Store Wars: Imperfect views of imperfect markets

Economics has something of an edge when it comes to respectability among the social sciences, but it is often squandered by talking heads acting like everyone else is an idiot on TV. The benefit of taking an introductory economics class is not prestige or a set of talking points but rather a set of tools …

The maturity trap

Insecurity Tabletop role-playing games have sense of insecurity hiding just beneath the surface. They haven't become the cultural phenomena video games are and certainly don't bring in the same kind of revenue. When they did have a cultural moment, part of it was being the subject of a moral panic. The outside perception of the …

The Networks of Cultist Simulator

Cultist Simulator reveals its world through fragments and its lore is discovered by considering these fragments in relation to each other. The game's Discord server has an active community that discusses the lore of the world (now known as the Secret Histories), and there is plenty of room for interpretation about what is going on. …

Thoughts on a game engine from someone who doesn’t know about game engines

Epic released a demo for the latest iteration of their game engine, Unreal Engine 5 (UE5). The demo looks magnificent and has a bit where the roof opens up and lights a room with 500 detailed statues. Once I looked at Twitter I was informed that the demo, apparently, wasn't all that good. The objections …

Objectively the most objective review of objectively the best game of 2000

It was a project helmed by a legendary game designer at a studio recently buoyed with cash from a large publisher. It took on theme of the forces hidden in plain sight that affect our choices and the world we live in. The game spawned three sequels with the latest entry appearing in the later …

Response: Data science will not save you

This article is a critical response to the Gamasutra blog "Steam has a lack of data scientists." While it is an opinion piece, the article was widely shared and contains a number of contestable statements with regards to Steam's role, Valve's capabilities, and the ability of data science to solve structural issues for game developers. …

The Justified Skepticism of the New Telltale Games

A year after its closure, Telltale Games is back after its assets were purchased by LCG Entertainment. The new company has committed to offering employees of the old Telltale positions at the new company. The gesture is significant given that the original studio's closure was sudden and the staff were dismissed laid off without severance. …

Renting Games

The proliferation of subscription services and the announcement of multiple cloud gaming services has produced some curiously alarmist responses. Cloud gaming is a relatively new technology, but gaming subscriptions and comparable payment models predate the internet. With a wide enough perspective, it's hard to see either development as particularly new when applied to gaming. Steam …

Epic’s Tactics Are The System Working As Intended

The most perplexing feature of the commentary surrounding the Epic Games Store (EGS) is that the loudest voices assign criticism to Epic that is more appropriately targeted at Valve. The criticism that has gotten the most attention is the one that says Epic is using its timed exclusives in order to take over digital distribution, …

When Exclusives Are Consumer Friendly

There's an old business punchline where the owner of a firm says "I'll sell at a loss but make it up on volume." I've heard the punchline in three slightly different variations but have never heard the joke that was once attached to it. A business owner maximizing their losses is the kind of galaxy …