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[Psychostar]

Playtime

People are still buying new games, they just return to their favourite GaaS stuff when they're done with them. Nobody's made a Fortnite killer yet.

I think your comment said it best mate.

On average I buy and play through about 80% of the new games released spread between PlayStation, PC and Nintendo. It’s my very passionate hobby- hence being on gaf blabbing off about it.

I still make time in between those games to return to a bit of Fortnite or overwatch with buddies.

You’ve got your single player stuff and your social stuff aye.

I would have given concord a go , if it had launched free to play. I am not really satisfied with OW2 anymore and friends have moved away from Fortnite. Marvel rivals looks interesting. I hope it becomes something worth adding to my rotation .

 

[Mister Wolf]

Buying Metaphor, Mechwarrior 5: Clans, and Y's X: Nordics just in October alone.

 

[RCX]

The major reasons:

1) Sales. It will be cheaper within a short time period. Ubi suffers most from this

2) Games are consistently buggy and/or broken at launch. Some are just glorified Alphas. It makes perfect sense to wait a few months to a year for a complete GOTY style release -- which will also benefit from reason #1.

3) There are simply too many games. If I buy something I want to take my time with it and not feel rushed to get to the next thing. Doing this means I can also benefit from reasons 1 & 2.

The industry can insulate themselves by releasing fewer games and getting their house in order in terms of budgets and headcount. But I dont think they can solves any of these problems outright.

 

[twilo99]

No one wants to admit it but Counter Strike, Fortnite, Warzone, Valorant, FIFA (whatever they are calling it) etc. are just very good games that are able to retain their respective player base.

GAAS is bad is just a circle jerk of some sort…

 

[SJRB]

Hmm geez I wonder why.

Tis a mystery.

 

[Psychostar]

The major reasons:

1) Sales. It will be cheaper within a short time period. Ubi suffers most from this

2) Games are consistently buggy and/or broken at launch. Some are just glorified Alphas. It makes perfect sense to wait a few months to a year for a complete GOTY style release -- which will also benefit from reason #1.

3) There are simply too many games. If I buy something I want to take my time with it and not feel rushed to get to the next thing. Doing this means I can also benefit from reasons 1 & 2.

The industry can insulate themselves by releasing fewer games and getting their house in order in terms of budgets and headcount. But I dont think they can solves any of these problems outright.

1. Ubi suffers most from it because they also charge the most for a lot of their titles on launch. They are infamous for releasing like 6 different versions of a game to buy just for pre-order exclusive crap for example.
I feel like what you said gets shared around a lot but without this context it can skew and manipulate the reasoning to instead push a narrative in favor of Ubi further raising prices lol.

2. Absolutely agree. I stopped pre-ordering games regardless of how much faith I have in the developers nowadays. There is simply no point in giving money away for something in advance, especially given that nothing ever releases 'as should be intended'

3. For a really long time, I hit a phase where I was not able to complete games. I had a massive backlog growing of stuff that I was thoroughly enjoying which I just 'dropped' toward the end. It was so disappointing! I realized that the release cadence was the reason too - Fortunately we got blessed with a lot of great games but unfortunate there is not enough time for a video game fan to go through them all. Recently I got my hands on a SteamDeck and this greatly helped fix the backlog issue. Here's hoping I stop buying games while I am still in the middle of others though, hahaha

 

[Esppiral]

I do.

 

[Kenpachii]

Not buying 60/70 euro games unless they are really something special.
No problem buying 10-30 euro games on day one.

 

[RoboFu]

1. They are $70

2. They suck

3. $70

 

[Cakeboxer]

Guilty. I only buy full priced 70 Euro games when i think they are really special. Next will probably be GTA VI.

 

[FStubbs]

Given how Steam, PlayStation store, etc work now, you're not just competing against other releases, but the greatest games of all time. Some of which like Fortnite are continually getting new content.

Just like how a new fantasy book still has to compete with the Iliad and the Odyssey.

I don't think it's due to $70 (adjusted for inflation, I think games were more expensive in Gen 4) or, lol, "DEI" (San Andreas sold 20 million IIRC)

 

[TheUsual]

This can be a great thing to remind game makers to reign in their scope. Reduce the bloat and a create a tighter experience.

Who am I kidding? They all want bloated, MTX infested games that will hopefully strike gold in the market.

