SHOTS FIRED 🔥 (I wonder how many future bridges I burned with that thumbnail 🤣🥲) Anyway, jokes aside, this is something that deserves to be heard, by as many people as possible. EDIT: If you are a game developer, independent or not, and his words inspired you, then I wish you all the success in this world, become the change that we need. Thank you Swen. Enjoy!
Nah... EA has admitted that they work for the boardroom, and not the gamers. They have a recipe for hoovering money out of parent's pockets, which has now reached No. 6 in the series, but the kids also grow up and smell the massive turd it is, eventually... So I'd say they deserve all the credit that is due, for pulling out of the entertainment business and into the stock market
That's true, and yeah prob some in that room who are exactly what he's speaking up against here. But for the rest of the people this is speaking for, it's also such an important message that you don't want to interrupt either, but rather let speak for itself
not at all..just AAA production...there are many great games but players rather choose to give attention and money to those cashgrabs companies like sony, blizzard, ea... and then they are complaining...it is all about customers, not companies
I watched the show with some friends I met when I worked at an indie studio from my country, so we all knew damn well that he wasn’t just talking to the AAA studios, but also to the indie devs who still have the power to change things in their “niche”. It really made me tear up to think that people like Swen, who make such impossible games become reality, still firmly believe that we all deserve and need with urgency more dignity in this industry.
That's what I've been saying around, even if the speech "changed nothing", my believe is that if it inspired even a single dev, then that's already a new dev we can look forward to
@@WalterEKurtz-kp2jfEverything woke is forced. There's nothing down to earth about it. Just because someone put it in the lore years before you were even aware what woke is, doesn't mean it isn't woke.
@@nemikuuro On the channel I have a video up with all of their moments from last year's, but to sum it up, last year people didn't get time to talk to stage, they would often get forcefully cut with music that would start playing while they were still talking, or they would be told to "wrap it up" on the teleprompter - I believe he got a "wrap up it message" himself as he was thanking everyone while accepting the award, if memory serves me right
@@Saretz didn’t they have to wrap it up so soon they didn’t even have time to make a major announcement. Like I think I heard that they were supposed to announce an Xbox release or something.
1:57 "They understood the value of respect,..." I love that statement. Such a rare commodity in Western society these days, let alone the entertainment industry. The whole speech was awesome, that's just the part that stood out to me the most.
Sorry, "Western"? There's few places in the world where that's not true and a common problem. Bad leadership and abuse and discrimination are worldwide problems. It's wild you imply it's different elsewhere, when people acting nice and polite isn't the same as genuinely caring.
That’s ACTUALLY the least important part of his speech. We don’t need wokism and extreme tolerance. The most important part is him fighting the capitalist mindset, and the extreme search of revenue and profit. The rest comes naturally when you do that, including respect for everyone and for your job.
“Understood value of respect” “Rare commodity in western society” Lemme guess, you live in western society and have no idea what you’re actually talking about? Also, gacha games. Most eastern developers care much less about players and will sell you PNGs for hundreds if not thousands of dollars.
I legitimately applaud when he said all of this. Guy came out swinging without seeming like he was talking down. I think I will remember this speech for quite some time.
EXACTLY it's such a smart speech because the cute trick at the beginning makes sure it doesn't come off as too preachy, plus he/they have all the credibility in the world
@@fallenmercury It's not just them in the audience, and among the people watching, think of all the indie devs, or future devs that might be inspired by this
Swen Vincke is that guy who almost went into personal bakruptcy several times to maintain his small studio, but his mentality and love for making games eventually lead that small studio into becoming a the shining jewel of this decade of gaming. He's the CEO everybody wants to have.
And after Divinity Original Sin's success Larian went on a hiring spree filling the studio with Western activists, the very same people he's "criticizing" in his speech. What happens to Larian going forward remains to be seen. Baldur's Gate 3 was just DnD slop for normies.
Swen is the best in terms of passive aggressive remarks because my man just roasted the entire gaming industry and the game awards itself without actually resort to direct criticism.
@Saretz Even if he is being little arrogant he has the right to be in this case (in my opinion). He proved big studios wrong with hard work, excellent leadership and sticking to his vision. Also, it must be exhausting responding to so many comments. Keep up the good work!
@@Saretz People don't know the difference between arrogance and walking the talk anymore. If he's arrogant, then he's the only one who deserves to be, because he is a breath of fresh air to the industry.
I (as a Belgian) am so proud of Larian/Swen Vincke. He has been consistently relentless in pursuing the vision he just laid out in this speech. Larian has fought for its financial independence in order not to compromise its vision since 1996 by e.g. having a part of the company (Larian Studios, Educational Games) making less complicated but financially stable educational games so that the triple A game is not pushed to be released before its done and e.g. by kick-starter campaigns that worked really well just because the gamers have complete trust in this CEO/company. Doing the right thing has become so against the flow that it requires a passion, a lucidity that almost equals insanity. But. Only dead fish go with the flow. Thank you Ricky G ... euh Swen Vincke for being you. 🙂
"If a product is made by people who want to make it for themselves, then profit will follow as a symptom rather than having to be the sole goal itself" -rings true for literally every single industry on the planet. Shortsightedness only leads to filling a temporary executive stack's pockets with bonuses. Does nothing for the company's long term bottom line, nor the products, nor the employees, nor the end users.
They people he called out still remain in power and are still leading the field, if anything they might have felt a slight sence of shame but really just a slight one if at all.
"But how will they know to work harder without constant fear of sexual assault from their coworkers or me, a billionaire, literally threatening to have them murdered?" (Yes, Bobby Kotick threatened to have his assistant killed. It was recorded. Look it up)
@@giovanniamore7532 Sure, and Diabolo 4 is unbelievable crap, and Bg3 homework for all of the devs in the past 20 years 😉 And Blizzard is running on subs since 2006….🥲
@@bluegamer4210 citing what the issue is in front of the gaming industry is the start of solving a problem. Same goes for any industry, just depends on how many people want change and how many people are willing to put up with it because their not brave enough. No hate towards ur comment but I wouldn’t discredit someone attempting to make a change in an industry they care about morally and not just financially.
