Description; This blog post is going to be about the current gaming industry and whether or not we’re going into another Gaming Crisis.
Games and Me
So I’ve wanted to do a post about games for a long time now, mainly for two reasons. 1. I like games and they inspired me to become a video game developer. 2. There’s been a lot going on in the industry right now. Luckily, this week I’ve gotten the okay from Mr. Choate to change up my blog post today. So, without further ado, let’s talk about why people are saying that video games are dying! (Trying to keep the upbeat mood here, it was either this or talking about color trends)
Are we really Doomed?
So, the game industry isn’t doing so hot right now. In terms of sales, games have not been selling like they used to these days. Because of this, companies are cutting a lot of funding in the game department and laying off a lot of people in the industry. This has caused a lot of concern for the video game industry and the people making these games. Some even say that we’re going into another gaming crisis (economic game crash, not the games not working) like the one in 1983. But are we really heading that way? Are people overreacting? For these questions and more, we have to turn to before all these layoffs.
The Great Gaming Crisis of 1983
The Great Game Crash of 1983 was a large recession in the game industry that made the prices of games and ultimately made it so that video games were harder to find. This was mainly caused by a lot of companies diving into the game industry all at once without considering the consequences (like they usually do). Once said companies realized they were sinking the ship, they decided that it was time to lose some unnecessary weight. And by that, I mean the weight they deemed unnecessary. And by that, I mean the game developers. It was a dark time for gaming, but are we going back to that? Let’s look at the Evidence.
These Companies need to Stop
Companies right now are doing a few things that are worryingly close to what happened during the game crash. Not only that, but they are starting to come up with new strategies that are just as bad. These are causing a lot of uproar in the gaming community. But half of these companies (cough, cough, EA, cough, cough) aren’t really listening. Here’s what these strategies are.
Chasing Trends
The thing about companies right now is that they’re always trying to stay in the loop. They’re always trying to appeal to every country, demographic, and individual person. This leads to game companies trying to create games that are similar to each other. This creates a lot of games that are essentially the same but with tiny differences (this also leads to knock-offs and the horror that has become IO games).
Microtransactions
*Sigh* why do these exist? *Double sigh* okay, okay I can do this. Micro-*gag*, sorry, micro-*gag*. OKAY, let me just spell it out. M I C R O-*gag*. Ugh, sorry I can’t say that vile word without physically gauging. let’s just call it the M-word for now. The M-word is something that companies are recently discovering. The M-word is usually cosmetics or in-game content that’s unlockable via real-world money. This can result in game companies locking the rest of a game behind a paywall, making the base game feel unfinished (because most of the time it is). Now for games that only sell cosmetics for a free-to-play price, this is usually okay. But sometimes this can lead to players who are new to the game feeling pressure to buy these cosmetics.
Look before you Leap
Another thing that companies are doing is that they are creating game companies just because. Many companies have been diving into the game industry without really knowing what to do. A good example of this is Amazon Games, a company created by Amazon to create games for them (long story short, it didn’t last long). And when these companies or company extensions fail, that leads to a lot of people getting laid off. Not unlike what happened in the great gaming crisis of 1983.
So, are we going to have a Gaming Crisis?
This isn’t the end of the video game industry, far from it actually. First of all, the companies that are giving out these pink slips, aren’t losing that much money. A lot of these companies are large companies that already have better games under their belt, so they are not losing any money soon. Second, I think it’s safe to say that video games aren’t going anywhere. The game industry is just too big at this point to be taken down anytime soon. Lastly, if we were going into a crash, likely, we wouldn’t have as many games as we do right now.
Conclusion
So despite everything, the game industry will survive. Despite this, the companies that are using these practices are still going to use them, meaning that more and more people are going to get laid off. And we all know that it stinks to get fired from a job. The best-case scenario right now is this. If you’re a game developer, I suggest trying to find a backup job placement in the future. And if you’re in charge of a game company right now, make sure that you think carefully and listen to your consumers instead of listening to the trends.
