EmperorPenguin's recent activity
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Comment on Hollow Knight: Silksong | Sea of Sorrow teaser in ~games
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Comment on Hollow Knight: Silksong | Sea of Sorrow teaser in ~games
EmperorPenguin Link ParentI researched how much money the original Hollow Knight made for another thread. Looks like it made $89 million! All that split among only 3 developers! Anything extra they do is just for fun at...I researched how much money the original Hollow Knight made for another thread. Looks like it made $89 million! All that split among only 3 developers! Anything extra they do is just for fun at this point.
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Comment on Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 becomes first indie game to win Game of the Year at The Game Awards in ~games
EmperorPenguin Link ParentIt was funded by Kepler Interactive, who are a partnership of several different indie studios. That sounds like a lot of money, but when you consider how many years it took to make the game, how...It was funded by Kepler Interactive, who are a partnership of several different indie studios.
That sounds like a lot of money, but when you consider how many years it took to make the game, how many devs worked on it, and how much labor costs, it's really impressive they made it for so cheap!
I definitely think there should be a separate term for "made without corporate ownership" and "made by 1 or 2 guys on no budget", but at the moment those two types of indie games share the same category. The "debut indie" category tries to make that distinction, but it doesn't really work when new studios are able to secure funding.
And congrats on making it into the Game Awards! There's a gazillion indie games released each year, so that's no small feat.
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Comment on Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 becomes first indie game to win Game of the Year at The Game Awards in ~games
EmperorPenguin Link ParentNo, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice won in 2019. Looks like Disco Elysium wasn't nominated for GOTY. It did win best indie, best debut indie, best RPG, and best narrative.No, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice won in 2019. Looks like Disco Elysium wasn't nominated for GOTY. It did win best indie, best debut indie, best RPG, and best narrative.
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Comment on Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 becomes first indie game to win Game of the Year at The Game Awards in ~games
EmperorPenguin Link ParentMovies, TV shows, and video games are expensive to make to modern standards. If you assemble a 30 person team of programmers, musicians, 3D modelers, etc. for a 6 year project like Expedition 33,...Movies, TV shows, and video games are expensive to make to modern standards. If you assemble a 30 person team of programmers, musicians, 3D modelers, etc. for a 6 year project like Expedition 33, then hire a few voice actors, paying everyone's salary adds up. Getting 10 programmers who make, say, 100k a year, for a 6 year project is roughly 6 million dollars.
As mentioned in a few other comment threads, that 8 million budget is a lot lower than other indies like Hades 1 and 2, which were closer to 15 million.
To make a game with less budget than this, it basically needs to be a tiny game with bad graphics, or it needs to grow over time with updates.
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Comment on Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 becomes first indie game to win Game of the Year at The Game Awards in ~games
EmperorPenguin (edited )Link ParentWhenever a game I love loses, I always ask this myself. Sadly, this is the fundamental flaw of a "best [media] of a particular year" contest. If the question you're asking is "which is the best...If it had released last year would it have won more?
Whenever a game I love loses, I always ask this myself. Sadly, this is the fundamental flaw of a "best [media] of a particular year" contest. If the question you're asking is "which is the best game that happened to release during 2025", then really good games getting snubbed is what you're signing up for. Let's say in year x, the GOTY is a 97/100, and in year x+1, the GOTY is a 99/100, and there's a 98/100 game that came out in February and lost to the 99/100. It got snubbed, yes. But what can you do? Delay the game unnecessarily 10 months and make fans wait, or rush it 3 months early and ruin the quality? Just for an awards show? Not worth it.
More fair competition of games on their own merits is better served by stuff like critic review scores. If you make a "best games of all time" or "best games of the decade" contest, you no longer have games getting snubbed for release date reasons, but instead you have to weight stuff like how good games were at release vs how their legacy held up, and how economic situations like COVID or 2008 affected the game. If you stick to 1 year, all the games don't have a legacy let, and released in the same market.
As for the categories, IMO handicapping the GOTY would make the award's name disingenuous. If GOTY also happened to have the strongest soundtrack, it should get that award. If a game only wins best soundtrack because the actual best soundtrack was handicapped, then the name of the award should really be "best soundtrack (excluding GOTY)."
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Comment on Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 becomes first indie game to win Game of the Year at The Game Awards in ~games
EmperorPenguin Link ParentAs discussed in another thread, it's definitely in line with the other big indies in the competition: The budget was under $10 million. Hades 1 and 2 both had an estimated 50% larger budget than...a lot of money behind it
As discussed in another thread, it's definitely in line with the other big indies in the competition:
- The budget was under $10 million.
