A Video Game Crash Is Actually Here?

With the recent situation around Ubisoft and development costs going up more and more with sales finding a sticking point, people have been bringing up the idea of a video game crash.
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#Sony #Microsoft #Nintendo

[@EPS5000]

Studios waste too much money on junky games and then whine that gamers "have too high of expectations" rather than realize we just want fun games, not the crap they produce.

[@kalemuncher9425]

Riiight, gamers don't have too high expectations and are all very reasonable and understanding when a game is perfectly adequate and fun without setting the world on fire. It could never be a fault with the audience, we're all just so supportive and constructive, giving very concise criticisms and praises that are not at all influenced by a toxic online culture of dogpiling with the crowd.

[@Noname15514]

Not making games w0ke isn't too difficult to do so they got no one to blame but themselves.

[@MaskDestruction]

​@@kalemuncher9425yup

[@MaskDestruction]

Let's be honest a lot of fun and unique games came out this gen. The problem is "gamers" didn't buy them.

[@Drstrange3000]

@@kalemuncher9425 Thank God someone said it. Gamers will look at anyone but themselves for the mess of the industry.

[@Callum_009]

Quality over Quantity always

[@alexisestrada9188]

I agree but then you get some people saying "Where are the games?!" And want "major" releases for what seems to be every single month if not week.

[@JacqueBibblequip]

Spawnwave commenters trying to form their own thoughts instead of speaking in quotes

[@matangt6]

@@alexisestrada9188 Sure but that’s on the game companies tho. Instead of working on a games that actually worth our money they are trying to get quick money from live service games that no one asked for them..

[@ToxMod]

“if you don’t like it, don’t play it“ 😂

[@feelsgewdgaming2987]

@@Callum_009 amen

[@howdypeeps6656]

Video game companies shot themselves in the foot with their anti consumer policies, such as trying to go all digital, taking away physical, shipping buggy games, never-ending paid DLC, and chasing live service online multiplayer crap to the detriment of quality single player experiences. It’s really no surprise these companies are cutting labor costs and dying off. Time to go back to what always worked in the past

[@G360LIVE]

Forcing DEI into games hasn't helped either. Oh, and Ubisoft telling me that I don't own my games made me not buy anymore Ubisoft games.

[@keeganmcfarland7507]

You mean let indie games and AA games take over the triple AAA industry?

[@weightsandgames5051]

If they can do better why not​@@keeganmcfarland7507

[@JarlBarbossa]

Actually people gladly gobble that up. they just don't like ✊🏿🇮🇱🏳️‍⚧️ propaganda

[@BranSmith101]

Every single thing you listed can also be credited to gamers and not just these shady money seeking corpos. Gamers are to blame as well. Live service games are at the top of the charts for every platform, overly expensive paid DLC is always purchased, shamefully buggy games are panned but people don't really care due to it being "patched up later" mentality, and don't even get me started on all digital, PS and especially Xbox got everyone in hook line and sinker there.

[@AndreZelak]

Ubisoft executives says “Player must be used to not owning the games”, now gamers says “Guillemot family should be used to not owning the Ubisoft anymore.” The world goes round, doesn’t it?

[@DJS-mx8oz]

...they've been warned obnoxiously by the entire ubi$ft gaming community... Leadership does not exist @ ubi$ft simplified... they have no clue how to fucking scale, let alone do it successfully - please everyone all of the time = fail.

[@umberto8365]

Stop using this line out of context, the Ubisoft executive was being asked specifically about what it would take for subscription services to become the main method of acquiring a game. In that same interview he says they are fine with Ubisoft+ being an extra option and not the standard.

[@buttermilk5364]

China is just gonna buy everything and we will all learn Mandarin

[@Gyuribacsik]

18$ Ubisoft+ me Best thing, I live next Ukraine, here we not live dreamworld. I don't need own a plastic thing. Only fun playing.

[@MacUser2-il2cx]

Ubisoft needs to treat Rayman better.

[@elmasheavy89]

Nowadays gaming companies are only competing for the highest profits and not for the best games.

[@itchyisvegeta]

I prefer they compete for the highest profits by making the best games

[@heavyhittersirl]

That's always been the case for most dev studios

[@Electro096]

the gaming side died at the start of the PS4 Xbox one gen

[@JosephHauger]

I think the difference between the 1980s crash and now is in 1982-83, the general public still considered video games to be a fad. In the current situation, there may have to be a major course correction, but there's no threat of the industry disappearing entirely.

[@kuroxiii9481]

I technically agree but I can see in 5-10 years a lot of the big money pulls out, AAAA tightens its belts, and all the gamer hating opportunists opportune elsewhere (Or are fired). We already have some experimenting with localizing with AI, so localshartation will be gone (Whether officially or people just releasing translation mods)

[@claudiobizama5603]

Indies will not go anywhere

[@CasualSpud]

At Least ET didn't cost 200 million to make LOL

[@faustianblur1798]

@@claudiobizama5603 the indie end of the market is even more cut-throat than the AAA end. Most games just disappear without a trace and take the developers with them.

[@waldo2543]

@@faustianblur1798 thats definitely not a bad thing, sick of the failing upwards model in entertainment.

[@BalasielVOD]

We should call it AAApocalypse

[@Andre-vr1ul]

AAApocalypse: The Sloppening

[@jimmyju76]

:Redeux

[@beerasaurus]

The Ayyyypocalypse

[@mikesmith123]

Correctly, indies rules 💪🏽

[@lemming9984]

AAAApocalypse?

