The action genre is definitely the biggest in the West among so-called AAA games - but there is, of course, no law of nature that says it has to be that way. On the contrary, there may be a vast and untapped market for larger projects in other genres. At least, that's what Chinese company Infold believes, having released the hugely popular Love and Deepspace and, most recently, Infinity Nikki over the past two years.
In an interview with VGC, the company's global PR manager Leo Zhu says:
"Our own experience with Love and Deepspace and Infinity Nikki demonstrates that non-violent, emotionally driven games can reach large Western audiences and perform strongly commercially."
Zhu believes that popular non-violent games have primarily been associated with the indie scene in the West, but this may be because no one has attempted to create high-budget non-violent titles before. The market is wide open, he says:
"Historically, the West associated non-violent successes with indie titles; what's changing is that larger-scale, high-production non-violent games are now finding mainstream adoption and critical attention. Those examples suggest the market is far from saturated. There's strong demand for high-quality, relationship-driven and cozy experiences at scale."
Are you surprised by the huge interest in the West surrounding games such as the previously mentioned Love and Deepspace and Infinity Nikki, and what do you think about the chances of more developers taking note of their success and trying to create something similar?