Housemarque: ARCADE IS DEAD

[Flojomojo]

They're going to work on different things now. Housemarque made Super Stardust (high res retro-style shooter, big on PS3 at launch) and Resogun (Defender-like retro-style shooter, big on PS4 at launch), in addition to the classic Stardust shooter on Amiga.

 

http://www.housemarque.com/arcade-is-dead/

 

 

Letter to the fans

For more than 20 years we’ve been carrying the torch for arcade, bringing arcade coin-op inspired games to the market with a Housemarque twist, and I think it’s fair to say we’ve gotten pretty good at it by now! Our games have received great critical reception over the years, perhaps the best example being Nex Machina, which we published in June to great critical acclaim, garnering a metacritic score of 88. Nex Machina was a dream project, as we got to work with our hero and arcade gaming legend Eugene Jarvis, who is responsible for some of the most revered arcade games of all time such as Defender, Robotron 2084 and Smash TV. He has had a tremendous impact on our games, including Resogun and Dead Nation.

However despite critical success and numerous awards, our games just haven’t sold in significant numbers. While some of them have reached a massive audience due to free game offerings across various digital sales channels, this unfortunately doesn’t help pay for development, which gets costly for high production quality. We are extremely grateful to our fans and partners, who have enabled us to work on awesome games like Super Stardust HD and Outland. For your unfailing love and support we thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

But now it’s time to move on to new genres. Lackluster sales of Nex Machina have led us to the thinking that it is time to bring our longstanding commitment to the arcade genre to an end. While this genre will always hold a special place in our hearts, the industry is moving more toward multiplayer experiences with strong, robust communities, and it’s time for Housemarque to move forward with the industry. Hence Nex Machina and Matterfall will be the last of their kind coming out of our studio. Our purpose as a company remains the same, however – to create enjoyable and memorable gaming experiences for players while simultaneously creating a great workplace that allows people to flourish both professionally and personally.

Looking ahead to our next projects, we are exploring something totally different than what you might expect of us, but we believe this will lead to the creation of even more engaging gaming experiences. Our core values remain the same – gameplay first with first class execution. We are really excited about our new projects and look forward to unveiling our first game from the new era of Housemarque.

Whether you have been a fan of Housemarque for years or have just played a few of our first games, we invite you to join us in discovering new gaming frontiers! Stay tuned!

Ilari Kuittinen
CEO

 

I think they've got a point. Chasing high scores doesn't feel as "purposeful" as the long grind of something that saves your progress and gives you a reason to keep returning, such as social MMOs and other "endless" genres. For those in the business of making money from games, this makes especially good sense if other "games as service" can be supported by (optional, non-cruel) microtransactions. I have fond memories of the genre, but respect their need to eat. I look forward to seeing what they do next.

[zzip]

That's sad, I like their modern take on arcade-style games. I thought their games did well, because their seem to get a lot of buzz, and Resogun in particular seemed popular on PS4. But maybe the problem is people love them as free games, but are less willing to shell out money for them.

[JDTAY]

Well, I feel like someone is obligated to offer a counterpoint here, so I'll take the highly irrational side.

 

Mother****in' sellouts! May they choke on farts! *RAGE*

[Flojomojo]

Related: Mario Odyssey frees the series from its most obsolete albatross, the 1UP mushroom ... "Get a life" is such a '90s phrase anyway, don't you think?

 

This certainly seems like the start of a new era ... at least an era of fartsmelling "game journalists" having something new to write about. Get ready for the Think Pieces! I can imagine how they will look ...

 

"When Space Invaders was king, we stood up to play games. As they became popular and established game rooms emerged on the scene, enterprising owners of arcade machines provided barstools for gamers to settle in. Enter home games, on the TV with unlimited credits, and later on, wireless controllers. Now we have mobile devices we can even take to the toilet!"

 

then some tropes about addiction, bitching about microtransactions, toxic online communities, how things were better back in the olden days ...

[dj_convoy]

That's sad, I like their modern take on arcade-style games. I thought their games did well, because their seem to get a lot of buzz, and Resogun in particular seemed popular on PS4. But maybe the problem is people love them as free games, but are less willing to shell out money for them.