@@bluegamer4210 It's about small steps, especially when even one small step seems to be such an insurmountably tall order (or tried to be walled up on purpose).
Depends on what is meant by great. CEOs that can churn out extra margins year after year are probably great in the eyes of shareholders and lovers of capitalism
This was the spirit for the *good* games back in the day. Since the dawn of gaming, there have been games made for no other reason than profit. Just look at the mountains of shovelware on stuff like the NES and SNES, or even worse the Atari 2600. All the good games throughout all of history have been made like this, and there have always been games not made like this to compare them to. Developers/companies with this mentality have always made great games, and developers/companies without have always made bad games.
@litessbu I totally agree to that and I know that. And i totally understand it depends on our perspective and what we focus on (there were/will always bad games/publisher/developer and there still are/will be always good ones out there.). I was just meaning that this spirit has to be the common attitude again, if you see how much different the common attitude the last years has become compared to the 90s - eraly 2010s (golden era of gaming in my opinion) that is what i was mentioning. in that timeline it was more common to what he was mentioning in the speech. And yes i know there where also a ton of bad games/developer/publisher out there but they where the minority and not the majority and had less/no succes with what they did (what has become the common attitude of making games nowadays)
@@MardeYT I guess if you’re talking about the realm of AAA games, then yeah, thought I would still like to point out that people really only remember the good games, because those are the only ones worth remembering. That and stuff like E.T., which were so bad that they’re worth remember to show what not to do. But yes, I do completely agree with the sentiment that this needs to become the norm, not the exception. I just disagree that things were better in the past.
@@victorraymond3420 By your two replies I can see that you: 1. Live in Europe or want to live in Europe 2. Are largely a socialist 3. Are below 35 4. Spend most of your time on the internet 5. Don’t like the current state of the world 6. Are a part of or at least support the LGBTQ+ community 7. Are a part of or at least support the furry community 8. Are not a part of the upper class and you likely: 1. Are an atheist 2. Have strained family relationships, provided they don’t share the same views as you 3. Are above 20 4. Are in the middle class
This is nothing new said over the internet but it needed to be said to a live audience at an impactful event like the Game Awards. Glad he said something Edit: Thx for 1k, to the negative comments saying this changes nothing you are both right and wrong. Yes there will always be greedy companies that won't budge an inch to what the consumer wants. We still need to voice our opinions on what we want out of the gaming industry which is fun games that don't drain our wallets and leave us with an empty shell of what once was. We have been seeing an increase in games that have alot of love into them mainly from indie devs but hopefully more triple A game studios will open there eyes for the consumers sake since we are the ones who keep their games alive.
I'm pretty sure part of that was a MASSIVE dig at Bungie, remember Bungie's old mottos was "We make games WE want to play." which was then changed to the safe corporate bullshit of "We make games that InSpIrE fRieEnDShIp".
I honestly can't say if the speech was targetted at someone in particular, I would say just the whole industry, but I'm sure he did a specific few in mind
@@caralho5237 Honestly, provided a studio did this with true passion and love for that sort of subject matter? Provided the developers truly enjoyed and believed in that game or concept? They'd at least be games with heart and love, and would be games they wanted to play and make. Which very likely means that they'd also be good games. Hyper mega ultra gay games, but good hyper mega ultra gay games.
This also is a massive dig at bungie as he said 'we didn't exploit our players as users' Turns out bungie had been hiring and underpaying fans for the past 2 and a half years minimum, because they wanted to create change in the game to make it better, but never were given the creative liberty or coding operations to do so, except Mercules, he made Operation Seraph shield and Revision - Zero, two of the most high quality parts of the game in years.
I really, really hope for that to be the case, last few years felt like a drought, there have been many times where I almost fell out of passion for games.
@Saretz I had about 10 years where I didn't play many new games at all. Then over the past 5 years, I've gone from Witcher 3, to RDR2, to Mass Effect Legendary Edition, to BG3, & now I'm really enjoying Greedfall, so I'm pretty pleased with how the last few years have gone. All of those have been great games, for one reason or another.
@@charlesboots6508 Relatable, all in all I've been pleased with the TGA this year, I might do a video with my top 5 or top 10 announcements maybe, Solasta 2 picked up my interest for sure, for example
What I can definitely confirm is that Rebbeca and their team from DE fully meet the criteria of a proper developer, although the presentation of the new update was not as loud as the releases of The Witcher 4, Mafia and others.
Perfect summary of all the issues big corporates have brought to gaming. They have now raised generations to expect mtx and rinse repeat mechanics for minimal effort and maximum income. Well said!
@@Saretz Absolutely. As we have seen with so many companies lately starting with B, when the "old guard" is gone, the spirit is also gone and the stock market takes over with its demands.
People like him and Gabe Newell are single-handedly keeping the entire industry from collapsing in on itself due to greed and overinflated ego ! It really should be as simple as “Make games for the people who love games”, but I guess this concept is incredibly hard to comprehend for most.
@@leonecartelreborn9628What exactly is Gabe doing lately besides not changing Steam's 30% cut policy, and rereleasing CS:GO in order to drive more loot box sales?
@@n8pls543 keeping the app/company Steam as private(no public trade bullshit) yet open(in terms of support for both Devs and Gamers alike) as possible. Remember Steam is as big as it is today because they know what gamers want in terms of buying/getting games. Sure there's lootboxes in CS2 and DotA2 but those aren't tied to the game experience and mechanics(specially in PvPs) so no real harm done. But can you say the same in most gacha/loot box games out there where a good character is behind a "paywall" and in most cases powercreeps old ones?
@@n8pls543 Зачем ему менять эту политику? Он создал стим, он собрал там людей. Он сделал стим удобным для людей. Продажи там во много раз выше, чем на других платформах. А 30% это всего лишь цена использования его площадки. Люди всегда могут выпускать игры в том же EGS или сделать свою площадку. Никто же не заставляет. Но нет, они хотят все плюсы стима и ничего за это не платить...
