"A lot of survival games are really boring": Abiotic Factor developer says many game makers are too focused on mechanics and not enough on vibes

"I think a lot of survival games are really boring," Geoff 'Zag' Keene, founder of Deep Field Games, developers of Half-Life adjacent co-op survival game Abiotic Factor, said in a recent interview. However, despite these strong words, please hold onto your spit take for just a moment.

It's not the first time Keene's said something like it and, in fact, in the episode of The AIAS Game Maker's Notebook, he's responding to a question about when he said it to cheery RPS fanzine PC Gamer back in 2024.