Was Cyberpunk 2077 Overhyped?

If you haven’t been living under a rock, you would know that a game named ‘Cyberpunk 2077’ was supposed to change gaming forever. What happened to all of this talk? In this article, we are going to diagnose Cyberpunk 2077’s rise to fame and how it suddenly came to a halt, if not a decline after it’s release.

Cyberpunk 2077 – A Victim To ‘Overhype’

After being in development for nearly a decade, Cyberpunk 2077 was in a ‘GTA’ (Grand Theft Auto) style based in the futuristic city called ‘Night City’. It was released at the end of 2020, but ever since hasn’t hit the news as it used to. What exactly happened to this extremely hyped game that was ‘Cyberpunk 2077’?

Cyberpunk’s Breathtaking Rise

CD Projekt Red’s biggest hyped game was Cyberpunk and you have to give it to them, their promotional methods and campaigns were very interesting to say the least. After years of making trailers for the game, they managed to get a spot to world premiere their game on Xbox’s stage at E3 back in 2019 (how does that seem so long ago)?.

After the world premiere, the buzz for Cyberpunk was unreal, you couldn’t go a day without hearing or reading the word ‘Cyberpunk’ somewhere. Keanu Reeves was their main promotional material, a form of endorsement so people with have a good retention span during their presentation (since they recognised the celebrity).

Another factor that further pushed their ever-so-fast growing hype was the memes of Keanu Reeves saying ‘you’re breathtaking’, it surely was a breathtaking meme. Not just that, but more memes popped up around the internet with the Cyberpunk soundtrack, i’m sure you know exactly what I’m talking about!

All of these factors pushed the reach of Cyberpunk and at this point in time, everyone had heard of the new game to break the gaming industry, even your grandparents probably.

Beginning Of The End

All seemed well for this amazing video game and as for it’s hype train too, but it then started to drop in attention.

Cyberpunk had to delay their game as they believed it was wrong to release the game in that state, and delayed the game a further 2 more times. This led to frustration within the community and instead of excitement, it was anger. This put a lot of pressure on CD Projekt Red to get the game out, and so instead of throwing their hands in the air and saying “it will not be ready for another year or so”, they felt the need to publish.

This spiraled into many complaints and even refunds as the game was not to what they expected. It was a hot buggy mess of a game, and the extremely long wait made many players frustrated and not wanting to play.

Try to imagine waiting for a game for almost the duration of a decade for it to be boardline unplayable. However, I also like to think it wasn’t so much the developers fault with the added pressure every statement they’d give. Perhaps if they had handled it differently and delayed it for a lot longer and thought it out properly, this wouldn’t have happened.

Not everything is bad with the game, the city skies and the next generation beautiful graphics and scenery are amazing to look at. It’s that good it’s too much for today’s technology and specifications that most graphics cards struggle to meet the 60fps mark.

Victim To The Overhype Disease?

As great as the game is, I’m sure many players will return within a year or so after the release to try and play again. The development team is working hard to polish this game and make it more playable and optimised to today’s technology, but I don’t think this doesn’t make it a ‘good game’.

I can see both sides, so I’m neutral on whether Cyberpunk was overhyped or not. What are your thoughts, was Cyberpunk another victim to the ‘Overhype’ disease? Let me know

Written By: Max Lang-Orsini

How Are Simplistic Games Running The Industry In 2020?

Gaming has advanced significantly over the past few decades. Playing games has become a common and cultural thing, however, the video game industry this year has been dominated by the simple type of online games.

How have the games ‘Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout’ and ‘Among Us’ managed to influence and gain control over the gaming market?

2020: The Simplistic Gaming Experience

We all play video games as a way to relax, but recently the emergence of the simple games have taken over, and with a fair few reasons. In this article, we will explain how these popular games exploded in popularity, and I’m sure this is obvious, but both games require an internet connection!

Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout

Released in February of this year, the game developers ‘Mediatonic’ published Fall Guys through Devolver Digital. Instantly, the game was a success, reminding players of how the basics of games at times can be a lot of fun. Fall guys is available on Windows and Playstation and are extremely popular for console gaming.

Building up to the release of Fall Guys, they caught a lot of their attention through social media. Their social media manager, @OliverAge24, has brought a lot of attention to their games by cracking jokes on the Fall Guys accounts making their followers laugh whilst interacting with them constantly.

Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout is sort of like a Mario party crossover, but instead vs in 60 players. There is a maximum of 5 rounds and only a certain number of people each round can qualify until one guy is the last one standing and wins. From winning, you earn a crown, and you can spend these crowns on cosmetics in the game, making winning worth it.

Among Us

An older game that has recently blown up was released all the way back in June of 2018. The Among Us game concept is all about you and your crewmates in space having to do day to day tasks, but, there is an impost among you. It’s your job to suss out and eliminate the imposter, or eliminate everyone if you are the imposter! It’s significantly more fun with friends, especially how it’s become ‘the norm’ to mute your mic at certain parts of the gameplay to be more immersed.

Arguably, Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout could have been an influence for the rise of Among Us since people began having an interest in the basic style games. To say the characters look fairly similar, this could also be another reason for finding out about the game.

If you didn’t know, you play Among Us through mobile gaming on IOS and Android.

Looking At The Statistics

To show you how big these games have gotten, let’s look at the statistics to get a better perspective.

If we look at steampowered statistics, Fall Guys had it’s an all-time peak in August of 172,000 concurrent players at once on Steam alone. It is estimated that Fall Guys have an active player count of 15.6 million players in their first-month launch.

Among us had an extremely low player count with an average of ~25 players until the boom this year. Its concurrent player peak hit 306,000 with an estimation of over 2.7 million players.

Typically it’s gaming companies that own the bigger and higher quality games, but as a fun fact, Among Us is run by a small team of 3 and they’ve been taken by surprise with this popularity boom! They’re working many hours to keep the servers stable and generally keeping the game a happy place, bless them.

Battle Royales

Almost everyone is aware of the battle royale craze that lasted from 2017 to 2020. Whilst battle royales are still fairly popular today, I would argue that the complexity of such a genre has exhausted games that require a lot of skill, like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Call Of Duty and Fortnite.

I’m not in any way downplaying the value of these skilful games as they take years to master, but in terms of the casual market, they seem to be looking for simpler games to pass the time. These types of games that have blown up prove to have been explicitly made to have a laugh with your friends, something that has over time slowly been forgotten about.

Live Streaming Services & Video Content Creation

One of the biggest reasons for the popularity boom is high-quality live streamers broadcasting this hilarious game to the world. This is no surprise, the majority of smaller games that gain popularity is through video creation content and gaming live streams.

Fan content is one of the leading carriers to the rise of both games. Both have managed to respond to their communities in a great manner, keeping their players entertained through their social media. This is showing other games how you should handle your social media, even though it appears as ‘less business-like’.

Both of these games have done tremendously well and deserve the top spots they have, I’m excited to see what Among Us 2 brings us next year!

Written By: Max Lang-Orsini

Sea of Thieves – Why Should You Play?

Released on the 20th of March 2018, a new-born adventure game set sail on an endless journey, 2 years later it has arguably become one of the most iconic Xbox Games right now, even arguable video games as a whole.

Sea of Thieves is included on the Xbox Game Pass, so if you wanted to try this out first before paying the full price, you can.

I, Max-Lang Orsini, will test the depths of the waters and bring you a full article breaking down why you should play Sea of Thieves.

What Makes Sea of Thieves Great

I’ll be here typing forever if I had to label every single thing, but I’ll name a few and leave the rest for you to set sail on the high seas, and make many memorable moments on the vast ocean that is the Sea of Thieves.

Treasure Variants

Treasure variants, you heard it here first. That’s right, you can not only be a classic pirate, and find yourselves many treasure chests by following treasure maps, but you can also fight the infamous skeletons that also sail the seas.

Treasure Chests, Mystical Skulls & Merchant Cargo

Defeated the captains to obtain a skull and sell this to the Order of the Souls reputation, or dig up treasure and sell to the Gold Hoarders, or even deliver cargo as part of the Merchant Alliance reputation!

Commendations

With many treasure variants, many reputation variants will also exist, providing more challenges. If you are wanting more of a challenge, look at your ‘Commendations’ which are like achievements.

Player Vs Player

Arguably one of the most influential parts of this open-world pirate game. The intensive ship combat allows for suspense as you plunder your opponent’s ship with your crew members, stealing their treasure right before selling to the correct companies.

Cannonball Types

For a better PvP experience, there are different types of cannonballs for different effects! You can get the ‘Cursed Cannonballs’, which will have a different effect on which one you’re using. Make your opponent anchor in the middle of the ocean, prevent them from shooting you, or even make them wobble around on their deck drunk! It’s a lot of fun.

