The Sad, Lifeless State of the Video Game Industry
I've seen some good discussion of the video game industry on here over the past few weeks, so I thought it would be interesting to here what some think on the current state of the industry as a whole.
For me, it is in a very bad way at the moment; hell, I could even say it feels like it may even crash soon for reasons outlined below.
The first reason for this is the abusing on DLC in the market. Seriously, DLC used to be great with expansion packs adding to and, hence the name, expanding the game's potential. Nowadays it is custom for devs to just cut out pieces of the game ("cough"Capcom"cough") and slap a $9.99 price tag on them pretending that they worked hard on new content. People are starting to notice this now and it is only a matter of time before consumers refuse to buy DLC, which cripples gaming revenue due to poor inflow of money, but with a high outflow of it.
Secondly, many gamers today foolishly believe a video game crash can't happen in today's age thanks to reviews warning of bad games and thus companies will be forced to try and put out quality products (as opposed to the original crash of 83' where it was almost impossible to tell if a game was bad without playing it). But that isn't the case because of the existence of reviewer embargoes, which basically means critics who get early copies have to hold off on releasing their review until release date. This prevent gamers from knowing if a game is under par, such as in the case of Assassin's Creed V: Unity, and by doing this developers are only hurting the industry as a whole. It is only so many bad games before gamers just give up on buying products, leaving the gaming industry like it was in 83'.
Thirdly, expanding on my point about poor sales due to a lack of effort above, it really hurts Triple AAA games. The budget for developing a game has gone up astronomically from less than a $1,000,000 back in the day, to millions upon millions today. If these games don't sell well due to gamers not caring about them, the company is left crippled and the industry as a whole suffers, such as in the case of Capcom recently falling into financial shambles due to its once loyal fanbase being dicked around too much. Konami is also currently in a similar state, with them seemingly leaving the industry all together and taking their big licenses such as MGS with them, robbing the gaming industry of regular big sellers.
Lastly and the most important is that there is, to me at least, a clear lack of innovation from big budget publishers these days. The market is being dominated by either shooters or sandbox adventures games. Genres like survival horror and 3D platforming are basically dead in the mainstream, with titles published under them flopping such as 'The Evil Within' which hurts the creativity and expansiveness of the industry. Now, gamers are starting to get a little bored with the norms and critically it is seen that FPS and sandboxes are increasingly dropping in average scores. What happens exactly when gamers just get sick all together with these two over-saturated genres ? It always happens with anything, look at wrestling dying out after the early 2000s'. And if it does happen, well, it won't be pretty for gamers or publishers.
So what does everyone else think? Does gaming lack a certain innovation it once had and is it also in trouble come a few years? Or do you believe it is fine and better than ever? Thanks for reading if you managed to stick through a rather large ramble on my part!
Comments
Well, I must say that its as good as ever, but you make some pretty good points, ones that game developers should consider more.
IMHO the video game/gaming industry is noticeably slowly deteriorating due to greedy AAA game publishers.
It won't be long until indie games would dominate.
I'm more concerned about AAA games caring more about graphics than gameplay, thankfully there's the indie market, made of games with shit graphics who have to make up for their graphics with sheer gameplay. Also graphics COST which aggravates your 3rd point, and that also means they can't afford to risk on genres that are seen as less lucrative, which means no innovation (your 4th point).
So really it's all about money, AAA games cost tons due to the "nextgen" bullshit, that means they can't risk innovating, indie devs, on the other hand, don't have to convince producers to let them risk their money on less mainstream genres.
There's also the kickstarter/early access bullshit, people who care more about ideologies than making good games, BAD games getting fuckloads of sales just because famous youtubers made vids about them, the gamergate/game journalism war, the microtransaction cancer spreading to AAA $60 games...
I think there are a ton of devs and publishers out their who don't give a fuck about whether the industry falls into ruin or not so long as they are set for life. They are choking the life out of this industry simply because it's the most beneficial option for them.
Maybe it's my pessimism or my taste changing due to getting older, but I've started to feel a little out of touch with the gaming industry since the seventh generation of consoles around 2005. Games that I liked at the time were either discontinued, lacked the recognition they deserved, or started to decline in quality as more sequels were published, and I was starting to see so many gaming genres I don't particularly care for being overplayed to the point where there's little to no originality anymore.
