Is The 'Hardcore' Audience Disappearing?

Forbes - Ignited by Nintendo‘s original Wii system and propelled aggressively forward by iOS releases like Angry Birds and Temple Run, the casual games market is poised to become an $8.64 billion industry by 2014. But how did it perform in 2012, and could hardcore games become an endangered genre?

[yoge]

No but there are a lot more casual gamers now.

[LOGICWINS]

I think whats going on now is that developers are intelligently creating budget titles that appeal to BOTH the hardcore and casual gamer.

Rochard, Outland, Sound Shapes, Journey, The Walking Dead etc.

This would enable them to take advantage of sales from both markets.

[Dno]

i disagree. for every walking dead there are 3 DMC,ninja gadiens, dark souls type hardcore games.

The hardcore gamers are just bored of this gen. sales are down because this gen has faded. i dont need to spend 60 bucks on games i have been playing for the last 6-7 years.

Also a lot of hardcore gamers have moved to PC.

[solar]

Switched to PC? Maybe console hardcore players did but hardcore PC gamers are very unlikely to abandon the PC.

[dedicatedtogamers]

The "hardcore" aren't disappearing, they're just migrating. Some are waiting for new consoles. Some have switched to PC.

But "hardcore" AAA games are definitely disappearing. The industry as a whole simply cannot keep up the momentum. Developers can't afford to make multi-million dollar games that only end up selling 750k, or 1.5 mil, or 2 million. EVERY game has to be a 3+ million seller just to break even because of the massive budgets demanded by the "hardcore". HD graphics, huge game worlds, voice actors, etc. all require a lot of money. Look no further than THQ. They have dozens of AAA, highly-rated games under their belt, and yet they're going bankrupt because they cannot seem to pull that 5+ million seller out of the hat.

[god_mode]

Definitely agree, which is why I suggest that hardcore shouldn't mean BIG BUDGET AAA. Mega Man 9 and 10 in my opinion are hardcore games that don't require the voice acting, motion capture, etc., etc. But is just as hard and fun as any other game and has a dedicated following.

There needs to be a back to basics revolution like the old SNES, Genesis games. A lot of reasons so many of those games were good was because of the limited resources and tech devs had to work with. Devs had to be more creative when telling a story or making gameplay designs.

Smaller teams definitely cater better creativity.

This industry is going to end up like the movie industry (if it hasn't already). Release small movies throughout the year and then drop their big budget whoppers during the summer only.

[dedicatedtogamers]

Another big change is that indie devs have far more tools available than compared to even 4 years ago. It is no coincidence that a lot of the games talked about in 2012 (Journey, Walking Dead, FTL, Torchlight II, DayZ, Chivalry, War of the Roses, etc) come from small/indie developers. They're catching up. They're making games that entertain us more, but at a fraction of the typical $60 AAA price. THAT is the future.

[LOGICWINS]

"They're making games that entertain us more, but at a fraction of the typical $60 AAA price. THAT is the future."

Correct! But my concern is,

Are we going to have to buy these new $300+ consoles in order to play these small/indie downloadable games?

[Rainstorm81]

Not at all, us hardcore gamers are out numbered by casual pick up play once and discard types of gamers......which is why I question if they are gamers at all. Which is why I wonder why companies focus on these types of people..

[ItsTrue]

Casual gamers are gamers. If they game, they're gamers. The companies focus on them because they make up a majority of the gaming population, so it would be better to cater towards them because it will earn them more mulah.

[LOGICWINS]

How could anyone disagree with that?

[Rainstorm81]

Well look at the Wii which is easily the most casual friendly console and has the most market share....and is probably the least profitable for 3rd party companies.

Or how about all those casual wii owners and yet the Wii U say on store she else throughout the holiday.

Many casual gamers follow fads and trends (Angry Birds and Wii Fit), without the core gamers, gaming would be a pitiful industry.

Casual gamers outnumber us (core gamers) but they don't out spend us despite their numbers.

