The state of video gaming in 2025 - a report

[itsme]

https://www.matthewball.co/all/stateofvideogaming2025

Short summary
The video games market growth has been stalling in the last couple of years. COVID is overbut that's not the only reason. People are switching to spending time on social media websites.

 

[NecroLord]

People are tired of slop and have lost trust in AAA gaming.
Especially PC gamers.
Not the console plebeians, those fucks will eat anything.

 

[Falksi]

Gaming's failing is that it's gone from being built around gamers, to being built around sheeple who just "tour" games.

These fucking retards don't really want puzzles, challenges, tests of thought or skill, they want a fucking movie where they feel part of the events occurring.

Problem with that is, the second something else comes along which gives them that "touring" experience and stimulus, then they'll jump ship.

It's no surprise social media is catching that mong demographic. Especially as half of them think they can make a living out of making shit gaming channels. "Oohh, you've got a gaming channel?!?" has snagged a fuckload of the sheeple who are so weak and pathetic that they're lives are spent chasing attention, and not enjoying themselves.

 

[Necrensha]

I hecking love unsustainable growth!
Holy shit at Halo 6, I had no idea they wasted THAT much money on that pile of mediocrity.

The sheer FLOOD of garbage can only visualized by this graph. How many of these can you remember?

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

Not the console plebeians, those fucks will eat anything.

well, it's easily explained since most of the sales come from other people, be it parents, friends or partners. they have no idea what they're buying, only that you own a console and they want to make you a gift.

 

[Fedora Master]

 

[I eat frozen vegetables]

Gaming's failing is that it's gone from being built around gamers, to being built around sheeple who just "tour" games.

You can notice this happening by the middle of the last decade.

I hecking love unsustainable growth!

The mentality of the line always needing to go up without going down needs to be killed. Nothing lasts forever.

 

[NecroLord]

View attachment 60496

Slop fatigue.

 

[Fargus]

View attachment 60496

Just one of those days when you don't wanna wake up

 

[Elttharion]

I mean:

GDC's annual State of the Game Industry survey reveals 1/3 of 'triple-A developers' are working on live service games​

 

[I eat frozen vegetables]

I mean:

GDC's annual State of the Game Industry survey reveals 1/3 of 'triple-A developers' are working on live service games​

Guys, we need that Fortnite money!

 

[Elttharion]

Its tik tok and declining birthrates, people. The gaming demographics are steadily getting older because there arent enough young people getting into the hobby to replace the ones who stop playing so the market is actually shrinking and aging alongside its audience. We are part of an inverted top heavy pyramid. The few kids that are born would rather spend their time mindlessly scrolling tik tok.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

 

[Ezekiel]

I enjoyed Tears of the Kingdom.

Hi-Fi Rush is lame.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder is lame.

Will play Jedi Survivor eventually, but first game was lame and Dark Souls doesn't fit in Star Wars at all.

Played first Marvel's Spider-Man on PS4. Pretty mid. See no appeal in playing a sequel with the same gameplay and same city.

After the RE4 demo and seeing some footage of later content, I decided that I will never play the game. Worse than the original in every way.

Dead Space remake was completely pointless. Not interested.

Nothing else there I'm into. What a crappy assortment.

 

[Elttharion]

Thats a horrendous list...

 

[DemonKing]

Well '23 was a pretty good year compared to '24 I guess...but not sure about the best year ever...

Thought it was a good piece - the fact that there seems to be no more growth in the console market shows why what would formerly have been "exclusives" are now turning up everywhere.

Also interesting that the price of videogames has fallen in real terms while the cost of production has exponentially increased, effectively making "more of the same, just bigger" sequels increasingly likely to fail to make a ROI.

If nothing else, it's fascinating to see how the industry has changed and continues to evolve as new trends and technology emerge.

 

[deuxhero]

I will never understand how a glorified stand alone expansion pack to the PS4 Spider-Man managed to cost 1.5x as much as the original game. How the fuck do you do that?

 

[d1r]

Call of Duty costs always amuse me, since at least 500kk of that are definitely just because of marketing.

 

[Falksi]

Well '23 was a pretty good year compared to '24 I guess...but not sure about the best year ever...

Thought it was a good piece - the fact that there seems to be no more growth in the console market shows why what would formerly have been "exclusives" are now turning up everywhere.

Also interesting that the price of videogames has fallen in real terms while the cost of production has exponentially increased, effectively making "more of the same, just bigger" sequels increasingly likely to fail to make a ROI.

If nothing else, it's fascinating to see how the industry has changed and continues to evolve as new trends and technology emerge.

I was just about to post that 2023 wasn't just shit, it was especially shit compared to 2024.

2024 was one of the few modern years in gaming which actually had numerous great games.

• Skald: AGTB
• Geneforge 2 Infestation
• Yakuza: Infinite Wealth
• Metaphor
• Persona 3 Reloaded
• Shin Megami Tensei V Vengeance
• Unicorn Overlord (OK, good-ish rather than great, but still better than most of the dross in 2023)
• Black Myth: Wukong
• Stellar Blade (again, good-ish rather than great)
• Dragon's Dogma 2 (yet again, good-ish rather than great)

I can't think of many games in the last decade which have given me that many good games to enjoy.

Ezekiel's summary of 2023 is about spot on, I've not played BG3 yet but vapid dross like Mario Wonder was indeed lame, TOTK one of the most tedious games I've ever played, FF16 excruciatingly dull and formulaic, and Starfield...hahaha.

The problem is that most of the games I list don't have the mainstream spotlight, but 2024 shit all over 2023 IMO. Still a wank year compared to the 90's and early 00's, but for modern gaming it was OK.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

Short summary
The video games market growth has been stalling in the last couple of years. COVID is overbut that's not the only reason. People are switching to spending time on social media websites.

The early slides are intentionally obfuscating reality with strangely selected years and mobile gaming lumped together with PC and console gaming. Later slides eventually reveal that spending on mobile gaming increased tremendously from 2019 to 2021, due to COVID-related effects, and then retracted somewhat from 2021 to 2024. PC gaming revenue seems to have continued increasing (see slide 28), though it isn't easy to tell from these horribly-constructed charts. Also, he displays these charts in nominal prices, making it even more difficult to determine actual changes.

 

[NecroLord]

Call of Duty costs always amuse me, since at least 500kk of that are definitely just because of marketing.

Also voice acting and mocap.
They like having relatively famous actors on their game.

 

[Dark Souls II]

All console slop. Every single title. Programs that are basically this, but for adults:

You may not like it, but that is what "gaming" has become. And it will be equally as retarded, and even more retarded. Even if there's more backlash against DEI and there will be less niggers and faggotry in games, nothing will change about yellow ladders, detective senses, press button to proceed cutscene, quest markers, popamole one button smash combat, and similar baby's first video game mechanic. That's the goyslop that normies crave.

 

[NecroLord]

All console slop. Every single title. Programs that are basically this, but for adults:

Anime slop?