Well, as if we needed anymore proof that game publishers and developers have absolutely no foresight or even the slightest hint of self awareness. Over and over again, they are making the same mistake and making up excuses for why they constantly shoehorn in whatever they want for any game they make. Gears of War was just released and it has all of the earmarks of the problems we see in the gaming industry. What makes this one really sting some gamers' flanks is that it was actually a fairly decent game when it comes to game mechanics and graphics. There are glitches, yes, but it is not to the extent we have seen recently. You might expect this to be some kind of "return to form" (as tainted as that phrase has become) but the problem comes from the story and the characters. Much like Halo: Campaign Deformed, the gameplay has actually been pardoned, but there are so many things that ruined the experience.
Now the main characters constantly talk to each other like grief counsellors. The Gears we loved throughout the first three games take a backseat to a new girl who not only has PTSD but also rust lung while yearning for the touch of another woman. Shoving in a woman with one blind eye, one deaf ear and a BREATHING MALFUNCTION should never have been a story included in this game. She is part of an elite force to fend off a clear and present danger. They would never accept someone who is an accident waiting to happen in the battlefield. This is a game about monstrous creatures and brutes are attempting to kill the human race and it is up to the Gears to stop them at all costs. Human moments where we learn about the characters on a personal level to some small degree should be included as a garnish. It should be a side bit of gravy that adds a bit of flavor. The entire dish should never be drenched in this gravy. It completely ruined all of it.
Our badass heroes are now feelings and love and sensitivity and it has gotten to the point where they may as well have created a completely different game. They obviously just wanted an entire army of women who shoot badguys but then go to immediate therapy sessions while the evil hordes continue to destroy the human race and burn their cities down. They even took the Locusts, those monstrous orc-like beings that come up to the surface of the planet to kill and destroy, and gave them voices with a human-like tribal culture like ritual sacrifices and blood-thirsty war cries. This is supposed to be an alien race that acts as a cancer to ours, they are not humans, nor should they be given any sort of human-like agency. Rings of Power went full steam like that with the orcs and now they are paying for it in more lost viewership.
So, if Wolverine made by women and Gears of War made by women with an entire barrage of gender propaganda flags wasn't bad enough for this little crash, now we have a leak that gives us no hope for the future of Halo. Someone leaked out that Activision is now in the process of creating a Halo game mainly featuring the lady they crammed into the Halo Remake. It was bad enough that she was created for some developers' girlboss fantasies but she was constantly stated as the worst part of that game and now they are tripling down on her with another entire development span of half a decade at the very least. If this leak is to be believed, it is fairly safe to write Activision off as a lost cause.
This is why the crash is happening. This is why we are in the later early stages of games going under after a 400 million clams development over five to ten years. So many of us warned of this not being sustainable because it literally is not. Companies cannot waste so many labor hours without listening to the fanbase giving them money for their products, it has already reached a boiling point and this game crash is only going to get worse as the lights turn off and the doors close. Instead of trying to improve the games they are creating, they are making excuses and trying to play the victims of heavy workloads with very little time for rest. Well, I hate to be the one with the cold heart, but that is exactly what happens when you make a bad product. Factory workers who make mistakes, don't clean their parts and forget do the steps properly need to deal with the products being returned. If you didn't do the job right, then you have failed yourself and your customers. That is the bottom line, as heartless as it is.
These people are just flat out not listening and we may as well say goodbye to the lot of them. Coalition, Insomniac, Naughty Dog, their days are severely numbered. They showed contempt for their player base, gaslit them, uglified their characters while saying they weren't, insulted and just downright condescended through gameplay and story, and for what? So they could try to make games for an audience that doesn't exist and serve a purpose that is only their own. If you thought that the AAA gaming industry gave a single care about your feelings or what you want out of a game, it is time to wake up. If the leak about Activision's plans for Halo are to be believed, then you may as well count them out of the race. Fable is going down the tubes along with them, and so will Horizon, it's only a matter of time. They can vamp and revamp all of it they want, but if they don't understand what players want or even give a toss about the story and lore, then that's their problem. As stated before, we have games that have already answered all of our prayers and another little playthrough is not going to hurt anything, especially if it's been a long time. Every single game they toss our way can and will be replaced by another, far superior title. That's the reality. If they can't see it, that's their Virtua Problem.
