'Gears Of War' Executive Producer Explains Why AAA Games Are In Trouble In Wake Of 'Dragon Age: The Veilguard' Disaster
Laura Fryer, the Executive Producer on Gears of War as well as the VP and General Manger for The Lord of the Rings: War in the North and Guardians of Middle-earth, recently explained why AAA games and the studios that make them are in trouble.
In a recent upload to her YouTube channel titled “Games Industry Bubble,” Fryer declared, “When people ask me why AAA games are in trouble this is it: Because they’re not reflecting on what they could do better. Instead they’re attacking the people that they want to sell their games to. It is not a winning strategy.”
She continued, “It reminds me of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. It’s where people only see what is on the wall in front of them. They don’t see that there is a fire behind them and puppets that are creating the images that they see on the wall. What they’re seeing isn’t real. And if only they would turn around and walk into the light they would know the truth. They would be able to change.”
“It’s hard, but they made the cave. They made the fake reality they can turn around at any time and I for one hope they do because I really want more great games.”
Earlier in the video, she explained how game studios built the cave by originally crafting relationships with video game journalists to help promote their games and get shelf space and retailers. This evolved to game studios building relationships with influencers and content creators on YouTube. By doing so it created a bubble or an echo chamber.
She explained, “The playbook was the same: Cultivate a relationship with the most popular streamers and YouTube personalities that love your game and pull them into the bubble.”
However, she noted this stopped working because the bubble prevented real feedback from penetrating it. “When you’re in a bubble or an echo chamber where no real feedback gets through it’s easy to make bad choices. It’s easy to believe the friendly journalists when they tell you what a genius you are and how great your game is.”
“You stop seeing what the gamers are actually playing,” Fryer continued. “You stop understanding what they want. You stop listening. Because all you hear is how awesome you are.”
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From there, she used Dragon Age: The Veilguard as an example, “It took over six years to make that game. And that is very expensive even before you start talking about the marketing. This means you’re going to have to sell a lot of copies. And that means you’re going to appeal to as many people as possible.”
“There’s no question that some people like the game, and that’s great, but it’s looking like it won’t be enough,” she observed. “And I have concerns that this will lead to more layoffs. Also, as a gamer I have no problem with game developers taking risks with their content. Who doesn’t love innovation? But that doesn’t mean I’ll buy your game. There’s many games I like and many that I don’t.”
“And that’s the beauty and challenge of working in the games industry,” she noted. “Sometimes you will make something that you think is good and people don’t love it. I was proud of every single game I shipped, but not all of them had commercial success and it was frustrating.”
“But I didn’t blame the gamers for that. Instead I tried to look back. I tried to self-reflect. What did we do well on this game? What could we have done better? Why didn’t this work out? And as the leader of a studio or a game, I always looked at myself first,” she said.
Fryer continued, “Gaming is entertainment. People aren’t forced to buy your message or your game. Holding back user reviews for a few days only buys you a few days. Eventually the truth comes out. Eventually people notice that you aren’t delivering fun games and they stop giving you money.”
Unfortunately, companies like BioWare and Ubisoft do not appear to be taking Fryer’s advice at all.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s Game Director, a man who pretends to be a woman and uses the name Corinne Busche, did an interview with Inverse declaring that he is the “Conqueror of Haters” and that Veilguard was subject to a hate campaign.
Inverse’s Hayes Madsen wrote, “In the immediate future the studio has faced a different problem, a hate campaign that’s put Veilguard at the center of a kind of culture war on social media, along with plenty of hateful comments toward developers and review bombing on sites like Metacritic.”
Clearly, Busche and BioWare are using Madsen to paint themselves as victims and blaming gamers for the game’s failure.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows Executive Producer Marc-Alexis Côté ran to the New York Times to declare his team will be doubling down on its much-criticized DEI agenda so much so that Elon Musk reacted to the game saying, “DEI kills art.”
Cote told the New York Times, “If there is a hill that I am willing to die on, it is defending the creative freedom of our teams.”
