I don’t agree. Maybe 2010 was a stretch, that’s still PS3/360 time, but let’s say 2013/2014 instead, early PS4 era.
I’ve been replaying GTA V and Wolfenstein: The New Order recently and outside of some UI and QoL changes I think those games could be released today and be hugely successful.
Obviously GTA V was, at the time, basically the new record for size and scope, but that record has been beat since and didn’t have to be.
Now you’ve got me interested in looking at this so I’m gonna go down the list of big games released those years and see how we feel about them. I really hope this doesn’t come off as me being a dick I just got curious and wanted to see.
2013
GTA V - Totally could release today with mild UI and QoL changes.
CoD: Ghosts - AFAIK CoD games have not changed that much.
FIFA 2014 - Come on.
Battlefield 4 - Not sure on this one, barely played it and haven’t played any battlefield games since
AC Black Flag - Assassins Creed format has changed because people got bored of it, but not in a way that requires more labor, they just changed the gameplay some.
The Last of Us - They literally just rereleased this game in 2022.
Tomb Raider (2013) - Gameplay is stale by now but as far as graphics, size, and scope go holds up fine.
2014
Not gonna go through these ones individually, aside from GTA V (again) none of these games would do well today but not because of technical limits and labor spent on graphics, but because they just aren’t very good games. They weren’t good in 2014 either, and most of the ones in a series sold worse than the one before.
Fifa 15
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
Titanfall
Grand Theft Auto V (PS4 and Xbox One release)
Destiny
Watch Dogs
Minecraft: Xbox Edition
Fifa 14
Far Cry 4
Assassin’s Creed: Unity
2015
Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Could totally release today.
Metal Gear Solid V - Could totally release today.
Bloodborne - Absolutely.
Super Mario Maker - Weird one but for sure.
Fallout 4 - Starfield looked worse, ran worse, and was worse in pretty much every aspect except for how the guns felt. Starfield sold decent, but was critically panned. Fallout 4 could be released today as it was on launch and probably do better than Starfield did.
Rise of the Tomb Raider - Same applies as 2013 Tomb Raider.
Until Dawn - Was recently rereleased, holds up perfectly fine.
Splatoon - Would do perfectly fine released today.
Cities Skylines - Still the best and most popular city builder there is, but I also do think city builders are one of the few genres that do still have a lot of room for technical improvement.
Very few of those would do poorly now aside from the fact that their core gameplay is a bit stale now, but that’s not something that requires more labor and increasing scope, that’s just trends.
I was shocked how good MGSV still was when I went back to replay it recently, and many people consider Until Dawn’s remake a downgrade compared to the original in most things but graphics.
MGSV is still my personal GOAT, as far as single player aaa games go at least I don’t think its been seriously challenged in terms of scope and depth and quality.
I don’t agree. Maybe 2010 was a stretch, that’s still PS3/360 time, but let’s say 2013/2014 instead, early PS4 era.
I’ve been replaying GTA V and Wolfenstein: The New Order recently and outside of some UI and QoL changes I think those games could be released today and be hugely successful.
Obviously GTA V was, at the time, basically the new record for size and scope, but that record has been beat since and didn’t have to be.
Now you’ve got me interested in looking at this so I’m gonna go down the list of big games released those years and see how we feel about them. I really hope this doesn’t come off as me being a dick I just got curious and wanted to see.
2013
GTA V - Totally could release today with mild UI and QoL changes.
CoD: Ghosts - AFAIK CoD games have not changed that much.
FIFA 2014 - Come on.
Battlefield 4 - Not sure on this one, barely played it and haven’t played any battlefield games since
AC Black Flag - Assassins Creed format has changed because people got bored of it, but not in a way that requires more labor, they just changed the gameplay some.
The Last of Us - They literally just rereleased this game in 2022.
Tomb Raider (2013) - Gameplay is stale by now but as far as graphics, size, and scope go holds up fine.
2014
Not gonna go through these ones individually, aside from GTA V (again) none of these games would do well today but not because of technical limits and labor spent on graphics, but because they just aren’t very good games. They weren’t good in 2014 either, and most of the ones in a series sold worse than the one before.
Fifa 15
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
Titanfall
Grand Theft Auto V (PS4 and Xbox One release)
Destiny
Watch Dogs
Minecraft: Xbox Edition
Fifa 14
Far Cry 4
Assassin’s Creed: Unity
2015
Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Could totally release today.
Metal Gear Solid V - Could totally release today.
Bloodborne - Absolutely.
Super Mario Maker - Weird one but for sure.
Fallout 4 - Starfield looked worse, ran worse, and was worse in pretty much every aspect except for how the guns felt. Starfield sold decent, but was critically panned. Fallout 4 could be released today as it was on launch and probably do better than Starfield did.
Rise of the Tomb Raider - Same applies as 2013 Tomb Raider.
Until Dawn - Was recently rereleased, holds up perfectly fine.
Splatoon - Would do perfectly fine released today.
Cities Skylines - Still the best and most popular city builder there is, but I also do think city builders are one of the few genres that do still have a lot of room for technical improvement.
Very few of those would do poorly now aside from the fact that their core gameplay is a bit stale now, but that’s not something that requires more labor and increasing scope, that’s just trends.
In the top 10 best sellers list on the USA switch store right now, #1 is a game from 2015, #4&7 are games from 2016, and #6 is a game from 2014.
I was shocked how good MGSV still was when I went back to replay it recently, and many people consider Until Dawn’s remake a downgrade compared to the original in most things but graphics.
MGSV is still my personal GOAT, as far as single player aaa games go at least I don’t think its been seriously challenged in terms of scope and depth and quality.