Improved ray tracing is key. We’re at a point where hardware improvements aren’t for selling games to end users, they’re for cutting costs for developers. Project managers don’t want to spend time and resources handcrafting lighting anymore.

We saw it before where making SSDs baseline didn’t necessarily always lead to a change in world design but certainly led to cuts in asset streaming optimization. Same with framerates.

The domestic market can be, and even that depends on your perspective. For example, China doesn’t have the insane Disney copyright regime the West has that artificially suppresses competition.

Competing in the domestic Chinese market is another conversation entirely, as right now, for video games, China has to come to us. The remnants of insular, planned economy only get you so far when you’re trying to build soft power and expand into foreign markets.

Mario & Luigi games are still JRPGs, which is a genre that’s more of a vibe than something easily defined. Here it’s a little easier because the series traces back to a major JRPG developer in the 1990s.

Even Expedition 33, another one with timed gameplay, is frequently getting lumped into the category (though that might change in coming years). That’s why I prefer the term Japanese-style role-playing games, as the genre is increasingly seeing game dev outside of Japan.

depends how much chinese influence you want in the gaming market.

There’s no stopping that train now, Tencent or no.

Traditional devs need to be ready to compete, and breaking up monopolies makes for a market more prepared to do so.