I love Larian. In a time where big game companies are falling down bc of their greed, it’s incredibly satisfying to see a dev team rise up just bc they are passionate about what they do. I hope Larian will be even more successful with their next game. BG3 is a masterpiece
Microsoft, Riot, Steam knows this. Your goodwill is exchanged for buyable gold because they are too lazy to actually combat RMT, a 200 dollar gacha skin I see in every game I play, and the allfather of cash lootboxes and gambling in gaming
We players and studio developers needed this words for years. to put passion in games we enjoy is what really makes us players. because it's just fun and anything else doesn't matter
Swen came out swinging with his speech. Man and his company Larian are chads! Must be protected! Literally true facts, with what’s going on with the game industry, they need to change and start making games for the players and with the developers. No push for profits, just to make a good game that players can enjoy. Then finally the money will roll in, for the respect and how much the gameplay will be that good.
The fact the he pulled no punches in roasting both the Game Awards for trying to keep time down last year along with so many other big game companies… without hesitation. What his studio does should be STANDARD
He basically said what I have always thought and what I think. For me this is obvious stuff too many people engulfed in the money addiction lost sight of. It's nice to see someone with basic commons sense bringing back basic normal reasoning and logic. Thank you very much.
So the point is: 1. Make something that you like & want to play 2. Treat game as an art and not just a product 3. Open communication and treat your employee nicely 4. Open communication and treat ther player base nicely 5. Passion for gaming landscape in general and want to be part to develop it further
This is why steam clamed down on regional family sharing or access, they know the big publishers can't sell their games and have to money pinch as much as potentially possible. Now I'm just a lonely man with locked games, wish pc had physical games at least so i can give it to someone
I was walking on the road while watching the live premiere. I couldn’t stop smiling because he’s just right. It was also motivational too as it applies in real life, especially business in general.
I think no man's sky comes to mind. Its not released this year ofc and didn't win any rewards. But it stood the test of time which is far more noble than an annual reward.
@@Saretzor if we dont buy theyr games. Battlefield 2042 at launch was a kick in the nuts, from that day forward i never bought an EA game again. Luckily there are many other games out there like satisfactory or helldivers 2
👏Well said. Mad respects to Swen Vincke for setting the record straight. I hope every game studio, big or small take this to heart as the minimum standard. Now, if we could just have someone tell the movie industry a similar speech...
Too rotten, at least gaming fights as we have seen concort, outlaws or veilguard failures, while asia industry is doing well (japan, and now china plus korea joined the ship)
CD Projekt Red is probably the best example of what he's talking about. They were the golden child of gaming because of the Witcher games, then they caved to shareholders and released Cyberpunk before it was ready. However, people believed that they would make things right, and for the most part, they did. Good will is easy to lose in gaming, and it's very hard to get back once it's lost, but a comeback is possible if your dev team is passionate about what they do.
This why game publishers like Fromsoft and Capcom gets so much praise. They make polished, amazing quality video games. They don't punish the employees for not doing enough or crunching the people who make these games. Ubisoft, Activision, and EA aren't winners of game of the year nominated studios because they don't understand this. They only think of money
@@SSJAlter yeah and the game that won wasn't a massive budget AAA game filled with empty content and shameless monetisation. It takes 2 was an outlier in EA's catalog, not the rule.
I was so honoured to host Swen and his guests last year at the Langham, London when they came to celebrate the award. Much deserved Swen and Larian Team!
Ik a lot of people weren’t happy with this year’s game awards and the winner, but you can’t deny the sheer passion that we have seen with some of the devs that came up on stage. Team asobi showed sincerity, as did Josef Farez, and game science(black myth). There is a shift coming and everyone is sick of these sell out companies like ubisoft and Activision. For some reason though, the industry is protecting their darling naughty dog. Get rid of neil druckmann and maybe I’ll tolerate the state of naughty dog.
Formula may be simple, getting the funding for that formula isn't and still you may fail financially as titles can disappear after release. The message must direct one to the funding and publishers, but also on players to give opportunities to new games
And this is why Astro Bot was a good choice. Deserved or not, each one with their own opinion, we all have our favourite game of the year. But Astro Bot perfectly captures everything he said in that speech. A mid budget, simple, fun game. No microtransations or paid DLC's, everything that Team Asobi has added post launch was for free. So before you bitch and moan about how Sony bribed the award, remember that it was the best thing that could happen in the industry right now. Maybe other developers will finally realize what players really want.
The funny part about it is that a lot of Astro Bot's staff was absorbed by Team Asobi when Sony closed Japan Studio. It's poetic how the mid bugdet game was way more entertaining and fun than their high budget GaaS that couldn't be alive even for a month because no one wanted to play it (Concord).
People didnt have problem when Mario galaxy win game of the year over Call of duty 4 . Then dont complaint when Astrobot win game of the year over any game
Elden Ring shouldn't even have been in that list, and I love the game, I played every souls title out there. It's just not right for a DLC to win GOTY imo
@@DKPGames I believe he is, he's always been openly advocating for what he's saying here - obviously there will always be the "but you don't know him behind closed doors" lingering thought, but we land in assumptions territory there
I think that the thing that matters the most is that the things he has talked about have been completely coherent with what the studio has done. I've followed larian from way before bg3 was even announced and i've always liked how "transparent" sven tried to be every time, which many many indie studios also try to do. What made me very much like the company, and now believe the truth behind these words, were the panels from hell. They were big ads for their product but i have never seen the big guy of a company show that he is actually a customer to the company that he made, just like we are. This guy loved playing his own game, that's why it came out so good.
Larian will not make a sequel to BG3 precisely because Wizard wants to impose ridiculous things and I believe in it because Divinity was one of the best games I have ever played.
While I agree with everything he said....the truth is that the state of gaming and gaming design today is our fault not theirs (devs/publishers). We buy the yearly rehashed crap like CoD, Battlefield, Assassin Creed ,etc ....we buy the microtransactions............we play the god awful money making machines that are mobile/phone games. Have only ourselves to blame.
While he's consulting oracles, all the other companies are listening to snake oil salesmen (sorry saleswomen) and letting them pour honeyed poison in their ears.
SHOTS FIRED 🔥
(I wonder how many future bridges I burned with that thumbnail 🤣🥲)
Anyway, jokes aside, this is something that deserves to be heard, by as many people as possible.