- Hades 1 and 2 both had an estimated 50% larger budget than Expedition 33 ($15 million).
- Hollow Knight made $89 million for a team of 3 devs, which means each individual developer who made Silksong has a higher net worth than the budget of Expedition 33.
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Comment on Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 becomes first indie game to win Game of the Year at The Game Awards in ~games
EmperorPenguin Link ParentThe biggest evidence for this is how Valve just revealed 3 new hardware products on their own terms on a random Friday with a YouTube video and some listings on Steam. There was a Game Awards...The biggest evidence for this is how Valve just revealed 3 new hardware products on their own terms on a random Friday with a YouTube video and some listings on Steam. There was a Game Awards between that announcement and the release date, so why not wait until last night to announce it? Because we all heard about it anyways.
They let the early access for their newest game, Deadlock, spread with word of mouth alone, and to this day haven't officially announced it yet.
Some random Tuesday they'll release a blog post all casual-like "btw, here's the Half Life 3 trailer" as if we haven't been waiting roughly 20 years for it.
Edit: I didn't mean that bolded "3" as a meme hint for Half Life 3, I was just emphasizing how large of an announcement 3 products at once is, but it's a funny coincidence lol.
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Comment on Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 becomes first indie game to win Game of the Year at The Game Awards in ~games
EmperorPenguin Link Parenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kepler_Interactive https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clair_Obscur:_Expedition_33 Geoff Keighley defined "indie game" during the show as "games made outside the normal...https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kepler_Interactive
It was formed in 2021 out of a partnership between seven independent game developers
Self-described as a "super developer" publishing group, Kepler was born out of an alliance between seven independent studios to “pool their resources and knowledge”
Each participating studio had "equal say" on the publishing label's decision-making process and were able to share resources and financial gains, but Kepler itself will not interefere with the operations of each studio, allowing them to stay independent.
Unlike most publishers, who finance a title in exchange for varying degrees of control over its development, Garavaryan asserts Kepler never imposes decisions on the development studios it partners with. François Meurisse, COO and co-founder of Sandfall Interactive, highlighted it was this promise of creative freedom on Expedition 33 that prompted the team, which had received offers from more prominent publishers in the industry, to sign with Kepler instead.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clair_Obscur:_Expedition_33
The project originated in 2019 with Guillaume Broche, an Ubisoft employee, who left the following year during the COVID-19 pandemic to form Sandfall with friends and contacts, steadily establishing a 30-person core team that came to be supported by various production partners.
the developers at Sandfall sought to create a high-fidelity turn-based role-playing game, which they felt was neglected by AAA studios.
Geoff Keighley defined "indie game" during the show as "games made outside the normal publishing structure". I'd definitely say that Kepler and Sandfall's situations are different than, say, Retro Studios, an established studio, being contracted by Nintendo to make a Metroid game, or other more conventional game publishing situations.
how is that fair to anyone else nominated in the category?
https://levvvel.com/hades-statistics/
Hades has been a commercial success for developer Supergiant Games, generating an estimated $130.1 million in gross revenue from 7.7 million units sold.
https://levvvel.com/hollow-knight-statistics/
Hollow Knight sold over 6.4 million copies on Steam.
Hollow Knight revenue reached an estimated $89 million across all platforms.
The competition, Silksong and Hades II, are established IPs funded by multi-millionaires. Expedition 33 is a new IP and a new studio's debut title, published by a collective of independent studios.
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Comment on Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 becomes first indie game to win Game of the Year at The Game Awards in ~games
EmperorPenguin (edited )Link ParentDefinitely an understandable sentiment, but I think the way it is now makes a lot more logical sense. If an indie RPG is the "best overall video game" released that year, and it's nominated for...If a game is going to win GOTY, it shouldnt win other awards unless it is an overwhelming best of the category. So many of those other games are so deserving of awards and they get snubbed just because they happened to release the same year this game did? How is that fair?
Definitely an understandable sentiment, but I think the way it is now makes a lot more logical sense.
- If an indie RPG is the "best overall video game" released that year, and it's nominated for best of some specific category, like "best indie game" and "best RPG", then it would by definition be the best indie game and best RPG released that year as well.
- No game fits into every category, so there's no chance that 1 game will sweep all awards. There were still a lot of other games that got recognition tonight. Silksong for example lost the GOTY and best indie contest, but it was able to win "best action/adventure" because Expedition 33 is turn-based.
