With the ever increasing popularity of games, developers seem more keen on increasing budgets for AAA titles. Sounds good, right? Well, the problem with increased budgets, means that there are more risks. Games with higher budgets need to sell better than good to make up for the increased costs. When there are more risks for financial failure, there are fewer risks taken in development.
Despite the increase in game quality, one might notice that studios have stuck to certain archetypes with their games. Tolkien-esque fantasy, soft science fiction (think Star Wars), supernatural creatures, you know the drill. Problem is, there are only so many genres to choose from, supposedly. That’s where ‘the new weird’ comes in.
Jeff Vandermeer, one of the prime authors of the new weird, describes the genre as a “type of urban, secondary-world fiction that subverts the romanticized ideas about place found in traditional fantasy, largely by choosing realistic, complex real-world models as the jumping-off point for creation of settings that may combine elements of both science fiction and fantasy.” In addition to science fiction and fantasy, many New Weird titles have an element of supernatural horror to them. The idea is to basically take these three genres, which tend to appeal to the mass audience and subvert and deconstruct their cliches.
The New Weird Genre
The new weird is still finding its audience but the two biggest titles belonging to the genre are Annihilation and House of Leaves. Annihilation may be categorized as straight up science fiction by some, but the author, Jeff Vandermeer, takes an approach to science fiction that is so innovative that it blurs the lines of what it means to be called science fiction. The creature that the characters are dealing with is more than just an extraterrestrial, and the writing has elements of horror and existentialism in it. House of Leaves isn’t just considered one of the scariest novels of all time but one of the prime examples of postmodernism in fiction. Featuring a house that’s bigger on the inside than it is on the outside, a maze, a protagonist that goes on frequent digressions as he’s recounting the story, and narratives that might not have actually happened, the story doesn’t feature a single horror cliche. These two titles and their unanimous praise show that there’s potential for the genre to grow, and video games would be wise to take inspiration.
One video game that has taken influence from the new weird is Control. Sam Lake, the games writer and creative director of Remedy Entertainment, said of the genre’s influence “we were taking the genre of the “new weird,” this literary genre, which takes this approach that we’re dealing with things we don’t understand fully. It can’t be explained satisfactorily and handed to you like, “Here’s the answer and this is what it’s all about.”” Both Annihilation and House of Leaves were cited as a direct inspiration by the developers of Control. The game has been noted for its originality and overall “weirdness” (in a good way). Reviewers noted how the game had a sense of unease without being specifically like a horror game. The games antagonists, the Hiss, are presented as entities instead of the typical aliens or demons. With the game taking place in a bureaucratic building, there’s an interesting contrast between the mundane and the weird. Though it wasn’t the best selling game of the year, it racked up a bunch of awards and was nominated for Game of the Year at the prestigious Game Awards. It’s risky storytelling approach paid off.
The new weird genre offers a lot of potential, but will studios take advantage of it? Probably no time soon. For one, though one might think that the typical genre tropes are growing stale, the fact that these games still sell like hotcakes, says otherwise. Not to mention these AAA games aren’t necessarily receiving bad reviews. Games like Skyrim and Halo may use age old tropes, but they still receive acclaim and superb sales. Meanwhile, for all the acclaim that a game like Control or a movie like Annihilation has received, people weren’t too eager to support those products.
Simply put, the new weird, is weird. Though that weirdness may come with originality that’s hard to find, studios may fear that the genre may be too off-putting for customers. We’ll only see more games like Control if more developers start to take more risks. The new weird offers a lot of untapped potential and creative freedom, but it’s possible that customers just aren’t ready for it.
