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[Impotaku]

Western AAA devs churning out broken crap and USA culture, injecting unwanted politics and gender shit into games that no normal person asked for.

In worse case scenario It’ll reach a tipping point where another crash is likely where people will just stop buying games. It happened before where so many badly made & broken games caused a crash in the states.

Japanese devs and indies are the last bastion, only western stuff I buy is indie games.

 

[SkylineRKR]

Only western stuff is cringe these days.

There are great games coming out of Japan. Think of FFVII, Like a Dragon, Unicorn Overlord, Tekken 8, Erdtree and soon Astro Bot, Visions of Mana, Metaphor. I think there is still a selection of good games coming out. Its that western shit like Concord and the Dragon Age reveal making it look worse.

 

[Mr Reasonable]

Avoiding warrior tactics, it’s game developers that are ruining the industry. They’re creatively bankrupt and falling back on remasters/remakes, as well as creating budgets that are bloated for no reason. We get indie dev teams making great games that look and play great, with 1% of the staff and budget.

I’d fire every current AAA game directors and producers and start over. It’s time. The game industry is fucking stupid these days.

Most developers and producers don't have the freedom to actually dictate if a remake is chosen over bringing a new idea to market.

Publishers have a responsibility to make sure that the games they fund make a return on investment and Gamers have shown repeatedly that they'll happily throw down money for remakes, remasters and new entries from established franchises. Meanwhile they're more cautious to spend on new titles.

If you sacked all the game developers and producers, guess what, it won't herald a new period of creativity, you're still getting Assassin's Creed 15. I can well imagine loads of people working in AAA have loads of ideas that will never be put into motion, because that's just not how it works.

 

[Matsuchezz]

Microsoft buying itself a spot in the industry buying big publishers, and delivering crap games after acquisitions, ironically they turn to shit already crappy developers. And people celebrating such turds.

 

[Bernardougf]

"playstation leaning forum"

trust me you've not seen the worst of it if you think this place is "playstation leaning"

Classic Phils balls lover with persecution complex.... its a lost cause.. just ignore it.

 

[Acidjuice]

rushed games and a hyperfocus on monetization while rarely prioritizing the experience of the player.
a lot of content is thrown out in a very basic or unfinished fashion to meet unrealistic deadlines. thats what really killed a lot of the fun for dragons dogma 2 for me, so much unfinished, poorly optimized, and cut content.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

Open world fad.

The 3D fad is bad too.

 

[Gamer_By_Proxy]

MKUltra, Alphabet Mafia, and Toucan Sam.

I thought this said who's running the gaming industry . . . ha! I misread it last night.

 

[rm082e]

I don't think "ruining" is a good way to describe it, but the report we got earlier this year showing 60% of gaming hours on console and PC was spent on a handful of older games that are super cheap or F2P was very telling. I love high quality single player games. But I understand companies can't justify investing in those titles when at best, they're going to make a fraction of the potential a new live service game could make. This trend of putting more and more investment into fewer and fewer games that are trying to compete with Fortnite, Roblox, GTA Online, etc. makes sense.

Thankfully, I've stocked up on way more games than I'll be able to finish before I die. Between Steam and PlayStation, I feel like I've moved into a sort of hermit/hibernation mode where I'm not really paying attention to new stuff anymore. I probably won't buy anymore hardware for a long time - years even. I'll just quietly work through my backlog of great games that I picked up on cheap sales.

 

[Artoris]

 

[proandrad]

Boomer gamers that think every AAA game must be tailored to their taste and beliefs.

 

[Josemayuste]

Investors.

 

[JackMcGunns]

Classic Phils balls lover with persecution complex.... its a lost cause.. just ignore it.

It's the most overused word. Rather than a rational thought and discussion, they resort to attachks (Phils balls) and use terms like persecution complex as a tactic to try and invalidate your valid point.

 

[Bond007]

We the gamers- for allowing everything.
We pay for online play- because its suchhhhh a good deal when Microsoft introduced XBL. Ultimately forcing the competition to provide the same "value"
We allowed microtransactions- cause its not a big deal. You dont need to buy em
We allow unfinished games
We preorder unfinished products
Digital games and our lack of ownership because people want convenience in not swapping a disc.
We want longer games for perceived value. We end up with bloat and busy work.



We ultimately end up justifying every bad practice in the moment. Only to see how bad a decade later.
I think alot of it has to do with the age demographics of this hobby.

 

[RoboFu]

Boomer gamers that think every AAA game must be tailored to their taste and beliefs.

but really they should be because all the new " diverse " games end up like the alt version of gentlemen broncos.