Not just that, you can get ‘Chainballs’. Hitting a precise shot on the ship’s mast will destroy it, making it fall down and disabling them from moving! You can even use ‘Fire Bombs’ to put the enemy’s ship in a blaze!

Weapon Combat

Maybe you like to be up close and personal, and that’s fine too! Board the enemy’s ship and attack them with a tense sword battle before switching to a pistol for a final blow! These moments are by far the tensest. Remember by killing one player, there are fewer players to control their own ship!

Drink & Play Music Together

Perhaps you want to be friendly, and that is also fine, as long as the other crew agrees! These memorable moments are the best when you all get drunk in the tavern together and play musical instruments as the sun falls down! Don’t get too drunk, or your instrument may be out of tune…

Becoming a ‘Pirate Legend’

The most infamous name you can make for yourself on the seas is the title ‘Pirate Legend’. These are the most experienced players that have fought for their title with many wins under their belt. If you ever come across these ‘Pirate Legends’ for yourself, fear is the first thing you should feel.

Player Vs Environment

A category that is FULL of content. For a game that has been out for 2 years, it leads to endless possibilities and laughs on your journeys.

Skeleton Fleets & Ships

If you don’t fancy fighting a player ship, or perhaps you haven’t come across one, you can fight the skeletons on the seas too! These skeleton ships will appear randomly sailing the seas on their own adventure or sailing amongst a fleet, it is up to you if you want to disturb them.

Megalodon

Or perhaps you don’t want to fight any enemy ships at all, and that is fine too. You may come across the Megalodon. A big shark that can tear through your ship comes in many variants, the white Megalodon “The Shrouded Ghost” being the rarest. Some say it does not exist, but if you kill this thing, you will be among the few that has lived to tell the tale.

Kraken, Ghost Fleets, Ships & Skeleton Forts

Is this not enough? Well no matter if it isn’t, there is still so much more. Fight the newly added Ghost ships from an undead fleet under the Flameheart name, fight the Kraken for its meat and sell it to Hunter’s Call reputation for some sweet gold, and even participate in islands dedicated to the skeletons known as the ‘Skeleton Fort’. Completing this will reward you inexpensive goods across many reputation companies!

Single Player Playability

No matter if you’re a single player because there are special stories that you can complete. Learn the stories of other ships and fleets and how their demise was met, help recover other crew members in an exciting story known as the ‘Tall Tales’. Perhaps you don’t want to do this solo and with friends in an adventurous multiplayer game, that is possible too.

You can even set sail on your own adventure, peacefully digging up treasure, but be aware of those pesky pirates that will come and steal your loot!

The Beauty of Sea of Thieves

Moving on from all of this pirate ship stuff, throughout my entire time playing this game, I’ve got to admit it’s beauty. The graphics are quite intense, so if you’re on PC you will need a good system, but it is definitely worth it. The views and scenery all blend to create this masterpiece of graphics and is by far one of the most beautiful games I’ve ever played.

This is not everything. With the recent anniversary updates and the following monthly updates that have been released, it’s very easy to say this game is a lot of fun. This isn’t everything, there’s still more to mention, such as; The Devils Roar, Different Sized Ships, Different Voyage Variants, Pets, Cosmetics (ship, weapons and pirate), Emissaries, and the special Fort of The Damned. As you can see, you will never have anything to do in this game!

I’ll let you experience the seas for yourself and I hope to see you there. You can buy Sea of Thieves on Steam, or you can buy Sea of Thieves on the Xbox Game Store. Check the Sea of Thieves website for updates and events about the game!

Written by: Max Lang-Orsini

Is the Gaming Industry Paying Attention

You may be surprised to learn that 52% of women are gamers. With all the action packed, blood spewing video games out today the main audience has to be male, right? Wrong.

I was shocked when reading these facts:

Based on interviews with 4,000 UK residents, the researchers found that women now account for 52 percent of the gaming audience, which is up from 49 percent three years ago. The study, which was commissioned by the Internet Advertising Bureau, also revealed there are now more people over 44 years old playing games than children or teenagers. The gamer audience reportedly stands at 33.5 million Britons, which is 69 percent of the population.

This surge of women becoming gamers and staying gamers can be explained by the popularity of the smartphone. The smartphone has made gains more readily available to everyone. This could be due to the smartphones ease-of-use.

One scenario that comes to mind is when women are waiting for their children to be done at appointments. While sitting in the waiting room playing a game on their smartphone to pass the time is very desirable. That is one example, but women will play whenever possible, very intently as well.

