Thomas Mahler's been making the news this week. The Game Director for Ori and the Blind Forest and Ori and the Will of the Wisps offered some strong criticisms of "snake oil salesmen" on Wednesday via ResetEra, taking aim specifically at Peter Molyneux, No Man's Sky and Cyberpunk 2077.
As you can imagine, that led to some rather heated debate. Given that Will of the Wisps notably suffered with performance issues at launch, he's been accused of hypocrisy in several quarters and criticised for a "reductive" viewpoint.
Since then, however, Mahler has issued an apology. Releasing a statement via Twitter yesterday, he's backtracked on his previous comments and admitted that he "screwed up":
https://twitter.com/thomasmahler/status/1357445038142324737
My intention was definitely not to hurt anybody, but to offer up a discussion starter on current issues the industry is facing. We all share a common love for this artform and we should always remain respectful with each other. And I wasn’t yesterday.
Was Mahler right to apologise? Do you agree with his original points or did he get wrong this time? Let us know down below.
[source videogameschronicle.com]
Comments 50
Please Nintendo release some information, then we can discuss something other than this, he said what he said, stand by it.
I don't really mind people complain about game devs all the time. At the end of the day devs are also people they can also be gamers and act like them to LOL. (I did not read what he said about NMS and CP yet to sorry if what I said made no real sense.)
You can't be honest and keep a job in the pho-gaming world we living in. Everything has to be fake praise and positivity and they get mad when "gamers" are "toxic".
He either meant it or he didn't. If you meant it, you shouldn't apologise. If you didn't mean it, you shouldn't have said it.
He made some very solid points, just didn't put them across very well.
As soon as two or more people on Twitter don't like what you have said about something BAM! It's time to draft a statement where you retract your original comment and are apologetic. This world has lost its balls.
@Dezzy,
Your comment sound far to reasonable, it should be removed.
I actually agree with him and he did have good points in his apparent rant. And he has the right to criticize and express his opinion if he sees there's clearly something wrong. You could see his passion.
But of course what he did was very risky since if you are to criticize someone else in the same industry you really need to 'walk the walk, talk the talk' and if you mess up you'll be the one on the receiving end.
Ya when I saw his criticisms yesterday it was a dumb move to make. Will I agree with some point levied against him my concern was from a future issue. That if he wanted to change jobs then he would have a much small pool of options if employers didn't like his honest opinion.
While I do praise him for his honest on Peter as he is a true snake oil salesman. His thoughts on Shane I would have agree until I saw Internet Historians video on No man sky and that has put a different view point on shane. Then cyberpunks dishonesty was defo the game running on last gen systems.
Is he sorry about what he said?
Or just sorry that he received so much backlash?
Don't backtrack, stick to your guns!!
He shouldn't have apologised.
My guess is he is apologizing for the tone, not the message
I didn't agree with his tone, but I thought his comments and criticisms were fair. To be honest though, it's nothing new that game developers, musicians, filmmakers etc push their respective products as the next big thing prior to release. How many sequels to films are promoted as "we're going for an Empire Strikes Back/Godfather II vibe" and turn out to be average-at-best borefests? The nature of marketing.
Is this the same guy that got weird and defensive about Hollow Knight comparisons? Anyway can’t wait for Silksong.
He said he didn't like people lying about their games. What is there to apologize for??
I agree the tone of his message needed some work - but at the same time, I can't fault his original point in most ways. This is a case of an employer or boss of some sort sitting down and saying... apologise for this.
No apology necessary, sir.
He wasn't wrong that developers and publishers need to be responsible in both the promotion of their games and on the product that they deliver.
Maintaining customer and business trust relations is important, and CD Projekt Red recently lost much of that hard-earned trust.
He was “right” to apologize because he pissed off powerful and connected industry leaders, he was CORRECT when he said that exaggerations for successful marketing purposes are industry wide
I remember when a game was released, that was it. No changes possible. And they were on cassette. leans back on rocking chair and wistfully gazes into the distance past of youth
Why is the concept of "standing by your opinion, but apologizing for the unconstructive manner you expressed it in" so foreign to many here? I see so many saying "oh he's backpedaling/retracting his statement/apologizing for what he said" and he's not. He's just apologizing for how he said it, which i think is necessary and mature.
I have to say when they screwed the early adopters who bought the steam version then later released a "definitive" version of Ori and the blind Forest and charged people for the upgrade, they really aren't in a position to be throwing stones at other people and studios.
That's okay mang.
We understand the frustration.
@Dunan
I would say that this is a different situation from what he's talking about the other day.
