[fragmede]

It's not like other games in the broader genre don't exist. eg Stardew Valley, Animal Crossing, My Time at Portia all come to mind.

[namuol]

Yes they exist, with laughably meager budgets compared to “mainstream” games.

I’ll concede animal crossing is a good exception to the rule, but this only serves to prove our original point that there’s room for AAA-grade games in this market segment.

[spaceman_2020]

Stardew Valley is the perfect example. It took an indie game developer to make a game with broad appeal.

What are these big studios even doing? Why didn't their customer research tell them that there's demand for games like Stardew Valley?