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[Orutisu Furio]

Given all the news we’ve been seeing lately over the last few years and especially in these last few weeks, one thing is clear:

We need a gaming industry crash. While it will be painful and difficult, it is necessary to restore order in the midst of the chaos.

It seems like over the last decade we’ve been spoon fed trash upon trash, and gaming companies have shifted to producing games that are made to extract as much money as possible from you but without providing anything redeeming or inherently fun in return. Games aren’t games anymore, they’re just ”products”.

Obsession with live service games, micro transactions, engagement, concurrent players, endless upon endless broken day 1 releases with infinite patches to fix a problem that can’t be fixed: you can’t patch a game to fix lack of creativity and lack of passion.

Games no longer take risks. Nothing is ever groundbreaking or original anymore. Game developers have been largely been castrated by soulless corporations that pay more attention to excel spreadsheets than their own creators and fans. Everything is done by committee and has to check every box conceivable.

Might as well let AI make games now, because from what I am seeing the humans aren’t doing a good job of making games anymore.

We need a crash. Time to reset the market.

 

[mayham2199]

It seems like over the last decade we’ve been spoon fed trash upon trash, and gaming companies have shifted to producing games that are made to extract as much money as possible from you but without providing anything redeeming or inherently fun in return. Games aren’t games anymore, they’re just ”products”.

Speak for yourself. There have been so many good games coming out I can't keep up. I've never had so many top AAA games in my backlog like I do now. These aren't just games I have some small interest in. These are like top AAA titles that I know I will enjoy. Hell I just restarted BG3 with Dark urge play through cause I really wanted to go back to it.

 

[midnightAI]

This MS stuff has really got to some people hasn't it.

 

[Punished Miku]

Honestly I think this "crash" idea many of you have is make believe. Listen to people talk about the 1st crash. There were still games coming out that whole time, just a lot less. We're never not going to have games on multiple devices.

 

[Flabagast]

Given all the news we’ve been seeing lately over the last few years and especially in these last few weeks, one thing is clear:

We need a gaming industry crash. While it will be painful and difficult, it is necessary to restore order in the midst of the chaos.

It seems like over the last decade we’ve been spoon fed trash upon trash, and gaming companies have shifted to producing games that are made to extract as much money as possible from you but without providing anything redeeming or inherently fun in return. Games aren’t games anymore, they’re just ”products”.

Obsession with live service games, micro transactions, engagement, concurrent players, endless upon endless broken day 1 releases with infinite patches to fix a problem that can’t be fixed: you can’t patch a game to fix lack of creativity and lack of passion.

Games no longer take risks. Nothing is ever groundbreaking or original anymore. Game developers have been largely been castrated by soulless corporations that pay more attention to excel spreadsheets than their own creators and fans. Everything is done by committee and has to check every box conceivable.

Might as well let AI make games now, because from what I am seeing the humans aren’t doing a good job of making games anymore.

We need a crash. Time to reset the market.

No pal, we only need Xbox to die. Rest of the industry is more or less fine

 

[Killjoy-NL]

Don't worry, we're headed towards a Great Reset anyway.

 

[TintoConCasera]

Don't buy AAA western games. Don't touch their live-service scams. Don't trust their words and never pre-order.

I've been doing that for a while and I'm surviving pretty nicely.

 

[Dr. Wilkinson]

Nah, it just needs a correction. And we're currently in the midst of it. Having said all of that, unless Nintendo's Switch successor goes south, Nintendo and some other minor exceptions might not undergo any kind of correction, given how well they're doing. (Nintendo, Hasbro, Warner Bros, etc). Playstation's also in pretty good shape, *overall. PS5 will at least match PS4's install base, and software & services are selling well.

 

[Skifi28]

Been hearing this for over a decade. Any day now.

 

[MALpractice311]

I've been saying this exact sentiment this entire generation. A crash would (mostly) get the corporate suits out and leave behind the creatives to focus on games as games, with a few execs necessary to bring those products to market. That might get us back to the 80s and 90s when games were made by nerds, geeks, and weirdos (like most of us on this forum), who just had fun ideas they wanted to share with the world through gaming as a medium and clear out all the multinational corporate types that want every game to be the same boring, grey sludge that they think will somehow act as a multi-year revenue stream to prop up their stock prices.

 

[Heimdall_Xtreme]

Given all the news we’ve been seeing lately over the last few years and especially in these last few weeks, one thing is clear:

We need a gaming industry crash. While it will be painful and difficult, it is necessary to restore order in the midst of the chaos.

It seems like over the last decade

Gravity Rush 2 came out in 2017, so that argument fails.

 

[Kurotri]

Aren't profits higher than ever? I don't think a crash is coming anytime soon.

 

[MALpractice311]

Don't buy AAA western games. Don't touch their live-service scams. Don't trust their words and never pre-order.

I've been doing that for a while and I'm surviving pretty nicely.

Great idea in theory, but that hasn't stopped multinational corps from gobbling up the little guys, sucking them dry, and disposing of them.

 

[mansoor1980]

dont worry OP , history of man will be reset soon..........................

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

This is literally "The crash" you want. You're witnessing it.

