Back in the day, we were all too happy to judge games by their packaging alone. What looked cool on the box made all the difference, and could shape which few games a year we had the money to invest in. Over time, however, we’ve learned that this approach was more than a little naïve. In reality, the most important aspect of a game isn’t so much the title itself as it is the developers and producers behind it. Looking at a few standout examples, we want to explore how this issue manifests, and why it’s something users should pay attention to.
The Importance of Developers
Outside of rare cases, most big video games are the products of dedicated teams. These teams are tied to development studios, which, aside from being a legal collective, also share aspects of culture, insight, and overall direction. In this way, developers are sort of communities, where no two are completely alike.
For this reason, the developers who know what they’re doing will tend to produce a quality product no matter the genre they’re working towards. One of the most famous examples of this in action is Naughty Dog, a developer that first became famous back on the PlayStation 1 with Crash Bandicoot. At the time, the working culture of Naughty Dog made one of the best platformers of the era, but they didn’t stop there.
Next up, they moved onto the PS2, where the Jak and Daxter series expanded massively on the 3D platforming genre, which again became a breakout hit. This was then maintained on the PS3 with Uncharted and The Last of Us, games that were departures from Naughty Dog’s roots but were still massive successes. On the PS4, this legacy would continue with TLOU and Uncharted sequels, with the developer maintaining quality no matter the era.
Of course, the opposite of this confidence can also prove true. Bethesda, for example, is a studio famous for releasing games with the biggest worlds to explore that gaming has. They’re also notorious for releasing buggy titles, and this has been true for decades. From personal experience, this is what made us wary of Fallout 76, with online titles being difficult to develop on top of Bethesda’s poor quality control issues. As it turns out, the Bethesda legacy was held, and the game was incredibly buggy not just at release, but for years afterward too. Having recently tried the game ourselves, where we had to fix two game-breaking bugs before even reaching the main menu, it seems the pattern continues.
Outside of Video Games
This concept of trusting developers isn’t unique to video games, rather it can apply to many different forms of popular entertainment. Online casinos are one of the strong contemporary examples of this idea in action with releases like live casino games. Tricky to implement, the big names in this arena are essentially guarantees of quality, no matter what sort of games they release. Extending further, the websites that host these well-regarded providers are themselves lent an air of professionalism for their efforts. Of course, these websites still rely on bonuses like deposit matches and free spins to set themselves apart, but for many users, it’s the right software that matters most.
Outside of interactive entertainment, another common illustration of legacy guiding quality could be found in video streaming services like HBO. In this case, the streaming service acquired the rights to all major Warner Bros releases in 2021, giving customers on the platform a reason to stay confident. Built on top of an already forward-thinking approach to movie release streaming, this move has paid off, with HBO finding 10.7 million additional customers in just over a year.
Going a Step Beyond
Though we often give praise to development studios alone, it needs to be said that it’s the people behind these brands that can make or break the experience. This means that, over time, formerly great studios can wither away, and those that used to struggle might surge ahead. Throw publisher influence into this equation, and the waters can be muddied even further. After all, as great as many developer studios have been, they can crumble easily under the mismanagement of some of gaming’s most infamous publishers.
As for the user, the takeaway from this should be to trust developers over individual games and hype, and to understand that developers don’t exist in a vacuum. Party to the changing workers and the whims of publishers, it can be just as important to watch what happens inside studios as it is to watch the games they produce. That said, putting developers first is a good place to start, especially if you’ve more eccentric tastes.