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[Herbspiceguy]

Great opportunity to visit Japan using EU tax payers money.

 

[Sgt.Asher]

Dustborn is really stealing the show at TGS

We need someone to ask the booth attendant if Dustborn is satire.

 

[Lokaum D+]

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

Isn't that one guy standing off to the left playing? Looks like he has a controller in hand. Probably a great area to get away from the crowds and have a quiet moment

I think he’s the booth babe

 

[SF Kosmo]

That doesn't really even make sense, because liberals are center-right in European politics. Only in America does "liberal" mean left.

Yes, Sweden and Norway are pretty liberal. But super leftist? I don't know about that, we (Sweden) currently have our most right-leaning government probably ever. Of course, that's still pretty left compared to the American hard right, that barely exists here. So in that sense I guess you're right.

I think Scandinavians trying to get their head around American political perspectives is more or less how we arrived at this debacle.

There is a way to do this sort of thing right. Thirsty Suitors did well and has a ton of fans, because it comes from an actual genuine perspective. It's a game that is earnest and personal. I think Dustborn's most unforgivable crime here is poserdom.

 

[Sgt.Asher]

Imagine all that effort, for absolutely nothing.

You could have made a game called ‘Dildo’. Free to play. You just start it up and can use the controller or mouse to waggle the dildo around on screen.

You could even have a ‘dildo pass’ and give people new dildo skins for the amount of time spent waggling. Even monitize it.

That would make far more money.

Genital Jousting had an all-time peak of 610 concurrent players on 21 March 2020. https://steamdb.info/app/469820/charts/

 

[LMJ]

I am glad these activists and progressives got to make the game they wanted to make, but is the old saying goes...

If there is a market for it people will buy and well we saw how that turned out LOL

However that being said I would much rather they make something of their own and have a chance of success then corrupt an existing franchise or degrade existing characters like modern writers oh so love to do.

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

Looking at that pic more closely I bet that guy is a Red Thread employee. He’s playing the game but standing off to the side so people can get a view of the game. And he’s a white dude.

 

[Quantum253]

I think he’s the booth babe

Waiting for the thread "Modern Day Booth Babes for the Modern Audience"

 

[GymWolf]

It's hard to see what's on the table, but can anyone even try a demo of it? I think those are two slim/flat keyboards? I dont see a mouse. So 3 people are suppose to sit on bar chairs and stare at the screen?

I think people would prefer to bash their balls with a spiked bat and then swim in open sea surrounded by tiger sharks with 2 bleeding paper cut on their nipples before trying the demo.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

It could be he's just wandering the booth as a rep with a gamepad in hand. So happens he got photoed at an odd angle dabbling with the game.

 

[Ogbert]

Genital Jousting had an all-time peak of 610 concurrent players on 21 March 2020. https://steamdb.info/app/469820/charts/

Sons of bitches stole my idea!

 

[MayauMiao]

Dustborn booth caught in glorious 4k 60fps. Video guy didn't even bother to give attention to it,

 

[kruis]

Looking at that pic more closely I bet that guy is a Red Thread employee. He’s playing the game but standing off to the side so people can get a view of the game. And he’s a white dude.

They should have hired someone from Japan to demo the game. Japanese people will avoid foreigners at these shows, either because they don't speak English or because they're afraid they'll embarrass themselves when speaking English - even if they're actually reasonably fluent.

 

[Denton]

Looking at that pic more closely I bet that guy is a Red Thread employee. He’s playing the game but standing off to the side so people can get a view of the game. And he’s a white dude.

Looks like Ragnar "TDS" Tornquist

 

[Cyberpunkd]

They should have hired someone from Japan to demo the game. Japanese people will avoid foreigners at these shows, either because they don't speak English or because they're afraid they'll embarrass themselves when speaking English - even if they're actually reasonably fluent.

This + having a black female be a centerpiece of your booth is just asking to be ignored. Doesn’t matter how unfair it is, minorities do not sell in Japan.

