When you think of AAA masterpieces, what games do you think of, or what kind of games are the real AAA for you?
Some players feel that AAA should be a high-quality, high-cost, high-volume game, while some players feel that only high-quality stand-alone games are AAA, and think that most other online games are cutting player leeks, not worthy of being called AAA.
Red Dead Redemption 2, which is said to have cost more than $800 million to develop
The 3A statement is derived from the United States and is a typical American concept. There are two more commonly used ratings abroad, one is above the A level is S, SS, etc., the other is AA, AAA, etc., but for a game is not 3A, different people will have different opinions.
Stand-alone machine is a non-essential condition of 3A, in fact, if you expand the judgment range of 3A, you will find that most games can meet the requirements of "high cost and high volume", but few games can meet the "high quality" point. Some games are flashy, large in size, but the content is very empty, the gameplay is monotonous, you claim to have developed for many years, experimented with a lot of new ideas, the result is really brought up when it is a good-looking vase, the ugly point is the golden fly, on the surface of the golden splendor, a look into the interior is all broken copper, you spend more money, research and development time is longer, not fun is not fun, players will not buy you because of your hard work to wipe your ass.
Therefore, a game must be large, costly, good quality, and the key is to have fun in order to be beautiful: 3A. It can be seen that AAA is really a very high reputation for a game, and a AAA game must be a collection of thousands of long.
Let's put the question on ourselves: Why can't there be a game in China that can be praised as AAA by most players?
With the emergence of the black myth Wukong and a lot of domestic stand-alone news, domestic players seem to see the dawn of a new era of games, a game that truly benefits players, and can promote cultural characteristics and reflect the core of society.
This year's release of the black myth real machine trial
After all, even if it is a foreigner, you ask him to make an original Chinese style game, such as what: only wolf: Oriental legend, Tang Dynasty dart player or something, even if it is done very close to the region, but not by their own people, always feel that there is no taste, and even more angry: their own culture also needs others to export, this does not hit the face.
"Crouching Dragon: Falling Heavens" real machine trailer
A netizen made an analogy: the development of foreign games is: carriage - train - plane; And the development of domestic games is: carriage - beautiful carriage - luxury carriage. More than 10 years ago, we played with high-quality single-players like Japanese, European and American players, and we all have a bright future, now what? Do you just open an app store and see how many stand-alone games are on it? I dare say that most of them are ongoing online games, which is why, the result of market demand.
Zero years of meteor butterfly sword
Some people say that it is Tencent, NetEase, these big factories forget their ancestors, only want to make some bad travel money, cut player leeks. Although many players are scolding, but it is difficult to completely get rid of them, after all, the influence of these manufacturers is too large, the glory of the king has become a national mobile game, even if you are looking for a fifty or sixty-year-old uncle and aunt on the street, they must also know, although they do not play, but they must also know from the mouth of their sons and grandchildren. So, why do these big manufacturers such as Tencent NetEase prefer to invest in small factories abroad rather than do real masterpieces themselves and achieve the best of both worlds?
Now, allow me to temporarily link 3A with stand-alone and buyout systems, and then reduce the requirements and integrate them into: domestic high-quality stand-alone machines, because this is what most people expect from the domestic game market, even if these are not necessarily linked.
Back to the above question, why are no domestic manufacturers willing to do high-quality stand-alone masterpieces? Because there is no income in it, domestic stand-alone games have been difficult to survive in the domestic market, as the saying goes: thankless.
Looking at the world, even in the international arena, buyout games account for only a small part, but it is a very high part of the attention, and I am even willing to call it face engineering, that is, the product of showing the level of game production of a manufacturer.
If you look closely, you will find that people's eagerness for high-quality stand-alone machines is similar to the expectation that domestic animation production can kill a real dark horse that can make the market tremble, and it is hoped to break the status quo and appear high-quality domestic stand-alone machines, just like the "rise of national comics" of domestic games.
The incarnation of the Demon Boy of Nezha has also caused a lot of repercussions
Foreign buyout games, such as the Big Bad, Eldon Law Ring, etc., its research and development funds, investment time, many domestic manufacturers can not do it, who is willing to spend a few years, hundreds of millions of dollars to develop a street game that may not be accepted by players? Large factories are more than bearable, let alone small factories, chasing dreams is a very risky thing, more small factories are more willing to cut their heads and squeeze the second dimension and are not willing to touch the single machine.
