Last week Hungrybox took to Twitter, not to promote one of his upcoming tournaments or play one of the top fighting games, but defend himself against the charge that he killed a game. It’s a bizarre turn of events. Some fans have claimed that Hungrybox is personally responsible and killed Nick All-Star Brawl.
The game is still receiving updates. Although, it has tiny player numbers currently active. So why exactly did Hungrybox have to defend himself, and why do some people have the weird idea that a Smash player could single-handedly kill a game?
Yes, we took your thumbnail Hungrybox.
Nick All-Stars exploded onto the scene last year but didn’t have much longevity. There were some initial tournaments. Smash players even streamed it quite a bit. However, the game eventually died off. Hungrybox is one Smash player who voiced his opinion on the game, both good and bad, although increasingly bad as the game declined.
He is a fairly influential figure in the community. His words do carry weight. One Smash player (even one who hosts tournaments) isn’t responsible for a game’s success though. Much bigger streamers leave games without facing that accusation. As Ludwig branched out to general content and even hosting Fortnite events, he wasn’t accused of killing his old games.
Excitement for a new platform fighter just couldn’t carry Nick All-Star Brawl all that far. In the end, it was a flash in the pan. Although, the game hasn’t entirely shut up shop. Hungrybox didn’t kill Nick All-Stars. The game has much bigger problems than one guy tweeting. It’s worth delving into this a bit further though. To see why Hungrybox is facing this allegation and why it’s ridiculous.
Hungrybox addressed it last week (sort of). He tweeted his views on the suggestion that he killed Nick All-Star Brawl:
The idea that Hungrybox is to blame for the game’s death is a stretch. It’s an opinion that plenty have thrown at him recently though. There are some clear reasons why players latched on to him in particular. Hungrybox was one of the first to call the game a Smash Killer. Using slightly hyperbolic language for content is to be expected.
It’s just how internet content works. His videos did use dramatic language, and then they largely stopped covering the game. However, he still dipped in with updates and news that seemed to say the game was going to recover.
Like most Smash content creators, Hungrybox got a lot of mileage out of the title around its big launch. However, he dropped the game as content slowed to a crawl and improvements never came.
Is dropping a game from content cycle enough to say that Hungrybox killed Nick All-Star Brawl? – Not really.
The player didn’t really do anything. Hungrybox gave the game a chance. Eventually, he dropped it when the title failed to materialize on its promise. If this is a crime, then the world of fighting games would get very dull, with no one willing to try out new games.
The big question really is if Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl Is even dead? It’s undeniable that MultiVersus has had more success as a Smash Bros-style fighter and Nick All-Stars has mainly faded from view. In August 2022, it had as little as a single active player on Steam at times. That is a dramatically bad result this far into the game’s life.
That’s not the whole story though. The game is actually still getting updates. Just this month a new character has been announced for the game. Nick All-Star Brawl isn’t entirely dead in the traditional sense. The devs haven’t abandoned the game. However, it definitely doesn’t look very strong. With those player numbers, it’s dying even if it’s not been put out to pasture just yet. But it isn’t true that Hungrybox killed Nick All-Star Brawl.
The game received a lot of criticism since its launch. This ranges from mechanical complaints to just general problems with the presentation. One area that a lot of people focused on at launch was the lack of voice acting, colorful characters like SpongeBob were eerily silent. It felt weird. Voice acting might not seem huge, but it contributed to a general lack of polish.
Nick All-Stars was called out for sloppier mechanics too. Gameplay just didn’t feel as tight as a competitive fighter needs to be. It wasn’t fully fleshed out. With support coming after launch, a lot of players likely hoped the game would improve. Hungrybox was one of these players. In his videos though, he’s largely stuck to the positives and just didn’t cover the game after.
Hungrybox’s coverage pretty much just matched the general tone and excitement towards the game. People were excited at first. A Smash Bros-like game that wasn’t marred by, well, Nintendo. Then the game proved to be poorly supported in different ways.
Nick All-Star Brawl did receive updates, but never quite evolved into anything more. Players mostly returned to Smash. Eventually, MultiVersus took the ball and ran with it. There’s clearly still enough support from developers to warrant some additions to the game, but it just doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. Content creators stopped making much content for the game, because who is going to watch it? With a single-digit active players, there just isn’t an audience big enough for content creators to support the title.
That’s what happened with Nick All-stars. So why is Hungrybox getting blamed for this? Mainly, because he’s a notable figure who has both supported and criticized the game. Although, in his content, he pretty much stayed positive.
Hungrybox’s notability in the area has led to him being the target for complaints. Since he no longer makes much content about the game outside, some seem to conflate that with the title’s dying-off popularity.
It’s easy to see the thought process. Content creators aren’t covering All-Stars, that must be why no one is playing. Whereas an easier explanation is that both are happening because of the same thing. Players are going away. Content creators are too. Both because of the game’s development, or lack of it. Content creators don’t control if a game is supported, they just react to it.
Hungrybox (and most other pros) isn’t playing the game for the same reasons that most people aren’t. The game just never became what it could be.
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