[gazgriff2k12]

were not disappearing lol were just growing up. snotty nose kids are on the smart phone or laptops these smart phone and laptops dont do harcore we did'nt have facebook, twitter, smart phones and laptops when i was growing up. im 30 i grow up on nintendo and sega then jumped to ps1 even my older family members were playing the same games as me. gaming back in the day was hardcore i can remember waiting 3 hours for a tape to load on my old commodore just to realize it had crashed gaming isn't hardcore anymore the hardcore are still here just not well catered for

[GribbleGrunger]

LOL:

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[shutUpAndTakeMyMoney]

PC <3 never change..

[aquamala]

in a year where the Walking Dead and Journey are winning GoTYs, yes the hardcore audience is disappearing

[jetlian]

naw thats jr journalist trying to make a case for gaming to up their rank in journalist circles! only they care about if games are art.

All the dlc, online codes, long gen,journalist, and over priced games are killing gaming for me

[MultiConsoleGamer]

No.

But it's far less important than it used to be.

Now before I say anything else, let's define "hardcore." If you're the kind of person who visits sites like NeoGAF or VGchartz to argue sales figures you are definitely NOT hardcore.

If you spend more time posting on places like 4chan or GameFaqs than you do playing games, you definitely are NOT hardcore.

If you own only one console, or only play games on PC, you are definitely NOT hardcore.

[bunfighterii]

It's ignorant to talk of the decline of hardcore gaming in the same way it's ignorant to speak of the decline of PC gaming. What this article explains is that casual and tablet/smartphone/social gaming is a growing industry. It doesn't give any solid analysis on perceived decline of so-called hardcore titles.

First thing is the PC gaming market, a market dominated by hardcore titles, rose in 2012. Secondly, the console market is what you could consider a mature market, with consoles being sold of late adopters who aren't necessarily going to be the ones who are the day-one 'hardcore' gamers if they're jumping on the HD generation this late anyway. So while the console market looks like its in decline, what it's awaiting for is new hardware and games to jump start it. It happens with every console cycle.

Thirdly the decline in software sales for consoles in 2012 can be summed up in a few words- a dearth of awesome games. If anyone remembers, we had Mass Effect 3 sometime in the beginning of 2012 which did amazing numbers, then we had almost zero games of note until Sleeping Dogs came out in August. After that we had a rush of games leading up to Christmas, but really nothing you could consider mind blowing for the entire rest of the year. Assassins Creed 3 was an 8 out of 10, and Far Cry 3 while brilliant, is a Far Cry game. Compare 2012 to the previous 3 years and you see what I mean. Also note how much everyone is looking forward to 2013 after a pretty lacklustre 2012.

Hardcore gamers also cross over into casual, but it doesn't come at the expense of hardcore titles IMO. Eg. I'll play angry birds, but I'd rather play GTA V or Skyrim or Last of Us. Ask any hardcore gamer the same thing. There's not less hardcore gamers, there's more casuals, people who never played games before, and even ridiculed them are now saying them on Facebook and smartphones because its more socially acceptable to someone like that (usually a girl) to play something nice and simple that everyone can see rather than to be doing it in front of a tv and investing hours into a game, that can be for all intents and purposes an anti social activity in the eyes of many (who don't understand it).

[ShaunCameron]

No. They're just not getting any bigger. And with the eventual rise of development costs, console-manufacturers and publishers cannot afford to make products that only appeal to small crowds.

[mamotte]

The problem is what we call "hardcore games" today. If it isn't gray and brown, with red, then it isn't "Hardcore".

HArdcore gamers exists everywhere, it's just that the market is so full with only commercial AAA games, that people dont care about others games that arent'em.

[black911]

Gaming is Dying!!!

[3-4-5]

We / they are here.

We are just waiting for actual quality games to be made instead of passing off gameplay gimicks as evolution.

Give us customization...give us options on how we want to play...give us variety and a GOOD story.

Don't give us 6 Worlds....Give us 16 Worlds.

Don't give us 15 hours of gameplay...give us 55 hours.