 

[Plague Doctor]

The game industry really exists in 3 forms: AAA, AA/Indie, and then mobile.

If you mean the collapse/retraction of the AAA sector, the industry will easily keep on going.

The AAA are overdue for a massive correction - specifically at the C Suite and top and by correction - an entire generation of decision makers need to be replaced and new, modest profit models need to be defined.

Edit: Not a fan of mobile at all but it is a juggernaut that thrives no matter what at this point.

 

[Punished Miku]

That might get us back to the 80s and 90s when games were made by nerds, geeks, and weirdos (like most of us on this forum), who just had fun ideas they wanted to share with the world through gaming as a medium and clear out all the multinational corporate types that want every game to be the same boring, grey sludge that they think will somehow act as a multi-year revenue stream to prop up their stock prices.

Time doesn't go backwards, just forwards. We're never going back to the 80s and 90s. Indie games exist now. Gaming is never going back to a totally niche product made by nerds only with the same cultural sensibilities from 40 years ago. Just try to broaden your taste and buy more experimental stuff.

 

[Vyse]

Speak for yourself. There have been so many good games coming out I can't keep up. I've never had so many top AAA games in my backlog like I do now. These aren't just games I have some small interest in. These are like top AAA titles that I know I will enjoy. Hell I just restarted BG3 with Dark urge play through cause I really wanted to go back to it.

I was just about to post the same thing. Nicely said my friend.

 

[TintoConCasera]

Great idea in theory, but that hasn't stopped multinational corps from gobbling up the little guys, sucking them dry, and disposing of them.

True, but sadly there isn't much we can do about it as consumers.

 

[SEGAvangelist]

This MS stuff has really got to some people hasn't it.

The DEI and censorship stuff for me mainly. The desire to appeal to a global market has found its way into Japan as well. This Xbox brand death is just the beginning of things to come.

 

[Hugare]

The crash is already happening

The complete silence from Sony many first party developers? It's the result of Sony fucking up their GAAS strategy and throwing into the trash many developing titles, wasting years from their top devs.

And it's probably the same with many other devs out there inside EA/Ubi and etc. They are starting to align expectations about GAAS and changing strategy.

We wont have another "thousands of ET copies into the junkyard" situation. They will adjust their strategy and we wont see so many new releases for a while, which is already happening.

 

[kiphalfton]

How about a housing market crash. Caring about this crap, when it's a hobby at best but not actually a life need, well it is stupid.

 

[nkarafo]

It's too big and too mainstream to crash.

Just stick to the stuff you like. Fortunately, there's still good stuff out there, even if it's only a small percentage.

 

[Dr_Ifto]

Man, there have been some of the best games ever made, made over the past decade. This is a shit take. Over 10k games are made a year, just buy what you want.

 

[MALpractice311]

Time doesn't go backwards, just forwards. We're never going back to the 80s and 90s. Indie games exist now. Gaming is never going back to a totally niche product made by nerds only with the same cultural sensibilities from 40 years ago. Just try to broaden your taste and buy more experimental stuff.

I get that and I do play a ton of indie games and have a ton more on my wishlist. Those games are made by the creators that I personally think should be running this industry.

But that doesn't mean I need to accept or engage with garbage like microtransactions, GAAS, and games that require 6 months of patches to get into a playable state. And that's the crap we have to deal with due to the influence of multinational corporations whose only concern is propping up their stock.

 

[Dane]

I've been hearing this for years and nothing happens.

Lets face the reality, your favorite developers created multi million sellers, your today greedy corporations and assholes like Bobby Kotick were the same ones greenlightning games from all kinds of genre because that's how you made money back then, a game like Tony's Hawk Pro Skater was bringing in hundreds of millions to Activision, fast forward not only there was a decline in quality, the culture surrounding it that helped to sell the game (skate culture) was also in a major decline, that's why we only had EA's Skate for a few years before also going the way of the Dodo. One by one their IPs lost revenue as the public interest diminished due to quality and/or changes in tastes.

Not only most people would invest their money into what bring the highest return possible, they wouldn't invest money in something risky with a small market unless the budget was specifically toned down to mitigate risks, because otherwise they would be certain that it would not generate a profit.

 

[lughnasadh123]

Just assuming a game crash would have positive benefits when we know it would have terrible immediate terrible consequences is a hell of a take.

 

[IDKFA]

We don't need a crash.

Sony and Nintendo are killing the home console market. The PC market is stronger than it has ever been.

It's just Microsoft that are dropping the ball. We don't need a reset because they can't get their shit together.

 

[FoxMcChief]

Looking forward to it, but sadly it’s likely not going to happen.

 

[MALpractice311]

Just assuming a game crash would have positive benefits when we know it would have terrible immediate terrible consequences is a hell of a take.

Market corrections are rough, but they happen all the time. And yet the market always comes back. The global economy post-9/11. The housing market in 2008/2009. We're now working our way through the post-COVID crunch.

 

[SneakersSO]

No, what we really need to do is stop ascribing Microsoft's failings to the wider industry. Its fundamentally not a correct assessment.

 

[GHG]

Xbox are doing all the crashing by themselves.

