully, half of these are for PC native games so I didn’t miss completely at least.
Beside the already mentioned Open Source Game Clones there’s also this list on GitHub.
As for specific titles, I’d like to add:
There’s also WipeOut Phantom Edition but this one isn’t open-source so I’ll just leave it here in case someone wants to check out the existing build.
Does it though? I feel like there’s a difference between chatting with your mates and posting stuff aimed at your customers - especially things that might drive them to take actions that will affect your bottom line.
You already played the games, you enjoy them - it is what it is. There’s no point in beating yourself over (not) doing something without knowledge about the circumstances. No one is omnipotent and can avoid supporting every single shitty person out there. Just have fun with what you like and don’t support the guy in the future, that’s the best one can do in such situation in my opinion.
I want to say we all found out he was a piece of shit in the lead up to Ori 2?
Eh, not necessarily? I’m sure there are plenty of people who just play the games and aren’t in the know of any drama going on behind the scenes. Heck, I’m pretty tuned in into what’s going on in the industry and while I remember hearing some of this stuff back in the day most of it faded away since I wasn’t particularly interested in the series.
I think it’s better to remind folks about these situations than assume everyone is familiar with what’s going on.
He had more of similar comments throughout the years so… yeah. He’s also known for poor management and causing toxic work environment to the point Microsoft decided to cut ties with the studio.
Just in case someone thought these are just some out of context or one-time “jokes”/missteps.
Heck, here are some bonus links for good measure:
Eh, I wouldn’t. The industry might be more resilient at the moment but it’s not invulnerable. Even if they won’t succeed (or at least not right away) there’s a high chance they’ll make things worse for everyone - that and they’d probably try to copy Neuro-sama without understanding what’s up or putting actual work. Although… that last part could lead to some fun with Neuro dunking on such clones. Probably still not worth it though.
I’m glad he found an extremely rare example of a game that doesn’t offend his delicate sensibilities, I guess? I’m sure it’s not easy being a REAL MEN’s MAN these days.
My guess would be it’s a mix of the, still pretty common, blindness towards Asian market (outside some specific industries) and a lot of focus on all the craziness happening around the world (doubly so since the regime change in the US).
I’m not exactly the target demographic of The Economist though so I might be completely wrong. Either way, the longer it takes for tech bros to try and jump into vtubbing on the corpo level the better.
Can’t expect them to give a damn until it’s a hugely lucrative business, can we?
Yeah, that tracks - it’s a business organisation first and foremost. And yeah, we definitely do.