When I read about Nex Machina, I was instantly like "I have to buy this." I went to the PS Store, and it was twenty bucks.

 

I grudgingly bought it, and have enjoyed it (dunno if I got my money's worth out of it yet, but that's my fault, not theirs), but it's rare that I fork over full price for pretty much any game any more. The reality is that I probably could have waited a few months and got it on sale. Playstation sales are frequent and, usually, fairly generous.

 

An arcade experience like that should probably be priced a bit lower. On the other hand, they've got livings to make, and they were working with the mighty Eugene Jarvis, who probably doesn't come cheap.

[zzip]

Related: Mario Odyssey frees the series from its most obsolete albatross, the 1UP mushroom ... "Get a life" is such a '90s phrase anyway, don't you think?

 

This certainly seems like the start of a new era ... at least an era of fartsmelling "game journalists" having something new to write about. Get ready for the Think Pieces! I can imagine how they will look ...

 

"When Space Invaders was king, we stood up to play games. As they became popular and established game rooms emerged on the scene, enterprising owners of arcade machines provided barstools for gamers to settle in. Enter home games, on the TV with unlimited credits, and later on, wireless controllers. Now we have mobile devices we can even take to the toilet!"\

 

then some tropes about addiction, bitching about microtransactions, toxic online communities, how things were better back in the olden days ...

That's a little different because free lives are so generous in Mario games that the mechanic is pointless.

[Metal Jesus]

Nex Machina is a modern twin stick shooter masterpiece and highly recommended to anybody remotely interested in the genre! BTW: Limited Run Games announced they are printing a physical version of the game soon! #MustOwn

[AMenard]

People are more into "go kill some <random made up animal name here> for X amount of <random animal body parts here> for 10 copper pieces as a reward" kind of mood these days. But I'm not sure "arcade games" are totally out. Take the Dark Soul serie for example. I could see it being made into an arcade machine easily and competitive players would have spent $$$ to be on top of the score list.

 

What really is of less interest is the shmup and twin stick genre. Those have been done to death and since they're relativelly easy to get the classics via emulation or on compilations I see why the market isn't all that great.

 

But I did buy Super Stardust on the PS3 and it was great. It was the first game that I bought on the PS store.

[dj_convoy]

Nex Machina is a modern twin stick shooter masterpiece and highly recommended to anybody remotely interested in the genre! BTW: Limited Run Games announced they are printing a physical version of the game soon! #MustOwn

That's another thing; had I known that, I probably would have held off on buying the digital version. I like supporting cool creators, but my altruism has to end somewhere.

[Flojomojo]

But I did buy Super Stardust on the PS3 and it was great. It was the first game that I bought on the PS store.

 

Me too ... but that was more than 10 years ago!

[AMenard]

 

Me too ... but that was more than 10 years ago!

 

Commenting about the age of a piece of software is kind of funny on a forum like this one

[Flojomojo]

Commenting about the age of a piece of software is kind of funny on a forum like this one

 

Note that we're in Modern Gaming and the topic is about a current publisher's plans for the future.

[AMenard]

 

Note that we're in Modern Gaming and the topic is about a current publisher's plans for the future.

 

I know but still

That was in jest btw, I wasn't serious at all. Text on a screen is really a bad medium to convey intent and humor

[Mord]

So long as Housemarque doesn't complain if they go bottoms up after ditching everything that made them who they are today in an effort to become another Me Too'er in the world of multiplayer games, then best of luck to them.

 

While I doubt I'll be buying their next product if it does intend to be a mainly online multiplayer game (As I'm not all that into those) time will tell if they're going to be doing all the things that make so much money with the genre.

 

You know, the preorder bonus packages, the DLC, the microtransactions (consumable DLC), loot box scams, monthly connection fees, repetitive season passes, and the list continues. At the very least I'll be closely watching what becomes of their next game to see where this vision change takes them as they chase the cash.

[spacecadet]

Whenever a company says "we're not making money, so the entire genre in which we're working must be failing", take it with a grain of salt. The more likely explanation is that this company just isn't making products people want to buy.