EDIT: If you are a game developer, independent or not, and his words inspired you, then I wish you all the success in this world, become the change that we need.
Thank you Swen.
Enjoy!
The alt right community and incels are mad because he's being "woke" so I say good job!
You didn't burn anything, because you wouldn't want to work at those companies.
Nah... EA has admitted that they work for the boardroom, and not the gamers.
They have a recipe for hoovering money out of parent's pockets, which has now reached No. 6 in the series, but the kids also grow up and smell the massive turd it is, eventually...
So I'd say they deserve all the credit that is due, for pulling out of the entertainment business and into the stock market
@@dademodamian I think you misunderstood the meaning of that, but no, definitely don't want to work AT those companies xD - take it as a joke
0 bridges bruh you have 3k subs
Crazy how spelling the basics seems like talking about an utopia nowadays
Unfortunate reality
It's the same in politics and dating for men.
Blame Wall Street
that's how you know you're living in a dystpia
Gaming became an industry about making money when it used to be about making fun games.
Everything is copy&pasted. No more unlockables, just paid DLC
This is not just about the gaming industry, this is about ANY industry.
True, but context I suppose xD
Not really. More like about any artistic industry.
@@WiseWikproduct or production industry as well.
@@WiseWik Anything that's selling you a product or a service, I would say
In any industry where workers rights have been deminised, so I guess most of them.
That speech deserved way more applause than it got.
That would put some of the people in the crowd in a weird position :v
That's true, and yeah prob some in that room who are exactly what he's speaking up against here. But for the rest of the people this is speaking for, it's also such an important message that you don't want to interrupt either, but rather let speak for itself
Exactly the crowd is full of industry people not necessarily gamers. If it was full of gamers itd be a different story.
It deserved all the applause!
I hope Bioware people were there.
Bro actually called out 99% of the industry
not at all..just AAA production...there are many great games but players rather choose to give attention and money to those cashgrabs companies like sony, blizzard, ea... and then they are complaining...it is all about customers, not companies
@@tomasistok7229 Both are to be blamed, not just one or the other
Didint know indie games where the 1 percent
Just triple A production in the west. Japanese devs still have a bunch of companies that understand at least some of what he said.
I watched the show with some friends I met when I worked at an indie studio from my country, so we all knew damn well that he wasn’t just talking to the AAA studios, but also to the indie devs who still have the power to change things in their “niche”. It really made me tear up to think that people like Swen, who make such impossible games become reality, still firmly believe that we all deserve and need with urgency more dignity in this industry.
That's what I've been saying around, even if the speech "changed nothing", my believe is that if it inspired even a single dev, then that's already a new dev we can look forward to
Swen is basically describing his own approach to leading a studio. And he knows damn well that people in the room know that.
Yep
To be fair BG3 has a lot of wokeness
@@theslayer5978Not forced though, all that stuff already existed in the lore
problem is that not every studio can be that lucky like larian
@@WalterEKurtz-kp2jfEverything woke is forced. There's nothing down to earth about it. Just because someone put it in the lore years before you were even aware what woke is, doesn't mean it isn't woke.
“I still have time points from last year.” He came out swinging with that one.
I really wanted to hear Geoff's inner thoughts at that point xD
I don't know what happened last year, could you please explain what he means?
@@nemikuuro On the channel I have a video up with all of their moments from last year's, but to sum it up, last year people didn't get time to talk to stage, they would often get forcefully cut with music that would start playing while they were still talking, or they would be told to "wrap it up" on the teleprompter - I believe he got a "wrap up it message" himself as he was thanking everyone while accepting the award, if memory serves me right
@@Saretz didn’t they have to wrap it up so soon they didn’t even have time to make a major announcement. Like I think I heard that they were supposed to announce an Xbox release or something.
@@Cody-5501 I think so, yeah. Been a while and memory starting to fade xD
Swen absolutely cooked EA, Ubisoft, and others, especially when he said "they knew were short-sighted in function of a bonus or politics". Holy faqs
@@welton9748 Yep, right to their face.
Naught dog too
@@tetzet3254 nah, at least naughty dog adds politics cuz of their employees ideology and not some business guy
@@AruarianDauberblack rock.
EA has won multiple GOTY's though
1:57 "They understood the value of respect,..." I love that statement. Such a rare commodity in Western society these days, let alone the entertainment industry. The whole speech was awesome, that's just the part that stood out to me the most.
Sorry, "Western"? There's few places in the world where that's not true and a common problem. Bad leadership and abuse and discrimination are worldwide problems.
It's wild you imply it's different elsewhere, when people acting nice and polite isn't the same as genuinely caring.
That’s ACTUALLY the least important part of his speech.
We don’t need wokism and extreme tolerance.
The most important part is him fighting the capitalist mindset, and the extreme search of revenue and profit.
The rest comes naturally when you do that, including respect for everyone and for your job.
“Understood value of respect”
“Rare commodity in western society”
Lemme guess, you live in western society and have no idea what you’re actually talking about?
Also, gacha games. Most eastern developers care much less about players and will sell you PNGs for hundreds if not thousands of dollars.
@@arkeez1181”wokism” isn’t real, literally a conservative buzzword parroted by people who lack the critical thinking to understand what they’re saying
I legitimately applaud when he said all of this. Guy came out swinging without seeming like he was talking down. I think I will remember this speech for quite some time.
❤️
EXACTLY it's such a smart speech because the cute trick at the beginning makes sure it doesn't come off as too preachy, plus he/they have all the credibility in the world
Lord forbid he talk down to greedy corporations and CEOs
@@fallenmercury It's not just them in the audience, and among the people watching, think of all the indie devs, or future devs that might be inspired by this
Swen Vincke is that guy who almost went into personal bakruptcy several times to maintain his small studio, but his mentality and love for making games eventually lead that small studio into becoming a the shining jewel of this decade of gaming. He's the CEO everybody wants to have.
Yep
And after Divinity Original Sin's success Larian went on a hiring spree filling the studio with Western activists, the very same people he's "criticizing" in his speech.
What happens to Larian going forward remains to be seen. Baldur's Gate 3 was just DnD slop for normies.
