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Ex-God of War developer reveals Sony "demands" 90+ Metascore from first party games
- Thread starter LakeOf9
- Start date
64bitmodels
Reverse groomer.
as they should. If more developers cared about reviews, fans and sales instead of money and MTX gaming would be in a better place
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LiquidMetal14
hide your water-based mammals
Didn't we get a thread like this a half year ago or so? I hope they want nothing but 10's.
TropicanaTwista
Member
There is no problem with that? I wish more developer/publishers felt the same way
How about just care about making a good game and dont chase an arbitrary review score, that kills innovation and creativity and results in safe design by committee style games?
I love sony output, but their games are already starting to feel samey between Horizon/God of War/Spider-Man (thankfully stuff like Returnal and TLOU is still distinct)
EDMIX
Member
Making a good game leads to that score.....soooooo yea
64bitmodels
Reverse groomer.
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Really? Prey is one of the best games ever made and has a sub-80 (maybe a sub-70?)
Dark Souls 2 is the worst Dark Souls game, and the highest rated one
Are you sure reviewers are the sole arbiter of "quality"?
IndianaJack
Member
Too bad XBox doesn't care.
balls of snow
Member
Its your top tier studios, I would sure fucking hope so. For example, as if the zelda team and nintendo didnt have aspirations to top metacritic scores again. Its why they delayed totk for a year even though its feature complete.
Brock2621
Member
I’m not entirely sure this should be viewed as a negative thing. This translates to higher budgets, more people reviewing the work in an iterative form, more play testing etc etc etc.
What does he mean by “demand?” Usually that comes with stakes like less pay or something, but he said their bonuses are based on sales figures instead of the review scores.
I dunno, I’m sure I’ll get dumped on for saying that but I’m not entirely convinced this is anything other than “having high standards” unless later on in the podcast he implies they endured some type of abuse to achieve the scores.
What does he mean by “demand?” Usually that comes with stakes like less pay or something, but he said their bonuses are based on sales figures instead of the review scores.
I dunno, I’m sure I’ll get dumped on for saying that but I’m not entirely convinced this is anything other than “having high standards” unless later on in the podcast he implies they endured some type of abuse to achieve the scores.
Crispy Gamer
Member
That's dumb especially since me my buds can form a podcast and get Metacritic credentials, Sony's going down the wrong path with that just make a great game and let the chips fall where they may, by having devs think about mechanics that can help them score a 90+ just doesn't feel authentic
Kilau
Member
Yep, that’s the problem. The bias some of these outlets have, and not talking just platforms, makes this a risky proposition.
64bitmodels
Reverse groomer.
obsession over reviews works
Look at Fallout New Vegas, even if the game's Metascore didn't hit Bethesda's target it's still one of the most revered and beloved RPGs of all time.
Look at Fallout New Vegas, even if the game's Metascore didn't hit Bethesda's target it's still one of the most revered and beloved RPGs of all time.
Thank you, this is all im saying but some people refuse to listen
And it's an 84.
Literally, your example disproves your entire point
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Yeah. . .you are taking this too literally. Nothing about what is in that Reddit thread suggests SONY has a checklist to LITERALLY ensure games meet some arbitrary threshold. How in the hell could they possibly? You are taking a comment that is more meant to convey that SONY has a good nose for what will be critically (if not commercially successful) as some evidence of publisher overreach (instead of just knowing your audience).
. . .probably one of the weirdest fronts in this forever war I've seen.
64bitmodels
Reverse groomer.
cept that not really since again Bethesda were asking for high scores. despite the one point off the game's more beloved now than ever before. And look at what that 84 generated, tons of mods and a revered status among the gaming community... It's no wonder Sony's games are popular when they strive for 90s only
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01011001
Banned
there absolutely is a problem with that.
look what this pre release analysis did to God of Handholding and Horizon Schizophrenic West.
like Pop music producers... they "have a nose" for what will be a critical and commercial success, hence why most mainstream pop sounds like it was written by an algorithm.
Topher
Gold Member
That's simply a matter of your opinion and review scores not lining up. That happens all the time.
How is 84 not a great review score?
It's not a 90+, which is what the demand is?
Topher
Gold Member
Plenty of Sony's games don't hit 90+ so I'm not seeing where this obsession is.
avin
Member
Metacritic is an average score. The only way to get a great average score is if nearly everyone gives you a great score. The problem is, everyone includes a lot of people. When you're trying for greatness, everyone doesn't get it. Certainly not the first time they see it. The scores reflect that.
I've sometimes thought the standard deviation on scores is a better metric than the average score itself.
avin
I've sometimes thought the standard deviation on scores is a better metric than the average score itself.
avin
Thirty7ven
Banned
He just described a good thing. Devs don’t get bonuses based on metacritic, but there’s a standard they aim for.
Pelao
Member
It doesn't sound bad that they demand quality, but it's weird that it's tied to Metacritic.
Also, I don't know if it's related to this, but my current problem with Sony's big titles is that they're becoming very homogeneous. I miss the gems they used to produce back in the PS2 and PS3 days, i.e. when Japan Studio was still around.
Also, I don't know if it's related to this, but my current problem with Sony's big titles is that they're becoming very homogeneous. I miss the gems they used to produce back in the PS2 and PS3 days, i.e. when Japan Studio was still around.
nial
Gold Member
Japan Studio was still around in the PS4 era. IMO, they weren't that special in the PS3 gen aside from stuff like Boku no Natsuyasumi 3 or Demon's Souls, really. I found Sony as a whole to be a bit boring in that entire period.
diffusionx
Gold Member
With the amount of money they are spending (9 figures) they should, and other publishers should be doing it too. These companies are just not getting their money's worth these days and doing gamers a disservice.
GHG
Member
It's not "metacritic culture" it's demanding high standards of your teams. Games reviewing well is part of that.
Mr.Phoenix
Member
Errr excuse me?
i can't think of anything I would want more than Sony insisting their studios put out the best games they can possibly make.
It's like you forget that for a game to score90+ on Metacritic, it has to be really good. I wud think that every publisher had similar expectations from their teams.
digoutyoursoul
Member
Who do they demand 90+ scores from? The developer or the reviewers?
ByWatterson
Member
Good.
Aenima
Member
They big developers like NaughtyDog and Santa Monica