 

[Woopah]

There are issues but I'd hardly say its ruined. I'm having great fun playing recent games have a lot to look forward to.

 

[Bernardougf]

It's the most overused word. Rather than a rational thought and discussion, they resort to attachks (Phils balls) and use terms like persecution complex as a tactic to try and invalidate your valid point.

You want to have a rational thought and discussion with one of the biggest unapologetically fanboy of xbox with a huge pre established persecution complex... be my guest. You do you mate.

 

[MacReady13]

In worse case scenario It’ll reach a tipping point where another crash is likely where people will just stop buying games.

Buying games? Doesn't everyone just have subscription services to rent games nowadays???

In all seriousness though, I agree 100% with your original post.

 

[fart town usa]

There's a few factors and they all eat into each other like an ouroboros of sorts.

• Gamers who know better and normies buying shit AAA games due to FOMO.
• Lazy/Shallow reviewers on YT who rightly question AAA slop but they also give it the most coverage due to clicks, and they also poo poo quality AA games.
• Normies still relying on propaganda outlets like IGN who hype up AAA slop and also poo poo quality AA games.

Basically, quality AA games are being suffocated and AAA manages to stay afloat. We need AA publishers to be able to get more oxygen so their games can sell more, we need quality AA studios/publishers to be able to grow financially so they can turn in the AAA studios that we want to see.

 

[arkhamguy123]

Same thing that ruins everything and especially art

Corporate greed + appealing to the dumb masses

They go hand in hand actually

 

[*Nightwing]

You heard it here first folks… it’s ÜberHitler running gaming right now

 

[Varteras]

Every last one of you fucks. Except me... and Topher

 

[nial]

MS doesn't really have tons of huge AAA games, and pushes a lot more AA stuff and experimental titles, and a sub model that allows people to try that stuff for little financial risk. Sony is pushing the biggest AAA stuff in the industry.

Microsoft Closes Redfall Developer Arkane Austin, Hi-Fi Rush Developer Tango Gameworks, and More in Devastating Cuts at Bethesda - IGN

Microsoft has closed a number of Bethesda studios, including Redfall maker Arkane Austin, Hi-Fi Rush developer Tango Gameworks, and more in devastating cuts at Bethesda, IGN can confirm.

www.ign.com

New Astro Bot Game Revealed - State of Play 2024 - IGN

After teasing it was working on its "most ambitious game yet" roughly 3 years ago, Team Asobi has officially announced Astro Bot at State of Play 2024.

www.ign.com

Reality tells otherwise.
Yeah, people were right for calling you out, because holy shit, you just cannot make any single point without trying to shill for MS.

 

[Melchiah]

The 3D fad is bad too.

The move to 3D didn't balloon development budgets to unsustainable level. We would have more games with shorter development times, and more variety without the open world fad and the busy work it entails.

 

[RickMasters]

Investors and stock holders who don’t care about the quality of the games and seem to show little respect for the time it takes for devs to craft something great.

 

[Rhazer Fusion]

- (Who?)The West. Heavy Western influences and ideologies in the game industry. Look at Sony since the move to California for example. Censorship, forced diversity, etc in other companies as well.
- GAAS/live service games
- Open World games
- Obsession with DEI, wokeness and identity politics.
- Very long and expensive development cycles.
- Most gamers think shorter games are bad or not worth your money because they are not bloated and extremely long.
- DLC/microtransactions/Season passes
- Incomplete and broken games.
- Gaming is too safe and risk averse. Lack of innovation especially in the AAA space.

Gaming is still good imo, but these things are imho holding it back and deteriorating it imho.

 

[Sethbacca]

The move to 3D didn't balloon development budgets to unsustainable level. We would have more games with shorter development times, and more variety without the open world fad and the busy work it entails.

Honestly, open world is the one thing I wish would just mostly go away. Like, not completely away since there are games and genres where it benefits, but trying to make everything into open world has lead to the Ubification of everything. Make it stoooooop.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

The move to 3D didn't balloon development budgets to unsustainable level. We would have more games with shorter development times, and more variety without the open world fad and the busy work it entails.

Neither did open world. But like with the switch to 3D, we aren't going back. People overwhelmingly prefer open world to linear in the same way people overwhelmingly prefer 3D to 2D.

 

[JackMcGunns]

You want to have a rational thought and discussion with one of the biggest unapologetically fanboy of xbox with a huge pre established persecution complex... be my guest. You do you mate.

Sheesh, I don't post here that much to get so up close and personal with users at that level. I guess I just take each comment as is.

