New Blood Interactive CEO Dave Oshry has stated that the term 'immersive sim' is detrimental to marketing games in the genre, arguing that it is too niche and often misunderstood by the general gaming audience. "Is it a good marketing term? No," Oshry said in a recent interview. "It sucks. It's awful."
New Blood, known for its boomer shooters like Dusk and Ultrakill, has invested significantly in early access immersive sims such as Gloomwood and Fallen Aces. Oshry noted that he had never encountered the term 'immersive sim' until lead designer Dillon Rogers began work on Gloomwood, which is inspired by games like Thief and Resident Evil. Oshry himself grew up playing titles like Deus Ex and Thief, but he categorized them differently at the time.
"Thief was a stealth game," Oshry recalled. "Deus Ex I called an FPS-RPG because it was an FPS, but it was an RPG. You had points that you put in stuff. That's what an RPG is, like Diablo."
He elaborated that games like System Shock and Deus Ex were widely considered RPGs because they involved character building and immersion in a world. Oshry believes that rebranding these games as RPGs would significantly improve their marketability. "If you market something as an RPG, I think you'll do better than marketing it as an immersive sim," he stated.
Oshry pointed to Baldur's Gate 3 as an example of an RPG that exhibits characteristics of an immersive sim due to its complex systems and player agency, even though it is not a first-person title. He suggested that this broader understanding of RPGs makes the term more accessible to a wider audience compared to 'immersive sim'.
This perspective is echoed by other industry figures. Raphael Colantonio, founder of Arkane, previously commented that "Nobody wonders what an RPG is." He argued that while the core audience for immersive sims might understand the term, it fails to capture the interest of mainstream players who are unfamiliar with its meaning. Colantonio also cited Arkane's Prey as an example where significant effort was spent explaining the game's genre, time that could have been better used marketing its gameplay features.
Oshry attempted a different marketing approach for Gloomwood by initially calling it 'Thief with guns,' which he admits was an easy elevator pitch but also created a host of expectations that the game, a blend of multiple genres, couldn't solely fulfill. "It's a blessing and a curse bringing in all these fans of the Thief games who expect all these things from you," he explained.
In contrast, Oshry finds 'boomer shooter' to be a successful marketing term, as it clearly communicates the genre's roots in games like Doom and Quake. When New Blood bundles Gloomwood and Fallen Aces with other titles like Blood West, they are collectively marketed as 'the stealth trilogy.' Oshry concluded, "Because that's what draws people in. If we called it the immersive sim trilogy, nobody would fucking buy the games."
