Pretty vague headline isn't it? Finnish developer Bugbear Entertainment, the company behind the Flatout series, is working on a new racing game that doesn't even have a name yet. The game can be found on Steam under the title Next Car Game. This new game will be a demolition derby game featuring races and "death bowls". Bugbear was nice enough to send over a copy of its tech demo for the Next Car Game, which shows off the detail behind the new ROMU engine.
Wreckfest, an intense vehicular combat game by Bugbear, has leapt into the next-gen with its PS5 upgrade. Newcomers will certainly enjoy the mayhem and chaos it brings to derby racing. However, those who are already familiar with the game might wish to read a review or two before deciding whether the upgrade is worth the price tag.
THQ Nordic has announced the purchase of Coffee Stain Studios (Deep Rock Galactic) and Bugbear (Wreckfest). They have 35 unannounced projects at the moment.
Quality > Quanity
Having this many games in development is just asking for trouble.
A lot of their games (Metro Exodus, Wreckfest, Darksiders 3, Biomutant, etc) are looking pretty good though.
You're thinking in terms of AAA, but THQ Nordic has said themselves they are aiming to fill the void of the mid tier games market. Not to mention they already have quite a few GOOD dev studios under their belt. with lower budget and AAA experienced teams now put on lower pressure mid tier titles this could easily allow for all these studios to work on more than one project at once (hell the Darksiders devs have already said they have been working on a another title since Darksiders III hit alpha)
The mid-tier has kinda fizzled out since THQ originally went under. Warner Bros. grew too big for its own good, Deep Silver was overly-ambitious with their dependency on Saints Row & Dead Island. THQ Nordic NEEDS to be that middle-ground between indie and the big AAA publishers.
There is room in the market for 2nd tier type games. Not every game needs to be a AAA masterpiece with gripping stories and battle royales.
As long as they have enough studios to support releasing a decent game why would gamers not buy games they like.
"2nd tier type games"
"AAA masterpiece"
Not of fan of people assuming AAA means the best games. AAA means how much funding the project gets, that's it...not quality of game. You can assume the game will be great because it costs a lot, but that is not reality.
You can make a movie for a billion dollars, doesn't mean it will be a masterpiece. This is why most people judge the "best looking games" as the "best games" because the huge part of the funding goes into art, which is the easiest, but most time consuming part of the game development.
I wish THQ Nordic the best of luck. Personally I love their games as they got a bit of quirkiness and doesn't follow most other trends in the gaming industry. Sure, they're not perfect by any means and their games don't scream AAA GOTY, but if anything their games has always been one thing for me personally, and that is fun. I'm excited for Darksiders 3 in the next few weeks as I have it pre-ordered to support them.
Bugbear Entertainment, developers of the highly anticipated Next Car Game, later renamed Wreckfest, have filed for bankruptcy.
