Making video games was historically never easier, in every sense, then today. Only reason why we don't see dozens of studios who make games like Archolos is: small balls. Too many weak sperms who rely on publisher for funding, Discord and Steam forums for game design and Unity for programming. Where are crazy, passionate, 20somethin kiddos, those Avellone, Sawyer, Tim Cain and others were in 90s?
I think it's different, I think the backgrounds and thus the motivators of people who made games in the 80s, 90s and even early 2000s is different than those who want to make games in the 2020s.
If you think of an arbitrary break point in time, call it 2002, and go further and further back in time; the people who were making games were steeped in interest, and maybe even had knowledge of: science, engineering, math, history. They probably also were somewhat counter-cultural, enjoyed pulp fiction, and if they made RPGs then they probably played some table top gaming. Some were artsy types, into the theatre and painting. Others were techies, like Cain and his dropped PhD.
Now, go forward in time from that break point. The people who are making video games are interested in... video games! Zelda, anime, cartoons, pokemon, "Bioware story telling", "cinematic experiences". Capeshit. It's the story of the decline and fall of Bioware through cultural rot, writ large on the game-making industry. Fast forward closer to today, and you have people who are making games with explicit political activism in mind.
I expect that some form of political or social activism driving aspects of game development existed as far back as the PLATO days, only the flavor of that activism is going to look nothing like it does today. In the 70s, 80s and even 90s - being counter-cultural often meant you were ostracized for your beliefs. You had probably been in a street fight, knew what it was like to get your ass kicked (and maybe kick one, too). People could sneer at you from the well-respected reaches of society. Media was hegemonic, and it wasn't cheering for
you. You had to be skeptical of official narratives, because you know from experience that officials lied (no matter if a big D or R was next to someone's name), and in general you may have not been well-accepted in society.
Today we have the pathologizing of victimhood, soft people with soft problems. The activists today sit in a chair and furiously slam out tweets from their $800 USD phones.
edit: cleaned it up a bit. i'm really channeling some
The Wall energy here, eh?
