State of the video game industry

[Liminal Cat]

Besides a few multi-player games here and there, I haven't seriously played any AAA games in quite a while. Returnal and to a lesser extent Death Stranding look interesting, though.

 

[beowulf]

Here is an interesting one for the gaming industry, Blizzard as pulled access to all their games but Diablo Immortal in China, including WoW and Overwatch 2 as their agreement with Net Ease has ended and they have not come to a new agreement yet. The only game still available to Chinese gamers is Diablo Immortal as it is covered under a different agreement.

 

[MMC]

Playing Multiversus and Overwatch 2 recently, I can’t state enough how much I absolutely loathe the fact that the dumbass “Battle Pass” system has made its way into every f***ing game now. One of my biggest gripes with where we’re at. Multiversus has skins that cost $20 IRL, and idiots for some reason still shill out for some corny cosmetic in a mediocre game. What the f***.

My girlfriend and I decided to go on the new Webkinz game just to see what it was like (flash dying forced them to remake it). This game has a $7 Battle Pass. I’m done.

 

[Unholy Diver]

My girlfriend and I decided to go on the new Webkinz game just to see what it was like (flash dying forced them to remake it). This game has a $7 Battle Pass. I’m done.

So mind my ignorance but what exactly is a "battle pass"? Let me preface it by saying I am an longtime gamer and an older (mid 40's) and I primarily play single player story driven games, I've seen the "season pass" DLC packages with many games and have purchased a few for some of my favorite games but what makes a "battle pass" different and something that is more necessary?

 

[MMC]

So mind my ignorance but what exactly is a "battle pass"? Let me preface it by saying I am an longtime gamer and an older (mid 40's) and I primarily play single player story driven games, I've seen the "season pass" DLC packages with many games and have purchased a few for some of my favorite games but what makes a "battle pass" different and something that is more necessary?

I'm pretty sure a lot of games use the terms interchangeably, I just call them all "battle pass" because "season pass" is a commonly used term referring to many different things, "battle pass" is the shitty system Fortnite popularized where you pay ~$10 or whatever they charge for the period of play and you get to unlock special, mostly cosmetic rewards.

 

[Shareefruck]

In contrast to the thread's sentiment, I feel like it's been a pretty uncharacteristically strong year for videogames, for my money. Normally, I'm only interested in at best a couple things in any given year, but this year: What seems to be a legitimately great AAA game in Elden Ring, two really strong indie games in Tunic and Sifu, a lovingly crafted remaster/remake that's shaping up to be one of my all time favorite games in Tactics Ogre Reborn, and a great mobile game in Poinpy.

 

[Unholy Diver]

I'm pretty sure a lot of games use the terms interchangeably, I just call them all "battle pass" because "season pass" is a commonly used term referring to many different things, "battle pass" is the shitty system Fortnite popularized where you pay ~$10 or whatever they charge for the period of play and you get to unlock special, mostly cosmetic rewards.

So its like a subscription for a period of time to use cosmetic skins or funny hats? Does it have any real bearing on the gameplay itself is it a pay to win situation?

As someone who plays almost no online or online multiplayer I haven't seen much of this, sure there may have been times on games where I might have paid a few bucks to unlock characters like on WWE2K games or something but generally have only paid for actual extra content

It amazes me that so many people will pay extra for these things, but I suppose the games have trained and cultivated the younger generations to be used to doing so

 

[Mikeaveli]

So its like a subscription for a period of time to use cosmetic skins or funny hats? Does it have any real bearing on the gameplay itself is it a pay to win situation?

As someone who plays almost no online or online multiplayer I haven't seen much of this, sure there may have been times on games where I might have paid a few bucks to unlock characters like on WWE2K games or something but generally have only paid for actual extra content

It amazes me that so many people will pay extra for these things, but I suppose the games have trained and cultivated the younger generations to be used to doing so

Basically a battle pass is like a leveling system. For each level you unlock some sort of in game item, in most games they are only cosmetics. Most have free and premium tiers where the premium users get a lot more items. These live service games normally operate in "seasons", and a new battle pass comes out every season.

 

[Unholy Diver]

Basically a battle pass is like a leveling system. For each level you unlock some sort of in game item, in most games they are only cosmetics. Most have free and premium tiers where the premium users get a lot more items. These live service games normally operate in "seasons", and a new battle pass comes out every season.

I guess it is a great racket for the game publishers to have more and more money continuing to roll in, it makes a lot of sense on their end

 

[John Price]

It's in an awful state. The only good game recently is GOW and it's 70 dollars on PS5. Do you expect me to pay that much especially when I've not played a GOW game before?

Besides that, I've just gotten bored. Maybe it's my old age or me being busy constantly but after 8 hours I just want to lie down and rest, not play some game. I haven't turned on my gaming pc in like a week

 

[Dogewow]

Here is an interesting one for the gaming industry, Blizzard as pulled access to all their games but Diablo Immortal in China, including WoW and Overwatch 2 as their agreement with Net Ease has ended and they have not come to a new agreement yet. The only game still available to Chinese gamers is Diablo Immortal as it is covered under a different agreement.