He's not a CEO.
He's a CHAD.
Same with Daniel Vávra from Warhorse studio. His hair turned gray during the development of the first KCD.
@@Ze_N00Bno hes definitely still a ceo
Swen is the best in terms of passive aggressive remarks because my man just roasted the entire gaming industry and the game awards itself without actually resort to direct criticism.
Pretty much
Indie devs are a big part of the gaming industry.. So I wouldn't say the entire industry.
The entire AAA big publisher industry sure.
He roasted every capitalist based industry. Replace "developers" with works and it fits universally.
Funny cause astro bot won
@@pauln7029 and?
I love how he wrapped this up in a simple story format so it didn't sound like a lecture or he was talking down.
And yet I've had to reply to comments saying he's just being arrogant
@Saretz Even if he is being little arrogant he has the right to be in this case (in my opinion). He proved big studios wrong with hard work, excellent leadership and sticking to his vision.
Also, it must be exhausting responding to so many comments. Keep up the good work!
@Saretz Larry Bird was also seen as arrogant, but he was one of the best for a reason.
@@Saretz People don't know the difference between arrogance and walking the talk anymore.
If he's arrogant, then he's the only one who deserves to be, because he is a breath of fresh air to the industry.
@@anthonygerling6365 Thank you for the encouragement 🙏
Been doing that almost nonstop for the last two days xd
I (as a Belgian) am so proud of Larian/Swen Vincke. He has been consistently relentless in pursuing the vision he just laid out in this speech. Larian has fought for its financial independence in order not to compromise its vision since 1996 by e.g. having a part of the company (Larian Studios, Educational Games) making less complicated but financially stable educational games so that the triple A game is not pushed to be released before its done and e.g. by kick-starter campaigns that worked really well just because the gamers have complete trust in this CEO/company.
Doing the right thing has become so against the flow that it requires a passion, a lucidity that almost equals insanity. But. Only dead fish go with the flow. Thank you Ricky G ... euh Swen Vincke for being you. 🙂
"If a product is made by people who want to make it for themselves, then profit will follow as a symptom rather than having to be the sole goal itself" -rings true for literally every single industry on the planet. Shortsightedness only leads to filling a temporary executive stack's pockets with bonuses. Does nothing for the company's long term bottom line, nor the products, nor the employees, nor the end users.
Im sure there were a lot of people sweating over there
I actually don't think many were, cause that would imply feeling guilt, thus having a conscience, which I don't believe they have :v
Not really but plenty of execs I bet.
Probably not, like Saretz said they don't have consciences and for the ones that have a little one they have golden hankies to wipe the sweat away
Do you think those said developers even care about the speech? Pretty much not lol, all they cared about is only MONEY
They people he called out still remain in power and are still leading the field, if anything they might have felt a slight sence of shame but really just a slight one if at all.
Kinda reminds me of when Reggie once said "If it's not fun, why bother?"
They stopped making games for fun started making games for money
@@MacenW And busy making lawsuits to fan projects or any Nintendo related.
^ Swing and a miss, guys.
@@JeyVGamingAlways remember: Based devs, awful legal department
@LillLizzert True
Bobby Kotick heard this and didn’t understand a single word. The meaning simply didn’t register.
Bobby is on his yacht getting a tan
@@Saretz …the tan *of DEATH* !!! 😬
@@viewtiful1doubleokamihand253 lol
"But how will they know to work harder without constant fear of sexual assault from their coworkers or me, a billionaire, literally threatening to have them murdered?"
(Yes, Bobby Kotick threatened to have his assistant killed. It was recorded. Look it up)
Nah people like them are built different, they totally understand it and don't care.
1:31 They found you Blizzard
diablo 4 is 40 percent off.. baldurs gate 3 is not 😄
@@giovanniamore7532 Sure, and Diabolo 4 is unbelievable crap, and Bg3 homework for all of the devs in the past 20 years 😉
And Blizzard is running on subs since 2006….🥲
These sentiments could go far beyond just gaming and gamers. Excellent speech.
He really put the BASED in 'turn-based' 🤣
Oh come on 😂
😂😂😂
F**k me 😂😂😂😂😂
Bleh, zoomer.
Grain of sand
Absolute saint to the gaming community. This is what change looks like, setting an example that no one can challenge.
I would hesitate to call anyone a saint, but I do agree with the rest
Leading by example is nice, but it won't bring change to a systemic problem, for that you'd have to go into the politics of the matter.
@@bluegamer4210 citing what the issue is in front of the gaming industry is the start of solving a problem. Same goes for any industry, just depends on how many people want change and how many people are willing to put up with it because their not brave enough. No hate towards ur comment but I wouldn’t discredit someone attempting to make a change in an industry they care about morally and not just financially.
@@bluegamer4210 It's about small steps, especially when even one small step seems to be such an insurmountably tall order (or tried to be walled up on purpose).
@R.Q.C.
Doesn’t matter what you cite if nothing actually happens afterwards.
At that point it’s a waste of time and breath.
“You can’t make great games without great people”
Depends on what is meant by great. CEOs that can churn out extra margins year after year are probably great in the eyes of shareholders and lovers of capitalism
Basic work ethics in any field. Perfectly narrated with a mini story, without sounding condescending. Respect!
And yet plenty of people are calling him arrogant lmao
this is what the spirit was back in the day and many publisher/developer need to remember that!
This was the spirit for the *good* games back in the day. Since the dawn of gaming, there have been games made for no other reason than profit. Just look at the mountains of shovelware on stuff like the NES and SNES, or even worse the Atari 2600. All the good games throughout all of history have been made like this, and there have always been games not made like this to compare them to.
Developers/companies with this mentality have always made great games, and developers/companies without have always made bad games.
