In a recent interview, Fable creator Peter Molyneux claims that studios are more “risk averse” than they were twenty years ago. As a result, they are more comfortable sticking to tried and tested methods rather than creating new stories.
Although it has already been a good year for gaming, many favourites have been remakes or remasters of fan favourites such as Resident Evil 4, Metroid Prime and Dead Space. As a result, industry heads such as Xbox boss Phil Spencer have previously commented that the industry has a reliance on old IPs due to the risks associated with new and innovative ideas. Now, courtesy of an interview with TheGamer, it seems as though Molyneux shares the same sentiment.
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Molyneux, co-founder of Fable developer, Lionhead has had several years of experience in the gaming industry which has given him insight into how it works. Serving as the lead designer for Fable in 2004, he went on to work on its sequel which he claims went through several risky changes including adding a much darker tone.
“This sounds absolutely crazy in today's world, [but] there was a shame in doing sequels,” says Molyneux. "So, when we started thinking about the sequel, we were thinking about how we can't just do more weapons, a bigger landscape... We were a bit fearless when it came to stuff like that. You wouldn't ever do it now because you’d probably get [negative] test feedback on it. It was a big risk. I think people tend to be a little bit more risk averse these days."
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It is perhaps no surprise that developers are more wary of taking risks with game development becoming more expensive in recent years. Additionally, the results of a new IP failing can be devastating. We saw this with the release of The Lord of the Rings: Gollum back in July of this year which resulted in the studio being shut down. Despite the risks, fans are calling out for new IPs and stories as opposed to remakes and remasters. It remains to be seen which studios will take the leap of faith in the upcoming years.