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diamond.g

macrumors G4
Mar 20, 2007
11,438
2,665
OBX
Of course it did. And yet Animal Crossing probably made more much money overall ;)

Anyway, Cyberpunk is a great example how all you need to succeed is advertising. It's a bad game and a terrible product. But it mashes together popular things (even if that doesn't make any sense), and it was very hyped, so of course they made money. Gaming market is a huge paradox because it's extremely difficult to get into but also extremely starved at the same time. Gamers will buy and gladly eat any poop in a fancy wrapping as long as it ticks their boxes.
If you don't know about the hypetrain it rode in on, the game is fine (or at least on PC it was "fine", it was trash on console).
 

Macative

Suspended
Mar 7, 2022
834
1,319
Some of these AAA games have budgets that rival those of major motion pictures. And ROI for games is a lot less.

If game development was not popular on the Mac for the 15 years they ran off the shelf Intel and AMD/NVIDIA hardware, it certainly won't be when Mac is running its own unique architecture.

The plain and simple reason is it would not be cost effective to add the Mac as a platform for most titles.
 
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orionquest

Suspended
Mar 16, 2022
871
791
The Great White North
It's all about how many Mac users play games. The market share is too low so there is no reason to support games on Mac. At this point, Mac is totally out of game market.
Creating games is no different then creating TV content. All the major gaming hardware vendors have their own studios to create great games for their hardware. Apple somehow put together a studio for AppleTV content and is working with other producers. No reason why they can't do the same for the gaming market. Apple Arcade is nice but it's not really fully embracing the more typical computer gaming market and big budget games. Apple has never really catered to that market and possible snubbed them at times. Also lack of software consistency (updates, support, not supported), metal may have fixed that now and M1 processors have leveled the hardware, so hopefully that will help. But until Apple get's fully onboard I doubt gaming on Apple products will be nothing more then casual games.

This is one area where windows PC really excels. I have a second comp windows system just for gaming and its the best of both worlds, Mac for production Win PC for games.
 

Ethosik

Contributor
Oct 21, 2009
8,142
7,120
Okay let’s theorycraft this scenario:

1. Apple throws an absurd amount of money at a game studio for an exclusive game.

2. We assume the game is excellent and gets excellent reviews.

3. Mac users buy the game in droves.

Assuming all of this, do you think the revenue would exceed the money spent? I don’t.

Apple makes up about 12% of the pc market, and even then not all users play games (on the contrary, it’s likely a lower percentage than pc users).

This leaves out roughly 88% of a potential market, a market roughly half the size of mobile, and stricter with money.

And let’s not forget, that core demographic, is not gonna run out and buy a $700 minimum machine for one game. Especially when that demographic hates Apple.

Now, let’s say Apple decides to smash their head against the wall some more an release 5, 10, 20 different high quality games on Apple Arcade. I’m still not convinced that would lure in any switchers.
On top of this, Windows is so good at this where I can play 500+ games in my Steam library. Some games as old as Direct X 8 that I can still run on Windows 11. So macs get 10 great games, what about my existing 500?
 
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sunny5

macrumors 68000
Jun 11, 2021
1,838
1,706
Creating games is no different then creating TV content. All the major gaming hardware vendors have their own studios to create great games for their hardware. Apple somehow put together a studio for AppleTV content and is working with other producers. No reason why they can't do the same for the gaming market. Apple Arcade is nice but it's not really fully embracing the more typical computer gaming market and big budget games. Apple has never really catered to that market and possible snubbed them at times. Also lack of software consistency (updates, support, not supported), metal may have fixed that now and M1 processors have leveled the hardware, so hopefully that will help. But until Apple get's fully onboard I doubt gaming on Apple products will be nothing more then casual games.

This is one area where windows PC really excels. I have a second comp windows system just for gaming and its the best of both worlds, Mac for production Win PC for games.
Because AppleTV has a lot of audiences, not Mac gaming.
 

diamond.g

macrumors G4
Mar 20, 2007
11,438
2,665
OBX
Because AppleTV has a lot of audiences, not Mac gaming.
Eh, I think gaming generally has a wide (varied) audience, but do agree that not every genre of game is widely played on macOS. AppleTV is the same way they have many different genre of shows because not everyone is interested in every genre.
 

leman

macrumors Core
Oct 14, 2008
19,521
19,678
If you don't know about the hypetrain it rode in on, the game is fine (or at least on PC it was "fine", it was trash on console).

