Spector tired of guys in black leather, 100-hour games

Speaking at the Game Education Summit in Dallas last week, Junction Point CEO Warren Spector said he’s “so tired of making games about guys in black leather carrying guns,” and admitted he believes long games are tomorrow’s dinosaurs.

“Game costs are going to be $35-40 million, even $100 million, and the expectations are huge. You have to differentiate yourselves. One-hundred hour games are on the way out,” he said.

“How many of you have finished GTA? Two percent, probably. If we’re spending $100 million on a game, we want you to see the last level.”

Loads more Spector at Gamasutra.

By Mike Bowden

6 comments

Psychotext
17/06/08, 6:07 pm

I don’t care what you’re spending on the game. I care what I’m spending on the game and that it’s got enough content for the money I’m paying. Casuals are happy enough not to finish games… that doesn’t mean I’m happy when I finish a game after 6 hours.

Michael
17/06/08, 6:51 pm

I think the important thing is finding the balance.

Which is a game that *can* be completed on an easy difficulty level in a quick span of time, but also contains extra incentive such as unique game modes, higher difficulty levels, and extra content.

Devil May Cry 4 is a perfect example of how to do that right. It has the perfect synergy of casual fun and hardcore gameplay, without excluding either group.

morriss
17/06/08, 6:56 pm

I found it lifeless and boring meself.

epic_wanderer
17/06/08, 10:11 pm

I think GTA is the wrong series to mention with regard to this. True it is longer than your average FPS or similar but it provides a manageable main story and then also a bunch of extra stuff that can be done before, during or after the core game.

If you are making a costly game for the mass market and they don’t finish it (or even get close) it is because you have made a bad game not that they are bad at playing it. You can’t expect people to suffer through difficulty spikes, bad checkpoints and dodgy controls\cameras just because you spent $100 million on making the game.

morriss
17/06/08, 11:36 pm

Basically, it’s not up to him if I play to the end or not. In fact, I’m more likely to play to the end if it has men with black leather in it with over-sized bayonette-equipped machine guns.

wz
14/07/08, 10:23 am

Why are all the old-school developers so arrogant lately? I /do/ like 100h+ gameplay, thank you. Just make a game where all parts fit together nicely, and let me sort out how to use it.

Maybe they feel like their long and extended efforts for the now-so-popular game industry aren’t widely acclaimed. I’ll send pie or so.