I don't have any solutions, but I wonder how many who enjoy video games are just becoming more and more bored by the same-old, same-old.
The industry is stagnating and there doesn't seem to be any clear explanation as to why. People still want to play video games, but most AAA developers are still pumping out the same type of games they were a decade+ ago.
Indie games can be exciting, or, more often, they can feel cheaply made and highly derivative.
I confess, I'm an older gamer who lived through the 2D era, then the awkward transition to 3D, then 3D games coming-of-age into The Gaming Standard... but the industry has been stuck in the latter for nearly two decades, constantly refining small graphical details while giving us similar-playing games that we experienced in the PS3/360 era.
Time for something new, something we've never seen before.
What that is, I don't know, but my guess is the solution (s) won't be emerging from companies solely interested in their bottom line.
"For one, marketers should try to help devs find market signal earlier in the development process for games."
Agree. But as a mobile marketer working on games (from small to very large studios), i often see how disconnected are internal teams, even once the game is launched. Lack of communication & collaboration between product, monetisation & marketing, leading to missed opportunities and growing challenges.
So while i agree marketers should try to help devs early on, i think it also comes to devs having to listen more to marketers when it comes to players feedbacks, market dynamics and competition on the user acquisition side of things.
Looking forward to read your upcoming articles on the subject.
From an outsider, it appears that these large studio decisions are often driven by executives who seem most out of touch with market interest, and are primarily driven by revenue decisions. (See Andrew Wilson’s comments on Dragon Age 2). I think that tension can lead to compromised products, which just doesn’t cut it anymore.
Additionally, as an outsider, I think we’ve hit saturation for big-budget open world adventure games.
That was a great post! I used to love AAA titles and, for a while, only had a Switch while using Stadia/GeForce Now for bigger games. Even after finally purchasing a Series X and PS5, I played a few exclusives I had missed over the years and ultimately felt let down.
That’s when I realized I could get the same emotional drama, comedy, or just a zone-out gaming experience from indie games for less than half the price and in half the time. I occasionally dip back in for games like Alan Wake 2, which I’m playing this week, and I spend hours in Apex and Marvel Rivals, but I’m an indie game boy for life! Haha.
During this time, I used Game Pass and PS+ for 2–3 years, and I can say that subscription services like these are another reason I stopped buying games. Paying $100 a year to try out a $70 game almost every month is such a great value, but ultimately, it’s going to destroy the industry for larger publishers and studios.
I was surprised to hear how much indie game marketing depends on the steam discovery algorithm. It echoes Youtubers’ complaints about having to “play the algorithm”.
Steam has been a benevolent platform owner, but the amount of power they have over indie games’ access to players is concerning.
I sort of wish the other platforms (like Nintendo eShop, Xbox, etc.) would follow Valve's lead and adopt similar practices by building better discovery surfaces and algorithms.
I think Steam's algo approach is good for devs on the whole. And the fact that they don't allow pay-for-play sets them apart as well.
I'd agree - Steam , makes or breaks an Indie game. Without a doubt its concernimg as I'm unsure if there is another market place that's simpler to Steam.
Is the era of independent games, where the vibe matters as much as the product. People want to support independent creators who are building, not huge gaming studios and their filthy DLCs. You can go on steam and see a lot of stagnation. Increasingly the good surprises are all early Access games where you can feel that the developers actually care.
There's an entire ocean of games that most people wouldn't be able play in their lifetime. Still, the publishers are pumping them like popcorn.
Content creators are the modern times payola though. Games are getting repetitive because they are pushing the same type of games that "sell", and AAA titles are just following a skin derivation or same old formula that helps them pump their profits. Innovation is the last priority for these companies because "If it works, don't fix it".
I'm still discovering games from previous generations that I wasn't able to play at the right moment, and I'm still wonder how many undiscovered gems I haven't put in my backlog yet, but whenever I browse any games e-shop there's like 10 or 20 new releases between AAA and indie games, without counting any shovelware.
We should add more factors like a 8 to 5 work life, daily life fatigue, world tensions, corporate mistrust, fluctuating economy, identity politics infiltrating and permeating an already toxic gaming "culture" (long are the days where the only "politics" were dick measuring console wars), etc.
Some of us still want to see videogames with some type of "childish wonder" and "rose-tinted glasses", trying to get excited about the new Zelda, Mario, Final Fantasy, Resident Evil, Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter. but even the love for those old, stablished franchises is starting to wear off.
The fun is just not there anymore, at this point it feels like some obligation to put a title in the street just because of it, and we don't have enough time to play the same formula over and over again, and the culture is worse than ever, things feels so clinical and curated nowadays.
Nah. And though I’m no longer at Odyssey, that team deserves credit for continuing to support OS. The servers are on. It’s not shut down, even tho they’re still a startup.
I don't have any solutions, but I wonder how many who enjoy video games are just becoming more and more bored by the same-old, same-old.
