devtrackers.gg
You mean a small studio on the rise will have a different outlook and vibe to it than a massively bloated and successful underling of one of the largest publishers in the world? Well, yeah.
Thing is, those smaller studios and dev teams still exist. It's not a sign of the times.
And you're kind of deluding yourself if you think game development was ever not focused on maximizing potential revenue with the product. Developers are not artists, and are not your friends. They're working a business, and trying to get the most profit possible out of their work is completely normal.
Pretty sure one of the reasons Albion is decently healthy is due to the extremely simplistic graphics and systems. Apples and oranges, really, I don't think it's the PvP element that's truly behind Albion's success, accessibility is.
I'm not condoning AGS's actions. If you supported them and are disappointed because you wanted the initially promised iteration, you're right to be upset. But this is not a general issue in the industry or something novel.
I kind of suspect somebody over there realized they were never going to make their money back with a pvp sandbox in a high graphical fidelity, a combination of factors which narrows their potential customer base by a lot.
I’m sorry. But your opinion is pretty dark. I cannot speak for other studios, but at Intrepid we do consider mani in the community our friends. We often talk about individuals in the community, their creations, their lives and care about the people we’ve met. Not every project boils down to maximizing profit. There are such things as passion projects where the focus lies in making the best product that fits a vision, and not the bottom line.