The fifth and sixth generation was my most cherished era of gaming, and I'm disappointed that the more modern times have yet to recapture the spirit of the older generations of gaming.
At least, that's how I feel with games nowadays.
I like the current gaming market. There is something for every person. Wana shoot shit? Here's Call of Duty. Wana be a hero in a fantasy world? Here's The Witcher. Wana fly through space? Here's Destiny.... sort of. Wana see history contorted into a fun conspiracy theory? Here's Assassin's Creed. Wana take a small, artistic travel through a interesting story? Here's "Enter Indie Game Title Here". Wana play as the man who gives up a chance to cure the apacolypse to save one person he cares for? Here's The Last of Us.
If you don't like a game or how the company that produces the game functions then.... don't buy the game. Not sure you'll like the game and therefore not sure you should buy it? Wait 3 days and look on YouTube....
As for DLC? So long as the story can function without it when the game is released then I don't care. I'm looking at you Destiny. But only very rarely do you receive an incomplete game out of the box.
I feel the very same. I don't know if I'm just fucking old as shit either, but I think games are way too serious nowadays too.
I don't see anymore silly time platform adventures like there used to be ( I know Rayman Legends and Origins tried to bring this back and I have them both ). I don't have a problem with other genres but I just kind of notice that everybody takes gaming so seriously now like it's life or death and it's not.
Great thread and awesome opinion spot on
DLC cutting up games instead of offering great expansion's I even seen one game have you pay to play a harder difficulty it's just getting ridiculous
Pre-Orders incentives cutting up games even more
Micro transactions MAKE ME RAGE this only works for mobile games on consoles they are just being gangsters I remember they started microtranactions on one of my fav games Football manager you can pay to heal a player suddenly every match you managed most of your players will get injured for no reason other than force you to keep buying the microtranactions this never happened before on FM
Games are getting more expensive yet the product you buy is getting less so why go out of your way to pay high amounts for a bugged and cut up product
For me the games are better but are shorter, buggier and less value for money
I beat all this bs by never buying games at launch and waiting for the full version or a major price-cut that is really the only way I can even afford to play games nowadays the prices are insane
I'd also recommend for Ps3/Ps4 users to sign up for playstation plus and get new high quality games each month for free if your subbed and great savings on psn
And when Ubisoft, EA, Capcom and other such companies are dead, there will be - high above their smouldering ruins - the Valve Corperation.
i think an additional reason AAA games are gonna start to feel a pushback from consumers is because buying games day one is basically throwing your money away (AAA companies rely on day one sales) ie. batman, no matter where you pre order it you don't get all of the preorder bonuses, and if you want the whole game you will have to pay even more for every bit of DLC, whereas waiting for the GOTY you get everything and it is cheaper.
While you could say that about Kickstarter there have actually been a lot of games that have delivered on their promises like Wasteland 2, Pillars of Eternity, Risk of Rain, Consortium, Shadowrun Returns and so on, still I think people are too quick to jump into them and it's downright stupid, take Godus for example, Peter Molineux never delivers on his promises, that's like his main characteristic, why would you trust him with a kickstarter? Though then again Obsidian has a pretty terrible track record (With bugs and unfinished game) and Pillars of Eternity was pretty good and as much as I want Shadow of the Eternals isn't Dennis Dyack the guy that bankrupted his company by making a shitload of poor financial decisions? I mean despite my love of Eternal Darkness that is a pretty fucking big red mark and people still gave him money...
Anyway Kickstarter has proven that it can both succeed and fail miserably which while a gamble I think it makes it a valid alternative even if it is a gamble, still people should do more research for example Yuka Laylee's Banjo Kazooie game designer only worked on Nuts and Bolts as a designer which I think may be a giant red flag for the whole project.
Valve is shit too though, they refuse to give refunds on Steam despite the fact that their main competitors do and unlike GoG.com and Origin they sell games that completely broken and just plain don't work which is a shitty thing to do when you don't do refunds, GamersGate sells broken games too but they do refunds so you can get your money back if it doesn't work, plus despite this stupidity they still have the gill to sell games that are in alpha which is again a dick move when you don't do refunds and don't help with customer service (Unlike GoG and Origin).
I mean they are so bad that I'm saying that EA's Origin is better because it is, Steam is still better than U-Play though but that's not saying much.
