Ode to a Dying Game (and a middle finger to techbros)
I originally started playing it... gosh, when was it? I wanna say almost ten years ago? I ended up stopping the first time because I got a new device and didn't have an account saved.
Two years ago, I decided to start it again since I had a new tablet. I fell in love with the game all over again.
I love the gameplay. I love the characters. I love the aesthetic.
I also loved the customer service. There were a couple of occasions where I had an issue with the app, and so I contacted the team for help. They were exceptionally kind, understanding, and just all-around fantastic people to interact with (Warrior Woody on the support team, if you're out there, thank you so much!)
Nothing should have changed.
Then, a while back, the app moved hands.
Best Fiends was developed and originally owned by Seriously. Then, without warning, it was acquired by a company called Playtika. I'd never heard of them, so I didn't think much of it at the time. Even when the art style changed, although I didn't like it, I didn't hate it, so ultimately I didn't care.
Not long ago, a new type of event struck the game. Albums. The idea was to collect in-game "cards" to fill up themed "albums", and completing an album yielded in-game prizes.
This in itself was not an issue. I carried on.
But when the most recent album, Timeless Minutia, emerged, I noticed something was off. Specifically the cards. I looked closer at some of the art on the cards, and it looked almost AI-ish.
I didn't want to believe it at first. The new art style looked like it could be easily imitated by image generators, so I thought it was probably just an unfortunate coincidence.
Then I started getting more cards and looking at their images. Soon, it was unmistakable. The inconsistent patterns and asymmetry told all; generative imagery is terrible with patterns and symmetry.
Shocked at the revelation of this game stooping so low, I finally decided to look up Playtika and was appalled to discover their history.
I won't bore you with the details— you should look it up yourself anyway— but in summary, this is a cashgrab techbro company that has enacted HUGE employee layoffs in recent years... including a large chunk of the original Best Fiends development team.
I was disgusted. The integrity and transparency from the developers was something I had admired about BF for so long. Seeing that they'd been bought out by an entity that had such blatant disrespect for these people and for artists in general was heartbreaking.
That's when I felt I couldn't do this anymore. I couldn't keep playing a game that had lost its soul.
So, precisely 2 years after I had downloaded it, I said goodbye to Best Fiends, this time for good.
This might seem like a dramatic reaction to some people. "It's just a game". No, it was more than that. It was a shining example of a good and passionate game development team, consumed and destroyed by a heartless corporation.
To keep playing this mockery of what BF used to be, I think would be an insult to the developers from Seriously, especially considering how many of them were outright fired for profit by Playtika.
That, and I don't want to be around for whatever ridiculous money-grabbing move this company makes next.
Having said that, I sincerely hope those developers can find work elsewhere, with employers that actually respect them. I doubt any of them will find this post, but if they do, I have one thing to say to them:
Thank you for making Best Fiends a joy to play. I stand with you, and against corporate greed.
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