Profile of SturmtigerCobra

https://www.pcgamer.com/humankind-is-a-historical-4x-strategy-game-from-the-creators-of-endless-legend/

Amplitude, the studio that created Endless Space and Endless Legend games, isn't holding anything back with the announcement of its upcoming game Humankind. It's a turn-based 4X that follows the roots of human civilization and culture, and Amplitude says it's the game the studio was founded to create.

"All the games we've created up until now have been leading up to this moment," says chief creative officer Romain de Waubert. "We are so excited to finally be able to share with the community what has been at the heart of Amplitude since day one."

Along with publisher Sega, Amplitude is providing a first look at Humankind at Gamescom this week. The studio says the game will feature a million possible civilizations that can begin as, say, Ancient Egypt and eventually develop into Rome or the Khmer. As you research new tech, build wonders, and face the consequences of real historical events, you'll be working to build fame—the resource that ultimately determines the winner of the game.

Amplitude also says Humankind will feature tactical battles, and based on the new trailer, it looks downright gorgeous.

Humankind is set to launch sometime in 2020. In the meantime, you can find more information on the Steam page and at the official site, and even more information in the upcoming issue of PC Gamer UK magazine, which is out this Thursday August 22.

On the latest episode of Patriot Act, Hasan takes a look at how the video game industry has grown into a $139 billion a year business and a cultural force. While gaming is more prominent than ever, some of the most popular video games are made under unfavorable working conditions. Hasan examines the exploitative labor practices at game developers like Epic and Riot Games, and the ways in which workers are finally fighting back.

https://www.reddit.com/r/pcgaming/comments/cl3yoc/the_developers_behind_ooblets_are_a_textbook/
*SNIP*
Now, onto the shit show. The devs decided to announce the exclusivity in a blog post. From the get-go they begin addressing their audience with a condescending tone and branding people who would potentially disagree with their decision as ''Gamers™'', ''Toxic'' and all the other negative buzzwords you might think of. Afterwards they decided to further ridicule anyone critical of their decision as not having their priorities in life set straight and suggested directing their energy towards solving climate change or human rights abuses. I really can't do the level of arrogance any justice in my summary so I suggest you read the whole blog post yourself.

This fall, take command of Company of Heroes on iPad. Direct an intense campaign in the European Theater of Operations in the game that redefined real-time strategy.
Optimised for iPad, Company of Heroes features an intuitive user interface for swift execution of advanced real-time tactics in the heat of battle.

https://www.pockettactics.com/articles/company-of-heroes-ipad/
COMPANY OF HEROES WILL BE STORMING IPAD LIKE ITS NORMANDY LATER THIS YEAR
BY JOE ROBINSON 15 AUG 2019 0

Company of Heroes will live on forever as the most iconic tactical RTS in the history of strategy games. Not only is it one of the best WW2 strategy games, it’s one of the best games period. Probably.

Smartly evolving the rather old-school base-building idea into one that perfectly fits with realities of the Normandy campaign, it also brought with it a very versatile tactical interface where the lives of your units mattered, and exploiting the terrain was key to victory.

It’s a series that has few rivals, and now it’s coming to iPad thanks to those mad folks over at Feral Interactive. Queue trailer:

These are the guys that’s brought over games like Tropico and Rome: Total War (along with both its expansions), so they should know a thing or two about porting over well-loved strategy franchises. Here’s what we know for certain:

It’s coming ‘This Fall’.

It will be a premium game with no IAPs.

It will be iPad only to start with.

This is par-the-course with how Feral have ported things in the past: iPad first, then iPhone and then if we’re lucky, an Android port will follow at some-point as well. The IAP thing is fine, but remember Company of Heroes did have two expansions, one of which added the British Army (which was always my favourite) so it’ll be interesting to see whether those are also in the works, and whether they’ll be released as stand-alones a la RTW’s Barbarian Invasionand Alexander add-ons.

"We're seeing growth coming from new markets or markets that are starting to open in a different kind of way, particularly in Asia and particularly China. Then within our existing portfolio, we're constantly looking to find ways to broaden the appeal of our existing franchises, whether that's Total War, Football Manager, or Company of Heroes. Whatever it is, we have a constant mission to extend the reach of those. And on top of that, we look at new IP opportunities as well to further increase our offering."

Jump back to quoted post4 Aug 2019, 16:18 PMHannibal

The main reason in my eyes is that the 'games as a service' bullshit that is running wild in the industry at the momentonly works if you build up enough hype by either a big marketing machinery or using an already established IP. Indie developers don't have any of that. There are also scammers in the Indie community, but in the triple A business there's next to no decent developer left

Technically, indie devs are developers that do not depend on external sources to sustain themselves, funding their projects with their own resources.

In theory, this gives them much greater creative control over their projects, as they don't need to satisfy publishers, executives, marketing people and so on.

Generally speaking, people tend to consider "indie" studios that are relatively small, the expression applies to any studio that fund themselves their development and fulfil it without any agreements that interfere with the game being made.
https://www.quora.com/Whats-the-definition-of-indie-developer

https://twitter.com/jasonschreier/status/1083474033033777152
@jasonschreier
At today's meeting announcing the news, Bungie staff cheered loudly. Can't over-emphasize how happy they are not just to get away from Activision, but to have a game that they now own completely. Imagine a Destiny free from Activision's restrictive annualized schedule!

InquisitorAles
I love how Luke trolled and said "Someone said that we need an EPIC partner" when they announced it's coming to Steam - https://www.twitch.tv/bungie/clip/DignifiedInterestingMonkeyMcaT

https://gamasutra.com/blogs/author/KevinMurphy/1001884/
https://gamasutra.com/blogs/KevinMurphy/20171206/310930/What_Conscious_Capitalism_can_teach_AAA.php
What 'Conscious Capitalism' can teach AAA
*SNIP*
The book is filled with case studies on how profit-driven CEOs ran once-successful companies into the ground by striving solely to create shareholder value, and not caring about the other stakeholders (meaning anyone who has any interest in the business, including customers, employees, the government, and even the environment) of the business.

Reading it, I couldn't help but draw parallels with how EA, Activision, and Warner Bros. have been milking their once loyal and enthusiastic customers to the point of maximum frustration and past ethical boundaries. They’re burning bridges with former fans in the hopes of maximizing returns this fiscal year.
*SNIP*
Wait, isn’t this a games blog? Get to the point!
Okay! So clearly EA and other AAA publishers, judging by their actions of the last few months and years, still subscribe to the Friedman school of business ethics, and they’re losing their supporters in droves. Even those that stick around and pay are hardly becoming ardent fans of the companies.

Then take a company like CD Projekt Red, creators of The Witcher series, who, to date, have seemed perfectly happy to offer outstanding value to their customers and who truly invest in the intangible ‘Goodwill’ line of the Balance Sheet (yes, it’s a thing on the balance sheet, but how do you really calculate it? (rhetorical question)).

Their core $60 experience in The Witcher 3 was over 70 hours of gameplay with no microtransactions. Then along came two expansion packs (pay once, play forever model) of 10-20 hours each! Not a microtransaction or loot crate in sight!

They clearly care about customer satisfaction to a degree that the other major games publishers can’t claim. This gives them so many intangible benefits, including customer loyalty, more predictable sales numbers, and free marketing via positive word of mouth.

Note: CD Projekt aren't a perfect example because they're known to have some internal problems with crunch time, and employee welfare is a core part of the Conscious Capitalism approach. Still, they're still probably the best example, and nobody's perfect.