The industry is stagnating and there doesn't seem to be any clear explanation as to why. People still want to play video games, but most AAA developers are still pumping out the same type of games they were a decade+ ago.
Indie games can be exciting, or, more often, they can feel cheaply made and highly derivative.
I confess, I'm an older gamer who lived through the 2D era, then the awkward transition to 3D, then 3D games coming-of-age into The Gaming Standard... but the industry has been stuck in the latter for nearly two decades, constantly refining small graphical details while giving us similar-playing games that we experienced in the PS3/360 era.
Time for something new, something we've never seen before.
What that is, I don't know, but my guess is the solution (s) won't be emerging from companies solely interested in their bottom line.
Cheers, Ryan, great article as usual.
"For one, marketers should try to help devs find market signal earlier in the development process for games."
Agree. But as a mobile marketer working on games (from small to very large studios), i often see how disconnected are internal teams, even once the game is launched. Lack of communication & collaboration between product, monetisation & marketing, leading to missed opportunities and growing challenges.
So while i agree marketers should try to help devs early on, i think it also comes to devs having to listen more to marketers when it comes to players feedbacks, market dynamics and competition on the user acquisition side of things.
Looking forward to read your upcoming articles on the subject.
From an outsider, it appears that these large studio decisions are often driven by executives who seem most out of touch with market interest, and are primarily driven by revenue decisions. (See Andrew Wilson’s comments on Dragon Age 2). I think that tension can lead to compromised products, which just doesn’t cut it anymore.
Additionally, as an outsider, I think we’ve hit saturation for big-budget open world adventure games.
That was a great post! I used to love AAA titles and, for a while, only had a Switch while using Stadia/GeForce Now for bigger games. Even after finally purchasing a Series X and PS5, I played a few exclusives I had missed over the years and ultimately felt let down.
That’s when I realized I could get the same emotional drama, comedy, or just a zone-out gaming experience from indie games for less than half the price and in half the time. I occasionally dip back in for games like Alan Wake 2, which I’m playing this week, and I spend hours in Apex and Marvel Rivals, but I’m an indie game boy for life! Haha.
During this time, I used Game Pass and PS+ for 2–3 years, and I can say that subscription services like these are another reason I stopped buying games. Paying $100 a year to try out a $70 game almost every month is such a great value, but ultimately, it’s going to destroy the industry for larger publishers and studios.
I was surprised to hear how much indie game marketing depends on the steam discovery algorithm. It echoes Youtubers’ complaints about having to “play the algorithm”.
Steam has been a benevolent platform owner, but the amount of power they have over indie games’ access to players is concerning.
I sort of wish the other platforms (like Nintendo eShop, Xbox, etc.) would follow Valve's lead and adopt similar practices by building better discovery surfaces and algorithms.
I think Steam's algo approach is good for devs on the whole. And the fact that they don't allow pay-for-play sets them apart as well.
I'd agree - Steam , makes or breaks an Indie game. Without a doubt its concernimg as I'm unsure if there is another market place that's simpler to Steam.
Is the era of independent games, where the vibe matters as much as the product. People want to support independent creators who are building, not huge gaming studios and their filthy DLCs. You can go on steam and see a lot of stagnation. Increasingly the good surprises are all early Access games where you can feel that the developers actually care.
This, 100%. I'd take Fields of Mistria as an interesting recent example.
Interesting!
Great article!
There's an entire ocean of games that most people wouldn't be able play in their lifetime. Still, the publishers are pumping them like popcorn.
Content creators are the modern times payola though. Games are getting repetitive because they are pushing the same type of games that "sell", and AAA titles are just following a skin derivation or same old formula that helps them pump their profits. Innovation is the last priority for these companies because "If it works, don't fix it".
I'm still discovering games from previous generations that I wasn't able to play at the right moment, and I'm still wonder how many undiscovered gems I haven't put in my backlog yet, but whenever I browse any games e-shop there's like 10 or 20 new releases between AAA and indie games, without counting any shovelware.
We should add more factors like a 8 to 5 work life, daily life fatigue, world tensions, corporate mistrust, fluctuating economy, identity politics infiltrating and permeating an already toxic gaming "culture" (long are the days where the only "politics" were dick measuring console wars), etc.
Some of us still want to see videogames with some type of "childish wonder" and "rose-tinted glasses", trying to get excited about the new Zelda, Mario, Final Fantasy, Resident Evil, Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter. but even the love for those old, stablished franchises is starting to wear off.
The fun is just not there anymore, at this point it feels like some obligation to put a title in the street just because of it, and we don't have enough time to play the same formula over and over again, and the culture is worse than ever, things feels so clinical and curated nowadays.
No crisis here, looks the same as it always has been.
https://issuu.com/ballmatthew/docs/gaming2025_vee10/104
Speaking of games getting shut down, is the rumor true that omega strikers was planned to be axed long before it actually was?
Nah. And though I’m no longer at Odyssey, that team deserves credit for continuing to support OS. The servers are on. It’s not shut down, even tho they’re still a startup.