nowhat
Member
Disclaimer: although I'd like to tell myself that I still get "fellow kids", truthfully that hasn't been the case for years. Inevitable, I guess. I've been on the Internet since the mid-90s, and while there are many things I wish I could unsee, there are some that I've either intentionally avoided or never been interested in. Among them is watching streamers/streaming yourself. This seems to be a generational thing, it's not something I'd know any people around my age being into. To be clear, if you enjoy watching streamers or doing streams, great! Different strokes and all that, not trying to be dismissive. Just that there are some major gaps in my understanding of how our world works these days, so this thread is a (likely futile) attempt to at least partially fix those. I don't think there are correct answers here, so completely subjective opinions and pure speculation are very much welcome. No need for those pesky "facts" or "references".
So. Yesterday there was a thread about that "Among Us chicken nugget" auction. That made me a) lose a bit more of what little faith I have left in humanity, and b) wonder "how does that work?". No, not the chicken nugget, even Todd Howard couldn't make it just work. And not the auction either, although it is related - the bids may very well be fake (or sadly, real), but trolls don't bother unless there's a large enough audience. The fact that the price ended up so high indicates how Among Us is a "thing", has been for quite a while. And not just a "gamer thing" but more a "general public thing" or at least "thing in the memesphere". When you see late night hosts making jokes about it, you're there.
But how did it get to be a thing? According to Wikipedia, the game was first released in June and November 2018 for mobile and PC, respectively, to generally good reception but little fanfare otherwise. Fast forward a year and a half, first people in South Korea and Brazil started to make content about the game, then "Twitch streamer Sodapoppin first popularized the game on Twitch in July 2020. Many other Twitch streamers and YouTubers followed suit, including prominent content creators xQc, Pokimane, Shroud, Ninja, and PewDiePie". Soon after the game is everywhere.
Wikipedia also suggests that "the COVID-19 pandemic was frequently cited as a reason for the popularity of Among Us, as it allowed for socializing despite social distancing" - I don't buy it, can't basically every online game be socializing if you have a mic and a group of friends? Also if my teenage daughter is anything to go by, not being able to go outside and physically meet people doesn't matter as long as Discord works (not that we're under lockdown currently, which is nice). Maybe the game is just so good? Definitely possible (no opinion, haven't played it yet), it did receive many awards - in 2020, when it was already super popular. Awards are also a popularity contest up to a point. I just think that if it were reeeeally good, it would have got more visibility by word-of-mouth if nothing else despite the muted launch, before it got resurrected. That leaves the most obvious and likely explanation, also the one I have most difficulty accepting...
I know streaming is very popular, and some streamers very very much so, but I still can't really grasp how influential they are. Is it really the case that a handful of "superstars" can have a global impact on online game content creation (not directly of course, but by influencing the "not-quite-as-hot-but-still-pretty-hot" streamers, who in turn influence the streamers who look up to them, and so on - it's streamers all the way down)? A big name starting to play $GAME and herds of lemmin.... err, lots of content creators following suit immediately is nothing new, but this was like all of the heavy hitters pretty much at the same time. And if the top-tier streamers indeed are so influential, could they team up and start playing (or trolling) the system? Not promoting AAA games, they do that already and the games will sell regardless. But something like receiving a nice "compensation" from a publisher, then some streams later the publisher's new indie game will be what everyone is talking about - could they pull it off? Or hell, just troll away and have everyone start streaming Slaughtering Grounds.
...ok, maybe Slaughtering Grounds wouldn't still become a hit, obviously the game has to be decent as well. Could be funny though. But it seems at least in this case, the streamers were essential to the game's eventual success. That raises the question, is it possible for an indie title with no large marketing budget or big publisher backing to become a hit anymore without any support from streamers? Stellar reviews could do it, but with little visibility it's hard to get your game reviewed. Case in point, the PC version of Among Us is at 82 on OpenCritic with nine reviews - eight of them were written in 2020 and one in 2021. So basically, if you're a tiny indie dev, you better hope some large streamer picks up your game or that it has meme potential?
On to the latter part of the title, nothing is forever. No matter how popular a game is right now, that will not last indefinitely. But smart maintenance and further development can certainly extend the game's lifetime. Or conversely, lack of them can put it into an early grave. Common reasons why what used to be a thing no longer is a thing include lack of updates/new content, another game becoming a new thing and stealing all the attention/mindshare, or a new game is released that has a similar enough gameplay and target audience, but is just better in some or several aspects (I think this is what basically happened with PUBG vs. Fortnite on consoles). The last option doesn't seem very likely as the concept is still quite unique (at least in video games) and generally the future is looking pretty good for Among Us with PS/Xbox versions set to release this year and new content in the works, so the game will likely be fine for now (even if a new thing would enter the market).
