LogIn"I don't think it really serves anyone to push gamers to play the same game, day in and day out."
Palworld
What comes to your mind when Palworld’s name is mentioned? Is it the record-breaking success of this multiplayer survival game, selling over 19 million copies within the first two weeks of its launch? Or the 2.1 million concurrent players on Steam, making it the second-most-played game on the platform? Or perhaps it's the news that it lost 2/3 of its players not long afterward, leading some to label it a "dead game"?
The real question we should be asking is: Does a so-called "dead game" that loses players from its peak time equate to a "bad game"? John "Bucky" Buckley, the community manager for Palworld developer Pocketpair, addressed the "dead games" discourse in an interview with the YouTube channel Going Indie, a discourse he previously described as "lazy".
"I don't think it really serves anyone to push gamers to play the same game, day in and day out. There are games that you can play every single day for months on end and never burn out, like League of Legends, DOTA, and most MMOs. But they’re designed to be like that," Buckley began.
Then, he expressed concern that some people are trying to push gamers to continuously play games that aren’t built to be played "for months on end."
"I don't think you need to be pushing yourself to play the same game all the time. It's not healthy for us. It’s not healthy for developers; it’s not healthy for gamers; it’s not healthy for gaming media. And it’s just not healthy for our industry because the more we push this kind of narrative, the more very large companies are going to just say gamers want more live service. And we’re just going to get more of these really soulless live service games that come out and get shut down nine months later, twelve months later, because they're not making enough money."
Palworld
Instead of investing all time and energy into few AAA titles, Buckley encouraged players to explore more indie games and "spend as much money on indies as you can," where you might discover some real gems and truly “enjoy games.” Buckley further elaborated on this statement in a subsequent tweet after the interview.
Do you consider a game "dying" if players start to depart after initially flocking to it? Let us know. You can check out the report on this topic by PC Gamer here and watch the interview video here. Also, don't forget to join our 80 Level Talent platform and our Telegram channel, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok, and Reddit, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.