 

[MayauMiao]

They should have hired someone from Japan to demo the game. Japanese people will avoid foreigners at these shows, either because they don't speak English or because they're afraid they'll embarrass themselves when speaking English - even if they're actually reasonably fluent.

They probably couldn't find any Japanese to assist in understanding crazy identity politics.

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

Dustborn dev opens up after brutal launch: "Caught us completely off guard"

Red Thread Games has endured hate and threats after the launch of their new game. Their CEO is worried for the future of the industry.

www.gamer.no

There’s a surprisingly in depth interview with Ragnar Tornquist all about Dustborn’s reception and sales. It’s worth a read if you’re curious WTF is up with this game.

A couple random snippets:

"We are a tiny studio. That’s why it feels so blown out of proportion when we experience so many attacks and conspiracies. It takes a toll."

"Did you expect debate over some of the more obviously politically correct aspects of the game?"

"Yes, but we were never out to provoke. We just wanted to make a game with characters that are different. We didn’t think it would be so controversial that a group would fight against a fascist regime. I don’t think many people want to live in a police state. And our version of the U.S. is by no means the real America."

"So, is this satire?"

"I think the game speaks for itself. It’s over the top in many ways. It’s colorful, inspired by comic books, has fight sequences against giant robotic mascots, and it has a sarcastic view of the world. It doesn’t take itself very seriously"

"Our internal goals for Dustborn haven’t been met, but that doesn’t mean it’s a flop."

Red Thread received 14 million NOK from the Norwegian Film Institute (NFI) for the development of the game and has also received around 150,000 Euros in EU grants.

"Diversity is positive for everyone. Games like Black Myth: Wukong, Mario, and Elden Ringwon’t stop existing just because we release Dustborn. There’s room for both these games and everything in between – even those that only appeal to a limited audience."

Lots more too.

 

[cormack12]

"It caught us completely off guard. We were very surprised by the extreme reaction to the launch, and we had no plan for how to handle it", Tørnquist tells Gamer.no.

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

His damage control is pretty smart, let's give him that. He plays dumb and genuinely shocked, the same as Todd Philips is saying that his movie is not about shitting on fans. They both know what they did and what the consequences would be.

 

[GymWolf]

His damage control is pretty smart, let's give him that. He plays dumb and genuinely shocked, the same as Todd Philips is saying that his movie is not about shitting on fans. They both know what they did and what the consequences would be.

I mean, a 5 years old child could see throught his bullshit sharade but sure, it's smarter than just saying gamers are nazis and bla bla bla, i give you that

 

[Mokus]

"Our internal goals for Dustborn haven’t been met, but that doesn’t mean it’s a flop."

Wow! It's easy to say that when you get tax payers money for free.

 

[Punished Miku]

"So, is this satire?"

"YES"

That's honestly all they had to say and I bet they'd get a sales spike. The little clips I've seen honestly come off like a parody.

 

[Nikodemos]

Rowby made a long-form (one whole hour!) deep dive into what's wrong with the game.

 

[winjer]

Dustborn dev opens up after brutal launch: "Caught us completely off guard"

Red Thread Games has endured hate and threats after the launch of their new game. Their CEO is worried for the future of the industry.

www.gamer.no

There’s a surprisingly in depth interview with Ragnar Tornquist all about Dustborn’s reception and sales. It’s worth a read if you’re curious WTF is up with this game.

A couple random snippets:

Lots more too.

It's impressive how this studio is so intellectually dishonest.
They made a game that is extremely political, attacking anyone that does not conform to their political ideology, and yet they claim "we were never out to provoke people".
At the very least, they should have the courage to admit what they were doing.
What a bunch of sniveling cowards and liars.

 

[Gamer_By_Proxy]

Ehhh, he just pointed out he took tax payer money from 100% of people to cater to a less than 1% gaming audience. Sounds irresponsible to me.
Probably wouldn't care if they funded it all themselves.

 

[Robb]

Dustborn dev opens up after brutal launch: "Caught us completely off guard"

Red Thread Games has endured hate and threats after the launch of their new game. Their CEO is worried for the future of the industry.

www.gamer.no

”Dustborn is not a flop. “

But Red Thread would certainly like the sales numbers to be higher.

