Winter 2023 DLC Speculation
- Thread starter Leaf Productions
- Start date
I still do, domestics remain a strong possibility to branch off the usual trend of animals.
I'm still hoping for it. Assuming we get 1 more full year of DLC, I could see it this coming spring or next fall. I view it as a scenery pack, though, not an animal pack
Elite Dangerous studio Frontier Developments announces layoffs 'following a period of disappointing financial performance'
Frontier Developments is the latest to lay off employees, following what it said was a "challenging" year.
"cutting costs" might be the reason for the - in my personal opinion - rather weak last few DLCs with cut corners and "reskins".
I feel sorry for everyone effected by the lay offs. I'm not an expert on game development nor do I know any numbers, but I wonder if it would have been smarter to strengthen their portfolio in simulations, rather than dipping into other genres.
Anyway, regarding PZ I'm torn. On one hand it still generates needed revenue as far as I know and might be a financial collumn - or not, because the last DLCs probably did not as good as expected- Which I honestly can't blame the player base for at this point.
At the end of the day I hope for everyone laid off here it turns out as a blessing in disguise and they find an even better working oppurtuity, I wish the game the best and the company the best and us as community /players the best. I wouldn't count Frontier as one of the companys that "deserve" a down fall, so it's really sad.
I hope so, I need some domestics in game. Also they would be some easier animals to program.
I'm still crossing my fingers for spring.
Goat, squirrel monkey, duck, oddball + the merry-go-round from PC and some playground pieces.
I hope so since it could be a cool way to get some nice animals and pieces. I think the talk about it kinda went down because the next pack more likely than not is an animal pack and the children zoo theme kinda has to be a scenery pack.
IDK, I'd guess he's pretty in coloring and would kind of resemble a Tree Kangaroo. PLUS, he's found in zoos all over the world.
IF we get highlands pack I'd want either him or Tree Kangaroo (I prefer tree kangaroo)
Oh god this just makes so much sense. I’ve thought a lot of recent DLCs (besides Oceania) just haven’t done as much as some of the others have. I think they have been playing it really safe. Which makes sense, if Frontier is trying to branch out to other games they would move staff and resources around. I think this caused the unfortunate side effect of people buying the DLCs less as time goes on.Elite Dangerous studio Frontier Developments announces layoffs 'following a period of disappointing financial performance'
Frontier Developments is the latest to lay off employees, following what it said was a "challenging" year.www.pcgamer.com
"cutting costs" might be the reason for the - in my personal opinion - rather weak last few DLCs with cut corners and "reskins".
I feel sorry for everyone effected by the lay offs. I'm not an expert on game development nor do I know any numbers, but I wonder if it would have been smarter to strengthen their portfolio in simulations, rather than dipping into other genres.
Anyway, regarding PZ I'm torn. On one hand it still generates needed revenue as far as I know and might be a financial collumn - or not, because the last DLCs probably did not as good as expected- Which I honestly can't blame the player base for at this point.
At the end of the day I hope for everyone laid off here it turns out as a blessing in disguise and they find an even better working oppurtuity, I wish the game the best and the company the best and us as community /players the best. I wouldn't count Frontier as one of the companys that "deserve" a down fall, so it's really sad.
There was just less interest for the general public, with the animals for each pack becoming more “niche”. I have bought every pack, and I love every animal. I can’t blame some Jane/ John Doe for getting the animal pack with meerkats, penguins, and a rhino and not getting the one with the red river hog, fossa, and a sloth. I can’t even blame general animal lovers for not buying the new packs, a lot of the animals have been more out there. I know we all talked about how important animals like the RRH was for Planet Zoo. I thought they were too, so many zoos have them. Let’s be honest we have been moving the goal post since launch though. At launch the top animals needed for the game were animals like a Polar Bear, kangaroo, penguin, etc.
Of course no one’s at fault, this is just business. I hope the people laid off get new jobs soon! It’s a tricky situation to be in and I hope they get through it well. I think Frontier must have relied too much on PZ being a consistent money maker, so kept the DLCs rather stable and similar for better profit returns. PZ just isn’t making what they were hoping for though, and I can’t blame people for not buying the new dlc.
