The State of the Video Game Industry: We Did This to Ourselves

I have been a gamer since the mid 1980s, I've played games on a variety of platforms and consoles. It's a hobby I find great enjoyment in and it bothers the heck out of me that the current state of the video game industry is in such a shambles. With major developers more interested in getting into our pockets that producing a quality product, the industry seems poised for yet another crash. It doesn't seem so long ago that video games were in a golden age. Look at the previous generation for example, console competition was at its peak as the top three players in the market XBox, PS3 and the Wii all showed strong sales and produced scores of great games. So in the span of one generation, we went from epic highs to a definite nadir. How did we get to this point? Most industry publications and blogs have universally pointed the finger at game developers and their ever-growing greed. While these companies do bear a lot of responsibility for where we're at, I think the real culprit here is us, the gamer.

Let me say that again. This is all our fault. It may sound harsh and I suppose it is a bit but we're lying in a bed of our own making. Yes, greedy game devs are crapping out games with loot boxes, micro-transactions, day-one patches and little to no single player experiences, but you know what? They're doing it because we let them. Whatever garbage they choose to vomit out into the marketplace, we stand their mouths agape like hungry baby birds waiting for mom to regurgitate dinner for us. The worst part is, we know what we're getting is absolute garbage, we know we're getting taken advantage of, in fact, if there's one thing gamers like do do apart from play video games, it's complain about video games. Despite this, we still eagerly pre-order every iteration of Call of Duty just so we can get the pre-order exclusive pink and orange-hued weapon skin so we can impress all of the filthy casuals out there. It's a strange sort of digital self-harm in that we know what we're doing isn't good for us but we do it anyway in the off chance that we might be able to eke out a few hours joy before the game is no longer trendy. We've basically shot ourselves in the foot and now we're complaining that our toe hurts.

The worst part about this whole thing is that the solution to it is so easy and requires absolutely no work whatsoever. Some 35 years ago when the first video game crash hit, it hit because consumers (that's us by the way) decided that they had better things to spend their money on than the crap that video game developers we churning out. This needs to happen again. We need to stop impotently whining on Internet forums and on social media and start voting with our wallets. Yes, that could mean that a lot of fan-favorite series could go the way of the dodo and it could also mean that many long-standing companies could go under but we need to nip this in the bud before it gets worse (if that's even possible). I'm not saying that we shouldn't ever buy any video games ever again but what I am saying is that we need to reward companies that have consumer-friendly sales practices and punish those that are just looking for a quick buck at our expense. It's time to do more than just complain about a game as we're handing over the money to buy it. Say no to pre-orders and early access. Say no to micro-transactions and buying the yearly installment of that venerable series that really isn't that different from the last iteration. Most importantly, say no to all of that loot box bullshit. Trust me, if they can't make money off it, they'll stop doing it. It's supply and demand, the free-market system in action!

As painful as what I suggested may be, there's a silver lining. Remember all those years ago, after all of the E.T. cartridges were buried in a landfill somewhere, hope emerged in the form of a fat little Italian plumber in ugly red overalls. You see, the culling in the early 80s was necessary because it forced companies like Nintendo to innovate, to become better than what came before. They needed to rethink how video games should be made and marketed. To put it simply, they put the customer first by focusing on a quality product to rebuild consumer trust. Boy, did that ever work. Soon, other companies followed suit and ushered in success hitherto undreamed of in the industry. Hmmm, putting the customer first eh? Perhaps they were onto something...