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Elite Gamers Are No Longer Priority, Says 'Spider-Man' Developer

Imogen Donovan

Published 

Elite Gamers Are No Longer Priority, Says 'Spider-Man' Developer

Featured Image Credit: Insomniac Games

Insomniac Games - the studio behind bangers like Marvel's Spider-Man and Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart - isn't interested in entertaining "elite" players with tests of skill in its games, now and in the future.

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Oh, this old chestnut. Let's keep a long story short, shall we? If you play games on the highest difficulty for a challenge and for the feeling of achievement, then that's lovely for you. From Dark Souls to Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice to Bloodborne, there are a range of games that push the player to their limits and so the satisfaction of downing that boss after the fiftieth try simply trumps all else. Perhaps, you're a player who likes to impose limits on themselves, like a no-hit run. That's also a testament to your commitment and understanding of the game - to learn its tricks inside out and back to front and surpass its expectations of you. But, if you are the sort to judge others for the difficulty settings that they choose for their own personal enjoyment of the game, then you are a clown. I'm not holding back on this Monday morning. Clown you are.

It's certainly an opinion that has gotten more and more traction over the years, with developers and players alike commending the areas where games have allowed a little leeway with a player's skill level. For example, someone's grandad had a whale of a time playing Mass Effect: Legendary Edition thanks to its improvements from the originals that ensured combat was a lot easier. And ultimately, isn't that a good thing? Isn't more people playing games and gambolling full-tilt into virtual worlds and stories a good thing? To us, who love games and want more people to appreciate them the way we do?

Ryuji Urabe, a former taxi driver from Tokyo, has fallen in love with Forza after his grandson set up a simulator and steering wheel for him to drive through the gorgeous vistas of the game. Check out his story here.

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If you won't take my word for it, Mike Daly of Insomniac Games agrees with this statement. "We have sort of shed this conventional wisdom that games kind of need to be a hardass in order for you to get satisfaction out of it," said the Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart director in an interview with Axios Gaming. In this vein, the game offers players a ping and hints for objectives that they might not know how to approach, preventing people from becoming stuck and losing interest in the bright and beautiful world that the team has created.

Moreover, the PlayStation 5's activities allows players to learn about any extra missions they might want to track down as well as collectables that are dotted throughout the game. The function of activities isn't only to signpost these elements, but to provide textual information and guides too, and players are able to see how long that mission takes for the average gamer who likes to play in the same way that they do. In her review, Imogen praised Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart's five distinct difficulty settings which opens up the game to "a wide scope of gamers get to play at their preferred level."

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"We no longer think about, like, 'What will make the most elite players feel good about themselves?' And more like, 'What will enable everybody to have the experience they want to have?'" continued Daly. "Because that's sort of the most important thing to us." Hear, hear.

Topics: News, PlayStation, Spider-Man, Insomniac Games

Imogen Donovan
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