Big Layoffs Hit Agents of Mayhem Developer Volition

Admixon said:
SR2 wasn't the best but let's not talk about that here ;)
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Ha ha ha ha ha! :D ;)

But, in all seriousness, I think this is an issue that many businesses have: listening to the loudest person in the room when making decisions instead of looking at the hard data. Everyone has opinions, but in a business you need to maximize customer satisfaction as much as possible, and the only way to do that is to look at the data. Granted, data can be interpreted in different ways too, so it's not always so simple.

For example, maybe Volition looked at the declining ratings of the Saints Row series and concluded that people were becoming bored with it, so they should go in a new direction. Now, with an additional data point (AOM), it looks like that may not have been the correct conclusion. My personal interpretation is that people were becoming dissatisfied with the direction in which Saints Row was going, and they preferred the style of the older Saints Row games. That's also my personal opinion, but, again, that holds no weight by itself. That's where reading the forums could actually provide some additional insight.

On the forums, it's clear than many people like the Saints Row series, but cannot agree on the older or newer style. That's where we can go back to the data and look at the average user ratings (or sales data, if available).

Of course, I realize I am WAY oversimplifying this and there are many factors to consider, but this is the basic idea.
 
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Admixon said:
Jim Boone returns!
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2017-10-09-life-after-agents-of-mayhem-where-now-for-volition
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Yay! :)

Although it's still quite surprising to me that they don't seem to be able to quite understand that people want a new Saints Row game. Do they even read the forums? Do we need to get a big rubber mallet with the words "SAINTS ROW" painted in purple letters and hit them over the head with it? Maybe we can all pitch in and hire one of those crop dusting planes with a banner that says "WE WANT SAINTS ROW" trailing behind it, and fly it over Champaign, Illinois. I'm open to ideas.

And it makes me think the writer doesn't have a clue when he writes, "Did we just witness the age-old tribulations of launching a new IP in a hostile marketplace? Or are we seeing some fatigue around Saints Row?" Yes, dummy. They released a totally new IP, it wasn't well received compared to Saints Row, and we should therefore assume that we seeing some fatigue around Saints Row. o_O There's absolutely no logic to that conclusion. Sorry about the rant, but I get exasperated when people use no logic what-so-ever. :rolleyes:
 
We're absolutely getting a new SR game after this, they'd be insane not to do one now. The problem is that you have two equally loud parties: those crying out for the return of SR2's tone and detailed open world vs. people who never played the first two games but loved 3 and 4's insane missions and set pieces, and I hope that they find a way to properly please both parties instead of trying to pull another Nintendo Wii of sorts and only courting the SR3/4 crowd with a subpar open world and dumbed down features because at the end of the day, "they'll beat the game once and never play it again, so who cares?"
 
War Raichu said:
We're absolutely getting a new SR game after this, they'd be insane not to do one now. The problem is that you have two equally loud parties: those crying out for the return of SR2's tone and detailed open world vs. people who never played the first two games but loved 3 and 4's insane missions and set pieces, and I hope that they find a way to properly please both parties instead of trying to pull another Nintendo Wii of sorts and only courting the SR3/4 crowd with a subpar open world and dumbed down features because at the end of the day, "they'll beat the game once and never play it again, so who cares?"
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See my previous posts. I think it's pretty clear what they should do.

But I'm really worried that they won't have the resources to do it properly, especially after the layoffs. It seems like each game since SR2 has had less and less things to do in the open world. And there also seems to be a direct correlation between that and the user ratings.

If you look at the progression of successful open world games, and I have no choice but to cite GTA as an example, each new game seems to add more things to do and improve realism. Volition has, unfortunately, now had 2 handicaps: The biggest was the bankruptcy of THQ, which hurt them a lot. And the second is the gamble of AOM, which didn't pay off as anticipated. It's going to be a rough road back. I don't envy them.

But I am hopeful, especially after seeing them hire Jim Boone back. That's a positive sign that they're willing to make investments in the future, even after the layoffs.
 
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War Raichu said:
At the very least I expect 2020, depending on whether or not they decide to reuse the new AoM engine.
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They'll definitely use the new AOM engine, since that's the only one that works with the current gen consoles.

It's not a bad engine at all. It just needs some optimization, maybe the ability to scale down some of the effects for lower-end graphics cards, and some additional features like dynamic weather and cloth simulation. That can all be added. But honestly, it's already better than the old engine. This one can do dynamic time of day, which we haven't had since Saints Row 2! The NPC's look at you when you walk by, which is also something we haven't had since SR2. It's a great basis to build upon for a Saints Row game.
 
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