I did play it. Of course, tastes differ. For me, it was a huge letdown. Beautiful map with great architecture and design, awful gameplay, weak story. A typical result of having product managers and finance executives rather than creatives in charge.

On that note, was recently reading some articles about Pixar, and apparently their movies are so good because creatives have a real voice in the decision making process. Which is as it should be.
 

diamond.g

macrumors G4
Mar 20, 2007
11,438
2,665
OBX
I did play it. Of course, tastes differ. For me, it was a huge letdown. Beautiful map with great architecture and design, awful gameplay, weak story. A typical result of having product managers and finance executives rather than creatives in charge.

On that note, was recently reading some articles about Pixar, and apparently their movies are so good because creatives have a real voice in the decision making process. Which is as it should be.
I meant in general, if you ignored the hype (or didn't know about it) it was harder to be disappointed.
 

leman

macrumors Core
Oct 14, 2008
19,521
19,678
I meant in general, if you ignored the hype (or didn't know about it) it was harder to be disappointed.

You think so? I didn't really follow the hype, but I got disappointed anyway. I expected a deep story-driven noir-style RPG, but what we got gameplay-wise was an awkward combination of Borderlands, GTA and Skyrim. The game would have been much better if they tuned all the "RGP" elements down. But again, that's just my personal preference.

In the end, the only reason why I did end up playing it for some time was because of the item duplication glitch that allowed me to hoard rare upgrade items and tons of money. Otherwise I would have quit much earlier due to frustration.

Did they fix that glitch in the meantime btw? :)
 
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diamond.g

macrumors G4
Mar 20, 2007
11,438
2,665
OBX
You think so? I didn't really follow the hype, but I got disappointed anyway. I expected a deep story-driven noir-style RPG, but what we got gameplay-wise was an awkward combination of Borderlands, GTA and Skyrim. The game would have been much better if they tuned all the "RGP" elements down. But again, that's just my personal preference.

In the end, the only reason why I did end up playing it for some time was because of the item duplication glitch that allowed me to hoard rare upgrade items and tons of money. Otherwise I would have quit much earlier due to frustration.

Did they fix that glitch in the meantime btw? :)
I think the glitch was fixed, lol.

That is fair, they did drop a lot of content (based on what I have read on the pc files) to get the game out the door. With no apparent plans on doing anything with it. Clearly they are not pivoting away from that game (and engine) so yeah...

Either way they still made money on the game after all is said and done.
 

thedocbwarren

macrumors 6502
Nov 10, 2017
430
378
San Francisco, CA
This is simple. Gaming companies develop on platforms and APIs they know and are available to release quickly and to the widest audiences. The only want they support Apple on the same level is if they have the same APIs to run the engines they create. Translation layers help but kill performance and are more likely not supported by the first party. All of that matters. Apple can't just support Microsoft's APIs without their content. Direct X is not opensource.
 

LinkRS

macrumors 6502
Oct 16, 2014
402
331
Texas, USA
I think the glitch was fixed, lol.

That is fair, they did drop a lot of content (based on what I have read on the pc files) to get the game out the door. With no apparent plans on doing anything with it. Clearly they are not pivoting away from that game (and engine) so yeah...

Either way they still made money on the game after all is said and done.
I don't agree with the idea that the story was weak. I do think the driving mechanics (much improved in patch 1.5) were terrible, and the game has many, many glitches, but overall I enjoyed the game. The biggest problem is that unless you play through some of the side jobs, much of the story content gets locked away from you. You could easily just play through the main job, ignore the side jobs, and get a very unsatisfactory experience. Nothing in the game itself warns you that some of the side jobs are important, and if I hadn't owned the guide book, and looked into it after I completed the game the first time, I would have thought the story of the game was sad and terrible (still not weak :), just not good). There are a total of 6 possible endings, with really only 1 being "bad," which incidentally is the easiest one to get, and the one you would get if you ignore too many or the wrong side jobs :).

Something of note about the RED Engine (which is why I attached my reply to this post), is that CD Project just announced that the next installment of The Witcher will be using Unreal Engine 5. I am genuinely curious if Apple Silicon will garner support for UE5, or if we are going to be left in the proverbial dark due to the Epic lawsuit?
 

diamond.g

macrumors G4
Mar 20, 2007
11,438
2,665
OBX
I don't agree with the idea that the story was weak. I do think the driving mechanics (much improved in patch 1.5) were terrible, and the game has many, many glitches, but overall I enjoyed the game. The biggest problem is that unless you play through some of the side jobs, much of the story content gets locked away from you. You could easily just play through the main job, ignore the side jobs, and get a very unsatisfactory experience. Nothing in the game itself warns you that some of the side jobs are important, and if I hadn't owned the guide book, and looked into it after I completed the game the first time, I would have thought the story of the game was sad and terrible (still not weak :), just not good). There are a total of 6 possible endings, with really only 1 being "bad," which incidentally is the easiest one to get, and the one you would get if you ignore too many or the wrong side jobs :).

