is there some sort of formula that makes a game popular or is it completely random?
>>320390351
Advertising.
>>320390351
step 1 : be good
step 2 : there is no step 2.
see also: Platinum Games games.
Lowest common denominator
>>320390351
Make a game via purpose-based design and also what >>320391078 said.
Having a fun game, popularity and advertising.
>>320391074
Not only are platinum games not popular, they're also terrible.
What game in my steam library should I play?
>>320390351
1. Have an underlying core gameplay conceit that is simple, yet fresh and offers just slightly below moderate challenge.
2. Fill the game with humanizing characterizations. People need to append their emotions and project their desires onto something/someone.
3. Make it widely available, whether through multi-platform distribution, or just by being tremendously affordable.
That's it.
>>320391494
You seriously have the shittest steam library I have ever seen.
>>320391494
what the fuck kind of language is that?
>>320391494
Finfaggot. Go play in snow.
>>320391705
He's only listing his 'Installed Games', jackass.
>>320391494
Play Endless Sky. Great game.
>>320391916
>Being this casual
1) make game that doesnt do what other games are doing
2) put memes in it
3) cross your fingers
the reason most indie games are shit is because they forget step 1 and focus entirely on step 2
>>320390351
The biggest draw is being easy but somehow making people belive it isn't.
See League of Legends, Dark Souls or to a lesser extent Call of Duty.
You have to be able to make people feel like they're pro.
>>320391074
Platinum Games' games aren't good though, guess that's why they're cult status at best lol
>>320392207
but dark souls isn't easy
>>320390351
>>320390965
If recent games are any indication, it's marketing. The marketing budget of games is now a multiple of the development cost of that game. MW2 (the game with the largest budget of all video games currently) was something like
>50mil development cost
>200mil marketing cost
It's ridiculous
>>320392296
Going by Steam Percentages. 35% of people reach Lordran. This is how many complete the tutorial. We can assume therefore that 35% is really how many people who own the game have actually bothered to play it.
23% ring the first Bell. So these are the ones that have at least had an honest attempt.
15% defeat S&O, by far the hardest boss in the game, and acquire the Lordvessel. Of those that actually play it 40% go on to beat S&O. Of those that give it an honest attempt 65% of people beat S&O.
If you don't think the games easy given those figures I don't know what to say.
75% of people that defeat S&O go on to complete the game.
TLDR: 1/3 of people who play Dark Souls complete it. 1/2 of people who ring the first bell complete it. 3/4 of people who beat S&O complete it.
what is this a contest for how much autism you can pack into a single picture?
>>320391698
why is a shitty song by a shitty band who put out three shitty albums a meme?
>>320392908
>artificial difficulty
>>320391494
Rome 2 perkele
>>320392296
>>320392908
That's the same completion percentage as the Witcher 2. 1/3 of people that complete the prologue complete the game.
It's the standard for a 40 hour RPG.
>>320390351
>formula that makes a game popular
Timing along with it being unique/fresh
Having either fun-, entertaining- or competitive elements
If it has the above mentioned but is moderately bad then it can succeed,
If it lacks the above mentioned it can make it up by being a well made game
Perfect example in recent times is the DayZ hype, the mod was unique and fresh which made up for the fact that it was shitty. When the stand alone/clones came the genre was not fresh anymore but the issues were still present which made them flop.
If you go through all the successful classic games in history you can notice this pattern on most of them.
Good examples are:
>AoE2
>CS
>Battlefield 1942 / 2
>WoW
With the exception of AoE2, most of these games had no real competition in their specific genres and they released (for the time being) a well made product when the demand was in place. AoE2 succeeded because it was a really good game compared to its competitors, even by todays standards.
>>320390351
>popular
>500k copies sold
>Its shadorun tier even as a meme game
Yeah no
>>320394423
500k copies is a shitload for an indie game, m8
>>320395328
gone home sold 500k anon
that's how much of a game you can make and sell 500k
>>320395508
Gone homo was in the humble bundle, which sells 100s of thousands regardless
UT sold all those copies at full price
>>320395508
Gone Home was a company of experienced developers and Undertale was farted out by one guy, one girl who helped with art and some other stuff and a few collaborators.
Toby is rich now dude, doesn't matter.
