Their problem with arcade games was that they only released their shit on the Playstation but Sony isn't really supportive of indies anymore (they're not out there advertising them on stage at e3 and stuff, plus all the execs left years ago to go work at annapurna, which is why journey is on the epic games store, lol). Like... man, look at Alienation. I'd buy four copies of that game on Steam if it released there, and I know a bunch of other people who would too. But it's ~only~ on PlayStation.
Then you have games like Nex Machina, which are trying to be a hardcore arcade game... in a world where very few people play those games? This is a game you can't even fuckin save in, last I knew. Man, I got chronic pain issues, there's no way I'm gonna run around playing a twin-stick shooter I can't save in.
Plus, Steam is drowning in twin-stick games. Housemarque making the only good twin-sticks doesn't mean it's enough, right? I love their games and they're the best, but those games are impossible to sell.
Housemarque has to make games that have better hooks than "the prettiest twin-stick shooters in the world," and they have to release them on platforms that will either push them (like ID@Xbox does with things like Cuphead) or with a publisher who will (like Annapurna, but I heard at GDC that they're not funding games right now since Larry Ellison had to take over to stop them from losing money). Or they have to start making games that have broader appeal.
It sucks, because if I was an insane billionaire, I'd literally just pay Housemarque to make like 20 different twin-stick shooters for the next two decades. I love those games.
