The free-to-play model has developed into one of the most dominant demographics in gaming, and it may be powerful enough to swallow the console industry whole if they do not change.
"While the 20 year anniversary edition of Nordic Game, NG24 Spring's homepage on 21-24 May in Malmö, Sweden, is getting closer, the organizers announced that more than 150 speakers are now lined up for the show." - Nordic Game.
The gaming industry has drifted away from offering full-fledged games to putting unfinished titles that are jam-packed with microtransactions on the market.
It's not the fault of the gaming industry. Gamers were told what was happening, were warned about where this would lead, did nothing, and now are acting like it's the fault of publishers that they kept buying these games and investing in MTX. If only those gamers at that time felt as strongly about these things as they do Helldivers 2.
I don't think MTX target the common gamer but instead predate on the so called "whales". It's gambling pure and simple.
Oh, so it's okay to buy MTX-laden games as long as you don't spend money on MTX, which has led to even more MTX-laden games with even more predatory practices where content that used to be unlocked is now behind paywalls?
C'mon now people. You gave the corporations and inch, and they kept taking and taking. Community members told people that investing in these things alone would only lead to more and more MTX and putting more and more behind paywalls. But it's only the fault of the corporations, not the people who kept supporting it with purchases as more and more was taken away?
@Christopher that's a straw man, I didn't say any of that I just added context.
Well exactly
People stand up for something which seems small to them and they get called whiners or negative. Then years later the shit hits the fan and they all go “why is this happening?” Like they are innocent.
The issue aswell is younger gamers who grew up with all this thinking it’s normal and we all just look like old farts yelling at clouds when we’re trying to help us all, even them.
It all started with that damn horse armour. Back then I thought nobody was stupid to buy into that crap. How wrong I was....
I like how people move the goal-post. First it’s, f*ck any game with MTX’s, f*ck GaaS games, f*ck this game with “optional” MTX’s (Dragon’s Dogma 2), Helldivers 2 is ok because it’s fun and even though it has Battle Passes or Season Passes and MTX’s it’s ok because… you don’t need to buy them? 🤷♂️
HellDivers 2 is the best selling game this year. Just think about that, games like FF7 Rebirth sold poorly, but a continuous game that lives off recurring revenue sells extraordinarily well. Then we’ll hear everyone b*tch about a GaaS future.
I really wonder what this industry would’ve been like if we never gave into this crap, and yes I’m saying “WE” since I’m guilty of it, but man it’s literally no closing the door once it’s been opened.
This is what amazed me the most when playing hours upon hours of stellar Blade version 1.00.00 no bugs, no crashes, no sudden drops in frames, no screen tear, no falling from the world, just a complete package on a game under 50GB.
I think Korea will play a major role in gaming in the long run , because they're releasing banger after banger.
Still pretty common to find if you stay away from the AAA publishers, in the last 10yrs ive probably only bought like 3 games combined from EA/ACTIVISION/UBISOFT. Even now i still buy games that work right out the box perfectly fine. Just recently got like 6hrs into Alone in the Dark, and not a single sign of any of that bs, really enjoying my time with it.
There's such a misconception about every game needing a patch,this and that when in reality it's not even close. You nailed it isarai
And we as gamers have to accept our role in that. Constantly never being satisfied. Constantly demanding more while paying less. Constantly demanding better frame rates, better graphics, more modes and faster faster faster…. Then review bombing the product when a demand isn’t met. Meanwhile those same demands are making games more difficult, complex and more expensive to create than ever before, on shrinking timelines that burn out employees and make their lives miserable.
You wanna know why so many games get delayed? Cuz the original release dates weren’t realistic to begin with, but you can’t tell a gamer their game is further away than they want to hear. Some dev or game designer will be threatened physically. That builds even more pressure and rushing. We are officially squeezing water out of rocks and still complaining about that how hard you have to squeeze the rock be just waiting for rain. Most of the time we take it out on the developing studio, when it’s the publisher making the calls.
All you need to do is read the comments on most websites and social media to see how toxic, entitled and petty the gaming community at large is, and realize how that transforms into impossible expectations on the parts of game makers.
Nope. Some gamers are to blame. Never demanded anything you mentioned.
A fully finished and functioning product is a standard. It's not demanded. If someone sells you a tv that only works 60% of the time are you going to recommend it OR write a review calling out the obvious problem...it's not a demand...it's a standard.
A standard triple A publishers can't seem to hit consistently.
This is one battle that gamers have never won, hahaha. They were parading recently for their "win" against Sony. Where's the energy for this one, guys? LMAO!
This is Furukawa, President of Nintendo. We will make an announcement about the successor to Nintendo Switch within this fiscal year. It will have been over nine years since we announced the existence of Nintendo Switch back in March 2015. We will be holding a Nintendo Direct this June regarding the Nintendo Switch software lineup for the latter half of 2024, but please be aware that there will be no mention of the Nintendo Switch successor during that presentation.
I'm excited for a switch 2 however I don't feel it will be coming this year as per the tweet in they are commuting to a reveal in this Japanese financial year in 2025.
Realistically we will get one last holiday season to focus on the switch because it would be madness for Nintendo to go into the holidays where the switch always performs well when they have announced a switch 2.
I'm thinking we see a announcement late Jan 25 personally with a release between March and June depending on when the software is ready and how strong the holday sales were if they need to boost those figures for the next earnings call or not
So it begins!
Where one contender pulls out of the game, another comes back bigger and stronger.
Nintendo Switch 2 - let the games begin.
A new Splatoon launch title for sure.. hoping they change the recipe and make it open world.
I think it’ll come out Q1 25. Let’s wait and see
There's a event in June for games on the switch and they said there won't be a switch 2 announcement so no way they will announce the console after june and still release it in the same year
So, I think they will shoot for another FYQ4 release (like with the first Switch) but I am confused by the headline:
'[...] Switch 2 will be officially ANNOUNCED before the end of March 2025' This implies that the Switch 2 isn't coming out till maybe holiday 2025 or maybe even 2026. I think they will be better served by NOT releasing when GTA 6 launches (unless there is some shocking reveal that it will run on Switch 2). Release early 2025.
It should be an interesting year; Sony, Nintendo, and MS all have new Hardware to show.
"The free-to-play model has developed into one of the most dominant demographics in gaming..."
LOLOLOLOLOL Oh Examiner! Where's the money to be made in free-to-play? In microtransactions? In advertisement?
Free-to-play doesn't even dominate on PC gaming (where it originated), so why in the would would it be essential for console gaming?
If this were the last generation it wouldn't be due to Free to play. It would be because of the high cost of AAA games and the rate of which developers and publishers are closing their doors.
why would anyone want cloud gaming,????!! we work too hard to be settled with cloud merchandise we cant touch and value, ?? thats just dumb, i and the rest of the world want pysyical copies we can touch and keep for years and years, consoles will never go away, never.
I've been playing the beta for dust 514 the new FTP game on ps3. The menus and how to buy things for your epuiptment are very confusing and you have to spend real money to use voice chat. Its actually kind of annoying because you have to replenish inventory items and dropsuits and all kinds of stuff. Most can be done with in game credit but I would rather just play socom or call of duty i think.
Free to play has been happening for years now. I don't see it replacing consoles.