Some good responses so far.
I definitely agree it seems indie devs and kickstarter projects are the way to go. Just look at all the hype around Bloodstained for instance. It really is good to see there is devs out there who still want to innovate and are finally getting noticed in large amounts for it, instead of the AAA games from most companies stagnating the hell out of the market.
The success rate of kickstarters/early access is... 25%? I don't remember, i think it was around that percentage, so for every decent kickstarter/early access there's 3 eternal failures sitting there like giant money traps.
The problem is shit is too rushed. that 1886 was probably too rushed and it was shit, to most. they are rushing and they dont seem to check their stuff and see their faults. That or they dont give a fuck.
Look at RockStar and Naughty Dog, these two put great games and do very well because they have people that actually give a shit about what theyre making and they dont rush it.
Holy shit, imagine the gore and horror that ensues with your typical Valve games, CS GO, dota, cave men and the worst type of people you'd ever see in your life in those games. (Majority). Sorry, I am not trying to degrade or slander, but there's something called truth and I've known what it feels like to play with those hillbillies.
I definitely agree with this Post. I think Companies Like Konami, Capcom, SEGA, Nintendo and Microsoft are Prime examples of this. I really want the Video Game Industry To get back on it's feet again, and do their best, I Especially want that From SEGA and Capcom, considering Most of the Games I played growing up came from them, and Now it's just awful. The gaming industry needs to wake up, and realize what they're doing wrong, and Fix it. This is why Devs like Scott Cawthon and WWWario are in the lead, Because they care about their consumers, and They work hard and Make something different... Scott, not so much anymore, But he still cares about his consumers.
The useless DLC's need to stop. Why can't it be like the good ol' days where Goldeneye 007 was a full game? Unlike Call of Duty who has a 10 dollar fucking DLC for every 5 Maps. The Industry needs to go back to the Basics. Rethink everything, Produce new Consoles, eliminate DLC, and fix what they've done wrong. I for one, Think it'd be a good Idea for every game to be compatible with every console, That way, the Console wars are over, and all the Companies make more money with Mario Kart on Xbox One, and The Last of Us on WiiU, You know what I mean?
EDIT: I also think some Companies should go back to the games that Put them on the Radar. Like Violition's Red Faction, Ubisoft's Splinter Cell, Naughty Dog's Jak and Daxter, Rockstar Game's Midnight Club, RDR and L.A. Noire. We need the good old games back.
Well of course, but a kickstarter is an investment not a purchase, you are betting on a product not buying it so obviously there's a bigger chance of failure, however risky it may be though it's the only way some games would get funded and there are plenty that are good even if they are way more that aren't or just plain don't exist because things didn't work out, as for early access same thing except that it's a system that is very obviously being abused by a bunch of assholes, plus there are some games that just plain don't work well in that format and would be much better to play once they are completed.
You mean like silent hill?
Lone Survivor was fairly similar, although 2D.
valve do give refunds though, just not refunds so you can buy play then return games, there have been many occasion where refunds have been offered for genuine reasons, just not "i don't want this game anymore, give me my money back" reasons
I pretty much agree with your entire post except for this. I think it wouldn't be a good idea if every game was on the same console, (it would defeat the purpose of multiple consoles existing in the first place) mainly because competition is actually a good thing. And by that I mean when you have two or more companies competing against one another it increases their motivation to put out higher quality products over their competitors.
I also think putting EVERY game on the same console would do more harm than good for some companies when you take sales into consideration. Sure games like Call of Duty can get a way with being a multiplatfomer, but that's because it's enjoyed widely across a spectrum of gamers regardless of what consoles they may own, but niche games like Shin Megami Tensei, Persona, Atelier, Hyperdimension Neptunia, etc. wouldn't fare so well on a Microsoft console because those games wouldn't sale on any console other than Sony and/or Nintendo. Microsoft consoles have always done poorly in Japan (and in Asia in general) so developers over there wouldn't see the point in porting a game over to a system that's not gonna make them money (and porting games to different consoles isn't as easy and cheap like a lot people think), and when it comes to most JRPGs and/or Visual Novels, Japaneses companies take their main demographic (their Japanese audience) into consideration before their Western audience.
Generally, when a company chooses which console they want to to develop their games on they're choosing it based on tech limitations and based on which console the game will sell the most on, thus making them more money.
