In this episode, Greg and Colan break down the surprising success of Hytale after its departure from Riot Games, the strategic restructuring at Ubisoft, and the evolving multi-platform future of Xbox. Colan provides a deep-dive "dissertation" on the three eras of Riot Games publishing and explains why the studio may be "trapped by its own success".
Key Discussion Points
1. The Hytale Miracle: From Cancellation to Chart-Topper - The Buyback: After Riot Games effectively shuttered the project, the original founders bought back the rights and launched into Early Access.
- Market Dominance: Within its first weeks, Hytale ranked #4 in search and #9 on Twitch, commanding roughly 2.5% of the total gaming market.
- The China Factor: Colan highlights the massive "opportunity cost" for Riot/Tencent, noting that Hytale could have been a native competitor to Minecraft in a Chinese market with over 700 million accounts.
2. The Evolution (and Stagnation) of Riot Games Publishing - The Golden Era (2019-2020): Riot enjoyed a historic run with "heaters" like Valorant, Teamfight Tactics, and Legends of Runeterra.
- The "Trapped" Success: Colan argues that Riot is now bloated by the weight of its own success; the immense resources required to maintain massive live-service hits prevents them from taking bold risks on new IP.
- Riot Forge Lessons: Why Riot’s attempt to release smaller "love letters" to the community failed to act as a funnel for new players.
3. Ubisoft’s Strategic Reset - Cancellations & Restructuring: Ubisoft has canceled six games, including the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake, while mandating a 5-day return-to-office policy.
- The Global Shift: An analysis of why game development is shifting from expensive hubs like California to subsidized regions like Riyadh.
4. The Shooter Landscape: Highguard vs. Marathon - Highguard’s Attention Deficit: Despite viral memes, the game lacks measurable player attention, making it a high-risk launch in a genre dominated by Apex and Overwatch.
- The Case for Marathon: Colan remains "bullish" on Bungie’s Marathon, predicting it will successfully claim a "bronze medal" spot in the extraction shooter hierarchy.
Featured Quotes
"Riot is first-in-class at maintaining live ecosystems, but that success becomes a weight. Why risk anything when you have a thing you can monetize forever?" —
Colan NeeseResources & Links
- Colan’s Newsletter: Subscribe to "Patch Notes" on Substack or LinkedIn for the full dissertation on Riot's publishing history.
- Player Driven Workshop: Sign up for next week’s player experience session at PlayerDriven.io.
- DICE Summit 2026: Catch Greg and Colan live in Las Vegas next month.