This is an interesting development. I'm no expert in this situation but I would think they'll have this rectified sooner rather than later? WoW and OW2 are pretty big in the Chinese market, especially OW2 with a huge chunk of their talent pool, and 4 of their Overwatch League franchises, being based out of the country.

 

[beowulf]

This is an interesting development. I'm no expert in this situation but I would think they'll have this rectified sooner rather than later? WoW and OW2 are pretty big in the Chinese market, especially OW2 with a huge chunk of their talent pool, and 4 of their Overwatch League franchises, being based out of the country.

Blizzard Games Are Disappearing From China Thanks To 'A Jerk' [Update]

World of Warcraft devs Blizzard and Chinese licenser NetEase will end their 14-year-old agreement

kotaku.com

NetEase, the service provider Overwatch creator Blizzard has been using to bring its games to China for the last 14 years, is ending several licenses with the developer. Overwatch 2, Diablo III, World of Warcraft, StarCraft, Hearthstone, and Heroes of the Storm will no longer receive service in mainland China on January 23, 2023, “and will not be renewed,” NetEase wrote in a November 17 statement. One NetEase employee attributed the responsibility for this to a “jerk.”

“We have put in a great deal of effort and tried with our utmost sincerity to negotiate with Activision Blizzard so that we could continue our collaboration and serve the many dedicated players in China. However, there were material differences on key terms and we could not reach an agreement,” CEO William Ding says in the statement. “We will continue our promise to serve our players well until the last minute. We will make sure our players’ data and assets are well protected in all of our games.” Chinese players will still have access to Diablo Immortal, NetEase said, since it’s “covered by a separate long-term agreement.”

 

[Jovavic]

It's in an awful state. The only good game recently is GOW and it's 70 dollars on PS5. Do you expect me to pay that much especially when I've not played a GOW game before?

Wait for a sale then. Games have been 60 since 2005 with more and more people buying the special editions with their added levels or quests (i.e. shit that should've been in the game to begin with). The number of people needed to make a game nowadays has ballooned compared to back then.

If you're really bothered by paying the cost of a burrito more for the cost of a game after nearly 20 years of them being a different price then maybe get the ps4 version (it's still 60) or maybe gaming isn't for you anymore.

 

[PeteWorrell]

Wait for a sale then. Games have been 60 since 2005 with more and more people buying the special editions with their added levels or quests (i.e. shit that should've been in the game to begin with). The number of people needed to make a game nowadays has ballooned compared to back then.

If you're really bothered by paying the cost of a burrito more for the cost of a game after nearly 20 years of them being a different price then maybe get the ps4 version (it's still 60) or maybe gaming isn't for you anymore.

People just suddenly have less money for entertainment which has led to massive layoffs at Meta, Amazon, Twitter... I can see console and game sales being down in the foreseeable future with all these rising costs. Those extra people needed to make games might find themselves unemployed very soon.

 

[Beau Knows]

Wait for a sale then. Games have been 60 since 2005 with more and more people buying the special editions with their added levels or quests (i.e. shit that should've been in the game to begin with). The number of people needed to make a game nowadays has ballooned compared to back then.

If you're really bothered by paying the cost of a burrito more for the cost of a game after nearly 20 years of them being a different price then maybe get the ps4 version (it's still 60) or maybe gaming isn't for you anymore.

While it's true that these AAA games have become more expensive to make, they are also generally selling more units these days.

The original PS2 version of God of War sold 5 million copies, the 2018 version sold 23 million copies. GTA Vice City was a massive success with 17 million units sold, but GTA 5 sold an insane 170 million copies. So I don't know if it's exactly true that they need the extra $10 to get by, but clearly people have been willing to pay it.

 

[Mikeaveli]

These AAA publishers are making billions of dollars, there is no justification for the $10 price increase other than the publishers wanting more money. And of all of them Sony should have been the last to raise their prices because they don't even need to give a cut of game sales to anyone.

 

[Shareefruck]

Edit: Delete.

 

[John Price]

Wait for a sale then. Games have been 60 since 2005 with more and more people buying the special editions with their added levels or quests (i.e. shit that should've been in the game to begin with). The number of people needed to make a game nowadays has ballooned compared to back then.

If you're really bothered by paying the cost of a burrito more for the cost of a game after nearly 20 years of them being a different price then maybe get the ps4 version (it's still 60) or maybe gaming isn't for you anymore.

And another thing every one these steam sales has shitty aaa games I ain heard of on sale while the good games are like 5 percent off. Wwe 2k...wow 55 dollars during winter sale

 

[Unholy Diver]

To whine about an extra 10 bucks for games is ridiculous, in 1990 Super Mario 3 was 49.95, so in 30+ years the cost of games has only increased by 20 dollars or 40%, which is far less than many other items

Based on the inflation alone, $50 in 1990 is worth $114 today

A happy meal at McDonalds was $3.19 in 1990, I paid 6.59 for one yesterday, just over double

Gas was $1.15 per gallon, I paid $4.09 yesterday, over triple the price

A Honda Accord was between $12,345 - $14,895, today they are between $26,120 to $38,050 again between double and triple the price

If anything we should be thanking the video game industry for being as generous as they have been by keeping prices relatively flat for so many generations

 

[RandV]

So mind my ignorance but what exactly is a "battle pass"? Let me preface it by saying I am an longtime gamer and an older (mid 40's) and I primarily play single player story driven games, I've seen the "season pass" DLC packages with many games and have purchased a few for some of my favorite games but what makes a "battle pass" different and something that is more necessary?

