Why the Video Game Industry Is Becoming Unsustainable

Something's gotta give in the video game industry.

[XiNatsuDragnel]

Something is let COD rest one time, just once Activision.

[_-EDMIX-_]

With no signs of slowing down and several teams working on COD.

I don't see it happening any time soon.

Consider they actually make a quality game almost every time. Though I haven't bought a COD since MW2, I understand the quality of their games is still really high.

[Trekster_Gamer]

If it didn't sell well they would.
People seem to be confused. COD is huge because millions of fans love it.

[MVGeneral]

But I think infinite warfare is leaving a bad taste in everyone's mouth.

I played black ops till 6th prestige, sunk in countless hours to unlock as much skins for my gun and characters. But I didn't even prestige infinite warfare once. It totally turned me off from cod. So now I'm gonna try something else. The next cod is the first cod im not going to buy since the Modern warfare launch on ps3.

[gbsrnctaln]

Yep, nothing says "unsustainable" like record sales pace of a core gamer centeted console like the ps4. What I hope is truely unsustainable is this trash that is games "journalism".

[ifrit_caress]

Yes, the slave and master like relationship between game journalists and publishers need to end, along with corporate BS.

[subtenko]

THAT is what really has to give. Im tired of this BS! Same thing with any kinda of media too.

https://media3.giphy.com/me...

[Razzer]

"As I moved through the various consoles, from Xbox 360 to Xbox One"

There is your first problem right there.

[ifrit_caress]

In the words of Trivium:
WAKE, its only getting worse, the end is nigh.

[_-EDMIX-_]

LOL!

[ifrit_caress]

That developer on BBC was talking absolute shit (pardon my language). So many games have been successful without in-game purchases. People need to stop promoting and encouraging "Fee to pay" elements in a game we paid full price for. The game industry was doing quite fine before it plagued the industry.

[extermin8or]

For aesthetics etc and /or where all dlc is free it's fine. No still y it is aesthetics or speeding up unlocks

[Hugodastrevas]

"unsustainable" my *ss!
Gaming is doing great, we never had so much choice of games, platforms, services, the diversity is overwhelming tbh. Not only that, gaming has become affordable, of course there are some dubious practices, but every business has it's fair share.

Gaming overall is doing better than it ever has, to stay otherwise is plain wrong.

[_-EDMIX-_]

no

[Godmars290]

AAA gaming and production. Get rid of that, remove the expectation of monster profits from game publishers before things become truly untenable and stop with PR overhype, running demos of titles at resolutions that will only be scaled back, and the gaming industry might not crash and burn Atari-style.

But at this point it does need to crash if only to settle into something less volatile.

[ShaunCameron]

You might as well remove the expectation of next-gen hardware specs and features from consumers and hardware-manufacturers while you're at it.

[Godmars290]

When the only real expectation of next-gen hardware is to exhaust the specs so that higher ones are needed, nevermind the number of devs who can't use current specs competently, then what's the point?

[clouds5]

You vote with your money. Activision realized they could sell the same game every year and people buy it. Why shouldn't they? Ubisoft realized they can sell half s game for 80$ and sell you parts of the other half for another ~50. And people buy that shit. As soon as you stop spending your money they will stop doing it. Simple as that. But people are preordering like crazy, so what you gonna do...

[Chaos_Order]

I have to wonder if the huge ad campaigns that cost publishers tens of millions are actually worth it. I mean, provided there's a bit of coverage out there, most gamers would surely be aware of the bigger titles, right? How many people buy nothing then see a snazzy trailer repeated 50 times on YouTube and think, "yeah, I should buy that now." Maybe it's just me but I think that stuff should be toned down. Do we honestly think GTAV would have sold only a few copies if its ad campaign was more subdued? Word of mouth spreads like wildfire and people are more connected than ever. But then again, maybe I'm wrong.

[Darkwatchman]

Casual gamers. Simple as that. The kind of person that does not visit gaming sites for constant news updates on information about gaming because it's not that important to them is the kind of person to be swayed by a random cg trailer played in prior to every YouTube video

[rainslacker]

The huge ad campaigns are for the mass market, not for the hardcore gamer. So, in a way, they are necessary, because if you have a big production, you can't make the money back with just the hardcore gamer. Or at least most games can't. Some games don't need the kind of ad campaigns that they get to sell well, but I'd say most games actually do. Discovery is very important to a games success. Without it, not enough people know your game exists, and if that's the case, it can't make money.

It's important to understand that while certain kinds of things can work very well with some games, it can flop hard with other games. Until Dawn is a good example. It had almost no mainstream advertising. Got great word of mouth. Went on to be very successful. But that great word of mouth wasn't a gaurantee that it would go on to sell better because of it, because things like word of mouth really require the spark to light the fire, and quite often, that fire can fizzle faster than it grows.

All that being said, word of mouth actually is one of the most cost effective, and potentially best ways to promote and market a game. It can work very well in todays social media marketplace. But big success in this area nowadays is often managed to come to a certain result, as opposed to happening naturally like it used to before the internet was so prolific(or existent).

[madpuppy]

The beauty of the gaming industry is that it still works under the rules of the free market, If the gaming industry wasn't able to sustain itself, by the rules of a free market it will either have to adjust itself to create sustainability or collapse, Seeing that The gaming industry makes more profit annually than the music and Movie Industries combined, I think that there is nothing for anybody to worry about.
As for Developers and Publishers whining and complaining that games are becoming too expensive to make why do they keep making them? because they are full of it, the Proof is in the Profit. When someone like "Cliffy B" moans about this I always remember that he owns his and her Lamborghinis and lives in a multi-million dollar mansion. (not that he doesn't deserve it, just stop crying poor with a 10lb ham under your arm.)

[Fist4achin]

I think the industry is stronger than ever before. Case in point, look at the amount of games being developed and released and gamers backlogs. I think it is good times to be a gamer right now and i am enjoying it. However, one issue i do see is the costs of the development. Id rather cut a little in the graphics dept than on the story side. Most that will disagree with me did not come from an 8 bit era. There, games either had to tell a kickass story, or they had to have some serious puzzle elements. The best games , had a nice combination of both.

Either way, enjoy what youre playing and if you dont, move onto something else...

[Einhander1971]

I will say this if the single player campaign becomes a thing of legend. I won't buy another game not interested on playing online with a load of dick head fanboys. Luckily I have a big collection of quality titles so I would play them. And hopefully Nintendo would still bring quality single player experiences to the table.

[Einhander1971]

The industry is fucking obsessed with hardware specs, resolutions, I only purchased a 4K tv the other month and now the industry is talking 8k. Fuck off let's enjoy and max stuff out before we keep moving on. That's what I love about Nintendo not obsessed with specs, but amazing games. The switch is proving that with its sales.

[extermin8or]

They add microtransactions more often now because a) people bought them b) they are an effective way of not having to charge for dlc. When dlc s to ll costs money any microtransactions are limited to aesthetics. So yes the business model in most cases is sustainable. Want the skins etc you pay. Don't, then just play the game. Also "singleplayer will be extinct within a decade" did t he y not say this a decade ago and infact in recent years demand for a solid good length singleplayer has Increaed. Studios/publishers have reduced numbers of AAA games they release ta year and are getting better sales figures than they used to and I'm fairly sure devopment costs have remained the same in real terms to r years now