Violence Sells: The AAA RPG Industry's Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
When Baldur's Gate 3 launched last year, it made waves by letting players completely avoid combat in many situations. Yet even this critically acclaimed RPG couldn't escape the industry's combat-centric design philosophy – its marketing still heavily featured dragons, mind flayers, and spectacular magical battles. According to Fallout co-creator Tim Cain, this isn't likely to change anytime soon.
"Companies make games—and products in general—that people will buy," Cain explained in a recent YouTube video addressing the future of RPG design. Drawing from his experience as The Outer Worlds' game director, he described a persistent challenge: marketing anything besides combat feels nearly impossible.
The market reality hits hard when you dig into the numbers. While publishers keep most sales data close to their chest, the gap between action and narrative RPGs speaks for itself. Take Diablo IV - Blizzard's hack-and-slash juggernaut racked up 10 million sales faster than you could say "Lilith." Meanwhile, despite critical acclaim and a devoted fanbase, Disco Elysium's publisher only celebrated hitting 2 million copies long after its initial release.
"How do we show that this game has a really good story? How do we show fantastic dialogue in a 30-second trailer?" Cain asked, reflecting on The Outer Worlds' marketing campaign. "Meanwhile, show someone jumping, climbing, shooting – instantly you've demonstrated value."
Josh Sawyer, studio design director at Obsidian Entertainment, recently shared similar thoughts. "Non-violent options are expensive to implement and harder to market," he noted during a GDC panel last spring. "We're often fighting for resources just to maintain dialogue choices."
Some developers are pushing back against this trend. Larian Studios' Swen Vincke advocates for more systemic design approaches. "Combat shouldn't be your only tool," he argued in a recent PCGamer interview. "Every mechanic we add should serve the narrative experience."
The feedback loop shows no signs of breaking. Big publishers keep betting on tried-and-true combat systems because that's where their data points them. But here's the catch - when most of your marketing budget goes to showing off flashy combat sequences, you're not really giving other gameplay styles a fair shot at proving themselves in the market. As Cain puts it, shaking his head in the video, we shouldn't hold our breath for major changes in AAA RPG design until our purchasing habits shift dramatically.
