"Games are still very much treated as a business": House of the Dragon Actor Has 1 Valid Point That Explains Why Star Wars Outlaws Failed (2024)

SUMMARY

• House of the Dragon star, Abubakar Salim, explained that video games are failing because they are treated as a product rather than a medium for storytelling.
• Salim added that video game publishers are trying to recreate Epic Games' Fortnite in order to generate revenue.
• Games like Star Wars Outlaws, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and Concord are prime examples of this failed operating model.

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Abubakar Salim is a prominent figure in the gaming industry as well as the TV and film industry. He initially started out as an actor but was fascinated by the gaming industry after voicing Bayek in 2017’s Assassin’s Creed Origins. He later set up a studio called Surgent Studios and served as the director of 2024’s Tales of Kenzera: ZAU.

Salim is a huge fan of video games but he believes that the current state of the gaming industry is not up to the mark. In a recent interview, he explained the mistake that most publishers are making nowadays with their highly anticipated video games.

Abubakar Salim Explains Why Games Like Star Wars Outlaws Are Not Meeting Sales Expectations

Abubakar Salim, a well-known actor and the founder of Surgent Studios, recently appeared for an interview with Dexerto and talked about the gaming industry. Many highly anticipated video games were released in 2024 such as Star Wars Outlaws and Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League but these games turned out to be a complete disappointment.

Salim put a spotlight on single-player video games, explaining that most studios nowadays see video games as a product rather than a medium for storytelling,

Another issue is that video game publishers are putting their entire focus on visuals/graphics. Studios try their best to make their early demos visually stunning to make sure the game meets the sales expectations, however, most video games aren’t even optimized properly for the existing hardware. There is no point in playing a game with good graphics if the storyline feels bland and unexciting.

Abubakar Salim Says Most Video Game Developers Are Trying To Recreate Fortnite

In the same interview, Salim added that many industry giants are trying to recreate what Epic Games did with Fortnite. It’s no secret that Fortnite generates massive revenue for Epic Games, so it makes sense why other studios are trying to follow the same operating model. Salim said,

Salim strongly believes that many hyped video games lack the storytelling aspect, and as a result, most games are failing to meet their sales expectations. Not just single-player games, but many new multiplayer games are just a copy of other popular video games. Concord, for example, was Sony’s own first-person hero shooter game, however, the game was a complete disaster and was shut down just two weeks after its release.

Do you think Abubakar Salim is right about the gaming industry? Share your views in the comments!