Opinion: The Infinite Showcase of Modern Gaming

In current times, players have infinite options to enjoy our hobby. Unfortunately, what that abundance offers is not too diversified.

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This era is very attractive for those of us who are gamers. What was once the E3 is now understood as a collection of events in the form of pre-recorded direct where they show us many announcements, premieres, updates, and advances of the most anticipated games of the moment. This virtual scenario has given us the possibility of having the information instantly and the live illusion, but it is also generating a sense of abundance and saturation that is dangerous for some players.

When Xbox took the decision that Game Pass would be its strategy for the future, the feeling that we could play everything we wanted was there. At that moment we did not see the problem, and it is that many of us do not have the time, or even the desire, to play so many games. But what is the use of so much content if we have less and less emotional, economic, or temporal space to enjoy it?

In this space I want to reflect on the current state of the industry, creative dynamics, and what for me is the disappointment in front of a hobby.

“The era of infinite games but no games”

The Summer Game Fest that took place a week ago showed us that there are marked trends in the consumption and development of video games. This is nothing new, after the massive entry of social networks and during the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 generation, the trend of the studios has been to develop powerful games, with realistic graphics that demonstrate technical power and capture the consumer’s attention. The debate is not about playable mechanics, but about what is visual, distorting the industry and leaving us with games with little evolution in gameplay, but with a tremendous advance in performance and graphics.

This, although it is a natural response to the technological era, is a complete affectation to the functioning of video games. Currently, developments are becoming longer, launches are distant, and evolution is imperceptible. Due to this, the catalogs have filled with empty games, without soul, and with very few things to offer at launch.

This development behavior is not total, there are still interesting and varied video games coming out, without the need to become mega-productions. In the end, everything discussed, and many other factors, lead us to a problem that users have named as “The era of infinite games but no games”, with a vacant abundance, promising great launches, but that result in playable proposals that are dull and without soul, leaving us with three major problems in the industry:

The overoffer and fatigue

Average AAA game has a duration of around 30 hours. The time available to the casual player to enjoy video games is around 10 hours a week, counting weekends and with an optimistic calculation of 1-3 hours a day. This is enough time to complete a game in two or three weeks, depending on the case and the time available. Despite the fact that the statistics seem viable and realistic, the truth is that players do not have our total gaming time in a single game.

We rotate, vary, and above all, we abandon games. This leaves us with the assumption that in three weeks, an average or casual player can complete a 30-20 hour game. With that pace, and without failing, the number of completed games would be around 17. The “real” data is a bit different, since the average number of games completed per year is around 7-10, according to the Giantbomb forum.

What is the problem then? Basically, over time, the offer accumulates, and it is the player who has to follow the industry’s pace. A game that is announced today, and that we cannot play immediately, becomes a game that we will play in the future. Once the time comes to play that expected game, its moment has passed, and the studios are already developing or launching other experiences. This cycle is suffocating, since we will not always play the current trend, and if we do, it is by sacrificing postponed experiences in time.

Then comes the Summer Game Fest and bombards us, presents a flood of games that we like, but whether due to costs or time, we will play that game in one or two years. The temporality is broken, and fatigue arrives.

The current player: demotivated and refuged

It’s not that there are no games, it’s that many of us have lost the ability to be excited and excited about new announcements. Once the games arrive in our hands, what we expect is to have immersive experiences whose world captures and sustains us for a good time. Thus, we continue trapped in a cycle where the backlog grows, enthusiasm decreases, and time never reaches.

This is a personal experience, but I also understand what happens to many players around the world. That’s why games like Warzone, Fortnite, and Rocket League prevail, since they are casual experiences that are a “safe zone”. This is something that continues to happen with classic games like WOW, League of Legends, or CSGO. This is not bad, but it does reflect that there are experiences that we will never leave behind as players, while new releases pass out of fashion in less time than we think, even increasing the trend that players do not finish what they started.

The paradox of innovation and creativity

Finally, we arrive at a topic that has been sounded so much that it is repetitive. But, in addition to being the basis of the current problems, it can be the biggest problem in the future. During the presentation of the Xbox Showcase, I couldn’t stop thinking that, in addition to the structure, copy and paste of the trailers, most of the games did not interest me. The number of stimuli, promises of quality, and cinematographic advances is overwhelming. Each “World Premiere” was more insipid than the previous one, indicating that the lack of constant creativity in the industry is lacking.

Why lack of creativity? Well, we can take as an example the Souls-like games. We have already talked about this in this web, since it is a style of game that has unlimited potential, but that has been encased in a narrative trope that, at the moment, is no longer a surprise. Every year, in these conferences, we receive an announcement of a game that is inspired by Japanese culture and that turns out to be a generic Souls-like. This year it happened, and it has to be clear that it will continue to happen.

On the other hand, we arrive at the point where innovating has become: better graphics, a larger open world, or games in space. This is the era we live in, and while there are many hidden gems, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find that small game that captures you for 4 hours and that’s it. A short, simple, and enriching experience. What innovation has brought us is the need to demonstrate who has the biggest, not who does it better.