Lots of good indie stuff, not much from AAA. My recommendation: try new single player or co op stuff. Stop recycling content.
Ehhh, a bunch of studios have things in the works. Just because very little came out in 2024 doesn't mean that the industry imploded or anything.
There were plenty of layoffs all over the tech industry. I'd argue that big tech was hit harder than games.
It takes many years now to release anything big. Good blockbusters are relatively infrequent. Star wars outlaws hit in October, It wasn't stellar but it wasn't a bad game. Civ 7 is due out in February.
At worst, I'd say we're in a little bit of a lull.
What, again?
Maybe gamers are getting older in general and realizing they don't have the time to dedicate to intensive games that are like taking on a 2nd job and studying for college.
I prefer games now where I can do the grindy stuff mainly AFK and do the challenging stuff solo in short bursts. No more 2-3 hr clan raids and shit like that anymore. Hell, sometimes I just start up MAME and set some classic arcade scroller to god mode because I just want to blow stuff up for a few minutes.
While some gamers are getting older the number of players does keep increasing with newer generations like alpha picking up controllers. Many millenials and older zoomers may have more disposable income but also much less time to play, backlogs of hundreds if not thousands of games and bunch of good old games they just keep coming back to.
However gaming doesnt exist in a bubble. Social media platforms, streaming services are also competing for our attention. The whole entertainment market is so saturated that only ways to increase profits is to enshittify or win marketshare from competition.
Same. I’ve found my spark again in VR gaming and generally go to the arcade style more! Ain’t nobody got time for a 10 tier skill tree
I'll be picking up VR soon. Do you have any recommendations?
Depends what you like. I've been enjoying Space Pirate Trainer and Gun Club VR. Single player FPS types where you shoot down waves of attackers. Hands down favorite, though, is Half-Life: Alyx. Great story, very immersive, and the use of VR is top notch.
Nice, thanks! Honestly I enjoy every genre of game except sports titles so your clrecommendations are solid! Half Life: Alyx has been on my wishlist since VR released on Steam and I fully intend on picking it up day one and it being my first VR game. Appreciate the other recommends!
Y'all should both try Pistol Whip, it's fantastic
Beat Saber is still my fav. Modded to have custom tracks. It can be good for a little cardio. Just make sure you have your headset sweat cover on!
Yes! Beatsabre is one of my other top VR titles I have wishlisted. Thanks for the recommend!
I was pretty surprised by the barrenness of my wishlist. There's been shockingly few titles I've been that excited about. Almost nothing in the AAA realm. And the few things that I am waiting to come out have been on that list for several years already...
The article (as far as I read) fails to mention the that layoffs have hit then entire tech sector. Not just games.
I lost my job (iOS dev and actually a games dev job) twice in ‘24. I don’t think it is necessarily a reflection of the games industry.
There are some really nice games this year, if you know where to look. I’m playing Uncle Chop’s Rocket Repair and it’s awesome. So fun, so inventive, great visuals, mechanics and soundtrack.
Deadlock has also gotten a fair chunk of my time. I scratches the same itch as DOTA and a little bit of CS too.
Creeper World got a new instalment, too. Different from the 4 mainline games, it’s new and fresh and fun.
Jesus man that is brutal sorry to hear you’re going through that.
Yoooo how the fuck did I miss a new creeper world ?
IXE. It’s new and fun
I am in IT, also lost two jobs this year, and getting a new one took like 3 weeks and some trying, which is unusually long
it's good to hear things like this because my friends are taking 6 months to a year to find a new job and they're all smarter than me
I was looking for 3 months each time. I have like 15 years exp!
Another article i scrolled past before seeing this was stating Steam broke their record releasing over 18,000 games in 2024.
How can anyone have enough time to even try them all?
most of those are anime role-playing, porn games with tits
Lots of AI-generated/asset-flipped trash that can be safely skipped.
I dunno about you but I don’t play every genre of game. So like 70-80% of those are off the table immediately. I’d also be curious how many of those are the drop in the bucket nsfw games that get released every few days. Really need to toggle the ‘adult’ setting on my Steam account. Although sometimes the title alone is gold like ‘Hitler: BDSM Bunker’…
It’s really hard to imagine something dumber than “Gamergate 2.0.” I sincerely hope it’s all 12 year-old trolls and there’s no grown adults with jobs and responsibilities getting all in a tizzy over the race or gender of a fucking video game character.
Or journalists desperate for material trying to stir something up. "I saw a comment about a game. There's an article!!"
Well diversity has received a ton more spotlight and discussion for past 10 years with many developers and games being "canceled" for their views, opinions and many games have been heavily criticized for not being diverse enough or containing elements that are offensive for group a, b or c.
Now the pendulum is swinging back with those canceled or holding more conservative or religious opinions banding together to crusade against whatever they consider woke.
Result is a minefield where your game can be attacked if its not woke enough or too woke resulting in bunch of bad press.
You'd be surprised or disappointed to know that there are infact, mid-20 and 30+ year olds who even get themselves tied up in a knot over this shit. So I don't think it's really an age thing, more like, a matter of these people not living fruitful lives and have nothing better to do than orchestrate and manufacture imaginary problems to give themselves purpose.
I am done buying games I don't play lol
Oh fuck, I replaced you...
Lord willing, One day you will fill that void inside of you 🫡
Until then the merchant is there to take your money.
Khajiit has wares, if you have coin.
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