The publisher, Quantic Dream, holds the sales figures, so Tørnquist doesn’t have oversight.

 

[Dynasty8]

So delusional. This is what happens when your primary and ONLY source of feedback is ResetEra.

 

[SJRB]

"YES"

That's honestly all they had to say and I bet they'd get a sales spike. The little clips I've seen honestly come off like a parody.

But it very obviously isn't.

You can't just make a game like this and after it gets trashed come out and say "Hah, jokes on you, it was satire all along!!".

 

[kruis]

Tørnquist feels that the industry in general is afraid of how their games will be received. This hampers creativity among developers, he believes. The challenging economy in recent years doesn’t make things easier.

"You start questioning decisions around character design, narrative, wording, PR, and even game mechanics. This stems from a greater nervousness about what reactions you might get. But we’re not going to stop being ourselves. After this, you question every design decision, and that’s not healthy. But we love games, and I’ve done this my whole life. That’s why it’s so hard to walk away from it", Tørnquist says. "You see this in the reception of more and more games. Everything becomes a part of the culture war. I hope we can get past this, because it’s very unfortunate, both for those in the industry today, potential new developers, investors, and publishers. No one wants to get caught in such a culture war storm."

This guy makes an ultra woke game featuring an ethnically/gender diverse group of characters fighting a future fascist state where you can fight foes by triggering or canceling your foes, and then he's surprised he's become part of the culture war? Well, you knew exactly what you were doing, you just don't like how it blew up in your face.

 

[IDKFA]

"Yes, but we were never out to provoke. We just wanted to make a game with characters that are different"

Spoiler

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

It's impressive how this studio is so intellectually dishonest.
They made a game that is extremely political, attacking anyone that does not conform to their political ideology, and yet they claim "we were never out to provoke people".
At the very least, they should have the courage to admit what they were doing.
What a bunch of sniveling cowards and liars.

Yeah. I almost started feeling sorry for the guy for a bit there, but that “we were never out to provoke people” line is such a load of horse shit.

Can you even imagine a more overtly political, propagandistic, and heavy handed narrative? Dude dove head first into internet culture war bullshit and portrayed his side as a bunch of superheroes and the other side as evil fascists who can be brutalized without the slightest moral hang up. What the hell did he think would happen?

And holy shit, could you even imagine what the right wing equivalent of this game would be? The whole world would be rightfully appalled at such a thing.

 

[Sentenza]

"YES"

That's honestly all they had to say and I bet they'd get a sales spike. The little clips I've seen honestly come off like a parody.

I mean, it IS satire, this wasn't a secret.
But their main problem is that what they intended to "satirize" and what ends to be (unintentionally) hilarious and a target of mockery for the audience do not align.

 

[winjer]

Yeah. I almost started feeling sorry for the guy for a bit there, but that “we were never out to provoke people” line is such a load of horse shit.

Can you even imagine a more overtly political, propagandistic, and heavy handed narrative? Dude dove head first into internet culture war bullshit and portrayed his side as a bunch of superheroes and the other side as evil fascists who can be brutalized without the slightest moral hang up. What the hell did he think would happen?

And holy shit, could you even imagine what the right wing equivalent of this game would be? The whole world would be rightfully appalled at such a thing.

But the thing is, people like him don't think that only the far right is the enemy.
They also consider the center as their enemy, because people in the center reject both extremist from the left and the right.
In reality, there is more in common with the far right and the far left, than there is with the center.
While people in the center are supporters of democratic values, people on the extremes do not.
Both the far right and the far left, are against freedom of speech, as they only tolerate their own ideology. They are against the rule of law and democratic institutions.
And both sides are set to destroy democratic rule.

This guy was never a victim. He was the aggressor and people pushed back on his extremist ideology, but instead of admitting what he was doing, he now pretends to be the victim.

 

[Londo]

Lesson learned for the next game?
I very much doubt it.

 

[Fake]

It caught us completely off guard.