@litessbu I totally agree to that and I know that. And i totally understand it depends on our perspective and what we focus on (there were/will always bad games/publisher/developer and there still are/will be always good ones out there.). I was just meaning that this spirit has to be the common attitude again, if you see how much different the common attitude the last years has become compared to the 90s - eraly 2010s (golden era of gaming in my opinion) that is what i was mentioning. in that timeline it was more common to what he was mentioning in the speech. And yes i know there where also a ton of bad games/developer/publisher out there but they where the minority and not the majority and had less/no succes with what they did (what has become the common attitude of making games nowadays)
@@MardeYT I guess if you’re talking about the realm of AAA games, then yeah, thought I would still like to point out that people really only remember the good games, because those are the only ones worth remembering. That and stuff like E.T., which were so bad that they’re worth remember to show what not to do. But yes, I do completely agree with the sentiment that this needs to become the norm, not the exception. I just disagree that things were better in the past.
@litessbu let's not pretend though it is a lot more corporatized today as the market has grown wayyyyy more.
@@victorraymond3420 By your two replies I can see that you:
1. Live in Europe or want to live in Europe
2. Are largely a socialist
3. Are below 35
4. Spend most of your time on the internet
5. Don’t like the current state of the world
6. Are a part of or at least support the LGBTQ+ community
7. Are a part of or at least support the furry community
8. Are not a part of the upper class
and you likely:
1. Are an atheist
2. Have strained family relationships, provided they don’t share the same views as you
3. Are above 20
4. Are in the middle class
This is nothing new said over the internet but it needed to be said to a live audience at an impactful event like the Game Awards. Glad he said something
Edit: Thx for 1k, to the negative comments saying this changes nothing you are both right and wrong. Yes there will always be greedy companies that won't budge an inch to what the consumer wants. We still need to voice our opinions on what we want out of the gaming industry which is fun games that don't drain our wallets and leave us with an empty shell of what once was. We have been seeing an increase in games that have alot of love into them mainly from indie devs but hopefully more triple A game studios will open there eyes for the consumers sake since we are the ones who keep their games alive.
Indeed
Its (speech text) need put on wall in any game big as2 company's as mantra. Should read it every day.
Lmao that guy thinks it will change anything
@@superking-nicolaslucau7252 Slowly but surely change is coming.
No nothing new yet somehow we needed to be reminded of this, or so the coporates who jumps in and see's gaming industry as a quick buck machines
I'm pretty sure part of that was a MASSIVE dig at Bungie, remember Bungie's old mottos was "We make games WE want to play." which was then changed to the safe corporate bullshit of "We make games that InSpIrE fRieEnDShIp".
I honestly can't say if the speech was targetted at someone in particular, I would say just the whole industry, but I'm sure he did a specific few in mind
Sadly when senior staff leave, the culture often changes
"We make games, but super gay. Super mega gay. Hyper mega ultra gay. Gay indeed."
@@caralho5237 Honestly, provided a studio did this with true passion and love for that sort of subject matter? Provided the developers truly enjoyed and believed in that game or concept? They'd at least be games with heart and love, and would be games they wanted to play and make. Which very likely means that they'd also be good games.
Hyper mega ultra gay games, but good hyper mega ultra gay games.
This also is a massive dig at bungie as he said 'we didn't exploit our players as users'
Turns out bungie had been hiring and underpaying fans for the past 2 and a half years minimum, because they wanted to create change in the game to make it better, but never were given the creative liberty or coding operations to do so, except Mercules, he made Operation Seraph shield and Revision - Zero, two of the most high quality parts of the game in years.
It'll be nice to see other studios following Larian's lead, but time will tell if they're a trendsetter or an outlier.
I really, really hope for that to be the case, last few years felt like a drought, there have been many times where I almost fell out of passion for games.
@Saretz I had about 10 years where I didn't play many new games at all.
Then over the past 5 years, I've gone from Witcher 3, to RDR2, to Mass Effect Legendary Edition, to BG3, & now I'm really enjoying Greedfall, so I'm pretty pleased with how the last few years have gone.
All of those have been great games, for one reason or another.
@@charlesboots6508 Relatable, all in all I've been pleased with the TGA this year, I might do a video with my top 5 or top 10 announcements maybe, Solasta 2 picked up my interest for sure, for example
What I can definitely confirm is that Rebbeca and their team from DE fully meet the criteria of a proper developer, although the presentation of the new update was not as loud as the releases of The Witcher 4, Mafia and others.
Definitely outlier.
Perfect summary of all the issues big corporates have brought to gaming. They have now raised generations to expect mtx and rinse repeat mechanics for minimal effort and maximum income. Well said!
Kind of insane that this even has to be said at all.
Alas
So true in the vacuum of having to spell it out, corps always look to exploit people for money
It’s 2024. Capitalism is beyond control.
Vincke is somebody that "Walks as he talks" (I hope, I got that right here).
A real hero of the gaming industry!
@@What_do_I_Think And I pray that he stays the same, cause we need more like him around for sure
@@Saretz Absolutely. As we have seen with so many companies lately starting with B, when the "old guard" is gone, the spirit is also gone and the stock market takes over with its demands.
@@What_do_I_Think 💯
walks the walk and talks the talk?
@@ranibowspr1imkle No, I do not know where you get that crap.
I looked it up "walks the talk" would be the right idiom. I was not so far away from it.
This man should be protected at all costs, they should put the entire swat division of Belgium protecting him because the gaming world NEEDS him
LOL
People like him and Gabe Newell are single-handedly keeping the entire industry from collapsing in on itself due to greed and overinflated ego ! It really should be as simple as “Make games for the people who love games”, but I guess this concept is incredibly hard to comprehend for most.
@@leonecartelreborn9628What exactly is Gabe doing lately besides not changing Steam's 30% cut policy, and rereleasing CS:GO in order to drive more loot box sales?
@@n8pls543 keeping the app/company Steam as private(no public trade bullshit) yet open(in terms of support for both Devs and Gamers alike) as possible. Remember Steam is as big as it is today because they know what gamers want in terms of buying/getting games.
Sure there's lootboxes in CS2 and DotA2 but those aren't tied to the game experience and mechanics(specially in PvPs) so no real harm done. But can you say the same in most gacha/loot box games out there where a good character is behind a "paywall" and in most cases powercreeps old ones?
@@n8pls543 Зачем ему менять эту политику? Он создал стим, он собрал там людей. Он сделал стим удобным для людей. Продажи там во много раз выше, чем на других платформах. А 30% это всего лишь цена использования его площадки. Люди всегда могут выпускать игры в том же EGS или сделать свою площадку. Никто же не заставляет. Но нет, они хотят все плюсы стима и ничего за это не платить...