 

[Madflavor]

Not enough people on here are bringing up the economy. People are more price-sensitive these days, thanks to the economy being in the toilet. Groceries, utilities, materials, almost everything across the board have gone way up. When it's become a lot more costly to acquire the basic needs of living, suddenly that $60-70 price tag that wasn't too big of a deal a few years ago is starting to look like a "Eh...maybe I'll wait for a sale" kinda deal.

 

[lh032]

I am.

 

[Mr.Phoenix]

First off, that particluar data set, is a bad thing to use as proof that no one is buying games.

A person that plays Fortnite for example, in any given year, can buy 5-8 games. Lets say single player, and play each of them for like 10-30hrs. Depending on the game. But would have played Fortnite for like 300hrs through that year. See how that would skew these results?

I mean we just had BMW selling over 20M copies.

Having said that, though, I will concede that people are buying fewer games than they used to when games cost $60, and they were also buying fewer games than they used to when they cost $50. It's common sense: increase the cost of games, and you make your buyers more discerning.

 

[Laptop1991]

No i haven't not since Cyberpunk, for the games i like anyway, the new ones are not worth the price rises, unfinished, uninspiring, boring, buggy, poor storylines, suit's telling us we don't own them but want or need more money constantly, MTX/Gaas/Live service games and forced agenda and DEI have also stopped my buying certain games,

Simply put, the games are not as good as they use to be for me and so far either i don't want to play them or i'm waiting for the price i think they are worth, hopefully Doom changes this for me and maybe Indiana Jones.

 

[Three]

Make some good games and Ill buy them

Stop making shitty games that I don’t want to play.

Charging $100 including tax for those shitty games sure doesn’t help either.

Gaming has been stagnating for over a decade if not longer now. How is this surprising?

PSone to PS2 delivered vastly different game, PS3 to PS3 as well. Ever since it has been iteration after iteration. It's always the same, just a little bit different.

Waiting for sale or skipping non-tentpole games has never been easier.

These takes are bizarre and only exacerbate the situation. There are good games that arent getting enough attention and it's the "iteration after iteration" games (ie annualised and old games getting content updates) that are dominating the industry.

 

[cash_longfellow]

I do…when there is one worth buying, which is rare any more.

 

[consoul]

Well the good news is that the 3% of all playtime being taken by "old game" GTAV is about to end.

In all likelihood, "new game" GTA6 will take 5%+ for the next decade.

 

[Hawk The Slayer]

Make great games and launch it day 1 on PC too while the momentum is high.

 

[Facism]

Personally, I'm not paying the extra £20-25 they're asking for new games over the cost of new games last gen. Will wait for a sale or used, or just forget about it and never buy in the end

 

[Hawk The Slayer]

Release

GTA VI
Elder Scrolls VI
Fallout 5
Witcher 4

And watch the sales skyrocket

 

[Krathoon]

That is what is going on. People are getting wise to the developer bullcrap. They need to stop releasing unfinished games.

 

[Euler007]

I am. But if I had been away from a few years from the PS ecosystem and was on a budget the amount of great PS4/5 games available at low prices on sales would keep me busy for a long time.

 

[Felessan]

Article is a clickbate, but lots of people started rationalize it

A person that plays Fortnite for example, in any given year, can buy 5-8 games. Lets say single player, and play each of them for like 10-30hrs. Depending on the game. But would have played Fortnite for like 300hrs through that year. See how that would skew these results?

Make it 1000-2000 hours, it's closer to reality.
People just don't understand just how much playtime different between gaas and sp

 

[Nankatsu]

 

[hemo memo]

I do buy Nintendo games exclusively on day one. For the rest, I just wait for discounts, which happen faster than ever now. I bought Tales of Arise at full price, and when it was actually time to play it, it was 20% off.

 

[JimmyRustler]

These takes are bizarre and only exacerbate the situation. There are good games that arent getting enough attention and it's the "iteration after iteration" games (ie annualised and old games getting content updates) that are dominating the industry.

The good games you speak of do nothing new either though. The chosen few games that dominate the industry at this point prolly just do so because people are used to it and also cause they eliminated all competition - and that competition isn’t doing anything new either.

 

[cireza]

For some reason it has become more important for companies to take our time rather than to take our money. I suppose they must be paying their employees by giving them back the time they took from us.