Going forward though, what would be your course of action as the studio head? Do you see the game having legs why not, the nugget had them too, how long you think it will remain at least moderately popular? How would you keep the game fresh and players coming back? And on a more general level, do you think streamers are beneficial to a game during its entire lifetime, or is it mostly around release (or with Among Us, more like re-release) where they (might) play the largest role? This is a rare opportunity for Gaf - you get to larp as a gaming executive who is not Jim Ryan!
So. Yesterday there was a thread about that "Among Us chicken nugget" auction. That made me a) lose a bit more of what little faith I have left in humanity, and b) wonder "how does that work?". No, not the chicken nugget, even Todd Howard couldn't make it just work. And not the auction either, although it is related - the bids may very well be fake (or sadly, real), but trolls don't bother unless there's a large enough audience. The fact that the price ended up so high indicates how Among Us is a "thing", has been for quite a while. And not just a "gamer thing" but more a "general public thing" or at least "thing in the memesphere". When you see late night hosts making jokes about it, you're there.
But how did it get to be a thing? According to Wikipedia, the game was first released in June and November 2018 for mobile and PC, respectively, to generally good reception but little fanfare otherwise. Fast forward a year and a half, first people in South Korea and Brazil started to make content about the game, then "Twitch streamer Sodapoppin first popularized the game on Twitch in July 2020. Many other Twitch streamers and YouTubers followed suit, including prominent content creators xQc, Pokimane, Shroud, Ninja, and PewDiePie". Soon after the game is everywhere.
Wikipedia also suggests that "the COVID-19 pandemic was frequently cited as a reason for the popularity of Among Us, as it allowed for socializing despite social distancing" - I don't buy it, can't basically every online game be socializing if you have a mic and a group of friends? Also if my teenage daughter is anything to go by, not being able to go outside and physically meet people doesn't matter as long as Discord works (not that we're under lockdown currently, which is nice). Maybe the game is just so good? Definitely possible (no opinion, haven't played it yet), it did receive many awards - in 2020, when it was already super popular. Awards are also a popularity contest up to a point. I just think that if it were reeeeally good, it would have got more visibility by word-of-mouth if nothing else despite the muted launch, before it got resurrected. That leaves the most obvious and likely explanation, also the one I have most difficulty accepting...
I know streaming is very popular, and some streamers very very much so, but I still can't really grasp how influential they are. Is it really the case that a handful of "superstars" can have a global impact on online game content creation (not directly of course, but by influencing the "not-quite-as-hot-but-still-pretty-hot" streamers, who in turn influence the streamers who look up to them, and so on - it's streamers all the way down)? A big name starting to play $GAME and herds of lemmin.... err, lots of content creators following suit immediately is nothing new, but this was like all of the heavy hitters pretty much at the same time. And if the top-tier streamers indeed are so influential, could they team up and start playing (or trolling) the system? Not promoting AAA games, they do that already and the games will sell regardless. But something like receiving a nice "compensation" from a publisher, then some streams later the publisher's new indie game will be what everyone is talking about - could they pull it off? Or hell, just troll away and have everyone start streaming Slaughtering Grounds.
...ok, maybe Slaughtering Grounds wouldn't still become a hit, obviously the game has to be decent as well. Could be funny though. But it seems at least in this case, the streamers were essential to the game's eventual success. That raises the question, is it possible for an indie title with no large marketing budget or big publisher backing to become a hit anymore without any support from streamers? Stellar reviews could do it, but with little visibility it's hard to get your game reviewed. Case in point, the PC version of Among Us is at 82 on OpenCritic with nine reviews - eight of them were written in 2020 and one in 2021. So basically, if you're a tiny indie dev, you better hope some large streamer picks up your game or that it has meme potential?
On to the latter part of the title, nothing is forever. No matter how popular a game is right now, that will not last indefinitely. But smart maintenance and further development can certainly extend the game's lifetime. Or conversely, lack of them can put it into an early grave. Common reasons why what used to be a thing no longer is a thing include lack of updates/new content, another game becoming a new thing and stealing all the attention/mindshare, or a new game is released that has a similar enough gameplay and target audience, but is just better in some or several aspects (I think this is what basically happened with PUBG vs. Fortnite on consoles). The last option doesn't seem very likely as the concept is still quite unique (at least in video games) and generally the future is looking pretty good for Among Us with PS/Xbox versions set to release this year and new content in the works, so the game will likely be fine for now (even if a new thing would enter the market).
Going forward though, what would be your course of action as the studio head? Do you see the game having legs why not, the nugget had them too, how long you think it will remain at least moderately popular? How would you keep the game fresh and players coming back? And on a more general level, do you think streamers are beneficial to a game during its entire lifetime, or is it mostly around release (or with Among Us, more like re-release) where they (might) play the largest role? This is a rare opportunity for Gaf - you get to larp as a gaming executive who is not Jim Ryan!
