Why can't American video game developers make games like Horizon or The Witcher?

[N7OperativeAlpha]

Why don't American video game developers make games with awesome storylines, settings, and memorable characters? If you look at games that are pushing this medium at least in the area of storytelling like Horizon Zero Dawn, Life is Strange, The Witcher, and Mass Effect is that they are not developed in America. Horizon in the Netherlands, Life is Strange in France, Zelda in Japan, The Witcher in Poland, and Mass Effect in Canada.

Why aren't there any games like that developed in America? Are there not enough Americans becoming game developers? Are American game developers less risk averse? Are American video game writers less creative?

Would you like to see Disney or Microsoft open a game studio based on pushing the storytelling aspects of video games? Disney did make movies aimed at an older audience and and even an M rated video game called Turok under the Touchstone label. If Disney is going to make games I would hope they would choose a cooler and more memorable name for their studio.

Is the game industry too crowded for another Bioware or CD Projekt Red?

I hope Bioware creates another universe, characters, and story after Anthem and Dragon Age 4!

[DarkenLycht]

I think, what is good and what not all lies in the eye of the gamer

Appearently, there are may who do not care for a decent story, instead for good graphics and other things

Disney though has made games, codeveloped games at tje least

[thekillman]

It's more to do with the fact that the US has bigger companies that are more risk-averse.

[Womble]

I would not say that good storytelling games are not made in the USA; there are plenty of games to submit as evidence starting, since I'm a fan, with the Fallout franchise. But there's one factor that makes it likely for foreign games to BE SEEN as pushing the boundaries.

The USA has been the leader in game production - and consumption - for so long that the industry is permeated with the Anglo culture and everything non-Anglo seems novel and unexpected. Games like The Witcher draw from source material unfamiliar to the American public; I mean, who in the USA has heard of Andrzej Sapkowski, let alone read his Witcher fantasy series? For the same exact reason, only a Russian or Ukrainian developer could create a game like S.T.A.L.K.E.R or Metro 2033 (the world of both of which is based off of sci-fi books published in Russia). Eastern European game devs have a lot to offer in current conditions simply because they are not Anglo and they can use source material of greater diversity (one company to watch is Hungary's Neocore Games).

I predict that in a few years Chinese game developers will also surprise is.

[DarkenLycht]

There are sure some American companies who make games with good stores, the problem is more like with every other country developers are from. games with a great story are underrated, ill promoted and known by inly few people.
It is often that big companies develop games that many poeple like, like sports games or shooters or zombie-games, those monst of the time do not have depth in story.
If you like games with that, you need to look for smaller companies, maybe even those who develop their games with money raised on Kickstarter

I would however not say that games like TES or Fallout have a good story, they are nice to play but to me they have nothing that really sticks, story-wise, but the mere fact that you can do what you like

[Womble]

I would however not say that games like TES or Fallout have a good story, they are nice to play but to me they have nothing that really sticks, story-wise, but the mere fact that you can do what you like

Not Bethesda's Fallout 3 or 4, but the original two plus Fallout: New Vegas. Those were huge hits BECAUSE they were story-driven adventures rather than twitch reflex games. (FNV never made Game Of The Year, but popularity wise it easily outlasted Fallout 3 that did score that GOTY title). Planescape: Torment, Grim Fandango are classics that come to mind. If you need a newer example, try Spec Ops: The Line and The Last of Us.

[DigiFluid]

A handful of counterpoints:

Bioshock, Bioshock Infinite - 2K Games, in Boston
Deus Ex - Ion Storm, in Austin
Half-Life/Portal series - Valve, in Seattle
The Last of Us - Naughty Dog, in Santa Monica
Red Dead Redemption - Rockstar San Diego
Uncharted series - Naughty Dog, in Santa Monica
The Walking Dead - Telltale, in San Rafael

[squirrely1]

I love the Fallout Universe as well. I think Bioware has made some fantastic RPG's with Mass Effect and with Dragon Age series. Problem is RPG's which is mainly going to give you more story than the typical FP shooter type of games take a lot longer to develop and your choices make it a sort of programmable logistical nightmare for developers. So they cannot crank them out like games that have little to no story. I just went to E3 in California with my son and got some really cool scoop on Fallout 76 and really excited to see that Bethesda is going to have some cool stuff coming up with ES 6 and Starfield. I love Bethesda too and although they are more open world with the focus on exploration and it is somewhat story driven..I wouldn't say it's largely role play. Which if they could figure out how to add more role play elements into their games....it would be stellar!! That is what makes the Witcher so amazing is not only is it top notch open world, but the story and role play aspects are hands down the best I've seen. Witcher 3 is probably my fav game no doubt.

[DigiFluid]

Well, as regards the OP: Mass Effect and Dragon Age (and Knights of the Old Republic) are Bioware products--developed primarily by the core Bioware team in Edmonton. So, not American.

Related/also on the OP's subject: Knights of the Old Republic II was by Obsidian (Irvine CA), The Old Republic was primarily done by Bioware's Austin studio, rather than home base in Edmonton.

[aretood2]

Well, as regards the OP: Mass Effect and Dragon Age (and Knights of the Old Republic) are Bioware products--developed primarily by the core Bioware team in Edmonton. So, not American.

Related/also on the OP's subject: Knights of the Old Republic II was by Obsidian (Irvine CA), The Old Republic was primarily done by Bioware's Austin studio, rather than home base in Edmonton.

So I can blame Canada for the Mass Effect 3 ending fiasco?

[DigiFluid]

So I can blame Canada for the Mass Effect 3 ending fiasco?

