But aren’t arena shooters making a comeback with Quake Champions and Unreal? Plus ID and Bethesda re-released Quake 1 and that got a decent or decent-ish amount of hype so I feel like arena shooters are making some kind of comeback.
Probably because ID software knows what they’re doing.
1 Like
343: I see you haven’t lost your sense of humor…even if the halo community has lost interest in halo.
Halo community: Actually, you did that. If you funnel the entire R and D budget into game features that you then mothball, your company is unlikely to thrive
Arena games definitely haven’t been doing well for a long time now. They usually have cult following.
The Battle Royale style is different than what Halo is. If 343i would’ve given us a Battle Royale than people would’ve complained about that too. The lack of variety is the big challenge that 343i is facing. For this game to be released a year later than scheduling to due to the COVID Pandemic and then only provide a handful of maps and game modes and the only one is specific to the Halo Championship Series, yes, people are going to be frustrated with it.
I continue to try out Call of Duty and or Fortnite and continue finding myself coming back to Halo titles because of the joy that I get from playing with friends and family members. Simple as that.
To add to this: MCC Matchmaking was also a doomed concept from the word go since it forced 6 wildly different games and communities, each with unique individualized issues, to share 1 single roof.
The numbers reflect the collection as a concept more than the genre contained within
That is exactly what I am referring to. Warped expectations don’t become reasonable because there are people and entities that share the same delusion. Its that kind of attitude of expecting the line to go up forever that leads to franchises and devs being crushed under the weight of absurd unrealistic expectation.
“well what about the investors” is exactly the problem. You as a consumer don’t have to try and justify corporate nonsense. The fact that this behavior is “normal” is not actually a justification for the end results of those norms. Just as “well a business is always going to try and make money” doesn’t justify any and all methods they might use in pursuit of that goal.
4 Likes
Quake Champions has triple digit players and UT4 was cancelled in alpha.
Splitgate is probably the most prominent success story for arena shooters, but ironically it actually got TOO popular too fast and they couldn’t keep up with the boom. It still has solid numbers for an indie game though.
You sound exactly like my Dad, for the first few weeks after the MP became available. He is back playing all his beloved Halo titles now, but it did take him quite a few weeks.
1 Like
I just want to say thank you for creating this thread, my uncle has been in a wheelchair for over 20 years, he got hit by a car when he was 20 and hasn’t been able to walk since, but when I showed him this thread, he finally stood up and walked out of the room because this theory was so bad.
4 Likes
Nah nah nah man listen, I actually played 700 matches since the beta tests before the “open beta”, and I beat Campaign on every difficulty including LASO. It’s just painfully stale and unenjoyable.
I finished the Battle Pass in December. I only play once or twice a month now for Tenrai and whatever other event, but I finished Tenrai, and Tac Ops was delayed, so there’s literally no reason left to play. Almost all of the weekly challenge rewards are all trash. This week’s coating is pepto bismol vomit colored. Nobody wants that. The rewards in MCC are all great. Infinite’s rewards are awful.
I’m not gonna keep playing the same few maps and modes another 700 matches “for fun”, because it’s broken, buggy, and boring. This game is disrespectful to the fans and the classic Halo formula. The only thing I’m looking forward to at all is Forge. That’s it. I was hyped for this game. I gave it a ton of chances. I bought some stuff in the shop. Well the new game hype wore off and the the nostalgia effect also wore off. It’s not as good as I hoped for.
If 343 does a great job with Forge, I’ll play Infinite, but not for Campaign or Matchmaking. If 343 adds cross-core and cross-coatings, I’ll maybe buy stuff again in the future. Otherwise, I just really do not like this game as it currently is
2 Likes
Because it was the, “new,” exciting thing. Why does any big new title launch get a large influx of players and then die down after?
1 Like
For Me the Battle Royale mode can’t never be 100% competitive
I would say for the most part this is paradoxically correct and incorrect at the same time.
It is correct in the aspect that shooter trends tend to displace older trends as time goes on. What was popular 30/25/20/15/10/5 years ago is no longer what’s driving interest/sales now more or less trend wise. The arena shooter is definitely not a trendy product as much as it once was.
The incorrect aspect is that some titles have managed to earn a place of notoriety among their trend or break trends entirely that transcends a trend’s falloff points. Unreal Tournament and Quake really don’t represent the arena shooter as much as Halo do in casual conversation, even if at one point they were the pinnacle. Halo just happened to outlive them, and have a place in a gaming revolution of sorts due to its prominence as a vehicle for quality modern console shooters on an affordable gaming medium.
———
Just a prediction, but I think we’re definitely coming to the end of the BR age with a few giants really claiming the top spots as most trends tend to do. What’s interesting is the amount of hype surrounding arena shooters when they hit the scene. Infinite initially pulled astounding numbers upon its release, along with Splitgate hitting a peak of around 60k only due to the fact the server infrastructure was unable to handle more players. It’s clear that FPS gamers are itching for something different, and the hype is indicating that arena shooters may be that scratch in the near future.
2 Likes
It wouldn’t have been the “new” exciting thing if the genre was dead.
I disagree with this. I think the game is doing alright. It’s going to blow up in Season 3 if 343 adds some of those forge maps to the official rotation. Game badly needs way more maps.
Fair argument. And while it could be true that arena shooters aren’t preforming as well in recent years, we shouldn’t just assume the next big step in FPS games is going to BRs
I’d side with its dying out due to 343i.
2 Likes
main the original games. DOOM and DOOM II have massive communities that pump out mods and TCs that draw people back. Sonic Robo Blast 2 is literally a DOOM mod. Modding tools help keep a game alive long after support for it has ended.
It’s why you’ll never see it for Halo ever again. Custom Edition was the first and last time a Halo with the ability to persist long after support for it has ended and it’s dead. Even with the addition of allowing players the EK of H2 and H3 its still not enough as the maps must REPLACE pre=existing maps and you must turn off anti cheat to play them. Couple that with a lack of ability to host dedicated servers without 343i’s interference and yeah, these games are built to be CONSOOMED and then forgotten about when the next PRODUCT comes
1 Like
“People have moved on from Arena Shooters to Arcade Shooters”
That’s a very narrow view, especially considering that the differences between them are mostly cosmetic. More, Halo has a big fan base.
Here’s the question to ask: “What are players thinking about while playing?”
Every Halo game has players spend most of their brain power thinking tactical about their position, attack angle, next move, etc. Taking a moment to regroup, and work together and/or plan, is critical to success in many cases.
The trouble is simply that Halo Infinite isnt a Halo game. Instead it falls into the ugly category I call “tweaker fps” where winning boils down to snap turns, jumping everywhere, low ping, and high rez mouse. These games only reward reaction, and often punish taking a moment to plan or coordinate the next move.