 

[violence]

Better graphics (from more advanced tech, not art) used to help drive people to newer games. Now people wonder why they should ditch Overwatch for Concord. They don’t.

 

[GoldenEye98]

Often these days buying games at launch is basically paying $70 for the beta build...

Much better value to get the game later at a discount and in a more stable state.

 

[Allandor]

The statistics aren't wrong, but don't tell the whole picture. Compare those numbers to "time played" and you might see, that just more times is used to play video games,l and newer releases still get their chunk but percentage is falling. But still many people play and buy new games. The market just got bigger.

 

[rabbity-thing]

TIL Whales don't just spend more, they also play more.

 

[ReBurn]

If anything this information supports why engagement is now such an important metric and so many companies are pressing to get into the same space as Fortnite, etc. Many of those games are also entertainment ecosystems of their own with economies and the longer people stay in them the more money there is to be made. People are certainly buying new games because we see the sales rankings regularly, but people are spending most of their time in game worlds that have become their own ecosystem.

 

[Dazraell]

I can say it only from my perspective but I tend to buy new games later as with industry standards they're often overpriced, buggy and incomplete, considering there is a lot of extra stuff like Season Passes, promises of a stream of new dlcs and new features added down the line. So you kinda wind up as a betatester of something that you can buy for much better price later and which will also be more stable and include everything that wasn't there on launch that quite often is available if you pay even more if you're buying game day one. There is simply no incentive for it

 

[jcorb]

It's sort of crazy to think, but being part of the first generation to genuinely *grow up with video games*, I think it's clear that our play habits are changing. Likely for a number reasons, not limited to but certainly including the fact that the kinds of games being developed are radically different than we used to get.

I think Gaming has strived so hard to be taken seriously as an art form, a lot of the "fun" of games have been left by the wayside. I would say the same of much entertainment, actually. Games rarely strive to be overtly fun or upbeat; like everything *has* to be dark and overly emotional, or pushing some kind of agenda.

Over the past year, I've probably put more time into Phantasy Star Online than anything (via Ephinea, pretty amazing community server). I'm definitely retreating to a lot of more nostalgic games, mainly because I don't feel like games are being made *for me* anymore. Modern design philosophies have changed so dramatically, I just don't feel like we're going to get the kinds of games we used to; games crammed with loads of "secrets" or hidden content, unlockable characters, or even more pronounced music (most games' OST's tend to be very "ambient" nowadays). Feels like we just lost a big part of gaming culture, and it's honestly a shame for younger gamers they don't get to experience games like we used to.

 

[Three]

If anything this information supports why engagement is now such an important metric and so many companies are pressing to get into the same space as Fortnite, etc. Many of those games are also entertainment ecosystems of their own with economies and the longer people stay in them the more money there is to be made. People are certainly buying new games because we see the sales rankings regularly, but people are spending most of their time in game worlds that have become their own ecosystem.

Sales rankings have GTAV topping the charts 11 years later in the EU too. If fortnite and Roblox weren't free to play they would be topping that chart much like GTA and Minecraft often do. COD, FIFA, Madden etc always do. The problem is that the new games aren't really going far in terms of sales outside of those big known IPs. Some licensed big IP games do well too like Harry Potter or Spiderman.

 

[LimanimaPT]

New games cost around 70 euros. That's just too expensive. It's better to wait a few years later and get them half price.

 

[Go_Ly_Dow]

1. They are $70

2. They suck

3. $70

A good game at $70 offers a ton of value for the money and time invested into making it and with lets say 20-100 hours of entertainment. Really compared to the 90s software prices are what like $10-20 more? So the price increase has always been reasonable to me when factoring in how detailed modern games are, rising budgets and inflation too. You can also usually pick up a physical copy for less than the RRP around release or shortly after.

I think the real change is with online gaming and service games now you can pay $50-70 for a game which a lot of people play weekly year after year. My nephew and his friends have played nothing but Rainbow 6 for like 2 years and aren't interested in anythig else. Kids younger than him Minecraft.

So now when you release a new game the devs are competing to get the attention of an audience that is fine with what they have.

Not blaming the consumer here but pointing out in this scenario it means we'll probably see less risk and eventually less games. Some publishers such as Ubisoft and eventually others will scale down and may go bust or get swallowed up over the coming years as they get squeezed out.