I seem to recall the ME3 ending disaster was in no small part due to Casey Hudson deciding he and he alone should write the ending--abandoning the group collaborative process that was used for the rest of the series.

And I think Casey Hudson is from Edmonton as well, so yes

[squirrely1]

Yes! Let's blame Canada for that. Actually for me, once they released Citadel DLC and I played it all through again with that added...it's not as bad. Still pretty disappointing but not as bad. I'm still pretty ticked off they just dropped ME Andromeda like a hot potato and refused to even release DLC. It was apparent there were bits they left out for DLC content and I think that was a real dick move. I'm wondering what Anthem will be like. I think they may have just decided to kill the ME franchise to put all their eggs in the Anthem basket.

[DigiFluid]

Yes! Let's blame Canada for that. Actually for me, once they released Citadel DLC and I played it all through again with that added...it's not as bad. Still pretty disappointing but not as bad. I'm still pretty ticked off they just dropped ME Andromeda like a hot potato and refused to even release DLC. It was apparent there were bits they left out for DLC content and I think that was a real dick move. I'm wondering what Anthem will be like. I think they may have just decided to kill the ME franchise to put all their eggs in the Anthem basket.

Anthem still may have potential... Part of the reason ME:A wasn't that great was simply down to it not being made by the core studio--rather than the Bioware veterans at home office in Edmonton, they subbed it out to the Montreal subsidiary (whose only real experience was making DLC for previous ME games) so that the Edmonton group could focus on Anthem. It should probably come as no real shock that Bioware Montreal was shut down last year.

Coming back around to the reason this thread was created, I think the overriding problem for Bioware has been the (American!) EA acquisition.

When Bioware was a small, independent Canadian studio, they had vision and ambition. Prior to the EA buyout in late 2007, Bioware had made Shattered Steel, Baldur's Gate I and II, MDK2, Neverwinter Nights, Knights of the Old Republic, Jade Empire, Mass Effect, and was well into development of Dragon Age Origins.

After the acquisition came Mass Effect 2 (an excellent game, marred by ridiculous DLC practices), Dragon Age II (a massive disappointment in its own right, and also marred by ridiculous DLC practices), and Mass Effect 3 (let's not even go there). It looked like they were starting to redeem themselves with the well-received Dragon Age Inquisition, but then Mass Effect Andromeda happened. And Anthem is looking less and less promising the more they talk about it.

[squirrely1]

Anthem still may have potential... Part of the reason ME:A wasn't that great was simply down to it not being made by the core studio--rather than the Bioware veterans at home office in Edmonton, they subbed it out to the Montreal subsidiary (whose only real experience was making DLC for previous ME games) so that the Edmonton group could focus on Anthem. It should probably come as no real shock that Bioware Montreal was shut down last year.

Coming back around to the reason this thread was created, I think the overriding problem for Bioware has been the (American!) EA acquisition.

When Bioware was a small, independent Canadian studio, they had vision and ambition. Prior to the EA buyout in late 2007, Bioware had made Shattered Steel, Baldur's Gate I and II, MDK2, Neverwinter Nights, Knights of the Old Republic, Jade Empire, Mass Effect, and was well into development of Dragon Age Origins.

After the acquisition came Mass Effect 2 (an excellent game, marred by ridiculous DLC practices), Dragon Age II (a massive disappointment in its own right, and also marred by ridiculous DLC practices), and Mass Effect 3 (let's not even go there). It looked like they were starting to redeem themselves with the well-received Dragon Age Inquisition, but then Mass Effect Andromeda happened. And Anthem is looking less and less promising the more they talk about it.

You hit the nail on the head with the acquisition by EA. I think they were a great little company and then EA started with their greed and corruption. Sorry to any EA fans out there. They killed the Sims franchise as well. They can't give away Sims 4. It's ridiculous with their micro transaction to death attitude.

I think DAI did fairly ok, but they had issues with the fan forum and shut it down which I think is another slap in the fans face. It's like Bioware can't take any type of criticism at all. They just get very defensive and don't try to take it for what it is...a chance to improve on their game and they just shut down and have a tantrum. I think how they handle the social media aspect of gaming has killed them as well. they just don't seem to respect the fans.
My fear with Anthem is it's a multiplayer online. I don't like those experiences for a RPG. I prefer the single player experience for that. I am scared to see with this Fortnight craze going on...it seems that all games are trying to go to this Battle Royale style of Multi player gaming which is quite frankly quickly becoming a dime a dozen and they get so boring IMO.

I really hope that is not where all games are going. I much prefer a well thought out story in a single player open world exploration format, preferably with Role Play NPC options. And not just about survival and shooting everyone you see.

[DigiFluid]

My fear with Anthem is it's a multiplayer online. I don't like those experiences for a RPG. I prefer the single player experience for that. I am scared to see with this Fortnight craze going on...it seems that all games are trying to go to this Battle Royale style of Multi player gaming

100% agree. The moment I hear that the focus is on multiplayer, that that's the emphasis and/or is what's going to get virtually the only support post-release, I pretty much lose interest. I'm just not interested in online experiences that amount to getting beaten by 14-year-old kids with nothing better to do than play all day and spam the chat with racism and homophobia.

What really makes me roll my eyes on top of that though is when you get a game like the new Star Wars Battlefront games, or the upcoming Call of Duty, where the developer has decided to just completely ditch the single-player experience--but they're still going to charge a full $60-80 for it. I'm not going to buy that, so it doesn't make me angry as such, but when they're not even bothering to do half (or more) of the development work? Come on.