Industry-Wide Layoffs and Studio Closures Continue as Gaming Audiences Lose Interest in New Releases

Plus a lot of crap free-to-play live service games. Studios invest a ton of money into something nobody really wanted and big surprise, it fails to reign in the loot box/extra whatever cash cows they thought would sustain and turn a profit.
 
I almost never play games when they are new. I usually take my sweet-@ss time getting around to them. And by then there's been patches and updates and sales/price drops. I didn't like paying $50 for newly-launched games. Now they want us to pay $70 or more? Riiiiiiight, let me open up my wallet and get right on that. And while I'm at it I can bend over and spread my cheeks too. When games start getting $30 or below is when I start paying attention. My sweet spot is $20 or less. $5-$10 and you usually got a deal. That's why Nintendo sales never work out, cuz games raaaaarely go below $40, and when you see Nintendo games below $40 it's usually due to the balls of a retailer like Best Buy or Target. On other platforms games are 50% off or more within a few months to a couple years after release. I paid $30 for Doom 2016 like 3 months after release, and the year after it was on sale at FIVE F*CKING DOLLARS!!! The most I ever paid for a PS4 game was $20. All the others were $10 or less, and that's including brand-new physical copies of top Sony IP games like GoW4 and HZD. Nintendo will re-sell you old-@ss f*cking games and continue to keep the prices of those games up real dang high.

And then there's stuff like Steam Family library sharing, where I can access the games that other people in my Steam Fambly own. Or if you go DRM-free and buy on GOG, then you can just give a friend a copy of your game. I consider these options to be the digital equivalents of letting a friend or family member borrow a physical copy of a game.

Also not many developers out there still publish demos. I don't buy before I try. I've been alive and playing video games too long to deal with that bullsh1t anymore. I need to ascertain a game's value before I put money down on it. If the developers don't provide, and I don't have a friend who owns a copy I can try, then that's where the community comes through with their "community demos". And I have made quite a good number of purchases just because I was able to check out a community demo first.

Grimlakin said:
Seems to me single player rpg games are still doing well.
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Yeah like I didn't see Baldur's Gate 3 having any problems selling copies.
 
DrezKill said:
I almost never play games when they are new. I usually take my sweet-@ss time getting around to them. And by then there's been patches and updates and sales/price drops. I didn't like paying $50 for newly-launched games. Now they want us to pay $70 or more? Riiiiiiight, let me open up my wallet and get right on that. And while I'm at it I can bend over and spread my cheeks too. When games start getting $30 or below is when I start paying attention. My sweet spot is $20 or less. $5-$10 and you usually got a deal. That's why Nintendo sales never work out, cuz games raaaaarely go below $40, and when you see Nintendo games below $40 it's usually due to the balls of a retailer like Best Buy or Target. On other platforms games are 50% off or more within a few months to a couple years after release. I paid $30 for Doom 2016 like 3 months after release, and the year after it was on sale at FIVE F*CKING DOLLARS!!! The most I ever paid for a PS4 game was $20. All the others were $10 or less, and that's including brand-new physical copies of top Sony IP games like GoW4 and HZD. Nintendo will re-sell you old-@ss f*cking games and continue to keep the prices of those games up real dang high.

And then there's stuff like Steam Family library sharing, where I can access the games that other people in my Steam Fambly own. Or if you go DRM-free and buy on GOG, then you can just give a friend a copy of your game. I consider these options to be the digital equivalents of letting a friend or family member borrow a physical copy of a game.

Also not many developers out there still publish demos. I don't buy before I try. I've been alive and playing video games too long to deal with that bullsh1t anymore. I need to ascertain a game's value before I put money down on it. If the developers don't provide, and I don't have a friend who owns a copy I can try, then that's where the community comes through with their "community demos". And I have made quite a good number of purchases just because I was able to check out a community demo first.


Yeah like I didn't see Baldur's Gate 3 having any problems selling copies.
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BG3, Harry Potter, Spiderman Games, The Horizon series (until they kill it with the trash they are making now) and so on.
 
