Games like Peak, REPO, and RV There Yet? have played a defining role in what's worked within the industry this year, though one games industry investor isn't too jazzed about the "friendslop" moniker they all fall under.
Talking on LinkedIn, Behold Ventures principal Binni Erlingsson reckons he'll be seeing plenty of the "friendslop" term in pitch decks over the coming years as other developers look to capitalize on the Steam trend. While he has little issue with the games themselves, he'd rather kill the moniker they fall under before it catches on any further.
"[I] know it's super new as a term but it's catching on and I want to lobby for killing it before it flies off," he says. "Mainly because I feel that the term itself is negative. 'Slop' to me means that something is sloppy, not well done and a bit junky.
"Since I live in Sweden and know some of these studios personally that are leading the genre I can say that those would be the last words I would use to describe those studios. I feel 'slop' devalues their skill and also in a way makes a little bit of a dig at the userbase at the same time. 'Oh you like friendslop games?' (says the token elitist gamerguy in my head). It's simply a term that sounds negative to me."
Erlingsson adds that the trend is also not that surprising, especially if you look at the history of popular games that gamers of certain generations flock to.
"Gen Z and Gen Alpha are raised on playing, laughing, and creating with their friends on Roblox, Toca Boca World, and Minecraft, and this is how I assume they are going to continue into adulthood," he explains. "They will look for experiences that are like those that they grew up with and the current gaming landscape isn't fully ready to catch them. But 'friendslop' games are and they fit perfectly into this narrative. (plus they usually cost as much as a restaurant meal or even just a drink, far below what an AAA experience costs. Perfect for young people in this economy)."
Of course, Erlingsson doesn't think games like Peak or REPO are going anywhere anytime soon, but for friendslop as a term, "let's collectively kill it." Alas, I fear it's already too late for that.
Peak devs rebut claim their award-nominated multiplayer game uses AI: "We might be slop, but we're human-made locally-sourced artisanal slop."