During the interview women shared that puzzle games were their go to games. The study also showed that women are also interested in disc type games by a large margin. So that discredits the stereotype that women only enjoy smartphone games. It’s a wonder if the future of game design will change in the future now that studies are showing that a quarter of all gamers are now over 45-years-old.

Another interesting thing to consider is, if women make up the majority of the gaming audience why is the number of women working in the game industry so low? Wouldn’t the people who play the game the most have the most to offer when it comes to game development and other aspects of the industry? Only 12 percent of game designers in Britain are women and 3 percent of all programmers are women. Also, the number of women speaking at gaming conferences and events is minute. These shocking numbers are not because women are not interested in working in the industry it’s just how the present industry is constructed. It’s interesting to ponder how the game industry would change if more jobs were available to women.

It will be interesting to see future studies to see if this popular trend continues. If it does, I wonder if there will be industry changes in the future.

Can we make playing games our profession?

Gaming Profession

Since we were kids we all love playing games. It is relaxing, funny; it takes your mind away from problems and everyday routines. Playing games with your loved ones can even make you feel closer together and it can develop a special relationship. But can you turn playing games into a full-time or part-time profession so you can also enjoy gaming while you’re working?

Game Developing

When it comes to computer games, they are so popular and everybody loves them so much, that anyone who wants to create new games has a huge area to make his ideas come true. That is, of course, if he has great imagination. With nowadays technology, you can design anything you want – any given situation or a whole world.

Creating a computer game / gaming products that would sell is no different than writing books. You need to know what is popular and what could trigger young people’s minds. It is important to always have bright ideas so new things can appear all the time in the game to make it intriguing and worth playing.

People, who create games, presenting a new different world or let you create an alternative personality, living a completely different life, make millions every year, because people want to buy products that truly manage to delete reality and draw a better one.

Luck In Games (RNG, Random Number Generator)

Another tool to both have fun and pay the bills is poker. Poker has a bad name, because many consider it gambling and they are right as much as it depends on the person whether he would apply strategy or just play with his luck. Online poker can make people very rich, but only if they know how to play the game both safe and profitable.

Becoming a master in this game takes not only knowing the rules, but also great understanding of statistics, mathematics and human psychology. Playing poker is similar to solving Rubick’s cube, where you need to know how to apply some basic algorithms – you can manage to succeed without thinking, depending on your luck, but you cannot keep on succeeding every time just by luck.

Same way poker gamers create strategies and algorithms so they can guess other people’s cards by watching how the game is played so far. Even very experienced brilliant poker gamers lose money all the time. Their key is to always keep losses lower than profits so the end result will be in advantage. That itself involves strong nerves and calm nature.

Jobs In Gaming

Yes, you can turn playing games into something you make your living with, but like the examples clearly show; this is not as easy as it sounds. Games might be fun and entertaining, but their creation, their competition for the best and their use for profit can be incredibly hard. Here are some examples you can get as a profession within the gaming industry:

Game Developer

You could go forward and become a game designer / game developer if you wish to be more of a ‘behind the scenes’ type of guy. You would be incharge of the game’s technology and the way it functions. Depending on the role you can get at a company, you may get certain control on what you can design, or perhaps you want to become an ‘Indie Game’ developer, or just a single stand alone Game Designer.

Game Testers

If this doesn’t tickle your fancy and you wish to play games as a profession, then you can get a job as a game tester. They test new games that come out of bugs and glitches that can really hurt the game.

Pro Gamers (Esports)

Perhaps you want something more ‘skillful’ and wish to have a professional gaming career. This in the new age is becoming more and more possible and is typically known as ‘e-sports’. ‘E-Sports’ stands for ‘Electronic Sports’, this is where the most skillful players compete for prize pools in tournaments and is usually broadcasted as entertainment where millions of people go to watch. (League Of Legends broadcasted to a total of 44 million concurrent viewers as it’s all-time peak!)

The rise of esports seems very underground to the average person, but not in the gaming world. These professional gamers are amongst the best and some refer to them as ‘professional athletes’.

Playing video games seems like an easy task to the average person, but it takes years of experience to become a master of the game and compete at such a top level within the esports / gaming industry. Some games such as; Counter-Strike: Global Offensive take more than just years to master. This is because the competitive scene has been tinkered by the best for so long and is constantly changing, being able to master all of the previous ‘best’ levels and then proceed to keep up is extremely tough.

I hope you liked these career option suggestions and I wish you the best on your journey!

By: Max Lang-Orsini