Category: News

The Entertainment Software Ratings Board will stop offering its ‘short form’ ratings process in the future, though the organization notes that it has no “hard date” for when the option will be fully retired as of yet. 

The loss of the ESRB’s short form ratings process is something of particular concern to indie developers since the option is the go-to path for having digital-only games rated by the ESRB and, unlike the long form rating process, offered free of charge.

In a statement to Gamasutra, the ESRB explains that developers can instead seek to have their games rated for free through the International Age Rating Coalition (IARC), a rating system created by the ESRB to standardize game ratings systems across different regions by using one process to apply multiple, region-specific age ratings. 

However, the IARC is a storefront-specific rating option and is currently only supported by the Nintendo eShop, Google Play, Oculus Store, and Xbox. So, while PlayStation support is expected “soon”, developers are currently not able to use the IARC ratings program to grab an ESRB (or PEGI, USK, or other regional board) rating for platforms not included in that list.

“We expect that an ESRB ratings solution will be available to all developers of console downloadable games at no cost to them without interruption,” said an ESRB representative. “Despite what some developers may have heard, we do not yet have a hard date for when the ESRB Short Form process will be retired. We will provide the developer community with concrete updates on this matter as they become available.”

“Obtaining ESRB rating assignments for digitally delivered games and apps will continue to be free of cost for developers and publishers. It’s true that the Short Form rating process will soon be discontinued, but developers and publishers will still be able to obtain free ESRB rating assignments for digitally delivered games and apps via the IARC rating process,” continues the statement. “The Microsoft Store deployed the IARC rating system years ago and has committed to providing access to IARC ratings for all Xbox digital game developers. The IARC rating system is also available to developers of digital games and apps in the Nintendo eShop, Google Play, and the Oculus Store. It will soon be deployed by the PlayStation Store, as well. Physical product will continue to go through the ESRB Long Form rating process, for which developers must pay a fee.”

In wake of the news that Call of Duty developer Treyarch isn’t planning on including a campaign mode in Black Ops 4, True Achievements took a look at how many of its users typically play campaigns anyway. 

The unofficial achievement tracker pulled from its own data reserves to analyze what percentage of overall campaign-related trophies Xbox players typically earned during their time with a number of single player and multiplayer games.

While the data does paint an interesting picture of how far people tend to progress in campaign modes, the numbers themselves should be taken with a grain of salt. The Xbox-centric report doesn’t list how many players it’s pulling its data from, and the numbers themselves are potentially skewed by privacy settings on Xbox’s end or the opt-in trophy tracking data gathered by True Achievements’ platform.

Additionally, it seems that the ‘Story Participation Average’ metric that True Achievements uses here could likely include all campaign-related trophies, including higher difficulty or side-quest bound trophies that may not be required for a full playthrough of any given game. 

With that all in mind, the data gathered by True Achievements shows that, looking at games in the Call of Duty series since Call of Duty 2, Call of Duty 3 had the highest Story Participation Average with an average of 36 percent of storyline achievements unlocked by players. Black Ops 3 had the lowest percentage for the series at 4 percent while the most recent release, Call of Duty: WWII, had 29 percent.

True Achievements does note that Black Ops 3 handles achievements differently than most games in the series, however, something that likely contributed to its low story participation average, but even so only 9 percent of tracked players earned the achievement for beating the game on any difficulty setting.

The report also dives into how that story participation metric plays out in other series, many of which are primarily single-player titles. Those games can be found in the graph below, with the Mass Effect series boasting the highest story participation average at 50 percent and the side-quest riddled Fallout series claiming the lowest slot with only 16 percent.

The numbers are at their most interesting when True Achievements breaks down a series into individual games, however. So while the Batman Arkham series only hits 33 percent story participation for the series as a whole, the very first game (Batman: Arkham Asylum) saw 58.14 story participation and the most recent game (Batman: Arkham Knight) only 28.77 percent. 

The following blog post, unless otherwise noted, was written by a member of Gamasutra’s community.
The thoughts and opinions expressed are those of the writer and not Gamasutra or its parent company.

Before we get to the final part of my look at replayability in video games, there is one element we need to discuss first. Whenever a game must create something new for the player to experience, it all comes down to procedural or random generation and both elements are essential to understand about replayability.

Randomized Content:

This part is going to be quick, as we have talked about it at length in the past. Whenever a game has to generate anything — Biomes, Items, Enemies, and so on, there are two broad categories. Randomly generated refers to a game pulling from preset, or already generated, elements and placing them in the game space. The use of loot-boxes and gacha design are another big example of randomized content; as the game is simply picking from choices and not making anything new.

The major differentiation between randomized and procedural content is that randomized content has already been set. The game is technically not creating anything new or original, but simply pulling from a hard list of defined choices. When you want the game to actually make something, that’s when procedural comes into play.

Procedural Content:

Procedural content is when the game will generate content either during the running of a game, or at the initial load. Be it new loot drops, game spaces, or enemy types, there are a lot of options here.

All procedural generated content is about setting an algorithm, or set of instructions for the game engine to follow, when creating something during the play. This is where the concept of “loot tables” that we talked about in an earlier part came from.

It’s important to understand that procedural generation still relies on fixed elements defined and created by the designer for the game to use when creating something new. With all that said, it’s time to ask a not so simple question.

What’s Better?

While it may be easy to separate the two forms of design, it’s not really a case of which one is better, but how to apply them in a game.