There are many other reasons why I don't think this would be a good idea, but I think these highlight the main reasons why you won't be seeing games like Mario, The Last of Us, and Megami Tensei on every system.
I'm ok with DLC but there's allot of things that annoy about certain game DLCs.
I think DLCs should add NEW CONTENT to the games they're made for, they shouldn't be used as unlock codes for content already available within the game.
In games like WWE, most of the character DLC they make aren't already available in the game, they bring something new to the game, however, In games like Cars 2, they actually have the unlockable characters available to buy on the PSN Store... unlockables should be unlocked not bought, unless you have to buy them in-game with in-game currency. It feels like some games make it difficult to unlock characters and make them available to be bought on the store, they bring nothing new to the game because they're already in the game but they're made difficult to unlock so the consumer is lured into buying what's already available in the game.
In games like Mass Effect 3, where they have a free DLC to add an ending to the game, they're not only fixing their mistakes but adding more to the game for free, I like these DLCs because it shows the creators are trying to please the fans and aren't putting a price tag on what should've already been in the game, however, in games like Final Fantasy XIII-2... the real ending isn't in the game, instead you are forced to buy the ending of the game, you actually have to buy the ending for the game you bought. You shouldn't have to buy the last part of the plot after you bought the game.
DLC is more so restricting the actual game's capabilities in my opinion, companies are pretty much selling us parts of the game but overpriced, and allot of DLC don't really add that much new content. DLCs should give new gameplay, increase the length of the game overall and add new content, not add pieces of gameplay, lengthen the game with repetitive and menial tasks or act as unlock codes to be able to use content already available within the game.
Very rare occassions with big profile games that were broken, they do not offer them for old games they sell that don't work on modern systems and such, plus they really should be making sure the shit they sell works and if they don't want to do it then they should offer refunds in the same way Origin and GoG (Which BTW always makes sure the games they sell work and will always help you make them work if they somehow don't after which they offer the aforementioned refund) do, in any case you shouldn't be defending their shitty business practices.
Mass effect 3 had a lot of free dlc if you include the multiplayer dlc. Sadly the whole free dlc thing as a whole seems to be on the decline.
SEGA has had one of the saddest declines in the history of the video game industry.
Alongside Nintendo, they saved the industry in the 80s' with the console war between them and it created a lot of competition among them both: meaning, they needed to try hard and put effort in.
Now they are making Sonic Boom... a game made to advertise a product line.
Look no further than Ca$hcom: Asura's Wrath, an awesome game with the story as its focal point, has its true ending REMOVED and made a DLC for $19.00 or something like that. Absolutely ridiculous.
I think stuff like competition laws etc makes it harder to "cooperate" between companies to fix the situation. These things that supposedly keep up healthy competition ensures that entire gaming industry just crashes together after they go too far trying to make their products to look more impressive than the other ones. This is just my opinion that might be wrong due lack of information.
At somepoint even enthusiastic might say "No, I will not spend over 1000 Euros/Dollars to your new shiny card so that I can play title X on the max settings." Welcome to 4K gaming folks!
when has that happened? have you ever bought a game that through no fault of your own doesn't work and when requested a refund not gotten one?
because there are a lot of people who just like to make up bullsh*t and spread it around, and if there is any truth to an older game not working the person hasn't even bothered to contact customer support, they just give up and blame valve
My Mortal Kombat Kollection doesn't work, nor my FUEL copy or my Metal Gear Ground Zeroes and probably other games that I don't remember (I have 244 on Steam), in any case I have never been given a refund for any games nor have I been given any help in fixing them when contacting Steam which is actually a pain in the ass and way harder than other services by requiring you to have a separate account just for that and in some other place, rather than the extremely easy way you can contact Origin or GoG, which are quick to respond and will actually help you fix them if possible, so yeah, Steam definitely is worse than it's competition in this regard, plus their client uses up more memory than Origin and well GoG Galaxy is optional so I don't use it so I wouldn't know about that but if I don't want it to use up my memory I can play my games without it unlike Steam.
I don't really like Origin all that much because of my dislike of EA but have give them credit when they deserve it.
Sonic Boom is actually already out, and Meh, I liked Sonic Boom. I think Sega has recently gotten Better with the Releases of "Alien: Isolation" and "Sonic: Lost Worlds.", But it's still sad how a Company who used to always Do what Ninten-Don't has Become so hated.