Let's not talk about the production problem for the time being, let's assume that this game has been developed, has been worthy of the name of "domestic high-quality single machine", and even "comparable to the 3A of the American foreign masterpiece", but the matter is far from over here. It's a difficult process to bring this dish until it's fed to the players' mouths and gets a good rating.
On the proposal of the two sessions in 2020, some CPPCC members proposed the establishment of an online game rating system and an online game rating supervision and evaluation mechanism, so as to provide a good game environment for minors, including adults, until now, the anti-addiction system has gradually become popular, but the rating system has been delayed.
3 stars or more to get the version number
Domestic regulations for the game is both vague and strict, to eat chicken as an example, Tencent Photonic Studio moved the PC side of the chicken to the mobile phone, open internal testing for several years, during the period there is no recharge channel, no half of the income, later, from the stimulation of the battlefield to the peace elite, the game of various settings have been changed, in short, is not allowed to appear within the battle royale settings and blood rush scenes. If you want to make a high-quality stand-alone machine, whether you can get the version number is a problem, and will the next version of the severe winter come?
Well, you swim through layers of selection, and finally launch the market, the major media are unreservedly praising you, saying that you are a good example, and when you are intoxicated by these praises, you suddenly find that the remuneration you get is not much, not even enough for your bank loans, shareholder dividends. Eldon Law Ring has sold nearly 20 million copies so far, but in Kadokawa's announced profits, only 270 million yuan has been counted, and its revenue is far less than some domestic mobile games, which can be said to be high-risk and low-profit projects.
The Eldon Ring of Law is successful, and there is a multi-faceted accumulation of word of mouth and production
Why the domestic stand-alone machine declined, the biggest reason is that you can't make money, there are too many pirates, you sell games today, tomorrow there will be piracy in the market, you pricing is high, piracy is more, the pricing is low but you can't get back to the cost. If you have an online model for your game, you have to spend a lot of money every year to maintain the equipment and patch bugs, and all your profit source is almost only the game that you sold, and you won't get any benefits in future operations.
The domestic soul memory border is said to have been cracked
I have a friend who just graduated from high school and wants to buy a computer, I recommend him to buy a higher configuration, you can play some big games, but he knows that most of these games need to be purchased, he stopped, said: Why does it cost to play games?
Of course, my friend's statement is not much of a problem, many players, prefer to go to the restaurant with low or even no entrance fees, rather than giving money to eat casually buffet, do you want to say that these restaurants are not as good as the buffet? Of course, this is not absolute, but most of the domestic players are more inclined to play the game of continuous operation, these games do not need to take money to knock on the door, the entry requirements are very low, players are more willing to accept, until the back recharge up to thousands of times, only to find that it has been trapped in it is not easy to get out, I have to say that free games, do allow most people to participate.
The market is always a major pain point for domestic high-quality stand-alone machines, and most domestic manufacturers will focus on mobile game development. High-quality, high-quality games require a higher configuration base, which is not achievable by existing mobile phone hardware, after all, few young people will buy a computer before college.
The mobile game industry is still a highland that major manufacturers are eager to occupy
In summary, can our domestic players play high-quality games? I am optimistic about this, in my opinion, the future players will no longer play the traditional sense of AAA, but the more attractive new AAA, can really fit our huge market, into our market.
With the continuous development of our game industry, we already have our own style, even if some people feel that domestic games are deformed and pathological, but this is indeed the result of market choice, natural selection, survival of the fittest, which is also applicable in the game industry.
When the requirements of the player group gradually increase, the living standard gradually improves, and the spiritual demand rises, the change in market demand may lay the foundation for the emergence of the new AAA. At that time, manufacturers were not obsessed with peeling and cutting leeks, but were obsessed with technological breakthroughs, making games that could not only provide players with a rich experience, but also promote cultural characteristics and achieve real cultural output.
Sales of domestic buyout games increased
And what we need now is a game like Black Mythology, which inspires players, gives people hope, and can glimpse some future games in china, even if it may not necessarily succeed. After all, spiritual enlightenment is the most important and influential, and in the future, perhaps more players will say: We don't want trash games, we need better games that can be called the ninth art.