Money Has Killed Originality

The entertainment industry has become completely frontlined with uninteresting slop meant to look enticing and make money. Be it movies, music, games, there is no place for originality when it comes to what is put at the forefront of the respective mediums.

The thing that sparked this blog to be written and what drove me to the previously stated conclusion was the reveal trailer for the new Halo: Campaign Evolved game that was uploaded a few days ago. Now I’m not going to go into details as to why I believe this game lacks originality, but I’ll surmise it to the best of my ability. Story time!

343 Industries, or now known as Halo Studios, is a development team that has struggled to satisfy the fan’s expectations to put it simply. They’ve been known to go back on their promises, misdirect players' expectations with teasers and marketing campaigns to no payoff, and overall have been completely out of touch with their player base and their wants. This is the studio that is holding the future of one of the most influential games of all time in their hands. 

The Halo: CE remaster in 2011 was their first work as a Halo development team, and it was met with loud criticisms regarding the overuse of recycled assets from previous Halo titles, out of place lighting and atmosphere that contrasts with the original, and what was generally received as pretty much an asset flip made to profit on the 10 year anniversary of a beloved game. Many would assume that since the many years between that the studio would be better informed on what players expect from a revisit to the same old game. However, looking at the newly released trailer, it is obvious to long-time fans that there are a lot of assets reused from previous titles, and with the game now made in Unreal Engine 5, many issues associated with the engine are also prevalent. A lot of the criticism about the remaster from over a decade ago still holds true for this new title. Be it the tone, the environmental design, the game mechanics, they are all out of touch with what fans are familiar with. It is not as though a lot of work hasn’t been put into making the game look and sound impressive, but the effort has all seemingly been placed in the wrong areas. It became clear to me, at the very least, that the studio does not know what to do with the game series they have been tasked with keeping alive.

The studio that originally created the legendary series and set industry standards, Bungie, isn’t doing all too well either. After leaving Microsoft and pairing with Activision, then later joining Sony, their fans are disappointed in the constant push of microtransactions, stolen work scandals, removal of content paid for by players from their game, and piece-meal updates sold later as expansions. A studio once beloved by both the fans and revered by the industry at some point turned into a completely soulless corporate husk.

I think unfortunately this story isn’t all too uncommon in other entertainment media either. We’ve seen it happen many times, be it a movie studio, a band we like, or even a tv show that has gone on for way longer than it probably should have. All this has left me asking this question: why does this happen? And I know the answer of course, it’s money. This is where I divulge more into the general umbrella of this topic, that is the effect of money on art and originality. Is this the end result of every financially successful work made by skilled actors in the entertainment industry? They make enough money, sign over the dotted line that gives all their creative freedom away, and those unwilling either leave or are let go to be replaced with willing cogs. Is this inevitable?

I would like to hope not. I think most of us would like to believe there can be a success story that doesn’t end in a promising studio becoming corrupted by money. I’ll tell you what I think, though. I believe that these examples of studios or developers losing their way tends to be due to their own choosing. It is in the moment that they sign over their creative liberties to a major conglomerate that they begin their march into disappointing all those who are watching. I believe it is inherent that they must decline large bags of money with waivers attached that directly influence the creative process. I’m a believer that art made with making money as one of its main tenets, will only be held back by that goal. I’m not against profiting from your creative successes, don’t get me wrong, but I’ve never seen a good outcome from letting the financial aspect dictate the contents of the arts. I believe it only clouds the vision of the visionary, gets in the way of the performer and their performance. It makes itself so influential that it may as well be the devil, clouding the thoughts of whoever lets it in.

This might be coming off very preachy, but really it’s coming from a place of desperation. If there’s something you’re passionate about, something you’re really working hard on, something you want to bloom into the best version of itself, then you must refuse the devil’s deal. Know that it is not a deal worth taking anyways, over time your project will lose what made it special, your supporters will abandon you, and when they do, the one who gave you the waiver will also leave the crime scene, bearing no responsibility. If one cares about what they make, they must refuse that deal.

Thank you for reading this blog post, maybe it seemed a bit dramatic but I felt pretty passionate about the topic and thought I’d just spill my thoughts.

Feel free to let me know your thoughts!