Responding to critics of the game’s depiction of Yasuke, he also stated, “We share your passion for history and deeply respect your care for the historical and cultural integrity of your rich heritage. From its inception, the series has taken creative license and incorporated fantasy elements to craft engaging and immersive experiences. The representation of Yasuke in our game is an illustration of this.”
He doubled down and elaborated on these comments in an appearance at a BAFTA event. According to Eurogamer, he said, “Our community helps us grow, evolve and deliver better games. Today, we all however face the added challenge of distinguishing between genuine feedback and attacks driven by intolerance.”
“The current climate is tough on our creative teams. They face lies, half truths and personal attacks online,” he continued. “When the work they pour their hearts into is twisted into a symbol of division, it’s not just disheartening, it can be devastating. What keeps me going is the resilience born out of conviction that I see in our teams every day. I am especially proud of the Shadows team for staying true to their creative vision and the core tenets of Assassin’s Creed.”
READ: Long-Time BioWare Writer Leaves Company Following 'Dragon Age: The Veilguard's' Apparent Flop
Côté declared, “By choosing Naoe and Yasuke as protagonists, we are expanding the narrative landscape, offering new points of view that challenge established norms found in many works of fiction, while staying true to the history that shaped them.”
“At the end of the day, Assassin’s Creed is not just a franchise, it’s a platform for entertainment, dialogue, discovery and understanding. Our commitment isn’t just about reflecting on the past, it’s about ensuring that the stories we tell continue to unite, inspire and challenge players, regardless of their background, and we’ll continue to stand by these values because they are central to the heart of the franchise, and I believe, to the future of storytelling itself,” he said.
“Ultimately, we believe that the diversity and richness of the human experience is what helps Assassin’s Creed resonate with players across the globe, and we’re committed to standing firm on that foundation,” Coté asserted.
He then declared that Assassin’s Creed is not just a game franchise, but something else entirely, “Assassin’s Creed is more than just a game. It can be a platform for meaningful exploration and reflection wrapped in the excitement of unforgettable gameplay, and it is that fusion of creativity, diversity, immersion and fun that continues to define the franchise and connect it with players around the globe.”
He then painted himself and Ubisoft as victims, “The stories we tell, the characters we create and the game worlds we build are instrumentalised by those who seek to silence creativity, to stoke fear and incite hatred.”
He continued, ” believe we are facing what [CNN anchor] Fareed Zakaria calls an ‘Age of Revolution’, a time when the real conflict is not between the left and the right, but between societies that close themselves off and those that open themselves up to the world. Throughout history, it’s the open societies that have always eventually prevailed. While there may be setbacks over years or even decades, it is openness that has continually pushed humanity forward.”
“This echoes the selfless bravery of our Assassin’s Creed protagonists,” he went on. “They fought for freedom, knowledge and the right to chart their own paths, just as we, as creators, fight to tell stories that matter in a world that grows increasingly divided.”
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Côté elaborated, “As the authors of ‘How Democracies Die’ so powerfully stated, democracies crumble when good people decide to stay silent. The same is true, I think, of our creative freedom when we allow fear to stifle our voices. When we self-censor in the face of threats, we hand over our power, piece by piece, until freedom and creativity both wither away.”
“We cannot let that happen,” he proclaimed. “It’s time for us as creators to stand firm on our commitment to our values, by telling stories that inspire, that challenge and that help people connect. Our silence cannot become complicit.”
Côté closed his remarks, “To our players – the ones who have stood by us, supported us and celebrated our work over the years with enthusiasm and constructive feedback – this stance is for you. You are the heart of our journey. We create for you, and your support fuels our creativity and strengthens our resolve to keep pushing boundaries, to tell stories that matter. This journey is yours as much as it is ours, and I thank you for being with us every step of the way.”
“I’m an optimist and a dreamer. I believe that the answer to hate is to continue creating experiences that celebrate the richness of our world and capture the magic of our collective imagination, because in the end, creativity is stronger than fear, and together, we are creating the future of entertainment,” he concluded.
What do you make of Fryer’s explanation for why AAA games are in trouble?
The developers are right about it being a climate of hate. We 'hate' their games!! LOL!! And I, for one, am not going to buy them!
Enjoy bankruptcy.