It's slightly unfair to say that he can't criticise others for something he doesn't do himself, just because he does something else that you disagree with.
Tbf, he was right. He doesn't need to apologize for calling people out. They deserve it.
As a side note...I get that people like their games (why else would they feel compelled to complete and release them) but sometimes, they just hype them up too much.
He was right. And before someone turns this into some need to complain about political correctness or cancel culture (which wouldn't shock me from some in this lot), he isn't backtracking on his feelings. And he shouldn't. Anyone with any vested interest in seeing this medium thrive would agree with his sentiment. What he is apologizing for was his delivery and tone, which was a bit harsh and aggressive.
Why apologize? Tell them how it is!
It sure makes me feel less guilty telling you that the font in Ori2 sucks, and the combat doesn’t carry the average platforming past the finish line.
I mean, he was right. Regardless of how much people like those games, the entire industry was duped by those developers/publishers. 🤷🏾♂️
why is this on NintendoLife again
What is he apologizing for? What did he say that is actually wrong? He's right, there seems to be this idea among game developers that they can blatantly lie about their product, and then when the released product isn't anything like they promised, they shrug and say, "We'll fix it with a patch." Why is this tolerated?
Don't apologize. This industry needs a long hard look in the mirror.
He is right tho, it's a widespread problem in the gaming industry. Customers getting screwed over time after time when they pre-order a hyped up game that turns out to be a pile of **** on releaseday.
It's just not worth it anymore to pre-order games or back anything on kickstarter these days.
@ResoluteGP
He decided himself to apologize for the way in which he portrayed the people behind some of those games. There's a nuance in there. ^^
@magicismoney
Well, his latest game is on Switch.
BUT, drama fosters long discussions in the comments. Long discussions mean that users come back and reload the same page, which generates more ad exposure.
Phallocratic world of capitalism keeps wasting our time.
@ResoluteGP
He criticized sacred cows therefore he must be destroyed with pathetic attempts at whataboutisms, he’s lucky he didn’t mention a certain space game otherwise people would be throwing out massive incoherent walls of text explaining how the Ori games aren’t actually good which this article would have probably linked.
Lmao knew this was gonna happen.
Indie devs really, really need PR training. There are ways to express your opinion in a neutral, professional manner and still be honest. He didn’t do that. He spouted off like he was consumer outside the business. Bad form.
Saber rattling never opens a discussion— it is a call to war and thus lines are drawn and tensions instantly go to defcon 1. And you take a candle to a few bridges as well.
He literally bend the knee and apologized. Shame because he said nothing but the truth.
It's ok to be critical of work, that's what NL is literally all about.
No Man's Sky might be ok if you're into large community games, but the core solo experience hasn't changed all that much and continues to just be a repetitive loop of "get fuel, move on"
Ah, how disappointing. I thought he might have had some backbone. He wasn't wrong, after all. Just a hypocrite, but still.
He was and is right. He really does not have to excuse.
Boo!! He should not apologize for that. Hes right . Another thing I have no respect for are releasing trailers with no gameplay footage
At least we got his honest opinion before he was pushed into apologizing for his tone. That should count for something, especially since like many others have said in this article, he was not in the wrong. Unfortunately in most industries these days, opinions like his can get you in a lot of trouble. Honesty doesn't win these days.
@ResoluteGP
I absolutely agree that it's a little much to have him write a whole, official page just to say "Sorry guys, I didn't mean to attack you as people."
Never apologize for sharing your thoughts, telling the truth, or saying what you mean.
If someone wants to apologise for something they said, it's their right to do so. You can't dictate what other people think or feel.
I agree with his original point, and actually respect him even more so after the apology. The name calling was funny, but obviously unnecessary. As for the tone, yes, it could have been more professional. Good for him 💯. He clearly holds himself to a much higher standard than the "never apologize, no matter what" internet comment section crowd.
I think his tone was wrong but definitely agree with his message in general. I have always thought it must be frustrating for honest developers when other companies out right lie about a game. I think these lies bring down the whole sector and it's only fair that people in the industry have a voice/platform to call out bad practices. If not then I feel we will always be stuck with the buy now and play when fixed six months down the line scenario.
I thought it was good it was out-ed by him. Too much nonsense does go un-challenged by the industry and by the players/consumers.
The only thing he did wrong was post it to the most toxic gaming website around
How is it that almost everybody thinks he's apologizing for his opinion when it's obviously about the tone of it.
"My intentions was [...] to offer a discussion starter [...] we should aways remain respectful with each other. And I wasn’t yesterday. And for that I'm really sorry."
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