 

[Melchiah]

Honestly, open world is the one thing I wish would just mostly go away. Like, not completely away since there are games and genres where it benefits, but trying to make everything into open world has lead to the Ubification of everything. Make it stoooooop.

Like Cerny said:

There is a lot of focus right now on the time it takes to build these games, and Cerny says that, ultimately, it's the developers that have chosen this path. ... if the time to triangle has been greatly reduced, why is it then taking so many years to create a game? And the answer is that is what the teams are choosing to do. They are going after these massive creations that really do need four or six years to put together."

Source: https://www.gamesindustry.biz/mark-cerny-at-60-i-the-gi-interview

Without the need to Ubify everything there would be no such issues, but due to the push for the tiresome open world formula games take more time to make.

 

[Melchiah]

Neither did open world. But like with the switch to 3D, we aren't going back. People overwhelmingly prefer open world to linear in the same way people overwhelmingly prefer 3D to 2D.

See the quote from Cerny I posted above. People overwhelmingly hate the fact that it takes so much time for studios to make these kind of games that they can release only one or two games per generation. We wouldn't be in this situation without the push for making everything open world.

 

[Wingnut]

Gen Z

 

[alucard0712_rus]

Gamers and reviewers

 

[kurisu_1974]

Just don' buy /play western gaas or chinese gacha and you're good.

 

[Jesb]

You can pretty much blame it on going mainstream. Anything that goes mainstream usually goes to shit. All the bad stuff that’s happened like woke, Gaas, microtransactions, and whatever else are all the result of going mainstream. Without any of that we don’t lose all these or most of the studios we lost, we’d still have AAA games but not stupid budgets. We’d have alot more AA games. Going mainstream was both the growth and worst of the industry.

 

[AV]

The endless graphics unicorn chasing. These people will never be happy by definition. We could be advancing much more interesting things than how many grains of sand you can see on the floor, but alas.

 

[Feel Like I'm On 42]

We the gamers- for allowing everything.
We pay for online play- because its suchhhhh a good deal when Microsoft introduced XBL. Ultimately forcing the competition to provide the same "value"
We allowed microtransactions- cause its not a big deal. You dont need to buy em
We allow unfinished games
We preorder unfinished products
Digital games and our lack of ownership because people want convenience in not swapping a disc.
We want longer games for perceived value. We end up with bloat and busy work.



We ultimately end up justifying every bad practice in the moment. Only to see how bad a decade later.
I think alot of it has to do with the age demographics of this hobby.

Bam! Gamers are idiots and dont realize theyre being fleeced until years after the fact. Console gamers in particular are total sheep! Then there’s AAA wokeness and greed. Finally, the way games "journalism" works including shill Youtubers. The amount of absolute BULLSHIT these companies are getting away with right now is the biggest problem, but they wouldn't be doing it without outside help ..from gamers and games shilling media

 

[chorizosausage#3774]

It’s not ruined, never had it so good. Easy to avoid the crass money grubbing if you choose to.

 

[Clear]

Easy to fix: Purge the activists and replace them with entertainers and artists within development. Shun/exclude/blacklist those in the media space who seek to politicize gaming.

Harder to fix: Shorten dev cycles, and lower per-project risk.

The major challenge though is smashing the pervasive concept of gaming as a blue ocean. It isn't, and never has been. Its segmented up into distinct sub-markets all with their own audience types, desires and wants.
Pick your target, and deliver to that group. Trying to appeal to everyone at the same time is a fool's errand,

 

[REDRZA MWS]

DEI

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

See the quote from Cerny I posted above. People overwhelmingly hate the fact that it takes so much time for studios to make these kind of games that they can release only one or two games per generation.

The jump to 3D lengthened development considerably as well. It doesn't matter because everybody prefers 3D over 2D.

We wouldn't be in this situation without the push for making everything open world.

The industry would be in a far worse situation considering no one wants to buy and play linear games. 3D games are produced because they yield healthier margins.

 

[Buggy Loop]

Having talked with actual peoples who worked on Deus Ex at Eidos and then Square Enix fucking everything up in there for live services..

1. Publishers will be number one fucking it up if they're looking into fads, chasing the next CoD, the next fortnite, NFTs, lootboxes, microtransactions, etc.
2. Marketing peoples. Guy I talked to explained how marketing peoples will simply force their views in development with them not having a single experience designing games and force it on directors and designers. If you don't agree the first time, they'll wind you down with more meetings that drag on forever, they'll claw away support from upper managements, from publishers, etc. They win, end of story.
3. Hiring by DEI and not skills

 

[Hypereides]

Suits, 100%.

this was and industry made by geeks in their fucking basements. Now its run by suits looking at spreadsheets.