- A game can be GOTY material because it has great gameplay and is very popular, without having particularly good story and/or music. Sometimes a game has its flaws but is the overall better package, while a weaker game is better in its own niche such as having an amazing soundtrack. Other times, a GOTY winner is truly exceptional and is the best in several categories. It makes sense for the GOTY to be able to compete for these other categories. This helps show off the talents of specific teams who worked on the game who otherwise wouldn't get recognition. When the game wins GOTY, only the director and other project leads get that recognition.
- If the game that was a clear fan favorite didn't sweep all the awards, and it kept getting beaten by much less popular and successful games in every category, it would be obvious that it was the GOTY, and the big reveal at the end wouldn't be a surprise.
- Letting the GOTY get other awards makes it more of a competition, and widens the gap between games that "won GOTY" and "won GOTY by a lot". Expedition 33 didn't just win GOTY, it also got the most awards in 1 year of any other game in the series' history. That really shows off how critically acclaimed the game is! If it was barred from winning other awards, it wouldn't have been able to flex like that, and we couldn't compare the scale of its GOTY win to previous winners.
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Comment on Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 becomes first indie game to win Game of the Year at The Game Awards in ~games
EmperorPenguin LinkAlso worth mentioning: Expedition 33 won the most awards in a single year of any other game at The Game Awards, beating the previous champion The Last of Us Part II (2020). The first indie game to...Also worth mentioning:
- Expedition 33 won the most awards in a single year of any other game at The Game Awards, beating the previous champion The Last of Us Part II (2020).
- The first indie game to win GOTY was a debut indie game.
- Expedition 33 is an original IP which won against five sequels/existing IPs.
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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 becomes first indie game to win Game of the Year at The Game Awards
Definitely a well deserved GOTY. I haven't gotten around to it yet, but my friends have been raving about it! Lots of indie games nominated this year. Really feels like we're in a golden age of...
Definitely a well deserved GOTY. I haven't gotten around to it yet, but my friends have been raving about it!
Lots of indie games nominated this year. Really feels like we're in a golden age of indies.
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Comment on The Game Awards 2025 nominations in ~games
EmperorPenguin Link ParentBetween Silksong, Clair Obscur, and Hades II, this is definitely the most likely year for an indie game to win Game of the Year. You'd have to be a pretty massive Nintendo or Kojima fan to say DK...Between Silksong, Clair Obscur, and Hades II, this is definitely the most likely year for an indie game to win Game of the Year. You'd have to be a pretty massive Nintendo or Kojima fan to say DK Bananza or Death Stranding 2 was a bigger deal than Silksong, which crashed all the storefronts at once and was the most wishlisted game on Steam, or Clair Obscur, which people talked about for months despite being a debut indie title. Nothing against DK, but I wouldn't say it made as big of a splash. A friend of mine is a massive DK fan, loves DK64 and DKC Returns, but he still agrees Clair Obscur is the better game.
Most years they only have 1 "token indie" and maybe 1 "token AA" game, and a bunch of bigger AAA games. This time having 3 indies, all of which being this strong, and no Rockstar or Bethesda or 3D Zelda game or anything crazy going against them, definitely is something.
In recent times I've heard a sentiment that it's a sort of "golden age of indies" where they offer a ton of value for an insane price (see all the memes about Silksong being $20), while AAA games can tend to be "mid" and overpriced (see Mario Kart World being $80, and the big sentiment I hear is "Thank god it's only $50 if you get the bundle!"). I definitely see this reflected in the nominations this year. Normally, you expect the game that gets a gazillion nominations and that everyone says is gonna sweep the awards is something AAA, not a debut indie title.
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Comment on Los Angeles Dodgers beat Toronto Blue Jays to win the World Series in ~sports.baseball
EmperorPenguin Link ParentThis whole World Series has been fantastic. Lots of close games, including one of them that went to 18 innings. Both teams did very good and kept us at the edge of our seats!This whole World Series has been fantastic. Lots of close games, including one of them that went to 18 innings. Both teams did very good and kept us at the edge of our seats!
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Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books
EmperorPenguin Link ParentMy friend said that many people read the first Stormlight Archive book on its own, but she had suggested trying out Mistborn first since the books are a lot shorter, so it'd be a good place to see...My friend said that many people read the first Stormlight Archive book on its own, but she had suggested trying out Mistborn first since the books are a lot shorter, so it'd be a good place to see if I liked his writing.
So far I've been really enjoying the books, so I plan on continuing to read his stuff for a little while. The number of books he's written is daunting, I'm not used to reading from authors with more than 7 or so normal sized books, but I think the biggest concern is renting the Stormight Archive books from the library or Libby... I don't know how I'm going to read such massive, 1200 or so page books, in the couple weeks that they give you! Normally you can get an extension if nobody else places a hold, but Sanderson's books are popular and usually have a few people in the queue waiting to put it on hold. If the Stormlight Archive books were split in half, to be 10 more normal sized books with the same content, it'd be a bit easier to rent them.