Having a large enough pool of random content can be just as effective as procedurally generating it. Not only that, but many of the best and most replayable games will use a combination of both. With the Binding of Isaac, the items generated randomly came from a fixed pool of items, and the levels were procedurally generated from a set of fixed rooms. Figuring out what content will add the most bang for your buck can keep improving a game’s replayability.

With both XCOM Enemy Within and XCOM 2 War of the Chosen, a lot of the new content added was supplemental; increasing the choices that could show up without directly adding to the game length. For games built on being replayed over multiple playthroughs, being able to make each one feel different is crucial. Understanding what aspects keep people coming back and extending those is a big part of improving replayability in your game.

With procedural generation, typically once you have a defined algorithm, you’re not going to add a new one. Just like with random generation, the best way to improve is to add more elements for the game to draw from when building its content. New item modifiers, enemy types, environmental details, and more, are just a few of the examples.

Time for the Finale:

Like I said, this entry is on the short side, as we’re going to pull it all together for the final piece. Up next, we’re going to talk about what everything we’ve discussed means for replayability, and what you need to think about in terms of design.

In this GDC 2013 sponsored session, Hideo Kojima is joined by fellow Kojima Productions staff Hideki Sasaki, Masayuki Suzuki and Junji Tago to demonstrate and discuss the workflow and development process behind Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes using the Fox Engine.

The talk goes over the key components and methods Kojima Productions utilized in the graphics arena to create the visuals for Ground Zeroes, including an overview of how assets were created and what kind of rendering techniques were used. 

Developers interested in learning about the production of Ground Zeroes can now watch the talk for free over on the official GDC YouTube channel!

In addition to this presentation, the GDC Vault and its new YouTube channel offers numerous other free videos, audio recordings, and slides from many of the recent Game Developers Conference events, and the service offers even more members-only content for GDC Vault subscribers.

Those who purchased All Access passes to recent events like GDC, GDC Europe, and GDC Next already have full access to GDC Vault, and interested parties can apply for the individual subscription via a GDC Vault subscription page. Group subscriptions are also available: game-related schools and development studios who sign up for GDC Vault Studio Subscriptions can receive access for their entire office or company by contacting staff via the GDC Vault group subscription page. Finally, current subscribers with access issues can contact GDC Vault technical support.

Gamasutra and GDC are sibling organizations under parent UBM Americas

Whether you’re just starting out, looking for something new, or just seeing what’s out there, the Gamasutra Job Board is the place where game developers move ahead in their careers.

Gamasutra’s Job Board is the most diverse, most active, and most established board of its kind in the video game industry, serving companies of all sizes, from indie to triple-A.

Here are just some of the many, many positions being advertised right now. If you’re a recruiter looking for talent, you can also post jobs here.

Location: Seattle, Washington

Oath is looking for a senior game developer with deep engineering expertise in both web and native game platform development. This role is full-time contract with option to full-time permanent. Applicants should be versed in the dark arts of JavaScript performance optimization as well as understand how to coax a few extra frames per second out of a game written for Unity, Unreal, or raw C++.

Location: San Rafael, California

Telltale is looking for an artist with strong 3D graphics knowledge an experience creating VFX in modern game engines to join its team in California as a VFX Artist. This role would require a developer to create artwork used for visual effects, implement visual effects in games, organize and track VFX production, create technical animation, and more. 

Location: Seattle Washington

The Brookhaven Experiment developer Phosphor Studios is looking for QA Testers to join its studio and help it developer multiple VR and online multiplayer projects. The Chicago-based team is looking for someone with QA experience, ideally with at least an associates degree, to run test pans and provide written feedback on defets, playability, and software performance.

Location: Playa Vista, California

FoxNext Games is seeking an Executive Director of Indie Games External Development to kick-off and manage the independent games business within the company’s External Development team. This individual should have considerable experience working in the video games space demonstrating success launching and managing successful games with a primary focus on independent games.  The candidate requires a deep understanding of game design and development across multiple genres and platforms. 

Location: Marina Del Rey, California

Do you love building game communities? Do you have a track record of doing so successfully through both internal and external teams? Skydance Interactive may have the perfect role for you. The Head of Community Development owns the studio’s relationship with its current and future players. Functional areas of focus include influencer management, experiential marketing, and channel strategy. Key outcomes: authentic communications, vibrant channel experiences, strong net promoters, and player retention.

Rovio Entertainment, the Finnish studio behind the mobile franchise Angry Birds, released a financial report detailing its fiscal year ended March 31, 2018, noting an improvement on adjusted operating profits which rose by 73 percent year-over-year to €9.6 million (~$11.3 million).

Revenue decreased by 0.9 percent to €65.7 million (~$77.5 million) due to a decline in revenue from brand licensing, but the company’s game division grew slightly, up 0.4 percent to €56.8 million (~$66.9 million). 

The company also spent less on user acquisition in the first quarter, causing investments to drop to €14.6 million (~$17.2 million). 

Rovio reports that its first quarter was in line with their expectations, noting that Angry Birds 2 achieved record revenues while Angry Birds Friends continued showing steady performance. 

As for the future, Rovio will focus on continuing development of its live game portfolio according to the Games-as-a-Service strategy, profitable user acquisition and development of new games, as well as focusing on reaching the 2019 release date for the sequel to the Angry Birds movie, which hit theaters back in 2016.