fromsoftware wins the best storytelling studio war and naughty dog gets silver

ok so the internet was asked which game studio tells the best stories, and the answer is a studio famous for making you read item descriptions like you're studying for a bar exam. the crowd has spoken, the trading window is barely a day old, and it's already the kind of result that makes a thousand forum threads open at once. this is fine.

quick background, because the ballot is stacked. according to Wikipedia's BioWare page, Mass Effect 2 in 2010 picked up numerous year-end awards, and multiple publications regard it as one of the best games ever, largely for its companion characters and their subplots. the same page notes Dragon Age II drew criticism in 2011 for recycled environments, and it reports that EA announced it intended to close BioWare. meanwhile, per Wikipedia's Naughty Dog page, The Last of Us sold 17 million copies by 2018, and Uncharted had sold over 41 million copies as of December 2017. our research notes cover four of the five studios, and the winner is the one they skip.

here's the damage on morfi, where real people back their opinions with money. FromSoftware leads at 49% consensus, with Naughty Dog trailing at 33%. quick reminder that consensus is the crowd's conviction level for each side, not a headcount. also on the ballot: 3 other sides. so far 11 unique traders have put $38,337 behind their takes.

what's funny is that the runner-up arrives with the sales receipts and the cinematic polish, and the crowd looked at all of it and said 'yes, but have you been emotionally humbled by a boss fight and a cryptic line of dialogue.' that's a real mood. the studio with the biggest numbers on paper didn't win, which tells you this market is voting with its feelings, not a spreadsheet.

my take, and this is pure opinion: the vote is correct and slightly unhinged. a story you have to assemble yourself, like furniture with no instructions and missing screws, sticks with you longer than one handed to you in a cutscene. naughty dog makes you cry on schedule. fromsoftware makes you go online at 3am to ask strangers what a ring meant. one of those is a community, and the other is a movie.

what to watch next: it's day one, so the lead can wobble the second the Last of Us crowd wakes up, and the BioWare and CD Projekt Red loyalists haven't even finished typing. this verdict comes from opinion markets on Morfi, and you can join the market and back your studio before the leaderboard locks in. hot take season is open.