If anything doesnt have a disgusting ROI, its dead. There are almost no passion projects now, only indies are like that.
Everything must make the most amount of money to the 1% and thats it.

I hate it. The medium cant be considered art, its a business.

Good point. The faster the c-suites wake up to this, the better.

We the gamers- for allowing everything.
We pay for online play- because its suchhhhh a good deal when Microsoft introduced XBL. Ultimately forcing the competition to provide the same "value"
We allowed microtransactions- cause its not a big deal. You dont need to buy em
We allow unfinished games
We preorder unfinished products
Digital games and our lack of ownership because people want convenience in not swapping a disc.
We want longer games for perceived value. We end up with bloat and busy work.



We ultimately end up justifying every bad practice in the moment. Only to see how bad a decade later.
I think alot of it has to do with the age demographics of this hobby.

Gotta say, mr. Bond raises some good points too.

Imo, all in all, the average gamer should take responsibility upon themselves, conduct research and get informed about what they purchase. Its the antidote to the status quo. There's some good and inspiring stuff out there. You just gotta find it, support it, shed a light on it and discuss it. Drop those corporate entities who view you as nothing more than walking wallets and/or are more preoccupied about broadcasting a "political statement" than creating inventive games.

Stop listening to the legacy gaming media people too. They don't have your best interests in mind. A bunch of them are thinly veiled activists who mandate and endorse whatever they think is "correct" based on their principles. They will sabotage chances of well meaning games if they don't adhere to those certain principles. There are very few neutral assessments coming from gaming media atm.

Be the change you want to see. A droplet can eventually turn into a flood.

 

[chromhound]

Investors and woke crowd

 

[Valonquar]

Cell phone games ruined the industry. Nothing even comes a close second.

 

[Plague Doctor]

It's really a combination of things but believe it or not, everything will work itself out.

Western AAA devs are in something of a dark ages with the best of them hamfisting their own solipsistic brand of morality at the expense of the larger audience and the vast majority chasing trends with questionable monetization practices.

Eastern devs definitely do the latter to varying degrees but atleast play to their audiences' wants in content, gameplay, and story telling.

You can't be both scummy and willingfully ignore what your audience wants and treat them with contempt. It eventually all catches up.


But we have indies, AA, and other nations outside the big West stepping up so... honestly, the Western AAA industry could collapse and we would all keep chugging along nicely. So yeah, imo the best case scenario is another massive reset with the sheer incompetency and bizarre indulgences of the current Western AAA acting as a cautionary tale for the rest of the gaming industry.

 

[StereoVsn]

Consumers are killing the industry because they are no longer joining the console market in numbers that grow the total userbase so publishers only choice is to milk even more the same number of users in order to grow profit.

I agree that this is a big part of the issue. Overall numbers of console games aren’t growing. Some of it is certainly due to Gen Z being mainly into stupid free games driven by Social Media.

However, I put the blame partially on the big three vendors. They haven’t tried to engage with younger players really.

If you think how a lot of people got into console gaming before, you used to have arcades, stations in retail stores and more.

Now days, there is barely any retail left, financial pressure on young people is worse then ever, and companies lien MS and Sony don’t bother cultivating younger gamers.

For example, Sony could have both attempted to keep PS4 alive longer for a discounted price, but they completely fumbled due to COVID and incompetence.

 

[Filben]

Greedy CEOs and shareholders who treat video games only as a vehicle for better rates of return than in different industries.

 

[phant0m]

1. Exploding dev costs and cycle times --> drives more monetization to make up for costs. Selling 2 million copies of a AAA game is considered failure now.
2. Industry takeover by MBAs & social crusaders --> maximize value and social causes over game design
3. Shift to MAUs/player count/continuous engagement as #1 metric --> Loot/numbers go up treadmill, games demand more of your time to "keep up"

IMO they all go back to #1 but are different symptoms of that cause

Cell phone games ruined the industry. Nothing even comes a close second.

Also this. And not just mobile games but the entire device -- everyone got short as fuck attention spans and need dopamine hits every 12.5 seconds or they get bored/move on.

If WoW never existed and you brought Vanilla out today it would get annihilated in reviews/ player sentiment. "Where am I supposed to go? What's going on? READ quest text, no audio? This game sucks"

Goldeneye 007? "Not worth $50. Beat the whole campaign in 6 hours and 3 of the levels are recycled. No progression. Multiplayer is fun but pretty barebones, I'll probably get bored in a week unless they start adding more content."

 

[Jack Videogames]

DEI