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[rkofan87]

Not only that... it's the fact that NO GAME AT ALL this year was able to achieve a 'post launch hype conversation' on Internet after its release. Do you remember that topic about SW2 hype dying down? Wrong conclusion, right evidences. Compare with 2022 (Elden Ring), 2023 (TOTK and Baldur's Gate III), 2024 (Wukong and [in a lesser degree] Astro Bot).

e33??

 

[semiconscious]

well, I can say that ghost of yotei lasted a bit over 3 weeks, but, yes, point taken. i agree with this explanation:

Its because there are much fewer really new or unique games in a sea of new games...

whether a game's simply 'good' has little to do with it...

 

[PauloRoberto]

e33??

Not the same level of post launch hype (and if im not mistaken, the only game that had any sort of natural post launch hype internet conversation this year). Note that Im not questioning quality of all these games.

 

[EverydayBeast]

Yes new games get out of the picture quickly because the attention is on to the next one.

 

[Bigfroth]

Ya, one of the many compounding problems with the industry right now. About 50 games a day are released on Steam. Games come out, get 30 seconds of coverage, and then are broomed out the back door for the next forgotten game to show itself. A collapse is coming, not like the '83 crash, but something is going to give. This is not sustainable.

 

[Guardian Monkey]

Too many games? You don't have to play all of them. I feel like it's been this way for years leading up to Covid. Once that hit everybody got use to the slow burn being normal. We are in the back half of the generation at this point. Lots of stuff should be coming out. Not to mention indies are far more mainstream now.

 

[Humdinger]

Just a general observation about the AAA scene in 2025, without any particular title in mind.

The hype cycle for every major AAA game remains strong in the months before release, but once the game comes out, all major discourse around it just ends abruptly, usually after most of the day 1 buyers complete their first run. And apart from the most hardcore fanbase and your typical YT "why <X> killed the franchise" or "<X> is secretly genius" it barely gets mentioned later on unless it's prime for the GOTY awards.

Are there just too many games to play nowadays? Too many disappointments? Or is our attention span getting shorter?

I agree.

As for why, I think it's because the vast majority of AAA games are not particularly memorable. So why would they stay in memory?

 

[ReBurn]

I think a lot of people are finished with new games after the first couple of weeks and probably don't have much more to say about them. Unless there's more content or significant changes on the way what is the point of keeping the conversation alive outside of the core fans?

 

[asdasdasdbb]

e33??

That might be more the GAF echo chamber more than anything else. The Steam CCU curve is pretty standard for a SP only game.

BG3 might be the one exception, but even that has a not unusual curve.

 

[jzbadblood]

If you think E33 has bad writing, 99% of other games must be peak retardation by your standards.

Yeah. I mean they're video games.

 

[Lokaum D+]

Yeah. I mean they're video games.

so you are just too good for video games stories...

 

[IDKFA]

Yeah. I mean they're video games.

I get where you're coming from.

Vast majority of games have poor writing. That's because video games area poor medium for story telling. Unlike novels and films that are designed for story telling, video games interactive and were originally designed as electronic toys. With a video game you might get a 5 minute cut scene, then you're back to a few hours of trekking over a map with some combat or puzzles sprinkled in. That's because without gameplay you don't have a video game.

 

[Klayzer]

You mean those people who get noticeably triggered when someone likes something they don't, and they try to explain to them why they are "wrong" to like it?

Sounds like a poster we know..

 

[buenoblue]

It's because outlets and youtubers only make money on the newest games then they move on to the next.

 

[YeulEmeralda]

I don't play games on release. It takes 6 months for the patches and mods to come out.

Ofcourse by then nobody cares.

 

[AngelMuffin]

Are there just too many games to play nowadays? Too many disappointments? Or is our attention span getting shorter?

Yes

 

[Griffon]

Most of everything is mediocre. Only the true gems get to shine longer.

