Netflix is reportedly shutting down its AAA studio known as Team Blue.
  • elrik@lemmy.worldEnglish
    81·
    12 days ago

    If only this meant the removal of the annoying tiles for games that show up in the app above everything else (often using up the entire screen) even though I’ve never tapped on them once.

    I don’t want your games Netflix. I barely want your shows.

  • Ibaudia@lemmy.worldEnglish
    36·
    13 days ago

    For those saying they didn’t know about this, it’s because they never actually released anything. They got shut down unexpectedly before they finished any projects. Allegedly there are still some in-development games based on Netflix properties that will still be released on their gaming service, and the service itself will stay up. It’s just the studio itself that was shut down.

    • corsicanguppy@lemmy.caEnglish
      5·
      12 days ago

      Why even join a new studio now if the owners randomly shutter them after - checks notes - the best financial quarter ever ?

      • RedditWanderer@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        12 days ago

        Because it was a pandemic fueled rush. Everyone thought gaming was the best bet because we’re all at home. Companies like meta, Microsoft etc… grew astronomically on tax payer subsidies making it even better money. Other companies tried to invest or spin up game divisions.

        Now the party is over, it doesn’t even matter if these games are good or have potential. They put the sunk cost in the “pandemic’s fault” spreadsheet, and take all the liabilities and costs from the expense spreadsheet. It looks fantastic on paper to investors, the real numbers dont really matter.

    • Zron@lemmy.worldEnglish
      5·
      12 days ago

      I remember doing the bear grills one, and one of the choices was to jump over a ravine, or walk over it using a fallen tree as a bridge.

      Being the hiker I am, the obvious choice of walk around it being missing kind of annoyed me, but I chose the tree option.

      Bear died.

      So I got to go back and pick the jump over option, which was apparently the right one.

      Who the fuck does running jumps over a 15 foot deep ravine.

      I never bothered with the choose your own adventure things again. When the correct choice is just not available and the next logical choice just means an instant loss, you don’t have a very fun game

  • remotelove@lemmy.caEnglish
    443·
    13 days ago

    It should have been a AAAAA studio. That is where they fucked up.

    Or, they fucked up thinking that people wanting to watch movies wanted to play games…

    • Letstakealook@lemm.eeEnglish
      18·
      13 days ago

      Wasn’t it all mobile games? I’m pretty sure that was the exact market they were looking for. People with short attention spans that can’t put down the phone, even while consuming other media.

      • remotelove@lemmy.caEnglish
        8·
        13 days ago

        I just ignored all the ads and any news, so you are likely correct. I did think that most of the games were mobile, but I must have been mistaken in thinking it was playable on Netflix clients on your TV or something.

        I used to play Pac-Man on my old FireTV with the controller while I was killing time in the mornings before work, so I thought it was similar in that regard.

        • Letstakealook@lemm.eeEnglish
          5·
          13 days ago

          Damn, I didn’t know that was a thing either, lol. I’d play retro games on the TV remote.

      • slaacaa@lemmy.worldEnglish
        6·
        13 days ago

        Based on the article: the AAA thing was supposed to be something new/different, but they closed it before releasing anything. I also haven’t tried the mobile games, but they should be still available, that is done by a different team

    • ddplf@szmer.infoEnglish
      32·
      13 days ago

      Or, they fucked up thinking that people wanting to watch movies wanted to play games…

      true gamers dont watch movies 😡😡😡😡🤬🤬

      og movie freaks dont play vidya 🤢🤢🤮🤮🤮

  • z3rOR0ne@lemmy.mlEnglish
    131·
    13 days ago

    Well, they produced Oxenfree 2 which was a welcome sequel that I enjoyed. But other than that, I didn’t really hear about anything else from them.

    • ryven@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      2·
      13 days ago

      Was that this studio, or their other studio that’s been running since 2017? This one, “Team Blue,” was supposed to be working on some unannounced AAA game.

      • hsdkfr734r@feddit.nlEnglish
        3·
        13 days ago

        You know. In ancient times, they had radios with tuners - and scales for visual feedback. ;)

        In the game, they use it as a plot device for the communication with other… planes of reality? I liked the idea in part 1.

  • falkerie71@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    8·
    13 days ago

    I hope Halo can use this opportunity to invite Joe Staten back on board. Their Creative Director opening on LinkedIn was closed recently, but who they actually hired we don’t know.

    • Echo Dot@feddit.ukEnglish
      1·
      12 days ago

      If any of the current developers played any of the old games it would be an improvement. What on Earth were they doing with that open world thing, it was so boring, if it had a story it got completely lost.

      • falkerie71@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        1·
        12 days ago

        You know, looking at reports, I definitely think that it was an idea that was executed badly for reasons that were not just because of the open world concept. Maybe if they had developed a better engine that offloaded the tech debt they had for so long, or if their hiring practices weren’t on 18 month contracts, or if they had a better vision in the game direction, etc., the game wouldn’t have ended up in this place, and the open world might have worked out, and they didn’t have to cut so much from the game. But asking what ifs is no use, the game in the end still left much to be desired.

        I share the same opinion as you, that the story in Infinite did not really satisfy me. But it still got some positive responses to it and some people liked it, and I’m happy for them. The open world concept in Infinite is inspired by the semi open world map in Halo 1 like Arriving on Halo, art direction is inspired by Bungie Halo but much more polished, and lots of story pieces are referenced from old Halo games or extended universe materials. So saying that the devs did not do their homework is kinda unfair, imo. For that, the Halo TV show by Paramount takes the crown of disregarding original materials (or even the basic concept, even).

        There’s a pretty good video essay on YT that goes more in depth into what 343 did right for Infinite’s story, I’ll link it here. Although 1 hour long, I highly recommend giving it a watch. His Halo 4 retrospective video is pretty good too.

        I definitely still prefer a concentrated and linear story line, though. Like watching a movie or a TV show, I want to be on the ride that the game designers intended. Not saying that open world games can’t deliver the same experience, but linear games have the advantage of having more control of the story beats in the game. I guess we’ll see what the new leadership would bring.