We all know how much stagnant the gaming industry is as of now. Many existing franchises get sequels after sequels after sequels, which is getting old by every installment of the series.
I ask why?? If a certain franchise has fatigued, why do people keep buying them?? An example is the Assassin's Creed series, its a franchise that has fatigues long ago, ever since the 2nd main installment in the series was released (2009) the series went downhill with every installment, with AC Brotherhood, there was nothing that was worth noticing aside from the online portion of the game. And with Revelations it became even worse, and finally with the 3rd main installment (AC3) the series just really was... awful. Aside from the new animations everything was so bland and boring.
Ok, we're done with AC.
Now we talk about why games such as COD, AC, etc... get yearly releases. Well, people who are fans of a certain series, ask for improvements upon the next installment, the next half-assed installment releases with almost no changes AT ALL!. The certain company sees the top 10 chart for gaming, they see their games doing better in terms of sales than the last year, and they assume that the fans are happy with the game, and voila, i just summed up the AAA industry.
By reading the paragraph up a head, i think you probably know who's fault it is; the so called GAMERS. Yes, its all our fault, we ask for innovation, and we get squat, we then again ask for innovation and improvements, we then again get squat, why?? because the publisher sees no indication that the fans aren't happy, if a publisher's franchise is breaking records after records each year. The publisher won't do ANYTHING.
Innovation is there, plenty of new IPs release each year and they BOMB! Publishers are afraid to release new IPs because gamers are afraid aswell to leave their comfort zone. So the major public doesn't support new IPs and the result is the same rehashed games every year. Though, its not all the gamers fault, some publishers push their expectations sky high, and over budget their games.
Another problem is shady DLC practices. DLCs are like a plague in the industry.
Most DLCs are actually things that are already in the game but locked away (I'm eying you Capcom) until you buy the key for a certain price. Things like map packs, extra fighters in fighting games, extra cars in racing games. Things like these should be on disc because i paid for a full game and i should get what i paid for, not pay extra to get the things i should've gotten when i bought the game.
Sure, there are some well made DLCs such as Red Dead Redemption's Zombie DLC, and entirely new experience with loads of new content for 10$. I'm not a fan of the game but gotta give credit where its due. The problem is why do half cooked, over-priced DLCs exist?? Because gamers eat them up, and thats about it.
And things aren't looking well for next gen.
The way i see it, the video game industry is becoming like the movie industry every day, budget in millions, lack of innovation, rehashed games. I think its entirely the gamers fault for the current state of the industry.
Review - Scott Whiskers in: the Search for Mr. Fumbleclaw very much puts the heart back into point and click.
"The Paris-based (France) indie games publisher Twin Sails Interactive (the publisher of “Gloomhaven” and “Ember Knights”) and L.A.-based (the US) indie games developer Odinsoft, are today very glad and proud to announce that the full version (v1.0) of their single-player survival game “Survival: Fountain of Youth” (which is set in the 16th-century Caribbean islands), is coming to PC via Steam and EGS on May 21st, 2024." - Jonas Ek, TGG.
Duuro says: "Max Mustard proves that taking classic platformer fundamentals and crafting memorable VR mechanics on top makes for an incredibly fun experience."
i blame also to gamers what only buy games what get great scores in metacritc instead of buy games what can gives new experiencies,the review system sucks,award the games what are more of the same and punishing the games what try new thing or what are niche genre.
Gaming journalists are to blame to. They give great reviews to games that are absolute shit *cough*IGN*cough*. I think it's because they're paid to do so. And then they give bad reviews to games that are different and innovative. I don't know what you'd have to be on to give Black Ops 2 a 9.3. They also get people who don't like certain games to review said games. SomeCallMeJohnny is way better.
That is why a game that tried to be different get 6.5 and 7.0 scores. *yes i am talking about Beyond: two soul.
I for one getting a general gaming fatigue and i have high hopes for Next gen. I still get very excited for any racing games but the rest for has reached a plateau.
Platformer : Rayman is good.
Indie : playing Seplunky and loving it.
Shooter : Still play bf3 on my PC and nothing else is getting my interest ( apart from KZ:SF coming up )
Adventure/action : the last good one was TLOU but who is going to beat that?
As long that COD bring Billion of dollars to Activision we will keep getting the same game.
As long that AC makes money will get the same go here kill that gameplay.
As long that GTA does a billion dollars in a few days the sequel will keep on coming.
For me, Need for Speed: Rivals just doesn't click on me, and The Crew game seems to be more interesting than any recent game on Need for Speed series.
Also, before someone argues with me that Need for Speed doesn't fit to this article, I can prove that since 2002 there has been at least one Need for Speed game released on yearly basis.
It is very dependent. I think most publishers and developers are scared of being brave as they see that as a way to lose money. Instead they would rather stick with what is familiar, established, and brings in the cash. You blame many areas of the industry for it. You even see other developers aping the games that do well to try and cut themselves a piece of that pie. It rarely works but they try anyway.