 

There are plenty of indications that "arcade" (I've never heard that word used in this way before, btw) is anything but dead and is in fact growing more popular. The retro game craze, for example. The success of consoles like the NES/SNES Classic - no, obviously they're not based solely around arcade games, but a bunch of the games they come with are literal arcade games, and others are at least in that style. If you look at more modern stuff, Mario Kart 8 is an actual arcade game. (Not just a figurative one; it is a literal arcade game, which is more than you can say for Housemarque's stuff.) Puyo Puyo Tetris is based on two arcade games. Arms isn't a literal arcade game but may as well be (just like Housemarque's stuff). The list goes on (and it's not just Nintendo).

 

I don't know if I've played any of Housemarque's games but you know, the "arcade" genre is a moving target just like any other. Plenty of companies are doing modern arcade-style games, selling millions of units and making tons of money. Maybe they just didn't get the mix right, or maybe they don't know how to market. From what I've seen of their games, they seem to be trying to do new old-school style games. I don't think that works, because we already have so many classic games in that style; we don't need more of those. But there is plenty of appetite for modern arcade-style games. They just haven't had a hit recently.

[Flojomojo]

Whenever a company says "we're not making money, so the entire genre in which we're working must be failing", take it with a grain of salt. The more likely explanation is that this company just isn't making products people want to buy.

 

OK, but I don't think they said that at all. Read the text, not just the headline ... if anything, arcade is only dead to them. If you never played Stardust, Super Stardust, or Resogun, you're missing out, they're great modern twists on old concepts.

 

See also Jeff Minter's "where have all the iOS games gone." That one hit me hard, because I really like their "house style" and thought it was a great fit for mobile.

 

We spent two years doing games on iOS and in the end we stopped doing them because the income generated from them was so tiny that it ended up actually costing *us* money. Despite excellent reviews both by users and on relevant gaming websites, and notwithstanding the sheer number of iOS devices out there which would, you might think, make it viable for even stuff slightly off mainstream to find enough of an audience to comfortably sustain them, this proved not to be the case and we couldn’t in any way justify carrying on with it.

Speaking of which, here's their take on the Housemarque statement: http://www.yakyak.org/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=87549

 

Note that Llamasoft is 2 guys, and Housemarque is over 100.

[zzip]

Whenever a company says "we're not making money, so the entire genre in which we're working must be failing", take it with a grain of salt. The more likely explanation is that this company just isn't making products people want to buy.

 

There are plenty of indications that "arcade" (I've never heard that word used in this way before, btw) is anything but dead and is in fact growing more popular. The retro game craze, for example. The success of consoles like the NES/SNES Classic - no, obviously they're not based solely around arcade games, but a bunch of the games they come with are literal arcade games, and others are at least in that style. If you look at more modern stuff, Mario Kart 8 is an actual arcade game. (Not just a figurative one; it is a literal arcade game, which is more than you can say for Housemarque's stuff.) Puyo Puyo Tetris is based on two arcade games. Arms isn't a literal arcade game but may as well be (just like Housemarque's stuff). The list goes on (and it's not just Nintendo).

 

I don't know if I've played any of Housemarque's games but you know, the "arcade" genre is a moving target just like any other. Plenty of companies are doing modern arcade-style games, selling millions of units and making tons of money. Maybe they just didn't get the mix right, or maybe they don't know how to market. From what I've seen of their games, they seem to be trying to do new old-school style games. I don't think that works, because we already have so many classic games in that style; we don't need more of those. But there is plenty of appetite for modern arcade-style games. They just haven't had a hit recently.

When you buy retro, you are buying a quantity of old games for one price. The company that released the product probably didn't develop any of the games, they just produced the compilation, so they don't have to recoup all that R&D cost, just whatever license fees were involved.

 

Housemarque was making modern versions of classic arcade genres, with modern graphics and lots of eye-candy. Similar to what Jeff Minter does. Resogun was clearly inspired by Defender, some of their other games have other similar old school inspirations.

 

Lots of people love these games. Resogun was one of the most highly rated games on the console when the PS4 released.

