Technology

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.

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?

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.

Lots of good indie stuff, not much from AAA. My recommendation: try new single player or co op stuff. Stop recycling content.

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...

And just a few posts up from this:

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.

We had [email protected], [email protected] 1.6 update, [email protected] DLC, [email protected] and Half Life 2 update in this year. Hey, I don't make rules.

What, again?

Ball says that the blame for all of this can’t be pinned to a single thing, like capitalism, mismanagement, Covid-19, or even interest rates. It also involves development costs, how studios are staffed, consumers’ spending habits, and game pricing. “This storm is so brutal,” he says, “because it is all of these things at once, and none have really alleviated since the layoffs began.”

Huh. Baldur's Gate 3 blew the doors off. They had the same Capitalism, Covid-19 and interest rates. They had the same development costs, consumer spending habits and reasonable game pricing. They had good management and no layoffs. All this success selling to a gaming segment that makes up a tiny sliver of the overall market. Maybe some of those game developer leaders should ask Sven how he did it. Or, you know, listen to him because he already told everyone how they did it. Or not.

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.