In Defence Of Dead Games
We hear the phrase 'dead game' a lot in gaming. Probably not quite as much as the dude who runs Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout's Twitter account, but still. We hear it a lot. It's seen by many as the perfect finishing blow, an absolute destroyer of worlds that not only ends the conversation, but results in complete and utter annihilation of your opponent. It's video gaming's answer to 'your mom'. It sounds cool and effective, but it doesn't really mean anything at all.
It's usually a phrase thrown at games which enjoy a brief period of white hot popularity, and then fade into relative obscurity. But this obscurity is not caused by the total abandonment of the game, but instead by its time in the sun being over. The aforementioned Fall Guys was the biggest hit around in the summer of 2020, and you get the impression that the devs don't really know where they went wrong. They didn't change the game, add monetisation to turn people off, or play around with it out of greed or hubris - one day a lot of people just stopped playing. It's still as fun as it always has been, and receives regular updates for its remaining playerbase, but it's no longer the number one game in the world. It feels wrong to hold Fall Guys' success against it - is it really 'dead' just because it's now 'quite popular' instead of 'the only thing people can talk about'?
Realted: I'd Rather Play The Worst Game Ever Than The Best One
Cyberpunk 2077, which also burned incredibly bright incredibly briefly, is also labelled a 'dead game', which is even more ridiculous. Cyberpunk 2077 still has an active community, brings in high numbers, and unlike Fall Guys, every update is major news. I didn't care for the game at launch, and have not enjoyed any of the
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