Good games still sell, solution: Make good games. And make games that actually appeal to the gaming demographic, not for social media virtue points. In fact I can share a secret: The less you virtue signal the more your game will appeal to gamers.
 
I no longer do multiplayer games, don't have the time. and good single player games are a dime a dozen
 
Stoly said:
and good single player games are a dime a dozen
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My perception here doesn't match yours at all.

Now good single player AAA games are fun and in my mind worth the spend. (and open world racing games specifically Forza Horizon.)

Sure non AAA games are a dime a dozen for various triple A, Vampires clones... I suppose those are called roguelike? Or Diablo Like?

I'm ok with the Diablo series while it is 'multi player' it's just mostly seeing other players no requirement for hard core grouping unless it's for fun.
 
In going with what I covered in the post, it's the online multiplayer games which have been flopping left and right and have been for some time. For every successful one there's about a half dozen which die out of the gate, or barely survive past 2-3 months.
 
MadMummy76 said:
Good games still sell, solution: Make good games. And make games that actually appeal to the gaming demographic, not for social media virtue points. In fact I can share a secret: The less you virtue signal the more your game will appeal to gamers.
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Quoted for facts.

Space Marine 2
ARC Raiders
Battlefield 6
Elden Ring
Black Myth Wukong
BG3
Kingdom Come Deliverance 2
Helldivers 2
Stellar Blade

They all understood the assignment. All have sold well. Even with game pass sometimes in the mix.
 
I would debate that Helldivers, Space Marine Two, and Battlefield 6 are definitely not single player games.
 
DAPUNISHER said:
Quoted for facts.
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Space Marine 2 - mediocre game
ARC Raiders - not single player
Battlefield 6 - not single player
Elden Ring - I'll allow this even though I hate soulslikes
Black Myth Wukong - Not made by the western gaming industry
BG3 - Indie developer
Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 - Not made by the western gaming industry
Helldivers 2 - not single player
Stellar Blade - mediocre game
 
MadMummy76 said:
Space Marine 2 - mediocre game
ARC Raiders - not single player
Battlefield 6 - not single player
Elden Ring - I'll allow this even though I hate soulslikes
Black Myth Wukong - Not made by the western gaming industry
BG3 - Indie developer
Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 - Not made by the western gaming industry
Helldivers 2 - not single player
Stellar Blade - mediocre game
Click to expand...
Just because you think it's mediocre, or it's putout by an indie, doesn't change sales figures. Which I would say correlate fairly strongly to "appeal"

Unless you were just talking about "appeals to MadMummy76"
 
Brian_B said:
Just because you think it's mediocre, or it's putout by an indie, doesn't change sales figures. Which I would say correlate fairly strongly to "appeal"

Unless you were just talking about "appeals to MadMummy76"
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I didn't say it doesn't or that it does appeal to me, If you paused before knee-jerk reacting you'd have noticed that Elden Ring doesn't appeal to me yet I accept that it is considered a good game objectively.

And indies are not part of the gaming industry, isn't that why they are called independent? The layoffs and studio closures aren't hitting indies but the westerm AAA industry.
 
MadMummy76 said:
I didn't say it doesn't or that it does appeal to me, If you paused before knee-jerk reacting you'd have noticed that Elden Ring doesn't appeal to me yet I accept that it is considered a good game objectively.

And indies are not part of the gaming industry, isn't that why they are called independent? The layoffs and studio closures aren't hitting indies but the westerm AAA industry.
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The point of this thread had shifted to examples of successful single player games... anyway...
 
Grimlakin said:
I would debate that Helldivers, Space Marine Two, and Battlefield 6 are definitely not single player games.
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And? Peter's article starts and ends with MP games. Skate, High Guard, and the abandoned GoW online game. Then ends with ARC Raiders and the upcoming, certain to flop. Horizon MP.

Brian_B said:
Just because you think it's mediocre, or it's putout by an indie, doesn't change sales figures. Which I would say correlate fairly strongly to "appeal"
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Thanks for understanding the point. 🍻
 
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