 

But the thing is... Resogun was given out by Sony as freebie to PS+ subscribers for months. People didn't actually buy it themselves. Presumably Housemarque still gets a cut from that, but not as much as full retail.

 

But that's the problem with this genre.. The games might be $20 full retail. In the old days when this kind of game was the norm, people would think nothing of paying $20, but these days gamers seem to want something more substantial than an arcade shooter for $20, and they can get it easily. If Housemarque sold for less, they may lose money.

 

I'm part of the problem, I have a few housemarque games, but they were all PS+ freebies. The only arcade-style game I've bought was Pacman Championship Edition 2, and I bought that on sale for $5.

 

TL;DR- I think the problem is gamers really do want the type of games Housemarque produces, but they don't want to pay an economical price for them because they can get a better perceived value for that same money.

Edited November 2, 2017 by zzip

[omegadot]

Arcade style games on consoles tend to be a very quick fix for me and in the face of so many options that are more engaging I'll usually send my money elsewhere. Sorry to say, since I do like them, but without any real emotional connection or reason to feel tension (quarters) they lose a lot of value for me. I've played Super Stardust and I thought it was super cool but I didn't return to it much. A console always feels like a weird place to such a repetitive shooter for me.

 

But it's sad to see a genre lose quality entries.

[Austin]

What they should have said is "arcade shooters are dead" (be it twin stick or not). Their popularity has been taking a nosedive for a while now and it seems only a small niche of long-time players still "get" and support the genre, particularly the more traditional scrolling horizontal or vertical shooters. Granted, I don't think the exclusivity of games like Resogun and Super Stardust did these guys any favors, especially when Sony was giving them out for free for a time. Limiting the pool of potential players in an already limited genre (in terms of popularity) is not the way to go about it these days.

[Flojomojo]

I don't know how the PS Plus freebie deals actually work, but it seems to me getting a wider audience (and likely a fat check from Sony) could be preferable to launching on the store and hoping for the best. I doubt it's "free" for anyone except us, the subscribers.

[Video]

Arcades are doing fine, the problem is, its largely an ios/android thing and works great there, partially cause the simple controls work (usually) on there, partially its a short term time waster, but mostly because they can be had for free to just a couple of bucks. Like it or not, people expect it to be cheap, $20 is NOT cheap, unless its a collection of arcade games.

 

There's also the fact that most people playing a console are in it for some time, not a few minutes of gameplay, unless like I said, its a collection. I love arcade style games, but mostly won't pay much for them, cause I know on a console, I'll spend much more time on something far more in depth. I love some arcade style games, but they were either parts of collections, or free from one of the subscription services.

[zzip]

I don't know how the PS Plus freebie deals actually work, but it seems to me getting a wider audience (and likely a fat check from Sony) could be preferable to launching on the store and hoping for the best. I doubt it's "free" for anyone except us, the subscribers.

I believe Sony pays the developer for the PS+ freebies, but at a rate far below retail.

 

But distribution this way can give you a wider audience that might have ignored the game otherwise.

 

Case in point, Rocket League. Sony put this on PS+ the day it was released, generating considerable hype for the game. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think it would have been niche title, and not the hit that it was without that exposure.

[Flojomojo]

I wonder about Rocket League, too. It's a real phenomenon, and is likely to do really well when the "takeout" version comes out on Switch in about a week. With so much output on the Steam store, it's hard for some things to get noticed. I don't think we'll ever be able to know for sure, but I suspect that in this case, "working for exposure" helped them a lot.

 

By December of 2015, the game had earned $70 million with 4 million copies sold. That's on top of the countless times the game was downloaded for free on PlayStation Plus when it released just months earlier in July.

[Gabriel]

I was initially going to talk about the game, but it's really a red herring and completely irrelevant.

The letter is saying that they can't generate the sales numbers they want by creating well reviewed games for their current audience. It's time to leave that audience behind and move to a new one.

OK, whatever. I liked Super Stardust HD and Resogun, but the games were hardly life changing. The door is over there. Don't let it hit your ass on the way out.