Something of note about the RED Engine (which is why I attached my reply to this post), is that CD Project just announced that the next installment of The Witcher will be using Unreal Engine 5. I am genuinely curious if Apple Silicon will garner support for UE5, or if we are going to be left in the proverbial dark due to the Epic lawsuit?
The engine supports macOS. Lumen supports macOS, but Nanite doesn't. So it depends on what they are going to do for meshes and if there is a fallback for platforms that don't support Nanite.
 
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Ethosik

Contributor
Oct 21, 2009
8,142
7,120
And they can keep p[laying their existing titles on their existing computer, but when buying a new computer it may be a Mac instead because the gaming barrier has been reduced.
Why would I get a Mac to game on 1, 10, 20, … titles and keep my PC around for the 500 titles I have now? Why would I waste desk space on two systems and constantly dealing with switching cables? You might, but the vast majority won’t.
 

SigEp265

macrumors 6502a
Dec 15, 2011
953
881
Southern California
How much did Apple care about mobile games when they launched the iPhone in 2007?

Anyways, macOS is an open platform. Developers can and will make games for macOS as long as it makes business sense.
They also didn't care about recording video, MMS, or headphone jack that was universal LOL -- I could go on.
 

Ethosik

Contributor
Oct 21, 2009
8,142
7,120
AAA just means “overhyped preorder bait” anymore.
Fully agree. Time and time and time again we have seen big titles fall on the face. Cyberpunk is a good example. GTA remastered is another one. Halo Infinite isn’t doing too well. Still waiting on co-op guys!!!
 
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Ethosik

Contributor
Oct 21, 2009
8,142
7,120
The mid-level games aren’t the big holdup. Every time this conversation comes up it’s about AAA titles.
Factorio, Stardew Valley, Borderlands 2 and 3, Minecraft, League of Legends, Terraria, Tomb Raider, World of Warcraft, Eve. Do you know what two things all of these games have in common? 100-200+ hours on each game from me and they are on Mac!
 
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Ethosik

Contributor
Oct 21, 2009
8,142
7,120
Why start another discussion when there are already several similar? I just got a déjà vu feeling seeing the same arguments as in the discussion below.

This has been a thing for over a decade. I remember conversations when I had my 2010 Mac Pro.
 

Ethosik

Contributor
Oct 21, 2009
8,142
7,120
Of course it did. And yet Animal Crossing probably made more much money overall ;)

Anyway, Cyberpunk is a great example how all you need to succeed is advertising. It's a bad game and a terrible product. But it mashes together popular things (even if that doesn't make any sense), and it was very hyped, so of course they made money. Gaming market is a huge paradox because it's extremely difficult to get into but also extremely starved at the same time. Gamers will buy and gladly eat any poop in a fancy wrapping as long as it ticks their boxes.
I’m not a fan of the gaming industry right now. I don’t like that it’s way too common for game trailers to not show any gameplay. I always wait for let’s plays to know how good a game is before I buy it. Indie games have much better trailers.
 

Macative

Suspended
Mar 7, 2022
834
1,319
Okay let’s theorycraft this scenario:

1. Apple throws an absurd amount of money at a game studio for an exclusive game.

2. We assume the game is excellent and gets excellent reviews.

3. Mac users buy the game in droves.

Assuming all of this, do you think the revenue would exceed the money spent? I don’t.

Apple makes up about 12% of the pc market, and even then not all users play games (on the contrary, it’s likely a lower percentage than pc users).

This leaves out roughly 88% of a potential market, a market roughly half the size of mobile, and stricter with money.

And let’s not forget, that core demographic, is not gonna run out and buy a $700 minimum machine for one game. Especially when that demographic hates Apple.

Now, let’s say Apple decides to smash their head against the wall some more an release 5, 10, 20 different high quality games on Apple Arcade. I’m still not convinced that would lure in any switchers.
Don't forget, Apple already did this and subsidized game development for Apple Arcade, so that the games could be created without micro-transactions that all other games survive on.

In the end, it's a $5 service that is rolled into Apple One.

It is a small value add, and that's on a 1 billion device platform.
 
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