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Comment on Five more arrests as Louvre jewel heist probe deepens and key details emerge in ~news
EmperorPenguin Link ParentNo, I didn't unsubscribe from any of the default groups, and I checked that I'm still subscribed to ~arts. I searched by clicking on the tags on this post, which I see searches inside of the...No, I didn't unsubscribe from any of the default groups, and I checked that I'm still subscribed to ~arts. I searched by clicking on the tags on this post, which I see searches inside of the current group instead of across the whole site. I guess I must have used Tildes less than I thought on that Sunday, but I still find it weird that I never saw it on other platforms like the Fediverse/Lemmy and that none of my friends or group chats discussed it.
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Comment on Five more arrests as Louvre jewel heist probe deepens and key details emerge in ~news
EmperorPenguin Link ParentThank you! What's weird is that the ~arts post got 95 votes, which on Tildes is massive, and I scroll through Tildes daily, but I don't recall ever seeing it in my feed! I checked and I'm still...Thank you! What's weird is that the ~arts post got 95 votes, which on Tildes is massive, and I scroll through Tildes daily, but I don't recall ever seeing it in my feed! I checked and I'm still subscribed to ~arts. The biggest shock is that the article is on the 19th! I never heard a peep about a news story this big until 5 days later on the 24th! Huh.
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Comment on Five more arrests as Louvre jewel heist probe deepens and key details emerge in ~news
EmperorPenguin LinkNot directly related to the article: So for most current events, I'll see people share articles saying that a thing happened, then I'll start to see posts joking/memeing about it, or posts about...Not directly related to the article:
So for most current events, I'll see people share articles saying that a thing happened, then I'll start to see posts joking/memeing about it, or posts about the fallout of the event. For this Louvre heist, however, I've only seen the secondary content. On Tildes, on other social media, and on my various Discord servers, nobody shared the articles when the theft itself occurred, they all waited until that German company made an ad about their ladder being used in the heist. Then everyone acted like we'd all heard of this heist already. I thought that was kinda odd, I must have missed the Tildes article. But I checked the various tags like "crime", "theft", "france.paris", and even "louvre", and it looks like nobody on Tildes reported on the original event. It's not the craziest thing in the world, but I just found it kind of unusual... -
Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books
EmperorPenguin Link ParentI had heard of Sanderson's specialty in hard magic systems and had heard of Stormlight Archive in passing. A few months ago some friends of mine were discussing fantasy stories and mentioned...I had heard of Sanderson's specialty in hard magic systems and had heard of Stormlight Archive in passing. A few months ago some friends of mine were discussing fantasy stories and mentioned Sanderson, so I asked where the heck I should even start reading. Was the first Stormlight book good on its own, or were there a bunch of earlier books I had to read first? One of them suggested reading the original Mistborn trilogy first.
So far I'm halfway through the third book, and I've been loving it. Would absolutely recommend the trilogy to anyone in this thread looking for fantasy books. I went in expecting an older series that I was supposed to read as a primer for something else, and it completely shattered those expectations. Hearing his writing gets better and that he writes good conclusions is fantastic news! -
Comment on Hot take: 4:3 > 16:9 in ~tv
EmperorPenguin Link ParentDisney Plus has a toggle to watch in the original 4:3 ratio. In the menu where it shows the episode list, go to "Details", and click the toggle switch....Disney Plus has a toggle to watch in the original 4:3 ratio. In the menu where it shows the episode list, go to "Details", and click the toggle switch.
https://www.techradar.com/how-to/how-to-fix-the-simpsons-aspect-ratio-on-disney-plus
All very good points! But I doubt this:
The $89 million number for all platforms was as of last year, and when I checked the article's source (vginsights), they've made $23 million from just Steam in the past year! As CptBlueBear mentioned, besides from selling units, they're also getting some money from Game Pass. Then there's also merch, which as George Lucas knew, and Spaceballs famously satirized, is a great revenue source. Then you can't forget the soundtrack. You might not think a ton of people buy those game soundtracks on Steam, but I just checked and I have 3 friends who've bought it. They even have a separate soundtrack available for one of the DLCs.
All this without saying, they just released another massive hit, Silksong, which was the #1 most wishlisted game on Steam, and crashed all the big storefronts at once. If they didn't have $10 million before, they probably do now.