Comments on: “Great games almost never sell just because they’re great.” Gnosia producer talks about the importance of having a good business lead rather than just focusing on “raw creativity”

By: Sky

Sky — Fri, 03 Apr 2026 02:34:22 +0000

In reply to LoneGamer. Expedition 33 was only a hot because there was nothing else being released and people needed to justify buying a 500+ console with nothing to play on it. If it was PS3/PS4 days, it would've been buried under the weight of good game releases. This gen would praise a turd on a plate because there's not that much being released

By: Sky

Sky — Fri, 03 Apr 2026 02:31:30 +0000

Great games don’t sell well because most companies would rather make a s***y Fortnite clones hoping for easy money

By: Just here

Just here — Wed, 01 Apr 2026 09:46:02 +0000

In reply to Sam. THAT'S WHAT I SAID! These people are lazy as fuck. Man..people in flim industry and anime are so irritating. I hate seeing the same crappy stuff. Limited marketing can sell. Its hard in general for anime and flims to sell!!!!!

By: Scorcher64

Scorcher64 — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 17:59:10 +0000

It can go both ways.
It’s true great games alone may not be able to sell because of poor business decisions. The amount of games that had potential that went down with the studio because of greed, marketing, microtransactions, etc.

On the other hand, great games can be sold well from great writing, fun gameplay, and appealing character design if words gets out. It’s how brand new IPs get recognition. Look at Stellar Blade.

By: Al

Al — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 16:40:33 +0000

In reply to Sam.

Expedition 33? You mean the one that was developed by a team of professionals with a ton of experience and money, who didn’t have to worry about failure? That one? So money doesn’t matter.
Helldivers 2? You mean the one that became popular at the best possible time when the team looter shooters were all the rage, and which had support of rich publishers? That one? So timing and support doesn’t matter.
Hades 1/2? You mean the one that became popular only due to a dedicated fan base formed around the developers’ previous game that did not sell well? That one? So players don’t matter.
Hollow Knight? You mean the one that was completely unknown to the masses until a random popular streamer picked it up? That one? So exposure doesn’t matter.

All of these games you named only became popular because it happenstances. But you say they don’t matter. So then why hundreds of great games remain unknown and dead in the water? Or do they only become great when they’re popular? What a pathetic line of thinking you have.

By: LoneGamer

LoneGamer — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 12:58:47 +0000

Making a game with a full artistic vision will always fail because a video game isnt purely art, its art through entertainment. So there has to be some entertainment value there. Where you usually find the biggest small studio successes is when something is extremely fun but does it in a new unique way. As someone mentioned Expedition 33. In addition to having a very polished game being fairly priced (in a world where AAA games were increasing in price), they were able to take old school JRPG gameplay, add moral weight to the story, and twist the gameplay to make it skill based with dodges and parries (which such mechanics were very popular last few years) and powerful skill and pictos combinations that allowed the player to experiment and get rewarded with power growth. Pictos being collectible and not random unless junk or minor world building pieces was refreshing for me and gave a real reason to explore. The art and amazing story was built on top of that. That is definitely a way to go about having a successful game. Once the game got traction the business side kicks in with marketing and all that kind of stuff but yeah it does have to be done.

By: C.P.

C.P. — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 09:37:57 +0000

They probably might have been if this disconnect between publisher and the gamer base wasn’t a common occurrence. People are tired of these people not seeing the forest for the trees.

By: Alex

Alex — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 08:53:57 +0000

In reply to Sam. You can say the same thing with some more politeness, no need to offend someone over something so trivial.

By: Whiskers

Whiskers — Sun, 29 Mar 2026 12:20:19 +0000

A great game caters to a huge population’s sense of intrigue, can’t be linear, can’t use gambling, and caters to s huge population’s dopamine requirements.

By: Sam

Sam — Sat, 28 Mar 2026 07:48:18 +0000

Great games definitely sell for just being good did you play expedition 33 or have you been living under a rock? Helldivers 2, arc raiders, Hades 1 and 2, hollow knight – all games with limited marketing and sold extremely well based solely being a great game. All recently. Do some research, lazy ass MF.