>>320392103
After reviewing my games list, I'm forced to conclude that you're right. I'm a filthy casual. And now I'm going to go have fun playing my casual games.
>>320390351
Solid gameplay mechanics.
The rest are optional.
>>320391494
Hinga Dinga Durgen
>>320395793
Why would you buy old Doom?
>>320396117
Nostalgia. I remember playing it on the shitty computers in my HS Math lab. Saw it on a steam sale for a buck, figured, eh, why not?
>>320390351
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHMNeNapL1E
Here
>>320392908
I could see 76% of players being too bad/not determined enough to ring the first bell. You can't just write that off as "not giving the game a fair shot".
On the other hand, people probably drop witcher 3 for being slow paced, boring at times, and having awkward controls. Not cause of difficulty.
>>320392296
>he fell for it
>>320391494
ebin sprolololo :DDD
>>320395793
>Being so butthurt about an anonymous internet comment that you put together an adorable little college of your games across multiple services and STILL come off as casual
>>320390351
There is a "formula" but it's difficult to describe, and of course there are exceptions
Unless you mean mainstream tier popular and not, like a couple 100k sales at most
>>320390351
> new genre, new take on an out of fashion genre, or sequel to prior popular game
> accessible
> deep, but this is only important if the game is intended to be played for hundreds of hours
> engaging, cohesive fictional universe
> being good
> if its a sequel, add new gameplay layers while fixing (not removing, bioware) flawed gameplay layers from the previous title
> good graphics, and not just in a technical sense (ask yourself, could I pull off this look on a ps2? If not, the game probably has a bland look.)
> addictive elements like levelling up, xp, competitive multiplayer, unlocks, secrets, etc. this only works if the game would still be good without them
This basically describes all popular games.
the closest thing to a formula is marketing. example: the new star wars battlefront
most of the most successful (commercially) indie games in recent years have simply cottoned onto existing trends e.g. ARK: survival evolved, H1Z1, payday, don't starve, binding of isaac etc etc
some of the other successful indies (rocket league, cities skylines, besiged) either created a niche (which is extremely difficult and for which no magic formula exists), or filled an existing niche that had had a recent high-profile failure in the AAA market
not sure why you're picking out undertale as popular - it's very critically successful but it's making chump change compared to all the games that i just mentioned
>>320391074
Platinum Games aren't popular and sell awful for a reason.
>>320390351
What the fuck?
>>320397578
adding onto this: pretty sure that FNAF, Undertale, Gone Home and basically any other game that people on this board perceive as super popular hasn't sold a fraction of what ARK: survival evolved sold
>>320393148
you just answered your own question
>>320390351
Marketing.
Be it actual or word of mouth.
Word of mouth is carefully playing into a trend, be it a potential one or existing one.
The easiest way to at least guarantee a profit is to put boobs in your games. There's lots of lonely idios in the world, and they'll buy it.
Next is market recognizable. Just take an already established franchise and slap the name on it for sales.
And the least reliable way to make your game popular is to make an actually good game.
>>320396436
Only 35% of people who get to Firelink don't ring the first bell. I'm sure a number of them couldn't do it but I'm sure for the vast majority it's laziness. There is nothing too difficult in Undead Burg.
>>320397908
they havent sold much because the people who like that shit dont even buy it
they just watch videos on youtube or streamers
>>320391494
>tfw all of them are shit or just mediocre
>>320390351
1. create a game with deceptive depth, making players feel skilled at the game immediately without any lengthy moment of disappointment (respawning/making matches take very little time, regenerating health, etc). see mario, call of duty, etc.
2. 'reward' your players. whether with a giant 'YOU WIN' screen and a lot of small unlockables/capturables/variations. this is their idea of fun, seriously. pokemon and csgo aren't so popular for nothing
3. advertise. the more people see your name, the more retards will buy your product. and those retards are probably sociable, so they would pull their friends down with them because nobody wants to be left behind
>>320392742
you dont need a budget to advertise,just look at fnaf,there's people making vidoes,live streams,arts and actually creating things from it indirectly advertising it, kinda like undertale.It has more to do with fandom than anything,something people connect within themselves to a game and go from there.
>>320392908
You're going by the percentages AFTER the switch from GFWL.
