When a group of people working on some of the biggest games in the first-person shooter genre came together at GDC for a roundtable hosted by our very own Evan Lahti, the question of rookie retention came up. Today’s most popular shooters are competitive, with extraction shooters and royale battles continuing to dominate.
David Fifield, general manager of Crytek’s Hunt franchise, calls it “the brick of entry,” a heavy weight waiting to fall on your head of fresh meat playing the first game of Hunt: Showdown. Sounds apt like a dull object.
“There’s an accomplishment in Hunt called a debut,” Fifield said. âIt was ‘defeat the first enemy hunter’ and 40% of players didn’t make it. 40% of people who have never killed another player.”
Hunt: Showdown is a PvPvE game in which a cursed gunslinger crouches through a strange west, dodging dying horses, defeating giant bosses, claiming bounties, and hoping to escape with his loot. increase. Standing between them and their safe escape are other real players who try to shoot them and steal their stuff. It’s a tense game that can be dropped by headshots from the next invisible enemy.
“Balance is difficult,” admitted Fifield. âIn chess, someone has to move first and go after what is perfectly fair and perfectly balanced? The most skilled always wins. I don’t mean to disparage the world of chess, but I love chess.” However, Fifield likes it when the underdog can come out on top.
“When you see unbeatable players going on for decades, it’s like, ‘Will anyone beat them?’ In contrast to the amazing story of someone caught a 6-star nap somewhere else, or that a third party stole them, the 6-star killed 5 others. [If] You were the last to beat him with an axe. It’s a great story and feels great. â
Shootouts with other players are the most thrilling part of Hunt, with perhaps 40% chunks of it leaving the game before they even figured out PvP during one of Hunt’s multiple free weekends on Steam As such, Fifield hopes more Hunt players will have a chance to record kills, and one of Hunt’s goals is to “reduce that number.” “It’s about having more experience in a different place and more people being able to play at least some role.” Find that mastery before you churn out the fun part or fail to get the fruits of it. â
Hunt is a game where the “E” of PvPvE matters, and you’ll be able to battle enough giant spiders and poisonous beehive zombies before graduating and hunting other hunters. Collecting bounties and making it to the extraction point without being seen can feel as much of a win as defeating the enemy team. We’re not having a great time, but Fifeld sees the 40% stat as something worth addressing. “We’re working on it,” he said. “challenge accepted.”
Also present at the FPS roundtable were Evan Nikolich, Senior Design Director of Respawn’s Apex Legends, Alan Wilson, CEO of Tripwire Interactive, and Brian Etheridge, Publishing Director of Tripwire Presents. Upload the conversation so you can listen to it for yourself right away.
