310°

Scorn Will Take 6-8 Hours to Complete, Should Be Considered an AA Game

Ebb Software revealed additional information on Scorn, the surreal horror game scheduled to be released on October 21st for PC and Xbox Series.

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Hofstaderman1050d ago

Was this not marketed as a AAA title? I know a lot of people is hyped for this.

Obscure_Observer1050d ago

"Was this not marketed as a AAA title"

No. It was presented as an indie project from the start.

Welshy1050d ago

It absolutely wasn't, Xbox have had indie shows where this didn't feature and it was shown repeatedly at it's biggest showcases as a big deal.

A game doesn't need to be "AAA" to be good, I'm not saying it being indie is bad, but Xbox 100% have not marketed it that way.

Tacoboto1050d ago (Edited 1050d ago )

It was shown during Xbox's third-party-focused event before they even showed off their own Series titles, had some developer-released videos, and had a release date trailer in this year's summer showcase.

It was absolutely not marketed as a AAA effort or grouped into those titles.

Eonjay1050d ago

I never thought this was AAA. I would compare it to something like Quantum Error. To be clear tho AAA should be a measure of development costs. Not graphics or hype.

Obscure_Observer1050d ago (Edited 1050d ago )

@Welshy

"It absolutely wasn't, Xbox have had indie shows where this didn't feature and it was shown repeatedly at it's biggest showcases as a big deal."

Since when showing a game at biggest showcases make it AAA? Are you high?

Show me any proof that MS referred Scorn as an AAA game, I´ll wait.

@Eonjay

"To be clear tho AAA should be a measure of development costs. Not graphics or hype."

Exactly!

Welshy1050d ago (Edited 1050d ago )

@obscure
I never said that this was or was meant to be AAA, that was the original comments point.

I was just replying specifically to your point that it was an "indie" game, which clearly isn't the case either from its presentation or from the devs themselves who just called it "AA".

One of you was going too hard one way while the other went to the opposite extreme. It's as the devs said, it's AA, it's neither AAA or indie as you two were originally suggesting.

Not that any of the marketing jargon of what "type" a game is really matters anyway.

northpaws1050d ago

Hey guys, be quiet and listen to Obscure_Observer for his non-bias explanation of why AA is amazing, and 6-8 is the perfect length now. /s

dumahim1049d ago

How can an indie be a AA game?

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neutralgamer19921050d ago

We need a healthy AA market because right now it's either AAA or indies we need games that publishers like midway, acclaim and THQ use to make

Best thing about AA games is the fact most could be made in under 2-3 years

Concertoine1049d ago

Yeah - people wonder why so many games feels so soulless and contracted out. It's because there's immense pressure to deliver a lengthy AAA product.

I'm too busy these days anyway, a 6-8 hour game is ideal for me. I replay a lot of Platinum's games for this reason. Not sure why people are shocked on this game - it started with crowdfunding and the game only costs like 40 bucks retail. The writing has been on the wall.

onisama1049d ago

it was always marketed as a unique game but not as a big AAA ...actually i think this game didnt have the marketing compaign it deserve next to dask fall and many other games like psycornaut 2 ....i thiink MS is very bad at marketing there games

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CrimsonWing691050d ago

I'm interested in this, I can't say I'm hyped, but definitely wanting to give it a go to see what it's all about. Love the H.R. Giger inspiration.

jznrpg1050d ago (Edited 1050d ago )

I don’t like the HR Geiger comparison as his work looks a lot better than what they have come up with . Inspired sure but poorly executed imo . They use more human colors like digestive tracts browns and shit and his was more alien and sexual with a different color palette of dark blacks greys etc .

MrBaskerville1049d ago (Edited 1049d ago )

Yeah, there's a lot more alien industrial penises in Gigers work than seem to be at display in Scorn. Looks more like popcultures idea of giger.

With that said, I do look forward to Scorn. A bit worried that it's going to be very samey. I prefer some contrast, I liked how the Dark Seed games had some alieneqsue nightmare stuff sprinkled into a normal world, made it work. Scorn seems like something that could get old fast, because everything is hell world.

RaidenBlack1049d ago

But why so much hate for this game, here?
Just because it was shown at a MS conference/show few months/a-year back?
But before that it was shown quite few years ago as small-medium clips at PC shows/presentations. Nobody even cared much then (except few FPS/immersive sim fans in PC community).
Let the small studio do their unique things guys, irrespective of which conference their work gets the promotion from before it gets released. And small studio is bound to take more time to complete their project.
Take this console war derived hate in the AAA space. And if anybody's not sure if a game is AA or AAA ... just do a Google bg search regarding the project/dev/publisher. Awrite?

moriarty18891050d ago

Yet another underwhelming game for Xbox. How do they continue to under deliver with all the studios they bought? All that money spent and they still can’t turn out quality exclusives.

lonewolf101050d ago

In what way is this underwhelming?

