Games
Discover facts about games. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Games
No Man's Sky's advertising faced a formal investigation
After complaints about its Steam page, the UK's advertising regulator examined whether the footage and claims represented the released game. It rejected the…
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How Final Fantasy XIV destroyed its own world
The original Final Fantasy XIV ended with the moon Dalamud opening and releasing the dragon Bahamut. The catastrophe closed an unsuccessful version of the…
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Mass Effect 3 got a second attempt at saying goodbye
After backlash over the trilogy's ending, BioWare released the free Extended Cut in 2012. Added scenes and epilogues gave more context to the final choices…
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Tomb Raider's remaster kept the old engine under the new look
The remaster developers said they used the original source code and engine to preserve how the games work while updating presentation. Players can switch…
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Belgium treated FIFA packs as gambling
Belgian authorities ruled that paying for a random chance at a soccer player counts as gambling, forcing EA to change its FIFA pack system.
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PUBG's frying pan became bulletproof by accident
A coding oversight made the frying pan block bullets, turning a kitchen utensil into gear players could use to deflect shots from behind.
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Assassin's Creed let players climb a painstaking digital Notre-Dame
For Unity, artists recreated the cathedral as an explorable game environment, balancing its recognizable architecture with the needs of play. That required…
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When playing SimCity required an internet connection
EA required online check-ins even for solo play, but its servers buckled at launch, leaving legitimate buyers unable to access their cities.
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Steam algorithms push visual novels to all users
Even after years of playing military shooters, you might still get recommended a pigeon-dating visual novel. Steam’s storefront can favor whatever cheap…
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Halo 2 multiplayer code was barely held together
Weeks before launch, developers said the code was fundamentally broken, so they duct-taped the framework together to get it out the door.
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GTA V's reported budget put it in blockbuster-movie territory
Contemporary estimates placed development and marketing together at roughly $265 million. That figure included getting the game in front of buyers, not just…
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Steam's biggest sellers can earn a better revenue split
Valve's published tiers keep the standard split through a game's first $10 million in revenue, then give developers 75 percent of revenue above that threshold…
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One developer balanced Assassin's Creed II in Excel
One developer spent months using a huge spreadsheet to set prices for items such as swords and paintings across multiple cities.
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Some Steam games existed to farm trading cards
Valve described developers distributing keys to bot accounts so those accounts could generate and sell trading cards. The game itself did not need a real…
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Final Fantasy VII spent heavily on television ads
Its publisher spent tens of millions of dollars on 1990s TV and print ads—far more on marketing than on coding the game.
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Why Steam reviews become political weapons
Users sometimes punish a publisher's unrelated games with negative Steam reviews after a political controversy, dragging down scores and damaging sales metrics.
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EVE Online players got their names engraved in metal
Developers built a monument in Reykjavik, Iceland, and engraved thousands of players’ usernames in metal.
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The update that made Warcraft 3 worse
The Reforged edition replaced the original client and removed beloved community-made modes, leaving some fans with fewer features than in the version they…
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DayZ spent five years in alpha
Players paid to test a still-unfinished, bug-ridden game during its five-year alpha phase.
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Duke Nukem Forever spent 14 years trying to arrive
Repeated changes of technology and development upheavals stretched the sequel's journey from its 1997 announcement to its 2011 release. Meanwhile, the games…
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EVE Online lets players sell information as well as spaceships
Corporations can pay in-game currency for intelligence, infiltration or sabotage by other players. A trusted member may therefore be an asset worth more than…
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Why blackjack tables hide tiny mirrors
A small mirror built into the table lets the dealer check the corner of a face-down card for a natural 21 without exposing it to players.
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Whack-a-mole uses aggressive pneumatic cylinders
Pressurized-air cylinders drive the moles up and down, putting the cabinet through a mechanical workout and making regular maintenance necessary.
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Cards Against Humanity owns an independent warehouse
The company runs its own fulfillment center, handling the shipping of its games instead of relying on regular distributors.
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