 

[Zacfoldor]

It was on the level of "it's all a dream" or the St. Elsewhere snowglobe finale. Hack writing.

Also, lol, the ending really has nothing in common with the bullshit tommy westphall st elsewhere snow globe ending. I'm sorry you didn't personally understand it but those of us that did will be making this goty this year and we can't allow anything less.

Not everything is mediocre now is it a small handful of vocal players that have changed, not the content and not the rest of us. Your brain arbitrarily changed due to nature and you hate gaming now. We get it. It all sucks, yada, yada, yada. You have an adult brain now. You don't like gaming anymore. We do.

Careful that your contrarian leanings don't lead to hipsterism.

 

[Nephryte]

I feel like it's just life in general. Everywhere we turn, we're seeing new things that stimulate and overwhelm us. Then our brains get desensitized, and it's on to the next thing. Brainrot is real.

It has been dangerously evolving into that since social medias has been available to broad large spectrum of society, not sure if its a good thing....add also echo chambers...if you try to criticize a product you get banned or muted...we live in some crazy times....

I remember back in the 1990s up to the middle of 2000s you could talk about a new game for months and didnt felt overwhelmed.

 

[falling into hell]

But we will never forget Concord.

There are just too many games and most of the games I play are from my backlog, that means there are damn old. When I finally finish them nobody can even remember them. It's useless posting about them.

 

[Thaimasker]

We aren't in a monoculture anymore, people are largely in their own bubbles.

Its been this way with media in general for the past couple years.

When was the last time there was a TV show as big as squid game

 

[Sept Terrion Of Nothing]

I think so too. We've been exposed to tons of information in relatively recent years. It doesn't matter what information but from everywhere they are pouring. We have limited brain capacity and there is so much information our brain can hold.

It may sound absurd but when oneself limit from these unecessary informations or hugely reduce them, you feel much more relaxed and enjoy life considerably more. Therefore you enjoy games much more in longer term and do not forget them easily.

 

[Liopleurodon]

People do talk about games, even old ones even months, or years after, but they do that in their subreddits most of time nowadays.

 

[INC]

tiktok generation of attention span

 

[CentralScrutinizer]

Only if it's overrated and forgettable. I think this happening shows the disconnect between the journalist hype cycle, how they review games, and what consumers actually want.

 

[DenimDevil]

Yep, too many games. Wich also has the effect that gems don't get the attention and/or time they deserve to be properly discovered. Everyone moves on due to FOMO.

 

[Nephryte]

tiktok generation of attention span

And that's very dangerous …

 

[Rhazer Fusion]

Imo, the reason most modern games are usually forgotten is because there are simply way too many games and it's not helping that most of them are so long as well. Unless you really have something to significantly stand out from the crowd, most games will just get lost in the shuffle with the rest.

This may sound funny, but I honestly feel like I typically can't fully experience and enjoy most games to the fullest because I'm always having to rush through them to get to the next game due to my backlog on each console.

 

[Spukc]

You can't buy or play em all.
Better to play less enjoy more

 

[Hector Hall]

Pretty much, too many games on one hand and the other the disease of the industry (youtubers, streamers) are pushing for a quick exposure of some games (online, mostly) that they are paid for so all the others get buy named briefly in their week of release.

Even big AA and AAA games attention span is reduced to the two weeks the online reviews of different online sites or YouTube channels take. If all reviews were the same day the game would directly be forgotten in 4/5 days.

After that there are some long plays etc, but unlike the online crap most streamers promote, long plays for traditional games have very few viewings.

 

[YeulEmeralda]

I think so too. We've been exposed to tons of information in relatively recent years. It doesn't matter what information but from everywhere they are pouring. We have limited brain capacity and there is so much information our brain can hold.

It may sound absurd but when oneself limit from these unecessary informations or hugely reduce them, you feel much more relaxed and enjoy life considerably more. Therefore you enjoy games much more in longer term and do not forget them easily.

I just stopped using YouTube.