OYT and doodikoff your Switch 2 is Losing to PS5 somehow and Xbox didn't even make the list

You both SUCK ASS at Curating btw

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5807433&forum_id=2).#49490954)

While major console releases continue to post disappointing sales, the indie scene is thriving, and anticipation is high for titles like Silksong and Hades II. On top of that, AA games like Clair Obscur are topping sales charts and earning tons of acclaim. AAA might be faltering, but indie and AA games are showing no signs of slowing down, and that might be for the best.

When discussing the 1983 gaming crash, casual observers often point to Atari’s infamous E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, one of the most infamous bad games of all time, as the culprit. While that’s an oversimplification, the game was indeed a major inflection point for the industry.

Upon release, Atari drastically overestimated the demand for E.T., producing more copies of the game than there were consoles on the market. The assumption was that the film’s success would drive people to buy new home systems just to play E.T.

This was true of other game companies as well. According to David Crane, one of the co-founders of Activision, “in response to Activision’s success, there were dozens of wanna-be copycats.”

Many companies overestimated the market for their games, producing millions of copies that ultimately failed to sell. Most of these start-ups went under after the crash, and the glut of cheap, low-quality titles diverted attention away from higher-quality games, further damaging the industry.

Since most games today are digital, developers no longer have to worry about filling landfills with unsold stock, but the industry is still plagued by the same issues that caused the crash in the past. Online game storefronts are flooded with low-quality asset flips that hurt discoverability for indie titles, often designed to mimic more popular games in a cheaper, misleading way.

On top of that, gaming budgets are rising. One of the best examples of that is Concord, Sony’s failed hero shooter from 2024. It had a $200 million development budget and was relying on players forming attachments to the new IP and its characters in a market already crowded with hero shooters like Overwatch. When Concord failed to meet expectations, the studio was shut down and the game was buried.

Sony isn’t the only company with unrealistic expectations. Just like with E.T. decades ago, some predictions about GTA VI act like it’s reasonable to expect that people will buy a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X just to play the game. It's led to a scenario where games need to raise prices and make money on DLC and microtransactions just to make their budgets back.

All of this is alienating to many gamers. Some are simply turned off by a price increase, while others genuinely can’t afford that many $70 games a year. This is especially true if their first impression of a game is the price rather than anything else.

In the end, no one really wins. Analysts say companies are hoping GTA VI will break the price barrier and allow games to be priced higher, but $80 seems to be a breaking point for a lot of people. The Switch 2 and Mario Kart World are successful, but The Outer Worlds 2 dropped in price from $80 to $70 due to fan backlash. That $70 is still more expensive than games five years ago and tough to justify for many people.

One might think that a game’s success can be measured by the studio's ability to keep employing everyone who contributed to it, but that’s not the case. Even studios behind massively successful games such as Oblivion Remastered can get hit with layoffs. If popular games aren’t managing to make enough money to keep their staff, what does that mean for more niche experiences that don’t have a large guaranteed potential audience?

One explanation for this is that games are expensive to produce. Even successful games might not be able to reach their sales targets and justify their budget, resulting in layoffs like the ones seen at Insomniac Studios last year.

Along with games, even the hardware for playing them is getting more expensive. Games come in massive files and require high-powered PCs to run correctly, while consoles keep getting more expensive. Nintendo faced massive sticker shock when the price of the Nintendo Switch 2 was first announced, and now they’re raising the prices of their last-gen consoles.

Even the Switch Lite, a cheaper, handheld-only version of the Switch that is one of the best consoles out right now for younger kids or families, is now more expensive. At the same time, the Switch OLED is now only $50 cheaper than the Switch 2. This is likely to account for tariffs in the United States, but it doesn’t change the fact that gaming becoming a more expensive hobby is bad.

Many people got into games as kids. How will that happen if families can’t purchase a $450 console for their kids? That then means as adults, there’s no interest in buying a $500 console or PC. It’s bad for the industry in the long term if there isn’t a cost-effective way to onboard people into the space, but cost-effectiveness is not the end goal of AAA games.​​​​​​​

AA and Indie Games Are Doing Better Than Ever

Smaller Developers Like Sandfall Interactive Are Seeing Tons of Acclaim

Fortunately, the void left by AAA development is being closed by indie games and smaller AA games. Games like Clair Obscure Expedition 33 prove that games made with a modest budget can still find a huge audience, while indie games often cost less while offering just as much.

Because their budgets are lower, these teams are able to make tight experiences that are both visually unique and appeal to a smaller audience. Donkey Kong Bananza is doing great right now, but there are also games like Kitsune Tails that are designed to cater to that specific community and playstyle.

Date Everything! is another game that doesn’t necessarily have broad market appeal, but has cultivated a smaller and more dedicated fanbase. Fans waiting on the release of Persona 6 have a lot of options by playing through the entire backlog of games developed by Japanese studio Furyu.

A large budget means a game has to appeal to a broad audience, which can discourage developers from taking risks or exploring new ideas. And while there is an aspect of trend chasing, such as Metroidvanias exploding after the release of Hollow Knight and the forever popularity of roguelikes, they all strive for distinct play and aesthetic. It doesn’t feel like they’re all playing follow the leader.

There are so many amazing indie games out there, and major publishers could simply go a year without any new releases, and gamers wouldn’t be lacking for things to play. At this point, it’s probably better for the AAA industry to go away for a while. Nothing truly dies when it comes to entertainment, but in the meantime, more attention can be given to the massive number of existing indie and AA games that have gone overlooked until now. Then, hopefully, major players in the AAA scene will be able to sustain themselves.

https://www.cbr.com/aaa-gaming-over-end-of-era/

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