 

[EviLore]

Any legitimate harassment the studio received is not appropriate. It’s just poorly made ideologically motivated entertainment, of which there are countless examples. But, leveraging ideas like cancel culture for your core gameplay as if it’s something good and righteous is extremely distasteful to me. Some blowback is to be expected.

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

One of its mechanics is bullying. That alone should remove the public funds.

 

[Fake]

Any legitimate harassment the studio received is not appropriate. It’s just poorly made ideologically motivated entertainment, of which there are countless examples. But, leveraging ideas like cancel culture for your core gameplay as if it’s something good and righteous is extremely distasteful to me. Some blowback is to be expected.

Well, they can't blame people for using tactics that their own game teach.

 

[Reaseru]

It's impressive how this studio is so intellectually dishonest.
They made a game that is extremely political, attacking anyone that does not conform to their political ideology, and yet they claim "we were never out to provoke people".
At the very least, they should have the courage to admit what they were doing.
What a bunch of sniveling cowards and liars.

I came here to say this.

Those imbeciles think we didn't watched videos of that abomination they called a game. People that are that intellectually dishonest are very capable to cry wolf and say they received death threats when they probably received none.

 

[Trilobit]

Dustborn dev opens up after brutal launch: "Caught us completely off guard"

Red Thread Games has endured hate and threats after the launch of their new game. Their CEO is worried for the future of the industry.

www.gamer.no

"You see this in the reception of more and more games. Everything becomes a part of the culture war. I hope we can get past this, because it’s very unfortunate, both for those in the industry today, potential new developers, investors, and publishers. No one wants to get caught in such a culture war storm."

Is this guy dense or something? Has he missed how one side has been calling everyone on the other side fascists for no good reason for many years now? This game has a clear bias no matter how subtle he thinks it is. The game caters an insane amount to one particular group and then he pretends to be shocked when his little cutesy game garners criticism for it. Harassment or threats to the studios is absolutely not okay though.

 

[Denton]

Ragnar is full of shit in that interview. Cry me a fucking river. How the mighty have fallen, TLJ and Dreamfall were so good.

 

[mckmas8808]

Any legitimate harassment the studio received is not appropriate. It’s just poorly made ideologically motivated entertainment, of which there are countless examples. But, leveraging ideas like cancel culture for your core gameplay as if it’s something good and righteous is extremely distasteful to me. Some blowback is to be expected.

100% this! And to be honest, if a developer did the same but in reverse (a super pro-Maga game) it'll also flop if the core gameplay was centered around "They are taking our jerbs" and "Stop being woke". These things work on the internet, but they just aren't fun game ideas.

 

[Halo is Back]

No surprise, I've never even heard of this game.

 

[MayauMiao]

Dustborn is not a flop

Not when its taxpayers' money that paid for the loss.

 

[cyberheater]

I do feel sorry for the devs.
They to have mouths to feed, careers to grow, pronouns to invent…

 

[EN250]

"YES"

That's honestly all they had to say and I bet they'd get a sales spike. The little clips I've seen honestly come off like a parody.

GTA V is satire, there is a way to do stuff in which it is interpreted in a concrete manner, like how you have Democrat and Republican politicians in-game being complete cartoon characters while the game don't side with either and make fun of both

This game either couldn't because devs were incapable or the clear message is on display and they can't hide it

 

[Ogbert]

Dustborn dev opens up after brutal launch: "Caught us completely off guard"

Red Thread Games has endured hate and threats after the launch of their new game. Their CEO is worried for the future of the industry.

www.gamer.no

There’s a surprisingly in depth interview with Ragnar Tornquist all about Dustborn’s reception and sales. It’s worth a read if you’re curious WTF is up with this game.

A couple random snippets:












Lots more too.

Nope. He can fuck off.

There’s a culture war and and we need to win it.

 

[MayauMiao]

Dustborn's horrible, horrible voice acting alone is a testament to the quality of this game.

 

[N0S]

Ragnar is full of shit in that interview. Cry me a fucking river. How the mighty have fallen, TLJ and Dreamfall were so good.

The last jedi sucked tho