Simply put, gamers.
Before I go on, let me just clarify that this is wholly my opinion and in no way should be taken as fact. There will undoubtedly be criticism (if anyone actually finds this blog while exploring the vast wilderness of the internet) directed at my point of view and that's fine. I feel that everyone should be entitled to their opinion, unless it is clearly a significant deviation that most people would not be able to take seriously. To reiterate, this post and any post that follows it will merely be my opinion and should not be interpreted in any other way.
Back to the business at hand. Yes, you read it right, the problem with the gaming industry nowadays, I feel is the customer. Not the large corporations like EA, Activision Blizzard and Ubisoft. I know it's popular to hate on publishers and declare that they're killing the industry in the search for profits and making a quick buck. Well, I feel that that is simply untrue.
Before we can move on, I'd like to explain what most people mean when they say that the industry has gone wrong. Usually, they are referring to the lack of originality, the saturation of certain types of genres with hundreds of similar games and the increasing costs of being a gamer. To bring it back to the matter at hand, I'm contending that all these problems are caused by gamers themselves.
The Power of the Consumer
Why do large companies like EA, Activision and Ubisoft publish hundreds of games every single year that could easily interchange names and no one will notice? Because gamers buy their games. Simply put, companies are out to make a profit. That is their sole purpose. Undoubtedly, there are developers that are genuinely passionate about making games but let's not forget that they need money just like the rest of us to survive and if they want to keep making games. But back to the point at hand, which is that companies are solely there to make money.
Now, this is where people will claim that companies are evil and probably point out that EA is considered the most evil in the world. Interesting conclusion, considering EA is a fairly benign publisher that occasionally resorts to a few money-grubbing tactics while other types of companies such as Private Military Contractors lease out mercenaries to wreak havoc in whatever part of the world that they've been contracted to operate in. But let's not dive into the misguided understanding that people have of amorality versus immorality.
So, how do these companies make money? By publishing games that consumers are willing to shell out money for. And because people keep buying certain games year after year after year, these publishers are obviously going to keep selling them. Now, there are complaints about a lack of innovation and the repetitiveness of games nowadays but let's not forget that there is a market for formulaic games (Do I have to tell you which franchises I'm referring to? Let me give you a hint, one's a first person shooter published by Activision and the other is a sports game published by EA) and that's why we see them year in and year out. It is a legitimate complaint and one that I agree with but gamers tend to forget that it is their fellow brethren that keep these franchises alive.
Sure, there will be those that claim it's the fault of the publishers for not doing anything about the staleness of the industry and the saturation of the First Person Shooter (FPS) or Role Playing Game (RPG) genre. However, we're not looking at their side of the story. Like every other type of corporation, video game publishers play it safe. They'll publish games that they know will sell. There's no incentive for them to take a risk and run with something different as there is no guarantee that they can make a profit. And since there is a virtual guarantee that certain types of games will sell, the market becomes saturated with said similar games.
Now, I'm not suggesting that everyone should up and boycott games in order to teach them a lesson. That's a difficult, probably insurmountable task. I don't claim to have any answers, I'm just here to point out my view that gamers themselves are killing the industry.
Piracy
Another problem with the industry, as most people articulate it, is that gaming is becoming an increasingly expensive hobby. Games are expensive, consoles are expensive and add to that DLC which is bleeding the honest gamer dry. And inevitably, the blame rests with companies wanting to make money any way they can from the gamer. But let's examine why. Piracy, which I don't condemn, takes profits away from companies. And when the bottom line starts getting threatened, companies pull out all the stops to increase their profits. And some pissed off gamer will shout out, "Damned publishers trying to make a quick buck off gamers. Why can't they just leave us alone?"
Well, it's because piracy is becoming an increasing problem for that. I understand that there are those that resort to downloading video games because they cannot afford to buy video games but I'm more than willing to bet that there are those who can afford video games but are unwilling to shell out money to buy even some video games. This creates a vicious circle as prices rise and more people turn to downloading in order to escape the increasing costs.
Sure, people will attack me and point out statistics that demonstrate that piracy doesn't hurt profits and I don't contest that. I'm merely stating that from a deductive point of view, one would arrive at the conclusion that each person that pirates video games will logically lead to companies losing out revenue.
Once again, let me reiterate that this is merely my point of view and finish off this rant with a clarification that I neither work nor am paid by any companies (I wish I were) to defend them and their activities.