1050d ago
Tacoboto1050d ago

The same way that Stray was totally underwhelming, as another Unreal Engine-built, 4-6 hour game that was in development since 2015.

tay87011050d ago

@taco. how much do you want to bet this scores significantly lower than stray by both critics and gamers.

Tacoboto1050d ago

A game where you play as a cute cat in an inviting environment releasing in the middle of summer surrounded by zero major releases, versus a game where you play as a hideous monster in a dark, unwelcoming environment that looks like the inside of a digestive tract, releasing in the same time frame as every major game this fall.

The game could suck but it deserves a chance to prove itself, just like that game built on the same technology for a very similar amount of dev time that has an even shorter length.

Obscure_Observer1050d ago

"In what way is this underwhelming?"

Dude´s clearly trolling and have no idea what he´s talking about. Just ignore him. He´s talking about this game as if it´s some first party Xbox exclusive game.

He´s desperate for some reason to talk sh!t about MS.

gametapes1050d ago

Tacoboto at least Annapurna took a risk with Stray and made something that was unique. If you go on Steam there are hundreds of 6-8 hour grotesque jump scare Outlast clones.

Just because they are both AA short games doesn't mean they both have the same weight.

Tacoboto1050d ago

Your definition of "risk" is what?

Playing as a cat, where the only enemies are pink balls and blue grids of light that turn red and kill you after 5 seconds?

Or... trusting in the vision of a very small developer with little proven independent history or track record?

Stray was a very relaxing game. I enjoyed it very very much. My dog even barked at the cat a few times. They really nailed the movement. This is Blue Twelve's first game.

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Welshy1050d ago

This has been talked about and hyped for far too long by Xbox, if it truly turns out to be a 6 hour AA game it's going to be a huge disappointment and be 6/10 bait across the board.

I'm all for smaller games, both in scale and length, but this had a big spotlight put on it by Xbox marketing repeatedly and I reckon it's going to hurt it more than it will help it. Expectations are much higher now than if this game just released of it's own accord.

coolbeans1050d ago (Edited 1050d ago )

It's kinda hard to grapple with how overzealous you're acting here. Having a sustained hype (from delays) doesn't mean everyone expected production values akin to a huge blockbuster or some grand 30+ hour odyssey. Nothing from its ads nor the average fan here (note: not the convenient strawman you're thinking of) fooled everyone into thinking of something it's not. It's been available for pre-order at $40 for a couple months now.

It's also really hypocritical to leap on this kind of narrative *IF* you're someone that lost their mind over Stray's success. You can simply be hyped for something, big or small, in that you hope it succeeds at its intended goals. That's it. How is that not such a simple concept to grasp?

Vast01049d ago

It kind of hard to grapple with the hypocrisy of your comment, when you constantly do backflips to defend low review scores but only on PlayStation games.

Just the other day you were defending a Stray review score that was more than 3.5 points lower than the average review score trying to chastise people for saying they didn't think it was a good representation of the game.

You're exactly the the worst type of person to be giving opinions on game reviews or writing them because it's clear you can't separate the game from the platform.

coolbeans1049d ago

@Vast0

You don't know what hypocrisy means. As far as defending low review scores against PS games, it's most often in the context of hearing that reviewer out instead of acting like a whiny man-child when someone gives your hyped exclusive anything below a 8/10. Maintaining that principle =/= uncritically agreeing with the conclusions. You oh so conveniently leaving out the part where my responses are simply challenging the laughable insecurities of others.

That Stray review you're talking about helps *MY* case, not yours. Sensorchip (whom I responded to) made a dishonest insinuation about Dualshockers becoming unfairly biased against Sony just because of one negative score. The reality shows they're... pretty much in line with other critics on recent Sony-published titles. That's the thing that gets me: hanging around in your own echo chamber and reflexively discounting what anyone (or any site) has to say when they rub you in the wrong way. If you resort to mud-slinging, you have no right to complain about your shoes getting dirty.

Then again, you're exactly the worst type of person to talk to on this stuff b/c you rely on projection as a means to pretend you know what I'm even about.

coolbeans1049d ago

@Vast0

This relates back to my principles argument. I've basically been the go-to Qt3 submitter since the mid-2010s or so. They meet N4G's submission threshold (as well as Metacritic's) and I believe in this aggregate site being a go-to hub for a vast array of opinions, whether they go with or against the grain.

Really, the majority of my "defenses" in that comment section were about me not being Tom Chick and seeing the value in the old-school Netflix Hate it/Love it scale. I'm still not Tom Chick and I still think that scale has some inherent value.

I've already had an extended PM discussion on this submission and I still remain stalwart on this topic.

