The much-heralded release of a state-funded patriotic adventure video game set in 1612 and about resistance to Polish forces waging war against Russia has failed. Critics said that the game “The Time of Troubles” was boring and could not compete with other games on the market.
- The game is based on a historical novel by 19th century author Mikhail Zagoskin, about Yuri Miloslavsky, a boy who initially pledged allegiance to the Poles, but then switched sides and joined the Russian People's Militia during the conflict. There is. Zagoskin's novel was published in his 1829 and received an enthusiastic reception.
- Almost 200 years later, no video game could replicate that success. According to modern critics, this is a colossal failure. On a basic level, it's just plain boring. Approximately 80% of the game time is spent moving from place to place, and another 10% is spent interacting. Only around 7% is combat-related (based on an outdated game engine where the player kills enemies by clicking on them with the mouse), and the remaining 3% is devoted to his stealth missions. Although it does a decent job of recreating the atmosphere of the time, critics complained that there was nothing interesting to explore in the virtual historical world.
- Time of Troubles was funded by the state-run Internet Development Institute (IRI), which funds the creation of “patriotic” content. This was the first major project by developer Cyberia Nova, who had previously created graphics for other companies. IRI Director Alexei Goreslavsky said The Time of Troubles and other state-funded games are aimed at weaning Russian gamers away from imported foreign releases.
- The institute spent at least 500 million rubles (about $5.4 million) developing the game. This is fairly inexpensive by modern video game production standards. For example, the development cost for Ghost of Tsushima, the main reference point for The Time of Troubles, was his $60 million, while the Russian studio Mundfish spent about $25 million on the development of his shooter game Atomic Heart. Spent $.
Why the world should pay attention
Russia's first state-funded video game did not go well at all. Either the job was rushed or the studio lacked the experience to do it properly. Time of Troubles retails for $20, but has no hope of being a commercial success. Reviews can be either critical or neutral. What was the point of spending millions of dollars on development in the first place?
