Should developers stick to what they do best or get creative and try to branch out of their comfort zone?

Always try to be innovative. Don’t be like Sony and stick to third person movie games.

Creativity is the best. If we couldn't get new ideas, new blood streaming in this industry we'd still be playing Space invaders and pong.

I always like fresh new ideas even if they don't appeal to me.

Devs should strive for creativity. Not necessarily "try something different", I don't need idSoftware to make a racing game, I just want developers to be creative. While sticking to what they're good at.

Nintendo is a good example. Even though they keep reusing their IPs, they are always very creative with them.

Today's Ubisoft is a good example of the opposite. Which is a shame, because I think they were very creative in the past and can still be, but opts to just crank out open world copy paste games.

It seems to work out sometimes. Killzone is totally different from the Horizon series, inFAMOUS is fairly different from Ghost of Tsushima.

lol :P

That all depends on desire!

Doing something different just for the sake of doing something different is a recipe for disaster.

If there is a genuine desire from a team to do something new and different that is when great things are usually created.

I'd like them to be creative but not *too* creative - to the point where it no longer feels like a video game console. Like the Wii and WiiU, for example. Some exclusive games like Metroid the Other M even suffered because of the bizarre controls.

There needs to be a balance of both. Just because a game is innovative doesn't mean it's good and just because a game has a familiar template doesn't mean it's bad.

I like to see developers think outside and get creative like Guerilla Games did with going from Killzone franchise to Horizon Zero Dawn, Sucker Punch with Sly Cooper, Infamous and Ghost of Tsushima. I don't mind them using existing IPs as long as those are creative and bring new ways to play like Mario series with Nintendo.

Putting myself in the developers' shoes, I'm all for branching out and getting creative. I'd hate to be stuck in a position of replicating the same game with a different paint.

However, imagine if Arkane had decided to stick to what they do best and had released a new Dishonored game instead of Redfall. I would have already given them my money. :P

I suppose it's complicated. Maybe try to strike a balance between the two approaches. Like work on a couple of conventional titles, switch focus to experimentation and innovation, then go back to conventional again and so on.

Definitely it's good for studios to try new things.....but they also need the courage and ability internally to say "ok...yknow what...this is a bit of a turd. I think it may be time to pull the plug". There can be a case where you get to a point in development where you have already spent so many resources and you can't go back. It can be a very bitter pill to swallow if you are 18 months into production and realise "this is pants....i don't know how to make it not pants" so they go over the cliff with it.

They also need to release games that are.....what's the word? ...oh yeah....finished. Of actual merchantable quality.

In the case of Redfall, someone had to be looking at that and thinking "it's....er...not great". Maybe everyone in Arkane is too polite. Or maybe they knew they weren't going to pull that out of a nose dive and just closed their eyes and started thinking of their next project.

But MAN the AAA sector needs some new ideas especially. I mean the PS5, PC and XSX really need a game to come out that screams "NEW GENS FINALLY HERE!!! LOOOOK AT IT!!! LOOK AT WHAT A 4090 CAN ACTUALLY DO!! and we all drop to our knees in awe.

New Ideas are always welcome.

I like seeing devs branch out, as long as the desire to do so comes internally and isn't forced upon them from a publisher.

Eg. the difference between High Fi Rush and Redfall as recent examples

Just do what fromsoft does.

What is the goal of your sequel? Is it to further refine the initial idea, and add back in what couldn't make the original cut? Is it to expand on the narrative and complete the story? Or are you trying to squeeze more juice out the same fruit?

Too often it seems like games are made just to keep the ball rolling, rather than because they had an amazing new idea that would revolutionize the property. I think that's why decent sized developers should have at least a couple properties to ping pong in-between. Hopefully to avoid stagnation, or boredom from working on an uninspired game. People also forget that most of the best things in life are the new exciting ideas. Jurassic Park was amazing, and then they ran it into the ground. Don't do that. Great for investors, but terrible for the world.

They should do what they do best initially, but once they get to a certain size or have a few titles under their belt, I think they need to branch out.

The team that works on Assassin's Creed, for example, should probably branch out and do something different. We don't need another installment of AC, at least not within the next ten years.

But studios just starting out and have one title under their belt, might want to hold on to that niche and make the most of it. Mimimi for example is really good at the tactical-stealth strategy subgenre, making games like Shadow Tactics and Desperados. I'd love to see a couple more games from them in the same vein, but eventually I think they should branch out.

On the flipside, FromSoft has done the same game many times in a row. Those guys definitely need to branch out. So much talent, but such a narrow scope.

Try something different. In fact, most of the games I'm excited about this year are also outside the comfort zone of those developers.

Armored Core 6, a mech action shooter from the director of Sekiro (originally Miyazaki).

FFXVI, a single-player AAA action RPG from the team led by Naoki Yoshida of FFXIV, an MMO.

Exoprimal, an online, team-based shooter from Capcom, an experimental game in a sense that is not their forte.

Pikmin 4, while already an established series, was originally a departure from Miyamoto's comfort zone as a pioneer of the action-platformer genre.

I applaud their creativity in trying to make games that go beyond the genre in which they excel, and I look forward to these games.