Off Topic Discussion Megathread

[Kolsykol]

Damn Microsoft and Sony going on a buyout spree.
Anyone else kinda uncomfortable with the platform holders just buying studios out all the time?

I am a tad worried about Square Enix being bought, or other studios like Capcom.
I just don't trust these big corporations to not tamper with what the devs do, even if they say that they won't I honestly don't believe them.

Even just games being published by them, Lost Ark is being published by Amazon and they've made a whole lot of dumb decisions and changed things arbitrarily that was met with huge amounts of negativity.
I just don't have faith in them that they won't change more and that they won't swing their leverage around.
It just makes me feel very uneasy when it comes to spending money on the game.

Genshin Impact is a game I really enjoy for the characters and their designs too and recently the CCP have begun targeting them and forcing them to censor the game and it's only the beginning which will affect the game globally and future content.
Stuff like this just makes me so frustrated and pessimistic there's just something that really grinds my gears with artists having their art whether it's character design, game design, music, writing etc tampered with by outside forces against their will.
Often times people dismiss the issue because they personally don't care which is rly short-sighted imo.

It feels like with time we're just moving closer and closer to a bunch of companies owning everything and more and more control being slowly exerted over what artists do by people who don't care about it and just want to make money.
And there doesn't seem to be much will at large to do anything about it.
People forget how hard the fight for violence in games was back in the day, and there's a lot more third party forces around throwing their weight around today.
I'd really hate to see games become as sterile and formulaic as big blockbuster movies are but it feels like we're headed in that direction, it's a product first and art second.
And that's not even getting into Google and Apple which hoooooooooly hell, they're some of the most archaic, overzealous and completely random when it comes to this ( still remember Artstation getting banned by them too lol... They shouldn't have as much control as they have they're a true monopoly ).

But yeah even if Microsoft and Sony isn't doing something bad today doesn't mean that they won't tomorrow.
They have a long history of doing and undoing extremely shitty practices particularly when on top.
The more they own the more likely it becomes.