The constant recycling of franchises is leading to a degree of complacency in the video game industry, with such games as "Call of Duty", Mario and Pokemon. Back in the day they were innovative, fun and original. Now it's basically the same game with the veneer of Ultra HD graphics, better sound and "realism"... If Activision comes up with Call of Duty: Modern Black Ops World in Advanced Warfare in the next few years I wouldn't be surprised.
Shit, it came out?
Completely missed it, will have to check out some footage.
It's been out since December. XD It's quite glitchy, But the premise of the game is great.
well it has always been the case with PC games that you should make sure you can actually play games on your system before you buy it, and i don't believe you actually contacted them and requested a refund.
however they have just made it easier to get refunds now, for any reason:
http://www.pcgamer.com/new-steam-refund-policy-lets-you-get-your-thatmoney-back-for-any-reason/
Today they changed Steam's refund policy. http://store.steampowered.com/steam_refunds?snr=1_41_4__42
2 hours isn't much tho, but it should help those that buy games their pc can't run.
LOL, I was just reading that, looks like one of my main complains of their service has been addressed which is exactly why it-s important to be vocal about these things, they still need to improve their customer service though as it definitely isn't up to par with the competition.
And you are being awfully presumptuous, have you ever contacted them?
It's super hard, I'll admit that with Ground Zeroes I didn't because I forgot my account for the customer support and I could not figure out how to retrieve it, which is a massive problem on their end, why do I even need a separate account to use their customer service? I don't get it.
i have never needed a refund but i have contacted support for other issues, a friend of mine has gotten a refund before, and for unknown and possibly insane reasons he has even gotten games removed from his library all together.
setting up an account is a pain but you should only have to do it once, and all you do is send a message, and now it is almost guaranteed a refund, and maybe i was being presumptuous but you were being so vague, you might as well have said "the game didn't work and i have heard it is hard to get a refund so i didn't try and now i am mad about it" it may be true that it is a pain to get a refund, but with any kind of online purchase the procedure is the same, if you are entitled to a refund and you go through all the steps (no matter how tedious) you will eventually get that refund, you have to learn to complain.
many people have already pointed out problems with this new system being to easy for people to get refunds and use it as a free trial (or short game competition) system or even (with DRM free games) use it as a piracy torrent system, so i think it will be tweaked in the future.
i was never saying that their customer service couldn't/shouldn't be improved, but i have heard a lot of people claim they can't get refunds, when it turns out that they just never tried, no company will ever make refunds as simple as clicking a button, but the speed and efficiency of the refund process is something companies (like valve) should keep up, really valve is rich enough to hire a live chat/phone call customer service from india (or wherever) just like origin, amazon and ebay, that would make it much simpler and quicker.
The video game industry, while it's not as good as it was, won't be dying anytime soon. Yes companies are getting a little greedy, but the games themselves are still pretty fun.
To be perfectly honest, I think that there is more emphasis being placed on videogames than there should be.
While videogames are okay in moderation, gaming companies would have people believe they are essentials.
The reality is, videogames are luxury items, and not necessities.
Videogames are okay in moderation, but they absolutely harmful when played to excess.
Quite frankly, I think in many respects that youth today would be better off without videogames, period.
It would encourage them to be more socially active, to read, to explore their artistic side, etc.
Do think one like Daniel Boone, Kit Carson, Leonardo DaVinci, Mark Twain, do you think they played videogames?
No, they were improving themselves as people, and in the process making history.
My point merely is, is that so much good can be accomplished, and a person can have so much more time for self improvement, by not playing videogames.
Yeah my problem is that it is a pain in the ass far bigger than with any other services, however Valve always has been reluctant to give refunds until now and only did so in special cases, they are also really hard to get a hold of, a friend of mine bought Dying Light on Steam and it never appeared on his account despite the fact that he was actually charged, I'm not sure if he ever found out how to contact them or not but he claims that they never replied to him and now refuses to use their service for obvious reasons, it doesn't matter if he contacted them or not what matters is that it's really hard to get a hold of them and even when you do they usually (In my experience) take anywhere from 12 hours to a couple of days to reply which is unacceptable considering that the competition usually replies in less than half an hour and don't make you jump through as many hoops as Valve does.