{"id":1650800,"date":"2026-08-01T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/iCnz9mfChHJxLFtRZnXYpA"},"modified":"2026-08-01T14:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T14:00:00","slug":"the-games-industrys-fear-of-risk-is-currently-the-largest-risk-it-faces-according-to-nuclear-thrones-producer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/the-games-industrys-fear-of-risk-is-currently-the-largest-risk-it-faces-according-to-nuclear-thrones-producer\/","title":{"rendered":"The games industry’s ‘fear of risk is currently the largest risk it faces’ according to Nuclear Throne’s producer"},"content":{"rendered":"
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With videogame budgets ballooning and competition ever intensifying<\/a> there’s a huge amount riding on whether a modern videogame succeeds or fails. As such, publishers are increasingly turning to the safest bets possible, like sequels in proven series or shiny remakes<\/a> of classic games.<\/p>\n

It’s the exact strategy that Xbox has said it’s falling back on to increase its fortune\u2014recommitting to its big names like Halo<\/a>, Fallout<\/a>, The Elder Scrolls<\/a> etc. Admittedly, that strategy also includes laying off thousands of people<\/a> and cutting ties with numerous game studios, which thus far has yielded Xbox’s worst quarter<\/a> in years.<\/p>\n

Indeed, rather than helping sustain the industry, this aversion to risk may be a source of its present struggles. As reported by GamesIndustry.biz<\/a>, this was the conclusion of a workgroup run by Vlambeer cofounder and Nuclear Throne<\/a> producer Rami Ismail at this year’s DevGAMM Madeira Games Summit.<\/p>\n

Titled “We’re moving fast and losing what made us good (creativity, craft & the future)”, the workgroup brought together people from various corners of the games industry to discuss how to put creativity back at the heart of game dev (and game financing). It concluded that the industry’s general fear of failure is, ironically, one of the biggest inhibitors to success.<\/p>\n

“Many of the more fearful reflexes of the industry aim to sand down the rough edges of creative work, creating homogenous and bland works that ‘check all the boxes’ but are nevertheless (or, consequently) insincere, uninspiring and uninterested,” Ismail explained. “Courage is a consistent factor of most hit titles; in funding, in publishing, in marketing, and in investment.”<\/p>\n

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