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Unknown 9: Awakening - Reviews Thread - PC / PS4|5 / Xbox One|Series

kruis

Exposing the sinister cartel of retailers who allow companies to pay for advertising space.
So weird that Bamco would buy this no name team. Elden Ring is now Bamco’s war chest for these adventures I guess.

Reflector Entertainment is yet another studio based in Montreal, Canada. There are dozens upon dozens of games studios based there. This could either mean that French Canadians are extremely good at creating games which of course attracts studios or that the province of Quebec spends ridiculous amounts of tax money subsidizing games development in Quebec so that even below average or even outright bad devs and artists manage to stay employed in this field.

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The generous government support for multimedia companies helped Quebec establish itself as what's been called the "Hollywood of Video Games." Ubisoft Montreal is now Ubisoft's largest studio and one of the largest video game production studios globally, with more than 4,000 employees. Just last year, Amazon Games, Quantic Dream, and the previously mentioned miHoYo all announced plans to set up studios in the city.

But the policy of subsidizing multimedia companies has had its share of critics. Those critics often argue that the tax credit mainly helps foreign corporations, which come in and set up satellite offices to take advantage of generous taxpayer support. Labor activists accuse the gaming companies of treating many workers poorly. Even more, critics argue, the subsidies are distortionary, arbitrarily giving multimedia companies an unfair advantage in recruiting local talent. Local tech companies complain they're having a hard time recruiting skilled workers because so many of them are going to work for the subsidized multimedia sector.

Supporters of the subsidies respond that the policy attracts employers from around the world and creates thousands of great jobs that wouldn't otherwise be created in Quebec. Those workers pay taxes and spend their paychecks at local businesses, which makes Quebec's economy stronger. In 2017, a spokesperson for the Quebec government told The Gazette that the multimedia sector creates so much economic activity that "the tax revenue for the government of Quebec generated by the sector is greater than the expenditure related to the tax credit."

The tax subsidies may be distortionary, giving an arbitrary advantage to one industry over others. But, at the same time, they seem to have worked in helping to establish Montreal as a video game hub. Over the past couple of decades, a whole gaming ecosystem has sprouted up around the city. Local universities now have programs dedicated to game development (Concordia University, for example, has an official partnership with Ubisoft to provide a course on game design). This offers a consistent local talent pipeline to the more than 200 studios with roots in Montreal, and it may draw more game developers to the city. Game executives often cite Quebec as having the most attractive combination of labor subsidies, a specialized workforce, and a thriving ecosystem of like-minded gaming entrepreneurs and vendors.

With this ecosystem now thriving in Quebec, the natural question is whether the government can begin scaling back its generous subsidy program. Quebec tried to do this back in 2014, amidst a broader effort to reduce spending and balance its budget. Policymakers wanted to cut the multimedia tax credit by 20%. But even this relatively modest proposal faced a swift backlash from gaming studios. Some studios — including Ubisoft — threatened they'd leave the city. Quebec ended up backing down. The tax bill on creating video games in the province has ballooned even more since then. It seems the "Hollywood of Video Games" may continue to be built on a foundation of generous taxpayer support.
 
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Punished Miku

Human Rights Subscription Service
Any chance you can link me? That was one of the best trolls ive fallen for, I want to see more
Sure, link in the spoiler tag.

gotchu-gotcha.gif
 

mdkirby

Gold Member
2024 will forever be remembered as the year of the big budget woke bomb.

They panic bought during the pandemic when everyone thought gaming was going to grow exponentially forever, and that there was some huge “modern audience” that could be tapped by putting diverse girlbosses in everything.

The saddest part is you KNOW so many weak men (and women) thought this shit was terrible, but they kept their mouths shut out of fear. Releasing their game to the general public is the first time they’ve been exposed to honest, unfiltered criticism. It’s no wonder these games are bombing horribly.
Yerp pretty much. Times change too, and the window has slammed hard the other way in the last 18 months, but games take so long to make we’re seeing the impact of that now
 

DonkeyPunchJr

World’s Biggest Weeb
I think it's already peaked at 285 concurrent players. CCU is 220 players right now.
Usually games hit their weekly peak on Sunday, so that’ll be the true test. Then again maybe this game made such a horrible first impression that it will never recover.
 

Goalus

Member
113 concurrent users on Steam right now.
Best Steam review I could find says "It looks like a PS5". So it seems the game is indeed garbage.
 

winjer

Member
AMD is so desperate these days lmao.

These deals are made a long time in advanced. So there it's hard to know how good or bad a game will be.
AMD is offering in the same bundle Space Marines 2. And that became one of the best games of 2024.

Last year, I got The Callisto Protocol and Dead Island 2.
I loved Dead Island 2, and it became one of my favorite games of that year.
But The callisto protocol was a piece of crap. So I only played it for a couple of hours and then gave up.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
Won't reach it. 400+ maximum.
Even you might be optimistic! It's at 192 now. Still hasnt even topped 285 all time high. It might not even do 300!

I thought 501-1000 should be a gimme. If Concord still got 1,000s this game should had got half that. And I didnt even know about the AMD freebie offer, which would be bonus copies putting it over the top!
 

DonkeyPunchJr

World’s Biggest Weeb
Even you might be optimistic! It's at 192 now. Still hasnt even topped 285 all time high. It might not even do 300!

I thought 501-1000 should be a gimme. If Concord still got 1,000s this game should had got half that. And I didnt even know about the AMD freebie offer, which would be bonus copies putting it over the top!
It’s down like 25% vs the same time yesterday. That means it’s almost certainly peaked already. Put a fork in it.
 

RCX

Member
They're all so scared to really review it. Leads to 6 and 7s when it should be 3s and 4s. And yet it'll sell jack shit.

In the meantime I share a hilarious steam discussion with you:

unnamed.webp


🤣🤣
 
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