Game Theory: Are Theories KILLING Video Games?

Thanks to Capital One Shopping for sponsoring a portion of this video!

A while ago over on Film Theory, I tried to figure out if we theory channels and fans RUINED Star Wars. Did our analysis make the creators feel like they had to do crazy things to surprise us and not play into our predictions? Well, it looks like we need to have that conversation AGAIN - this time about the video game industry. Listen, Game Devs need to let me be RIGHT!

Videos mentioned:

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Credits:
Writers: Matthew Patrick, William Ryan Sheehan "El Fodder", and Tom Robinson
Editors: Tyler Mascola, Forrest Lee, Dan "Cybert" Seibert, and Jerika (NekoOnigiri)
Assistant Editor: Caitie Turner (Caiterpillart)
Sound Editor: Yosi Berman

#FNAF #Bendy #HelloNeighbor #FiveNightsAtFreddys #BendyAndTheInkMachine #RuinGaming #MatPat #Theory #GameTheory #capitaloneshopping

[Daggz]

Honored to be included in this discussion matpat! Been watching you for like a decade now so it's insane to just casually show up in one of your videos like that, absolutely honored

[chaosic]

Game company : "Oh no they guessed it. Quick, change it!"
Mat : "I think they changed it. Here's my theory on them changing it!"
Game company : "DANGIT"

[homerunproduction]

I think another thing to note is that
When MatPat is correct, that doesn't mean your game is predictable, it means (like he said) your story is logical.

[amokriinprolgiid]

My favorite case of a creator trying to throw fans off of the truth has to be when Alex Hirsch (the creator of gravity falls) saw that fans started guessing that Stan had a brother who wrote the journals, and he created a fake leak framing McGucket as the author of the journals. It was brilliant and did exactly what he wanted it to do, without sacrificing the story.

[skeeplebop]

After thorough thought on the subject, I've decided to not leave a comment with the word "jumpkick" in it, only because Matt asked so nicely, and I wouldn't want to disappoint him ❤

[Merrsharr]

"I knew it" is way more rewarding than "I didn't see that coming", especially if that twist feels forced

[Sheeprampage]

Theories make games so much more fun! But i do feel like some games do try to change things after seeing theories

[jricket]

"Let us be right" and "I KNEW IT!" are rules for DMs running D&D tables too. Sure, make twists, but then keep your clues going in that same direction. Don't punish the players for being clever.

[mcbjak]

I think its a great point that developers should let the fans have their win. The fans will get excited cus they picked up on the correct clues, and the developers laid out the clues in such a way, that there was indeed something to track, somthing to theorise about.

[Zula_The_Squid]

When theorists are able to guess it right, it's a medal of honour for the developers.
It means that their plot makes sense and isn't absolute bullsquid.

[lachlanokeefe]

thinking about your conclusion, game devs should do something like Alex Hirsch, creator of Gravity Falls. When fans found his big secret, he did not change his conclusion, he gave something which did not affect the story at all, but gave fans enough doubt about their conclusion that they still felt the effect of a shocking reveal.

[SaganHawkes]

Woah, really great video, honored to be mentioned in it. Interesting hearing your perspective on this whole topic.

[Stellar_]

I love how Mat jumpkicks into his transitions. It’s really nice editing style and I might pick it up someday.

[dionettaeon]

So, essentially what I'm hearing is that, in a desperate attempt to be unpredictable, some developers panic and lose sight of their own game's congruity.

[bacaestrife]

I am gonna say that if game developers ARE changing their lore last minute around what you're doing, that's just poor decision making on their part. Rushed last minute changes are always gonna be worse than the actual story you were going to go with, fulfilling audience expectations isn't a bad thing, and fact is, if someone watched a theory video and spoiled the game for themselves, that's on them. Like listening to fan feed back is one thing, but changing everything around so it's a surprise, is just a bad idea.

[Kale]

To all the game developers out there, Matpat is right. Don’t worry about us finding out the lore of your games before you’re ready to release it all; it’s what makes the game fun. Finding out we were right about FNAF (in some cases) made it all the more exciting. It gives us something to talk about and reminisce over, it builds communities and friendships (from what I’ve seen, FNAF kids always migrate together). And at the end of the day, it’s nice find yourself correct about something.

[nikorosell]

I just wish game developers would make a fun game with an intriguing story, instead of theory chasing 🥺

[HoweverMayor]

I'd rather have a great predicted story than a "twist" ending that's nonsensical and forced.

[mayosanta]

As a writer, seeing people's reactions to a twist is always satisfying.
As a consumer, guessing a twist before it happens is always satisfying.
Please, writers, realise that you're making something with the primary intent of being enjoyable to an audience. If you get angry and change things when they do something that will make them happy, you're doing a bad job.

[thatoneothergamer]

0:11 "the game was unpolished, glitchy and nothing like how we predcited"
me: do you know how little that narrows it down?!