Xbox tweeted the news of a new game called Keeper, which will be released on October 17, asking the users to ‘vibe out.’ Sounds enjoyable, right? But the replies… oh, the replies are very different. The comments on this post show it like a war where people are super thrilled or utterly mad… well, mostly about Game Pass price hikes, to be honest. So, let’s analyze this.
The first question is what exactly Keeper is? Because the tweet doesn’t tell us much other than the release date and some artistic-looking visuals. From the comments, I can only assume that it is a game of Double Fine Productions – you know, the studio that created Psychonauts and Brutal Legend? A user even commented that he is expecting a remaster or sequel of Brutal Legend while waiting for Keeper, which is a testimony to the studio’s reputation.
Now, this is where it gets messy. To illustrate the excitement amid the backlash, a few people do sound really happy to see the game, for example, the one who said “Double Fine never misses!” and another one commenting “This actually looks quite cool.” On the other hand, there is this huge wave, not of excitement but, of anger mainly about Xbox Game Pass price increases, making it hard for anything else to be heard. To give an example, several people openly admitted that they had already cancelled their subscriptions due to this. One of them even expressed “I took a moment to cancel my gamepass,” which can only be described as… savage.
Complaints regarding the prices are everywhere. Somebody asked if Keeper is “worth $30/month?” and this seems to be connected to the new Game Pass pricing. A user from South Africa said that they “had to cancel 😭 Please reconsider” while commenting on the situation. There is a whole discussion in the comments about whether the price hike is justified because Xbox is adding things like Fortnite Crew and Ubisoft classics that, as one of the commenters pointed out, “95% of GPU users don’t care about.”
Even more astonishing is the number of users that comment studio closures in the comments. For instance, several comments imply that Double Fine might get their doors shut after the game release? Someone even wrote “My condolences to the legendary Double Fine Productions studio, which will soon be closed because greedy Microsoft will have to save itself in the eyes of its shareholders.” Now that is some incredibly dark and morbid speculation!
Pre-orders and pre-loading also cause confusion. Frustrated user just vented his feelings like this “I can’t even preorder or preload the fucking game…..what the hell is the matter with you guys? Are you guys trying to sabotage Double Fine or something?” This raises the issue of whether it is a technical problem or Xbox just does not support the game properly.
Then come the poor marketing complaints – or lack thereof. A lot of people were talking about how this is nothing but the introduction to the game for them, one commenter said “Finally some marketing” while another expressed, “It’s a crime not to market this game. A simple tweet is insufficient. But COD gets all the spotlight.” Which is quite a point – if you compare the degree of hype that Call of Duty gets to that of this indie-like game, it’s like night and day.
The overall sentiment is just… mixed. People are hyped about the game itself, others are angry about Xbox’s business moves, some are puzzled if they are even talking about a game (one user joked “A lighthouse that goes around lighting things up? What the hell is this? 😂”), along with a random request for a hardcopy and questions about the game’s playability.
It is a bit of a pity because Double Fine had a good and loyal customer base from their earlier titles, thus Keeper seems to be another brand new, artistic experience with them. Same time, though, the dialogue around the release is strongly influenced by the Game Pass price controversy that has heated up the discussion.
It is a reflection of the current state of gaming communities where business decisions can completely overshadow game announcements. Here is a potentially cool new game from a beloved studio, and most of the discussion is about subscription service pricing rather than the game itself. Hmm, what was I saying? Oh yeah, the actual game.
Based on the little information we have, Keeper appears to have some sort of lighthouse mechanic? At least that’s the interpretation of one commenter based on the visuals. The release date is set to October 17, which is right in the middle of the busy fall release window. The big question is if it will rise above the heap of other major releases and the current Xbox drama.
The situation showcases how intricate game marketing has turned – where you not only promote a game but rather position it against the backdrop of your total platform ecosystem. If the players are unhappy with that ecosystem, even the most appealing games can get caught in the crossfire.
So, there you have it, Keeper is coming on October 17. While some people are very excited, many are still angry because of the unrelated decisions made by Xbox, and the game itself is still somewhat of a mystery. Sounds like a typical gaming Twitter moment.
