Current State of Gaming

So, first of all, thank you for checking this thread out, I put a lot effort into it and hope you enjoy it. Feel free to give your opinion, and please correct me if I say something wrong.



The gaming industry nowadays is colossal, so many companies and games try their luck on this risky market, some being successful others not so much. It's hard to think about how things were a few decades ago. Games tended to focus on the singleplayer side of things, co-op multiplayer was only an afterthought. Yes, co-op multiplayer because online multiplayer was considered a niche thing, just like co-op is treated right now.

This might seem like a bad thing, and it is in some aspects but in others, it really isn't so bad. Industry titans, such as EA, have clearly taken advantage of the online system and capitalized it by flooding games with microtransactions, sometimes even going as far as making games P2W, meaning your experience is hindered if you don't pay, in addition to the game, for example, in-game currency to upgrade your stats to give yourself a chance to win against other players. The major issue here is that people still buy the game even though they complain about this. Companies care more about raking in money rather than public reception, unlike a few decades ago, where the public's opinion dictated where the gaming industry went.

Singleplayer and co-op games don't suffer from this issue, as often they don't have any dedicated servers which means there is no opportunity to implement microtransactions. Of course, there are always exceptions to this.

It is acceptable from a free game to contain some microtransactions since revenue isn't obtained from sales meaning there has to be another way to generate revenue, but having a game flooded with microtransactions is completely unacceptable, even if it is a free game. It makes for a subpar experience for almost everybody. And I think the core of the issue lies here. Companies don't care for customer satisfaction as much as they care for revenue. They are blinded by greed and will do unacceptable things for extra zeros on their bank account.

Gaming has evolved so much in recent years, all the way from the popularisation of digital platforms to buy games to the first hybrid console to ever enter the market, it is undeniable that a lot of aspects have improved significantly.

One of those aspects is accessibility. This is a very important one since it is one of the main reasons why gaming is so huge. You can pick up a console for an affordable price or use a PC that you already have, and play, through gaming platforms, a wide range of games that keeps growing every minute. Affordability paired with a wide variety of choices makes gaming much more appealing to a larger audience. Needless to say, this is excellent for companies and customers alike.

From a more technical side of things, there are fewer bugs and the graphics are better and the gameplay as well. All of these combined result in a more realistic and engaging playthrough. Add good story writing to the mix and you have a fictional universe which leaves the player in awe. Of course, it is easier said than done.

Besides game quality and accessibility, there is also online play, which is fantastic. Having the possibility to play with people across the globe is a dream come true. However, I think in recent times too much of an emphasis has been put in it, it's good to have a nice distribution of games across all genres, so the customers have more choice in what game they want to play.

Last but not least, there is the ease in which independent developers have of releasing their games. I quite enjoy these indie games because you feel the care that was put into the game. Furthermore, indie games are made by people who strive to make the best game possible, which isn't always the case.

Another bad characteristic associated with the current gaming industry is franchise milking, which leads to the over saturation of the gaming market. Franchise milking often involves exploiting expectations of fans of the prequel, which is really upsetting but it is the truth. All it takes is copying pre-existing mechanics, copying the level design, using existing characters, and make a half-assed story. Of course, franchise milking doesn't always follow this formula but it often does.

In my opinion, the gaming industry has taken a turn for the better in most aspects, the future of video games is looking bright for companies and gamers alike since the quality of games has improved and there are more and more people expressing interest in gaming. With the release of the Switch, a hybrid console, we may be looking at a future where portability means a lot.

On that note, I'm gonna end this post here. Thank you to those who read the whole thing.

I enjoyed reading this. Yes, the gaming industry has definitely taken a turn for the better but we are leaving some things behind. For example, WoW the game used to be the most popular title at their at the time, it was booming with players and it was FUN. But now the developers don't really care for it and are using it to milk as much money as they can. What if this happens to other big titles? New Triple A games. It is already starting with COD we just have to wait to see what happens next.

18-02-2019, 04:58 AM

Manifestation Wrote: I enjoyed reading this. Yes, the gaming industry has definitely taken a turn for the better but we are leaving some things behind. For example, WoW the game used to be the most popular title at their at the time, it was booming with players and it was FUN. But now the developers don't really care for it and are using it to milk as much money as they can. What if this happens to other big titles? New Triple A games. It is already starting with COD we just have to wait to see what happens next.

Thanks for the feedback. Also, I agree with you on the WoW thing, even though I wouldn't consider it franchise milking, I still think the game's expansions are overpriced for the content they provide. I consider COD a milked franchise. Activision should really take a break from COD so it doesn't get so saturated as it is currently, and instead give more emphasis on new concepts and games.

18-02-2019, 05:24 AM

bored Wrote: Thanks for the feedback. Also, I agree with you on the WoW thing, even though I wouldn't consider it franchise milking, I still think the game's expansions are overpriced for the content they provide. I consider COD a milked franchise. Activision should really take a break from COD so it doesn't get so saturated as it is currently, and instead give more emphasis on new concepts and games.

I agree with that, do you think they should delay release dates by a year or two?

18-02-2019, 05:35 AM

Manifestation Wrote: I agree with that, do you think they should delay release dates by a year or two?

I think they should delay it by one year only since BO4 wasn't that well received by fans. And you could also tell they were pressured by time, even making the decision of removing the campaign mode and replacing it with yet another battle royale mode. One year is more than enough time to make a good campaign mode in addition to an overall decent game.

18-02-2019, 05:46 AM

bored Wrote: I think they should delay it by one year only since BO4 wasn't that well received by fans. And you could also tell they were pressured by time, even making the decision of removing the campaign mode and replacing it with yet another battle royale mode. One year is more than enough time to make a good campaign mode in addition to an overall decent game.

I agree, this years cod without campaign wasdisappointing.

I hope there will be more MMO on the market, i love that genre

18-02-2019, 11:35 AM

bolobola0164 Wrote: I hope there will be more MMO on the market, i love that genre

I also quite like MMOs. Despite this, I still can't deny that they're the prime example of having a game being P2W and heavily privileging the player who put the most money into it. MMOs work basically like this: you put an ungodly amount of time and effort on it, or you put a lot of money (if you want to play PvP). As you would expect most people choose the latter, and it sucks because of that. Auto losing to someone that paid more and has higher stats compared to you is bad no matter how you look at it.

I do really agree with this, we are leaving some really good things behind.

18-02-2019, 07:56 PM

GamingInfo121 Wrote: I do really agree with this, we are leaving some really good things behind.

Yes, those 'really good things' are taken for granted, and when they are gone is when we learn the value of them. If a game is based around a very good concept and it doesn't do well, you can pretty much kiss goodbye to that concept. Few are the companies that are willing to innovate and invest in new good concepts. That really describes the industry's titans: low risks, high profit.