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350°

Marathon Development Update

Marathon was slated to launch on Sept. 23, 2025 across Xbox, PC, and PlayStation, but Bungie will share the new release date in the fall.

Jin_Sakai1d 7h ago

Probably best just cancel it. The game has flop written all over it.

-Foxtrot1d 10h ago

Yeah, you can delay it as much as you want but you ain’t gonna wash that stink off.

Killer2020UK1d 9h ago

It will lessen though and possibly make all the difference if it launches in a state that rectified a lot of the issues people had with it. A LOT of ifs of course.

RaidenBlack1d 7h ago

If you really gotta play ... play the better extraction shooter this year : ARC Raiders

ZeekQuattro1d 10h ago

Delaying the inevitable. Bungie hoping the negative publicity will blow over. 🙄

darthv721d 10h ago

They can't cancel it until a themed controller has been released first... like concord.

ZeekQuattro1d 6h ago

I anxiously wait for that and a Marathon Secret Level episode.

GamingManiac1d 2h ago

$10 says it'll have the stolen artwork on it lolol

dveio1d 10h ago

If they were absolutely certain about the quality of Marathon, then they had not delayed it just now.

So they've basically just confirmed what everyone, well, a lot of people saw: Marathon is not ready yet, still no soul to be seen.

Tacoboto1d 9h ago

"Doubling down on the Marathon Universe"

They're doubling down on soul, thank goodness this feedback illuminated that for them...

RaidenBlack1d 7h ago

and N4G was littered with comments like : Marathon looks really good, maybe you're a hater and the likes blah blah ... especially under articles which compared it with Arc Raiders ....

1d 9h ago
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80°

Inside the ‘Dragon Age’ Debacle That Gutted EA’s BioWare Studio

The latest game in BioWare’s fantasy role-playing series went through ten years of development turmoil

In early November, on the eve of the crucial holiday shopping season, staffers at the video-game studio BioWare were feeling optimistic. After an excruciating development cycle, they had finally released their latest game, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, and the early reception was largely positive. The role-playing game was topping sales charts on Steam, and solid, if not spectacular, reviews were rolling in.

HyperMoused6d ago

Its easy they called the die hard fans people in their nerd caves who will buy anything and then went woke to reach modern audiences....insulting the nerds in their caves along the way showing utter contempt for their fan base. very hapy it failed and any company who insults their fan base and treat their customers with contempt and insults, in future, i also hope fail.

neutralgamer19926d ago

It’s disappointing but not surprising to see what's happening with Dragon Age: The Veilguard and the broader situation at BioWare. The layoffs are tragic — no one wants to see talented developers lose their jobs. But when studios repeatedly create games that alienate their own fanbase, outcomes like this become unfortunately predictable.

There’s a pattern we’re seeing far too often: beloved franchises are revived, only to be reshaped into something almost unrecognizable. Changes are made that no one asked for, often at the expense of what originally made these games special. Then, when long-time fans express concern or lose interest, they’re told, “This game might not be for you.” But when those same fans heed that advice and don’t buy the game, suddenly they're labeled as toxic, sexist, bigoted, or worse.

Let’s be clear: the overwhelming majority of gamers have no issue with diversity, LGBTQ+ representation, or strong female leads. In fact, some of the most iconic characters in gaming — like Aloy, Ellie, or FemShep — are proof that inclusivity and excellent storytelling can and do go hand in hand. The issue arises when diversity feels performative, forced, or disconnected from the narrative — when characters or themes are inserted not to serve the story, but to satisfy a corporate DEI checklist. Audiences can tell the difference.

When studios chase approval from a vocal minority that often doesn’t even buy games — while simultaneously dismissing loyal fans who actually do — they risk not just the success of individual titles, but the health of their entire studio. Telling your core customers “don’t buy it if you don’t like it” is not a viable business strategy. Because guess what? Many of us won’t. And when the game fails commercially, blaming those very fans for not supporting it is both unfair and self-defeating.

Gamers aren’t asking for less diversity or less progress. We’re asking for better writing, thoughtful character development, and a respect for the franchises we’ve supported for decades. When you give people great games that speak to them — whether they’re old fans or new players — they will show up. But if you keep making games for people who don’t play them, don’t be surprised when those who do stop showing up

Armaggedon5d ago

I thought the writing and character development were fine. Sometimes things just dont resonate with people.

90°

Report: Just Cause 5 Was in Development at Sumo Digital, But Got Cancelled

Recent evidence we discovered indicates that the next game in the Just Cause series may have been canceled, potentially two years ago.

RaidenBlack8d ago

NOooooooooooooooooooooo....... ..............

mkis0077d ago

Well if it went back to being more like 3 I would have liked it. 4 was crap.