Arrowhead, Larian, Shift Up - Great studios on the rise.

[Bryank75]

The industry is facing many challenges, rising costs, a weak economy, risk aversion / less creativity, consolidation etc.

However the great things happening in gaming are often overlooked.

We have many great studios on the rise... including Shift Up, Larian, Pocket Pair and of course Arrowhead. There are others too but I don't want to become too unfocused.

These studios have delivered great games that have been warmly received by critics and customers alike, they have communicated honestly with their customers when issues arose and have gained respect and appreciation on top of everything.

I hope established developers look at these examples and learn the right lessons.

 

[historia]

I think Larian has been around for more than 25 years or something

 

[Nhomnhom]

Shift Up? They haven't done anything yet.

Honesty and transparency goes a long way. Larian is on a league of their own after BG3.

 

[nongkris]

Shift Up is not in the big leagues, I've yet to be convinced the horny weeb market is as mainstream as the other games you named. Out of the south kroean studios I'm much more excited for Pearl Abyss. Crimson Desert looks amazing and DokeV could be PS5's Palworld.

 

[flaccidsnake]

Early Access an increasingly important element of success. Helldivers could've used some EA tbh.

 

[Yobo]

There's above average chance that Stellar Blade is complete crap. Why not wait until they actually deliver something good

 

[Sircaw]

There's above average chance that Stellar Blade is complete crap. Why not wait until they actually deliver something good

i honestly see Stella blade coming in at around an 8/10, ofc the cosplay will be 11/10

 

[ethomaz]

Well Larian is not new and they already proved themselves a lot of times in the past.

I think Larian has been around for more than 25 years or something

Exactly and they always made great games.

 

[ToTTenTranz]

Those are all very different. Larian already had a hit with Original Sin II and their Divinity series / universe were already pretty famous. Of course, with BG3 they achieved godlike status but they weren't unknown. Arrowhead used to do smaller games but got the "organic growth" treatment from Sony which seems to have paid off.
Shift Up.. still needs to launch the game, but it's looking good indeed.

There's above average chance that Stellar Blade is complete crap.

Ok doomer.

 

[Gods&Monsters]

Pocket Pair? LMAO

Zero creativity. Just copying what Nintendo, Hollow Knight and other devs are doing.

Delete that asap. They don't deserve to be on the same list as Arrowhead.

 

[Yobo]

No just realistic

They are a below average mobile Dev making the jump to AAA for the first time. I hope it goes well but keep your expectations in check

They aren't the same as the other devs mentioned. Larian is a storied RPG Dev who recruited some of the best in the industry at RPGs. Arrowhead had already made great games and good enough to get a second game with Sony. Pocket pair had a bunch of similar games already (Craftopia) and really just stumbled into success by copying Pokemon and everyone being sick of Pokemon being outdated

 

[peter42O]

Out of the south kroean studios I'm much more excited for Pearl Abyss. Crimson Desert looks amazing

I'm very much looking forward to Crimson Desert as it does in fact look amazing. Here's another game from Pearl Abyss that im very interested in but I have no idea if it's still in active development or not.

 

[AshHunter216]

i honestly see Stella blade coming in at around an 8/10, ofc will be 11/10

Same, I feel like it's an 80s rated game. Between the amount of effort that seems to be going into it and the dev support/backing from Sony, I don't think this is just some throwaway title.

 

[Kokoloko]

I believe AI tools are about the cut the costs of game developement down again.

 

[Kokoloko]

Same, I feel like it's an 80s rated game. Between the amount of effort that seems to be going into it and the dev support/backing from Sony, I don't think this is just some throwaway title.

Seeing that you can interact with the game world and NPC's has me way more excited. Its not just another hack n slash with levels.

I think it will sit in the 80's. We'll see how shills review it. Kotaku and eurogamer are gonna cry just seeing her uniform and give it a 1/10. The fact that Ps is gonna have 3 greats months if games in a row, its gonna burn some of these reviewers

 

[Airbus]

We support arrowhead studio..for democracy.....

 

[anonpuffs]

On the rise? Define "on the rise"
Studios like Larian are already here and have been. I'd say Arrowhead are since they are staffing up but that could be temporary. But they have a good ethos and solid fundamentals so I could see them building an empire.
Shift Up could be good... will wait and see but they are promising.

Honestly the industry is a bit in flux right now. The ones that will go the distance and last are the ones that still commit to giving customers a great game, focus on delivering the product be it great gameplay, great narrative, great art, preferably all of the above.

Maybe we can have a subforum dedicated to like a studio stock market.

 

[nongkris]

I'm very much looking forward to Crimson Desert as it does in fact look amazing. Here's another game from Pearl Abyss that im very interested in but I have no idea if it's still in active development or not.

Wow haven't seen that before. Pearl Abyss would fit right in with the old playstation studios. High quality third person games with excellent graphics.

 

[Bryank75]

On the rise? Define "on the rise"
Studios like Larian are already here and have been. I'd say Arrowhead are since they are staffing up but that could be temporary. But they have a good ethos and solid fundamentals so I could see them building an empire.
Shift Up could be good... will wait and see but they are promising.

Honestly the industry is a bit in flux right now. The ones that will go the distance and last are the ones that still commit to giving customers a great game, focus on delivering the product be it great gameplay, great narrative, great art, preferably all of the above.

Maybe we can have a subforum dedicated to like a studio stock market.

Interesting idea. Attributing value based on gamer sentiment or something?

 

[anonpuffs]

Interesting idea. Attributing value based on gamer sentiment or something

Gamer sentiment, news articles, sales data, anything. Could have an nyse equivalent with "blue chip" studios. The question is what limited resource posters would have for valuation purposes. Maybe weekly strawpolls on sell/buy? Idk just a concept, would need some work to be actually usable