rowzdowr

UE5 isn't the issue. Building a console running hardware specs from 2 generations ago masked with upscaling is the issue. It's essentially an undervolted mobile RTX 2050 with a midrange phone CPU.

When your engine runs fine on every other platform, but has to cut essential features (Nanite and Lumen, among others), then the answer is pretty clear.

I mean, it's cool you just discovered this, but

Xbox has been doing cloud saves for years, and they transfer between console and PC for play anywhere games. If you have an Ally or other handheld PC, you can play the same saves there that you do on console or desktop just like you do between the Steam Deck and Machine.

Obsidian wasn't "gutted", they went from like 285 people to around 230. Yes, it was a lot, but the studio is far from dead or dying. And they've always been a AA studio.

That's beside the point though, really. Articles like this, lamenting for what was lost, trying to make Avowed look like it was the next Elder Scrolls or Dragon Age are pointless. People didn't show up to buy the game. Microsoft is the cold, calculating corporate overlord here, for sure, but why would they save something people voted with their wallets against?

Wow, an entire article just to explain that the author is actually just a vanilla shonen fan. Lol

Don't worry, buddy. You can always rewatch My Hero and Naruto if this one is too much.

Seriously, though, I think the ending worked great. They more or less set up all along that Eren would end up being the true antagonist if he ever got real power, but the reveal of the island's place in the wider world was a great twist.

Nintendo stands to lose a lot less since their share of digital titles is only 50% of sales, versus PS and Xbox having 85% digital.

Really though, I think the others here nailed it on the head, that they aren't selling cheaper games, they're just less expensive, which is a key distinction. There's no reason $60 can't still be the standard, when the customer base is larger than ever, and games are (despite what AAA studios claim) cheaper and easier than ever to make, provided your management isn't trash and you haven't overhired. Just look at Expedition 33.

The big corp studios basically decided that everything else has gone up, why shouldn't we?