Dude dropped bars and passed it to the orchestra 😮
Sir, you dropped this 👑
I love Larian. In a time where big game companies are falling down bc of their greed, it’s incredibly satisfying to see a dev team rise up just bc they are passionate about what they do.
I hope Larian will be even more successful with their next game. BG3 is a masterpiece
He basically Ricky Gervaised the audience in a productive way.
Ricky Gerbased
@@abztrackt Holy shit!
True gamer moment.
lmao
The most important 3 minutes for all of us. Hope this will actually change. Finally.
Microsoft, Riot, Steam knows this. Your goodwill is exchanged for buyable gold because they are too lazy to actually combat RMT, a 200 dollar gacha skin I see in every game I play, and the allfather of cash lootboxes and gambling in gaming
@@SolonarTMDon't forget Sony, they wanted so bad that money but didn't even released the game. At least for them they still got Bungie I guess
This speech applies to all the Studios, as well as the ones I work for, Swen Vincke very assertive, thank you for this speech at this big event!
We players and studio developers needed this words for years.
to put passion in games we enjoy is what really makes us players. because it's just fun and anything else doesn't matter
If you are a dev yourself and you will follow this example, I wish you all the success of this world
This was lowkey the most pivotal moment of the show.
Sisters and brothers in gaming, he is one of us. He, his studio, and their work need all the support we can give.
Swen came out swinging with his speech. Man and his company Larian are chads! Must be protected! Literally true facts, with what’s going on with the game industry, they need to change and start making games for the players and with the developers. No push for profits, just to make a good game that players can enjoy. Then finally the money will roll in, for the respect and how much the gameplay will be that good.
Agreed
The fact the he pulled no punches in roasting both the Game Awards for trying to keep time down last year along with so many other big game companies… without hesitation. What his studio does should be STANDARD
He spoke frankly and people liked that about him.
Forgot to put bungie in the thunbnail for their mass layoffs
Didn't forget, I also wanted to add Gearbox, 2K, etc - but didn't feel like overcramming it too much xD
Microsoft would be more like it
He didn't forget, he was just spoiled for choice XD
Thanks for the captions, I've been looking for a version of this with subs!
You are welcome!
DUDE HE LEGIT COOKED EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM HAHHAH
He basically said what I have always thought and what I think. For me this is obvious stuff too many people engulfed in the money addiction lost sight of. It's nice to see someone with basic commons sense bringing back basic normal reasoning and logic. Thank you very much.
This dude is not a game dev. He's a gamer
So the point is:
1. Make something that you like & want to play
2. Treat game as an art and not just a product
3. Open communication and treat your employee nicely
4. Open communication and treat ther player base nicely
5. Passion for gaming landscape in general and want to be part to develop it further
This is why steam clamed down on regional family sharing or access, they know the big publishers can't sell their games and have to money pinch as much as potentially possible. Now I'm just a lonely man with locked games, wish pc had physical games at least so i can give it to someone
Addition to point two: Treat the game as an art and not just a product or a means to push an agenda.
Notice how the audience didn't cheer for the "they made games they wanted to play" part
Probably too stunned to even react
They didn't cheer for anything except for the "they don't treat developers as a number on a spreadsheet" part.
@@KarateVarate And likely that cheering came from normal people in the crowd, for the most part
Sony: Sorry, did you mean movie?
Execs there simultaneously losing any sort of grins they had on their face.
xD
Finally, it was said there, where it was heard the most. well done, Games for Gamers ***** big Corpo
it's so refreshing hearing this words from a big studio head, I hope larian would achieve even more, they deserve it more than anyone
I was walking on the road while watching the live premiere. I couldn’t stop smiling because he’s just right.
It was also motivational too as it applies in real life, especially business in general.
Swen came out with a flame thrower. 😂
*smells of roasted chicken*
We need more people like him to speak blunt and ‘in your face’ for the betterment of the gaming industry and the developers.
I liked that subtle jab at when Kojima was being rushed during his speech.
I think no man's sky comes to mind. Its not released this year ofc and didn't win any rewards. But it stood the test of time which is far more noble than an annual reward.
someone finally had the balls to say that
Everyone says it, but no one listens...
I admire this guy so much. He is a shining light in a corrupt industry.
Activision and blizzard looking down at the floor like "he's not talking to us dont worry"
lol
Swen is a cool down to earth dude when you talk to him. And still a good basketball player at his age when he has the time to play.
Sad story is they will not change...
if it reaches or helps even a few, it's worth it :). Blizzard, EA, Ubisoft... its to late for them.
Change will follow the money.
EA is unfortunately too big to go down, they'd only disappear if they somehow lost all of the licenses to their sports games..but alas
@@Saretzor if we dont buy theyr games.
Battlefield 2042 at launch was a kick in the nuts, from that day forward i never bought an EA game again.
Luckily there are many other games out there like satisfactory or helldivers 2
@@bolle1929 It's a huge "if" unfortunately 😞
👏Well said. Mad respects to Swen Vincke for setting the record straight. I hope every game studio, big or small take this to heart as the minimum standard.
Now, if we could just have someone tell the movie industry a similar speech...
Too rotten, at least gaming fights as we have seen concort, outlaws or veilguard failures, while asia industry is doing well (japan, and now china plus korea joined the ship)
@@EdgeOfDarknezzNot sure why you're lumping Veilguard in there. It sold quite well even if i wouldn't play it
This is the Game Awards version of Ricky Gervais cooking Hollywood at the Golden Globes
This is the example that every game company and studio should follow
This 3 min speech should be immortalized; at least to the game industry.
They're never going to let this man on stage again. Not allowed to tell the truth in this industry.
This is not true. This is just a piece of information
CD Projekt Red is probably the best example of what he's talking about. They were the golden child of gaming because of the Witcher games, then they caved to shareholders and released Cyberpunk before it was ready. However, people believed that they would make things right, and for the most part, they did.
Good will is easy to lose in gaming, and it's very hard to get back once it's lost, but a comeback is possible if your dev team is passionate about what they do.
