Josh Sawyer, the game director of Fallout: New Vegas, shared his thoughts on difficulty levels in modern video games.
According to Sawyer (thanks PC Gamer), the key to success in developing RPGs is not to make them simpler, but to allow players to adjust the difficulty to their liking. He believes that trying to create games that appeal to everyone is a mistake. Instead, it’s better to let each player tailor the gameplay to fit their personal needs and skill level.
Sawyer described himself as someone who enjoys challenging games and usually plays them on the highest difficulty or close to it. Still, he believes that studios capable of developing hardcore adventures can also add options to make the experience easier. While not the simplest task, he says it is entirely possible.
As an example, he mentioned Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire, where the Obsidian team continued improving the game after its release. In the end, they offered players both an incredibly hard mode and one where dying is nearly impossible.
In other news, Action and RPGs dominate Steam, generating 75% of its game revenue, with arena shooters and action RPGs leading in subgenre profits, according to GameDiscoverCo’s analysis.