Honestly I love the consistent updates and dlc, it keeps the community active! I love the work Frontier does for this game. When it comes to money though, I think Frontier should have shook up the formula though. On steam, Reddit, and here on the forum people have been asking for the same things:
- Aquatic Animals
- Monkeys
- Birds
Either way I love Frontier and the support they gave us, and I hope the people who lost there jobs get a new one. But I wouldn’t be surprised if support ends sooner than I expected after getting this news, either way we will see.
The one type of animal I don't want (at this point) is aquatic animals...
The ONLY reason being is because there are still sooooo many land animals to add.
That and they couldn't do the oceanic world justic in the present DLC formats. So IF they added aquatic I'd hope it is in a larger format! AND, just to add my most wanted aquatic animal is Beluga Whale
The ONLY reason being is because there are still sooooo many land animals to add.
That and they couldn't do the oceanic world justic in the present DLC formats. So IF they added aquatic I'd hope it is in a larger format! AND, just to add my most wanted aquatic animal is Beluga Whale
Oh, and to add I want more monkes but I don't want a primate pack.
The only taxon based pack I want is Birds.
The only taxon based pack I want is Birds.
Gasps in Quellian How dare you?!
I do not See a Lot of Quality dropdown. At least within the DLC. We get our normal 2-3 specials animals with unique rigs (except for the earlier DLCs WE never got more), the details of the animals get better and better. The animal choices must not be your type of wishes but I see nothing which really has changed compared to the year before. The only thing I would say which were less big this year has been the free Updates. But this seems normal to me as a Lot of stuff already got added.
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I don't think there has been a quality drop. I think that idea was spread due to the dissatisfaction with the Arid Animal Pack. For some reason everyone equates ungulates as a walk in the development park for Frontier ,which may have some truth to it, but I'm sure it's still a lot of hard work. I think if anything, the Oceania Pacn shows how much effort and passion is still being poured into this game.
And for all things good and holy, I dont want to start a doomspeaking type conversation, but this lay off does make me a bit concerned. Its probably best to just take the new packs as they come, continue support and promote the game, and stay cautiously optimistic. Let's stay hyped for this anniversary update and pack 16!
And for all things good and holy, I dont want to start a doomspeaking type conversation, but this lay off does make me a bit concerned. Its probably best to just take the new packs as they come, continue support and promote the game, and stay cautiously optimistic. Let's stay hyped for this anniversary update and pack 16!
Reading the articles, and recent financial info, it all has more to do with other games not doing as well as they hoped than anything involving Planet Zoo. If anything, I could see them potentially focusing a bit more on Planet Zoo in the interim rather than stopping support. And personally, I've not seen a dip in quality for the DLCs or free updates. It all feels like it has over the last few years...
But time will tell. All I know is that I feel sorry for everyone affected by this process and the decisions that have to be made; I'm grateful for the contributions; and I hope everybody is okay!
TBH, both the DLC and the free updates have been pretty consistent with what we've gotten in the past both in terms of size and quality. The Arid pack probably didn't do quite as well as they initially hoped but... I recall it being high up on Steam the day it was released similar to all the other DLC packs. So I'm sure that also did fine.
With the free updates, I think it's just less noticeable in some instances as the game already has quite a bit in it! There's obviously a lot of different things Frontier could be doing but with one exception (the camera tools that came alongside Arid) I think the free updates have pretty consistently provided similar amounts of new and useful content.
The word "quality" is a confusing one. Because even if you don't like the picks in a pack? They all look really great, have fun animations, etc. I can't think of a DLC pack that I've ever bought and thought "Hmmm, the quality is poor." Haha. Maybe little things here or there I may want to change but mostly I'm always stoked on them!
Also agree with you on the "doomspeak" part. And I actually kinda feel more positive about the future of PZ with this news (as they intend to focus more on management sims and don't have new games on the immediate horizon).
But that aside... It's all just a cruddy situation and I hope everybody's okay.
You quoted me, so please quote the part where I talked about quality in this context.
Where did they say that they intend to focus on management sims more in the future? It's not said in the article I linked, do you have a source?
The financial presentation and related video all state that very clearly. They don't specify Planet Zoo or JWE2 in that but highlight they are re-focusing on creative management sims with new games coming in this space in FY24 and FY25.
So it's going to be a bit before one of those games drops. Would stand to reason they may continue to support Planet Zoo in the meantime considering it's their most profitable and active company owned-IP at the moment. Obviously not a guarantee as there's dozens of other factors in play but... That's where my head is at currently.
What did I miss?