The way I look at it is "season passes" will be more for the single player games like Assassins Creed for future DLC while "battle pass" is the term applied to the free to play online games like Fortnite which... honestly I have no idea what they might provide. But people are feeding money into the game so they're paying for something.

 

[RandV]

To whine about an extra 10 bucks for games is ridiculous, in 1990 Super Mario 3 was 49.95, so in 30+ years the cost of games has only increased by 20 dollars or 40%, which is far less than many other items

Based on the inflation alone, $50 in 1990 is worth $114 today

A happy meal at McDonalds was $3.19 in 1990, I paid 6.59 for one yesterday, just over double

Gas was $1.15 per gallon, I paid $4.09 yesterday, over triple the price

A Honda Accord was between $12,345 - $14,895, today they are between $26,120 to $38,050 again between double and triple the price

If anything we should be thanking the video game industry for being as generous as they have been by keeping prices relatively flat for so many generations

This has never been a valid argument. Software all the cost is in the creation of the product, not the product itself. Once a video game is made it costs practically $0 to make copies to sell. The cost of making a video game has gone up a lot compared to the 90's (which did have a physical cost when on cartridge) but this is offset by a lot more copies being sold, this is why something like Windows will cost $100 while an Autocad might cost $10,000, when Windows was far more expensive to develop.

Being a sports forum this isn't much different than when owners try to say that ticket prices are high because of player salaries. More realistically, the publishers charge the price they think will generate the most profit. They didn't increase prices by $10 because they needed it but rather because they thought they could get away with it.

Personally I'm fine as long as there's a broad ranges of prices. On topics like these I feel like this guy:

As I mostly stopped playing "AAA" games like 15 years ago. For me all these 'problems' has been the video game industry for a long time, but the dark ages were the pre Steam/Indy revolution.

 

[93LEAFS]

These AAA publishers are making billions of dollars, there is no justification for the $10 price increase other than the publishers wanting more money. And of all of them Sony should have been the last to raise their prices because they don't even need to give a cut of game sales to anyone.

As someone who has access to playing games on PS5, PC, and Switch. I'd probably be much more annoyed with Sony's price increase if the games never went on sale outside rare exceptions like 1st party Switch games. Every game I've bought from Sony at the new price point I felt has lived up to the increased price enough to not make me annoyed (Ratchet and Clank, Forbidden West, Ragnarok, and Returnal). And, if there is any game I'm on the fence about I know it will likely eventually end up on PS Plus extra if its first-party or I'll find it on sale within 6 months of launch dramatically knocked down for a more reasonable price. Whereas Nintendo, I either need to wait for a CAD 55 dollar sale maybe which happen once in a Blue Moon even on 3 to 4 year old games that weren't massive hit, or look for it used.

 

[PeteWorrell]

To whine about an extra 10 bucks for games is ridiculous, in 1990 Super Mario 3 was 49.95, so in 30+ years the cost of games has only increased by 20 dollars or 40%, which is far less than many other items

Based on the inflation alone, $50 in 1990 is worth $114 today

A happy meal at McDonalds was $3.19 in 1990, I paid 6.59 for one yesterday, just over double

Gas was $1.15 per gallon, I paid $4.09 yesterday, over triple the price

A Honda Accord was between $12,345 - $14,895, today they are between $26,120 to $38,050 again between double and triple the price

If anything we should be thanking the video game industry for being as generous as they have been by keeping prices relatively flat for so many generations

Pricing has been relatively flat because distributions and medium costs just keep going down. First by going from expensive cartridges to disc formats (CD, DVD Blu-ray ect) and now going with digital distribution. As others have already pointed out; the video game market as grown by leaps and bounds since the 90s and they sell more copies than ever. It more than offsets the cost of making the games.

But sure, you can go ahead and thank them for not increasing pricing and even send them some extra money every time you buy a game so that you can truly show them how grateful you are.

 

[Unholy Diver]

Pricing has been relatively flat because distributions and medium costs just keep going down. First by going from expensive cartridges to disc formats (CD, DVD Blu-ray ect) and now going with digital distribution. As others have already pointed out; the video game market as grown by leaps and bounds since the 90s and they sell more copies than ever. It more than offsets the cost of making the games.

But sure, you can go ahead and thank them for not increasing pricing and even send them some extra money every time you buy a game so that you can truly show them how grateful you are.

Maybe I will send them some extra, I'm certainly not going to whine and stop doing something I enjoy over 10 bucks.

 

[PeteWorrell]

Maybe I will send them some extra, I'm certainly not going to whine and stop doing something I enjoy over 10 bucks.

It's just funny because accessibility combats piracy and that has been proven multiple times. I sure won't feel bad when they start crying over people starting to pirate more games because they have made things less accessible.