Both camps

The barrier to success has never been higher. During the production of this issue, EA execs admitted to investors that sales of Battlefield V had been disappointing. It shifted seven million copies. Activision, fresh from its split from Destiny developer Bungie, has as we send to press announced plans to lay off some 800 staff after what, by its own admission, was a record year for its financials.

For all that they may be seen as its bad guys, the industry would be poorer without these gargantuan companies backing games to the tune of tens of millions. And of course they are going to expect a return on their investment. But with development and marketing budgets on an inexorable rise, games can no longer be solely niche pursuits.

This month’s Hype yields a crop of games seeking, in various ways, to break free of their expected confines. Mortal Kombat 11 (p38) is the latest game to try to crack the eternal puzzle of the fighting-game sequel: adding the new layers of complexity that hardened fans demand, while also making things more accessible for newcomers. In Phoenix Point (p42), strategy-game legend Julian Gollop is also trying to please two sets of people: those who like the hardcore tactics of Gollop’s original X-COM, and those who prefer the flashy kineticism of Firaxis’ latterday XCOM. Both Gollop and Netherrealm are walking different weaves of the same tightrope.

Yet Dreams (p34) is seeking to bridge arguably the starkest divide of them all: between those who want to create, and those who simply want to play. Media Molecule may have done it in LittleBigPlanet, but this is an entirely different beast. It is a game, if you can call it that, that at once promises everything and nothing at all. One suspects the shiny suits at EA and Activision wouldn’t touch it with a bargepole – but somehow, that merely makes it feel all the more special.