Why are AAA Games so Dissatisfying Now a Days?

[Scruffy323]

I've noticed a common sentiment among many of my friends, and it's that they seem to be increasingly disappointed with AAA games in recent years when compared to the gaming landscape of a decade ago. While we all acknowledge that not all games are inherently bad, it's become evident that there's a growing sense of dissatisfaction. Some attribute this to overhyped releases or games that are rushed to market before they're truly ready. However, what concerns me most is the feeling that the spark, the genuine love for creating exceptional gaming experiences, has dimmed in favor of profit-driven motives.

It's no secret that the gaming industry has evolved, and monetization strategies like microtransactions and loot boxes have become more prevalent. While these strategies can be lucrative for game developers and publishers, they've also drawn co criticism for potentially detracting from the core gaming experience. The constant pressure to meet release deadlines might be another factor. This can lead to games being launched with various bugs and performance issues, which can significantly hurt the initial gameplay experience.

What I' want to know are your personal insights on this matter. Do you believe there are specific reasons or trends that have contributed to the perceived decline in the overall quality and excitement of new AAA games? Is there a sense that the industry has become more profit-oriented, and potentially at the expense of delivering truly exceptional gaming experiences? I really want your thoughts and experiences on this subject. It just seem like nothing is worth getting “that excited” for anymore.

[Masque]

EpirusWarriorμολὼνλαβέ の投稿を引用：

Anyone else ask why the movies lately have fliped?

Maybe a hot take, but I think it's possible that the era of movies as a massively popular entertainment option is over, regardless of all the currently-bandied critiques of the industry.

The age of radio dramas ended. Why shouldn't the age of cinematic dramas?

Maybe humanity has just moved on to other options.

[Tiberius]

I blame gamers

[N3tRunn3r]

cuz there is nothing new to achieve anymore

[ShadowShifterMarlith]

They removed everything good about Video Games,
& replaced them with over saturated, & satire use of
Content that was bad about Video Games in the past,
& thought that poor quality picture, impressive CGI, &
an overly crazy amount of AI could make People buy
the Games, especially at high costs...

But the fact is?

No body is impressed by these Changes,
& only loyalists actually want to pay for the
High Costs of the Video Games Today...

The loyalist Gamers are flooding to buy them,
but they aren't buying them, cause they are good,
no, they are buying them to stay loyal to these
Companies...

But everyone else has seen the problem here,
& have noticed it in a very big way...

The more People start noticing these problems,
the more People are looking away, & the more
People are saying no more, we want no more
of this...

There have been People actually quitting Steam
over this, some have quit over Steam Client issues,
& some People have quit over the Windows 11 issues...

People are constantly quitting, but what will you do?

Meanwhile Indie Games are getting no love at all,
People ignore them like Triple AAA Games are the
only thing that matters anymore...

[Mr. Tex]

For the same reason Hollywood movies usually flop: terrible writing and politization of everything.

As with movies, Indie gaming is leading the way with quality, depth, and innovation.

The AAA industry will continue to worsen, but the Indie scene will thrive.

[Aureate Eternal]

-Devs who don't care
-Lack of Creativity
-Shareholders and executives applying pressure to the few devs who do actually care
-A new wave of non-gamers trying out videogames onlycaring about story and graphics
-Developer burnout from continuous repetitive releases
-Continuous repetitive releases causing or amplifying all of the above and plunging the industry into an endless cycle

[Gronk]

sheep consumers allow them to get away with it. That is honestly all it comes down to. If it was not a profitable system, they would fix it.

When people stop pre-ordering unfinished broken games just so they can get some "supporter edition" skin, things will change. But that will never happen so nothing will change

[William Shakesman]

Mainstream appeal and most game companies being make work jobs for people completely foreign to the gaming industry, cultures, and countries that pioneered gaming all buoyed by this captive mainstream audience that will buy literally ANYTHING on the front page of Steam.

[Irene ❤]

I feel that games with a huge budget has a chance to develop in reverse. They made all that voice acting and cinematics before deciding on how to play it.

For example FF7 remake only announced the hiring of combat system developer when it's nearer to release date. It has nice graphics, but it's another boring 'stagger the enemy' game play. Some other AAA games are worse, only allowing the player to push 1 button in cinematic fights.

They should first explore what's fun before adding that budget. If done correctly, bugs, in game purchase, and various other reasons became secondary.

[Birds]

The industry simply buys its own games with investor money, in order to market itself to investors, then invests the excess in the stock market.

Customers are an obstacle.

[B l u e b e r r y P o p t a r t]

Because they have to make sure that the revenue works first and then the game comes second.

[Fumo Bnnuy n Frends]

B l u e b e r r y P o p t a r t の投稿を引用：

Because they have to make sure that the revenue works first and then the game comes second.

which is completely stupid and backfires a lot. Like imagine if Amazon focused more on their dumb streaming tv shows and not instead on their actual packaging delivery company.

reminds me of the scrap yard security joke

government has a pile of useless scrap out in the desert. Worth not much but it's theirs and they want no one to touch it.

So they need someone to look after it. So they hire a security guard
then the guard needs someone to ensure he's always doing his job and doesn't steal anything.
So they hire a surveillance guy and buy a $10k security system and fences.
Then they need people to keep the maintenance up and they hire several IT guys
they buy another $20k in computers and $100k in a new building to house all the equipment.
they then hire more people to analyze the data keep tract and more people for stuff like salaries and human resources division.
they need janitors and a small food stall vendors nearby.

they eventually realize they're losing too much money so what do they do?
they fire the 1st guy the security guard.

[Bagel]

It is just another dumb trend to hate on new AAA games. People hyping up for nostalgia reasons play old games for like 5 - 10 minutes and move on to newer games because these are much more fun.

[The nameless Gamer]

Donut の投稿を引用：

It is just another dumb trend to hate on new AAA games. People hyping up for nostalgia reasons play old games for like 5 - 10 minutes and move on to newer games because these are much more fun.

Newer doesn't mean AAA. Lots of smaller, independant games are new too. And they provide much more than "AAA".

[Bagel]

The nameless Commander の投稿を引用：

Donut の投稿を引用：

It is just another dumb trend to hate on new AAA games. People hyping up for nostalgia reasons play old games for like 5 - 10 minutes and move on to newer games because these are much more fun.

Newer doesn't mean AAA. Lots of smaller, independant games are new too. And they provide much more than "AAA".

I dunno about that, I often see many more people accumulating bigger amounts of gameplay hours in new AAA than in new indie games. And they still complain.