[thrower123]

Adventure games seems to be a segment that is especially prone to boom and bust cycles. This has to be at least the third major collapse, following Infocom and LucasArts.

Even when well executed, the formula is hard to keep fresh, and the emphasis on story and writing leads to generally poor replayability. Particularly now, in the youtube/twitch age - most of the enjoyment of these kinds of games is watching the story play out, rather than actually playing the game.

[reboog711]

We share different views of the world...

First, Infocom was arguably supplanted by Sierra and other graphical games. They died during an oncoming boom. Sierra's reign [and LucasArts earlier titles] in the late 80's to mid-to-late 90s were very much the golden age of adventure games.

Second, LucasArts went on for about 15 years after they stopped creating / releasing adventure games. Their last Adventure game was Grim Fandango in 1998, and the closed in 2013. I can't see how LucasArts closure is unrelated to boom or bust cycles in adventure games.

Third, there are a huge number of adventure games coming out all the time. It surprises me honestly. While a few companies--like Wadjet Eye Games and Daedalic--seem to be doing okay, the bulk of them close up shop after one or two games. To me--as a lover of these type of games and a reviewer for JustAdventure--The market seems overly saturated for such a niche audience. There is the occasional big event such as the Double Fine Adventure Kickstarter, but the community doesn't seem to change size.

[laputan_machine]

Wadjet Eye, for me, have to make some of the best adventure games I have ever played. Heartily recommend Technobabylon and Gemini Rue.

[reboog711]

I'm a huge Blackwell fan. I think they categorize their games as "Urban Fantasy".

Unavowed is sitting in my review queue...

[keerthiko]

LucasArts, while they made adventure games, was just as if not more well known for their action and franchise titles such as all the Star Wars games. Knights of the Old Republic and sequel, Jedi Knight and several smash hit sequels, TIE Fighter, Republic Commando (basically all the Star Wars games) were squarely in other genres, and all very successful titles. They had some less successful ones as well, which probably fed to their collapse.

But in general, the crux of the matter is that games are still adapting to internet-age business models -- selling a title for $30-$60 with higher and higher development standards has been unsustainable for some time now. Going F2P is also hit or miss: not every game can be a League of Legends, and 99% quietly die running deserted servers with a tiny tiny fraction of the player base they may have had in their peak. It's the reason indie games have risen in popularity -- AAA studios are now just hoping to arrive at a hit franchise, and then furtively milk it for as long as they can, still fully aware they're one bad title away from biting the dust. Meanwhile thousands upon thousands of indies throw their life in the pool and a few good games reliably come out. Few hear or care about all the indies that disappear and return to their day jobs after a failed 5-year game. This model works fine for gamers, and making games is quickly becoming a cottage art industry like music or films - yes there are some studios churning out blockbusters, but mostly indies struggling, while consumers just get a glut of stuff at low costs. The unstable part is that most game devs can easily abandon the art for tech jobs with gobs of money, unlike musicians and (most) filmmakers, so it's possible the entire industry could die out if we enter an era of uninspiring games for too long.

[ericd]

As long as there are some blockbuster indie games that make their creators rich, and as long as games are fun to make, I don't think we'll see the entire industry die out.

But yeah, making an indie game is on average not a good financial decision.

[overgard]

I think a big problem with the adventure game segment is it's extremely content heavy. There's not really any replay ability; so as soon as the content wears thin your players leave. Admittedly that's true of most game genres, but then there's other types of games like idk, counterstrike or minecraft, where people can keep continuing with the same content for a loooong time because the novelty comes from the interactions.

[WillPostForFood]

Maybe it is more of a niche genre, with the occasional breakout hit that make it seem like there is more sales potential than there is.

[jimcsharp]

I've found myself thinking "I'm the kind of person who should enjoy adventure games" only to buy them and just not. At all. There needs to be more systems to keep me occupied, otherwise I'll just read a book or watch a movie. I think this latest cycle was buoyed by at least a few people like me.

[kaycebasques]

I didn’t know that this happened at LucasArts. I grew up on Sam & Max, Full Throttle, and Day of the Tentacle. Any good articles about LucasArts’ demise?

[thrower123]

https://www.digitalgamemuseum.org/the-rise-and-fall-of-adven...

I had forgotten about Sierra, probably because I was more into their Impressions city-builder and strategy games.