 

[KouNaN]

For me it's the backlog. I have just finished the Mass Effect trilogy and it took me a long time (and I have less time then before), now I want to finish Zelda TOTK which again is a long game and then I will continue playing other games. For my backlog I need at least 2-3 years (at least) and that is without games like Civ VII, Mario Party and other games without real campaign where you spend a lot of tim that will come out soon. I just hope to finish most of the Switch games so I am ready for the new Switch (the PC can wait a bit). So there are few games I will buy when they come out but mostly for my nintendo system, but nothing to much becasue of the backlog (I do have a GP, plus EPIC, plus Steam with family and friends so the games just keep coming).

 

[SportsFan581]

The evergreen GaaS games are making it a little more difficult on some of the new releases, no question. Gamers only have so much time, and many are committing most of it to these old games.

 

[SF Kosmo]

In fairness, Roblox is more of a platform than a game, and Fortnite has also been shifting in that direction as well. It isn't as if kids playing these games are just playing the same thing over an over again, they're constantly releasing new games within these games.

This is yet another reminder how Sony dropped the fucking ball on Dreams holy shit.

 

[SF Kosmo]

The social aspect is a huge part of it. My daughter barely touches her Switch anymore because games like Roblox let her play with her friends and socialize with other players. I think Covid got kids very into online socialization and other gaming kind of fell by the wayside.

 

[ReBurn]

Sales rankings have GTAV topping the charts 11 years later in the EU too. If fortnite and Roblox weren't free to play they would be topping that chart much like GTA and Minecraft often do. COD, FIFA, Madden etc always do. The problem is that the new games aren't really going far in terms of sales outside of those big known IPs. Some licensed big IP games do well too like Harry Potter or Spiderman.

The bulk of the money those games are making isn't from units sold. Roblox and Fortnite would show up on sales charts, sure. Same for League of Legends. But people would be buying them to engage in the online worlds, and most of the money they would make would still be from in-game transactions. It's the same for GTA V. It's pretty much always on deep discounts including a shark card worth a million in game bucks. People are still playing it all these years later for the online world. Engagement is driving it.

 

[Hollowpoint5557]

I have not bought and paid for a single new game at full price in literal years (5+). I own thousands of games and I refuse to pay what they ask as I feel the industry has lost the plot. They are out of their fucken minds if they think im going to pay to be pandered to, lectured to, or accept trash quality. It's a matter of principal for me.

 

[Three]

The bulk of the money those games are making isn't from units sold. Roblox and Fortnite would show up on sales charts, sure. Same for League of Legends. But people would be buying them to engage in the online worlds, and most of the money they would make would still be from in-game transactions. It's the same for GTA V. It's pretty much always on deep discounts including a shark card worth a million in game bucks. People are still playing it all these years later for the online world. Engagement is driving it.

I agree that engagement is driving it and they've become "Games as a platform". I was only responding to this part of the post:
"People are certainly buying new games because we see the sales rankings regularly"

I agree that people still buy new games but those rankings don't last very long and the GTAs, FIFAs, CODs, Minecrafts etc even dominate those nowadays.

 

[chokotoureiki]

Does it count if they're buying remasters of years old classics being advertised as "new"?

 

[MikeM]

Buying new games is technically the worst version. People are waking up to the fact that buying day 1 means you get to pay to be a beta tester. Yay…

 

[Aguero9320]

Too expensive. I'll still play all the good ones, just when they are at a price I consider to be good value, or more likely when they come up on a sub (Game Pass now, as I lapsed my PS Plus) - it's not like I don't have a huge backlog, so it's easy to wait. Usually they have been tweaked by then too. Only time I really play day one any more is if they are day one on a sub. I will buy DLC day one though, as that's usually lower priced and has all the main game fixes in place. I will be playing Vessel of Hatred on the 7th for example, and am in the middle of Shattered Space.

My impatient days are gone. I am still waiting for Spider-Man 2 to drop in price - until it does, I won't play it. It's why I've pretty much given up on Nintendo now, because they rarely drop the price. It's also why I don't care about sales figures - there are probably more people like me than people who buy day one I imagine, and a game's success shouldn't be judged by its initial sales any more.

Subscription libraries are the future.

 

[Kacho]

Mechwarrior 5: Clans

Oh man, I completely forgot this was dropping so soon. Fuuuuuuuu