 

[Magic Carpet]

People need to start having more babies. They grow up and buy games. More babies=more games.
Get busy people!

 

[IAmRei]

is it western only? because i see in japan side, still fine.

 

[mayham2199]

is it western only? because i see in japan side, still fine.

Yep mostly western. Also seems like the companies who went on publisher buying sprees are having the hardest time.

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

DEI-infected studios and companies are crashing.

Creative-free studios are thriving.

This should tell us something.

 

[onQ123]

No it's not but Microsoft tried to force one so they could come out with whatever is left of it

 

[StereoVsn]

Don't buy AAA western games. Don't touch their live-service scams. Don't trust their words and never pre-order.

I've been doing that for a while and I'm surviving pretty nicely.

Eh, BG3 was stellar. Jedi Survivor is pretty good on consoles now after patches and sales.

But yeah, games from Asian devs have been on fire this year. My backlog is Infinite… (because I haven’t played Infinite Wealth yet)

 

[TintoConCasera]

Eh, BG3 was stellar. Jedi Survivor is pretty good on consoles now after patches and sales.

While the quality of the games is subjective, the fact is that both games launched in quite a shitty state and needed tons of patches to run properly.

 

[NuclearDiarrhea]

A Bloodborne Remaster would fix all of this.

 

[FunkMiller]

There's not a crash coming, but MS are going to exit the market in any meaningful way in the next few years. And I hope there's someone to pick up the slack so Sony don't slide even further into the stupidity and rampant they've been exhibiting recently.

 

[Wildebeest]

If you crash gaming, it will still come back to a world where every sort of news and entertainment is subservient to the demands of the tech industry. Good articles do not get written on news sites because data shows they will not get as many people reading them as something that is pure rubbish that can be quickly written by a monkey. Interesting new music is not promoted because they have users who are all siloed into groups who will be more than satisfied with mechanical sounding and predictable music, and interesting music doesn't go in those silos.

We know perfectly where we are going with a "reset" on gaming, so you have a more tech bro sort of subscription environment, tied to hardware or streaming services. You get mobile gaming platforms. You get flooded with Netflix like content where everything is the same and gets cancelled after one season, unless the algorithm notices something unusual, while the real money is made on repeat viewings of old shows from network tv. You do not get a golden age of weird quirky experimental content made by artists, given real budgets to play with.

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

Don't worry, we're headed towards a Great Reset anyway.

Its why I have hardened bunker that my wife and I could live in for awhile and defend it if needed

Oh wait you did mean the fall of modern society right?

 

[IAmRei]

Yep mostly western. Also seems like the companies who went on publisher buying sprees are having the hardest time.

today i heard from my friend, that Nintendo cumulative net profit is up. and Capcom also reach some fortune, even Konami is up as well.
japan might not be known as graphic advance games, or AAAA title cost, but their balance between still fine graphic and development cost,
made them some of best examples for how to not maximize, rather just optimize the budget and future revenue factor. and their revenue is balance with the cost.

while i know development cost is high in west, it might be lower if they are thinking about optimizing the cost and the output as well. i saw since 2006 (i think) west games often focusing on brute force : graphic and sounds too much, and the cost are almost always ballooned too much. this make everything is high risk high reward, but in longer time. the balance is not there, and if it's continue, it will someday reach the bubble.
this also applied to buy fest which some big publishers eats smaller studios too much and grown too big to be handled well.

and it might be today, which we see right now.

 

[simpatico]

We're seeing the start of it now. Bad planning, bad management combined with the new generation of kids not caring about console style gaming. Left a lot of publishers and investors holding a big, stinky bag. In the long run it's going to be a good thing for the types of games we like. I think we will see lower budgets in general and smaller teams, but that's a good thing. One of the worst things to happen to gaming was all major projects required everything to go through investor and focus group committees. So we had this ability to make nearly billion dollar games, but the content in these games was ground down to colorless, homogenized paste.

 

[Miyazaki’s Slave]

If an industry that is larger than the Movie and Music industry combined (I think that was the statement made last year) crashes there will be WAY more issues than not getting any more walking simulators about mental health problems.

Larger companies will be smarter with where they spend their existing capital as investment is going to be harder to secure for the current "AAA" production pipeline.

All that aside... I am trying to find out where HeisenbergFX4 is so I can get some of that sweet sweet bunker safety.

 

[64bitmodels]

How about a housing market crash. Caring about this crap, when it's a hobby at best but not actually a life need, well it is stupid.

Hobbies are life needs. What the fuck is a person without a hobby supposed to do? Everyone has one.

 

[64bitmodels]

We don't need a crash.

Sony and Nintendo are killing the home console market. The PC market is stronger than it has ever been.

It's just Microsoft that are dropping the ball. We don't need a reset because they can't get their shit together.

It's just Microsoft? So EA, Activision, Ubisoft, take two, Warner bros etc don't need any correction or fixing at all?

 

[bender]

Gabe is to big to fail. He must be broken apart.

 

[kiphalfton]

Hobbies are life needs. What the fuck is a person without a hobby supposed to do? Everyone has one.

Whine about it on the internet? You seem to find joy in that, based on your most recent series of threads you e created.