This is the speech I want to hear. And mad respect to Swen for saying what others don’t even dare to think, or else they will get fired.
never have i ever feel so glad to hear that statement in the ears of players and developers alike
The music when he walked out and an amazing speech shortly afterwards, can't get any better than that.
Our ricky gervais
Lmao
У него была потрясающая речь о своих коллегах, которых они похоронили во время разработки baldurs gate 3. Такое не забывается
🥲♥
This why game publishers like Fromsoft and Capcom gets so much praise. They make polished, amazing quality video games. They don't punish the employees for not doing enough or crunching the people who make these games. Ubisoft, Activision, and EA aren't winners of game of the year nominated studios because they don't understand this. They only think of money
Ea won goty less than 4 years ago
@@SSJAlter yeah and the game that won wasn't a massive budget AAA game filled with empty content and shameless monetisation. It takes 2 was an outlier in EA's catalog, not the rule.
EA fanboy detected SOUND THE ALARM!!! @@SSJAlter
Honestly, I'm always very cautious about endorsing anyone, these days you never know...
didnt capcom sell all those qol p2w crap for dragons dogma 2?
I was so honoured to host Swen and his guests last year at the Langham, London when they came to celebrate the award. Much deserved Swen and Larian Team!
Ik a lot of people weren’t happy with this year’s game awards and the winner, but you can’t deny the sheer passion that we have seen with some of the devs that came up on stage. Team asobi showed sincerity, as did Josef Farez, and game science(black myth). There is a shift coming and everyone is sick of these sell out companies like ubisoft and Activision. For some reason though, the industry is protecting their darling naughty dog. Get rid of neil druckmann and maybe I’ll tolerate the state of naughty dog.
Formula may be simple, getting the funding for that formula isn't and still you may fail financially as titles can disappear after release.
The message must direct one to the funding and publishers, but also on players to give opportunities to new games
Change takes time
So hecking cool!
A true hero spitting in the face of evil. Swen is a hero. Thank you buddy. Thank you.
OHMMYGOD roasting the little time on stage last time, and spitting in some of the companys faces? what a legend
The film and tv industry should listen up.
And this is why Astro Bot was a good choice. Deserved or not, each one with their own opinion, we all have our favourite game of the year. But Astro Bot perfectly captures everything he said in that speech. A mid budget, simple, fun game. No microtransations or paid DLC's, everything that Team Asobi has added post launch was for free.
So before you bitch and moan about how Sony bribed the award, remember that it was the best thing that could happen in the industry right now. Maybe other developers will finally realize what players really want.
i definetelly dont want an astrobot game, wukong absolutely exploaded and was peaking top 1 on steam for a month, they did deserve GOTY
@atsukki I didn't mean that I want every game to be an Astro Bot. I was talking about the mentality behind it.
The funny part about it is that a lot of Astro Bot's staff was absorbed by Team Asobi when Sony closed Japan Studio.
It's poetic how the mid bugdet game was way more entertaining and fun than their high budget GaaS that couldn't be alive even for a month because no one wanted to play it (Concord).
I'm mostly watching my son playing Astro bot but yeah, damn you can feel the love that went into all the little details and fun elements
And them Astrobot won Game of the Year, wining over Wukong and Elden Ring
Deserved
People didnt have problem when Mario galaxy win game of the year over Call of duty 4 .
Then dont complaint when Astrobot win game of the year over any game
Elden Ring shouldn't even have been in that list, and I love the game, I played every souls title out there. It's just not right for a DLC to win GOTY imo
@@goblincomic4522 i said that astro bot deserved the win
Deserved
I thought that was Sting in the Thumbnail for a sec
But his speech DID sting.
🤣
Hollywood...gaming industry...music...they all should be listening. Just do what we are paying you to do.
A man of the people. ❤
1:11 He sadly described the last decisions Epic Games did in Fortnite...
Oh, the "toilette" collab.
I don't know anything about that, but I read Epic Games, that's enough
Fortnite hasn't been good for years idk what you're on about
And returning literal season 1 items just to make some money back 😂
I would like to believe he is being genuine but its really hard to at this point when he is in the middle of the snake den, i only see snakes.
@@DKPGames I believe he is, he's always been openly advocating for what he's saying here - obviously there will always be the "but you don't know him behind closed doors" lingering thought, but we land in assumptions territory there
Larian studios didnt make any DLC for BG3 cause Wizards of the Coast were asking for ridiculous stuff iirc. This speech is personal to em
I think that the thing that matters the most is that the things he has talked about have been completely coherent with what the studio has done. I've followed larian from way before bg3 was even announced and i've always liked how "transparent" sven tried to be every time, which many many indie studios also try to do. What made me very much like the company, and now believe the truth behind these words, were the panels from hell. They were big ads for their product but i have never seen the big guy of a company show that he is actually a customer to the company that he made, just like we are. This guy loved playing his own game, that's why it came out so good.
Larian will not make a sequel to BG3 precisely because Wizard wants to impose ridiculous things and I believe in it because Divinity was one of the best games I have ever played.
He is genuine. The work environment for a lot of European based gaming companies is so different than American ones
While I agree with everything he said....the truth is that the state of gaming and gaming design today is our fault not theirs (devs/publishers). We buy the yearly rehashed crap like CoD, Battlefield, Assassin Creed ,etc ....we buy the microtransactions............we play the god awful money making machines that are mobile/phone games. Have only ourselves to blame.
Swen is the GOAT! I love Larian Studio. They respect their player, listen to them, and give them what they want no matter what.
Such a great speech. So much meaning behind those words
While he's consulting oracles, all the other companies are listening to snake oil salesmen (sorry saleswomen) and letting them pour honeyed poison in their ears.
Pretty sure it's both, delusions and greediness are universal, but regardless, yes
Actually they are listening to salesthems or salestheys these days.
Gigachad
He makes me fkn proud to be Belgian, Larian is a gem we cherish
Solon Lee is on camera, who said the same thing about "Love the players", love this speech so much, very inspiring and motivating.
"Follow excellence, and success will follow you; pants down"
-From "3 idiots", My favorite movie of all time