(09-03-2024, 09:07 PM)HaughtyFrank wrote: It'll be interesting if we'll see consequences from this four years down the line. I don't think any of those movies or games failed solely because they're woke or whatever, (like look at Valves deadlock, lots of inclusivity and doing gangbusters) but it seems like when you put inclusivity/diversity front and center about your product it puts it's on its back foot, something it has to overcome with other good qualities. The modern audience who will buy your game in droves because that one character is gay black and trans doesn't seem to exist.
Meanwhile the "chud" audience who will buy your game solely because of sexy characters etc. isn't gigantic either but seemingly still a lot more tangible
I've said it before, but each factor is an upward or downward pressure, and how the various pressures add to and subtract from each other determines the ultimate trajectory of the project. Just because rockets can overcome gravity doesn't mean gravity isn't a real downward force. The last couple years has shown that preachy/trendy identity politics in your game is a downward pressure, and the fact that Baldur's Gate 3 dramatically overcame that pressure doesn't mean the downward pressure isn't real. We have too many data points to ignore that the pressure is real, but it certainly is not the most dominant pressure, like some people would have you believe. It's just one of many pressures, but is still probably wise to not inject it into your game unless you're really, really confident that the rest of the game is so good that it will make completely insignificant the downward pressure of your message.