OXCGN:
"Almost anywhere you look nowadays, new games on the horizon contain some familiar features.
E3 this year demonstrated a lot of common elements , with few additions. Here are some strong examples of games ‘borrowing’ from others."
The story in part 3 of Sony Interactive Entertainment and Naughty Dog's The Last of Us series may explore a "congregation of immune people."
Former Naughty Dog artist Gabriel Betancourt explains why the "sweet spot" for game teams is under 200 people and how AAA "factories" kill creativity.
There’s definitely some truth to this. When teams get too large, coordination starts to outweigh creativity—layers of approval, risk aversion, and tight deadlines can turn bold ideas into “safe” ones. Keeping a team under ~200 people sounds ideal for maintaining clear communication and a shared vision. That said, massive AAA projects also come with huge technical demands and expectations, so scaling up isn’t always avoidable. The real challenge is figuring out how to keep that small-team creativity alive inside big studio structures.
More than that, it's logistically untenable. Inevitably, when teams get too large, how do you keep tabs on accountability? I suspect this massive team size is a consequence of the perfectionism streak Naughty Dog has.
I wish we could have so many people working on something and it turns out great because I'm all for collaboration in spirit - the problem is too many people as part of the larger team and smaller units. Suppose for example that you have too many people in the art department; you will very often come up against fiercely competing visions for how things should look. That competitive vision will cause friction between team members, team doesn't work as a unit, the back and forth can further delay parts that the other departments are waiting for, etc etc.
A 200-person team says, to me, that we need to scale back game development. Even if it means we go back to PS2 era costs and scale, why not? Those games are still great fun, the budgets were in check, and you could literally break the 200-man team into like 10 20-man teams working on different projects.
The Last of Us Part I PS5 review covering visuals, combat feel, accessibility, performance modes, and whether it is really worth the asking price of $69.99.
There are a LOT of games that are very similar these days. Especially looking at shooters:
Black Ops 2 is like Ghost Recon Future Soldier mixed with Modern Warfare. Or even Medal of Honor: Warfighter is using the same words from Ghost Recon Modern Warfighter.
I think that devs need to copy what gamers seem to like to make the $, and it does make sense to build on something that works and add your own twist to it, like say Dishonored.
A game can still 'feel' original even if it is getting inspiration from elsewhere.
There are a few games like The Journey that are pretty original, but these tend to be niche or smaller titles.
A big AAA title requires a lot of money, and there is no point in re-inventing the wheel, when you know you just need to advance some areas.
This is indeed evolution. One games copies somethng from here and there and then mixes it: if it works it survives, if it doesn't it is tossed by the next dev.
Survival of the fittest.
It's sad when the whole recipe is repeated over and over and over though!
Taking previous ideas and expanding upon them to form something new. That is evolution, and that's what SOME developers are doing. Just because something started out as someone else's idea, doesn't mean it's "stealing" if it's improved upon and turned into something else (which could be better or worse)
I think that it's simply a sign that we're at the end of a generation. Some of the bigger ideas - such as Watch Dogs, or just the Unreal Engine 4 - aren't possible on current-gen consoles.
(WD has not been listed for any platform yet, and the look of it spurs debate that it's a next-gen title - only my thoughts on the matter! :) )
Taking what works and is proven to be popular with gamers is fine IMO as long as the devs are still creative in other ways throughout the game's creation.