[@devingiles887]

Its almost like people got tired of all the bad games and micro transactions, who could ever see that coming

[@jiggerypokery2962]

Microtransaction games are stronger than ever. The ones without them aren't doing so hot.

[@kennypowers1945]

Micro transactions are near all time highs lol it’s not that. It’s that games are boring

[@Reddeth6332]

@@jiggerypokery2962 as of now 53% of people prefer single player games and that number is rising. the Microtransactions will be in the same boat.

[@jiggerypokery2962]

@@Reddeth6332 yea they say that then they spend all their time on live service. Like 10% of money spent goes to single player

[@DaReapa]

Studios need to focus on making their games fun and not photo realistic, graphics needs to take a back seat to gameplay and performance. Also there is just too many live service games and most of them are insanely grindy.

[@ShinobiShaw]

Look at Unicorn Overlord, Sea of Stars and Persona 5 or Metaphor, games don’t need to be cinematic per say to be AAA

[@futuregamer24]

​@@ShinobiShaw exactly, those games are amazing and the art style is something else especially Persona and Metaphor

[@LG555]

If only there were a console, on which you don't have to go for photo realistic graphics, since it isn't strong enough to handle those.

[@ShinobiShaw]

@@LG555 the Switch 😂😂😂😂

[@LG555]

@@ShinobiShaw though that may already be a hard ask, since for some, the Series S is already too weak.

[@elmasheavy89]

How many games can a working person buy in a month ??? Not that many. People have bills to pay and game developers are realizing that there is a ceiling to gamer’s pockets.

[@XionSteel]

i blame the AAA pricing. I'm Canadian so its not even the worst for me, but an 80$ base game is still around 110$ before tax, its actually ridiculous.

[@syrtycon7299]

Not only that but who has the time for these 50+ hour games.

[@Noname15514]

And how many of them that are w0ke sells?

[@mielthesquid6536]

@@XionSteel we also have full priced games whic are not in other territories, Zelda Echoes of the Wisdom is full price here only.

[@thedude8128]

​ Bet you were one of those ppl that don't work in the industry but rallied for them to stop crunch because somehow you care about a dude working in an office having to do long hours. Then you guys wonder why games cost more and take longer 😂

[@Level_Eleven]

Only the western AAA/“AAAA” scene is having a hard time, which is fine, since it’s what they asked for. Go where you are wanted.

[@SPG8989]

Lol you sound dumb. Square Enix has been complaining for a long time their games aren't selling. Ff16 and ff7 rebirth didn't sell anywhere near what they should have. Sony is now having to release games on pc to try and get sales because they too have stated many of their games aren't selling. Stellar Blade dev just said like a month ago they hope that their game sells better on pc. So no it isn't just western devs

[@date5960]

Square Enix?

[@kennypowers1945]

Nah most game companies are having a hard time

[@joecarnegy8978]

@@kennypowers1945 The game COMPANIES are not having a hard time, however the DEVELOPERS they are laying off to increase their year end numbers are a different story. There is a big difference. Nice name btw, Powers rules!

[@FreakGeSt]

@@date5960 SE is to inept because not even in the gacha sphere are making money, when chinese and korean companies are making so much money in that market.

[@elmasheavy89]

I wouldn’t be a crash, I would be the realization of gamers finally saying no more to all these scammy gaming corporations. They have been pushing more and more towards an all digital future and that’s destroying the video game industry.

[@Nah_no_thanks]

That's a part of it. But an all digital future isn't destroying games. It's business practices, buyouts of publishers and developers, waning interest with increased cost to generate assets or even license middleware and tech, contractors and the meat grinder of modern high fidelity graphics. Saying an all digital future is what's destroying games is really oversimplification of a much deeper issue.

[@dreadpirates_]

Too many big companies trying to force the consumer in ways they don't want. I'm looking forward to this reckoning.

[@homeboymcjewerson456]

Let's party🎉

[@ianvanwyk3707]

Ubisoft is not indicative of a crash, but an example of what happens when you ignore what your customers want. If only this would serve as a wake up call to others, but alas.... And with regard to the cost of gaming. Easy - cut the salaries of the CEO and top execs . How many talented devs could not have been employed with Bobby Kotticks golden parachute? That is just one example, but a symptom of the overall disease that is infecting modern gaming - corporate greed.

[@Planag7]

And much like Activision it’s funny how GAMERS completely underplay and ignore the whole sexual assaults and cover up from the executive class Hmmmm

[@inspica380]

​@@Planag7 You're mad at people who play videogames for the assaults made by the executives/management in videogame companies? Your train of thought is messed up... So, the only thing I can think of is that you expect people to stop buying and playing the games made by the companies who have executives/management that had sexually assaulted people. First off, most people don't follow videogame news and have no idea. Secondly, if people stopped buying games from those companies, it will be the people who were assaulted and the lower level employees who will suffer, not the management and executives who did/covered up the assaults. Be mad at the people who did it and covered it up... not the parents and children and people who just want to play a game. Hmmmmmm

[@bachilles3285]

And that goes for companies in general, as well, like how David Zaslav sank the WB through the merger with Discovery (even moreso than they've already been sinking themselves by being a Hollywood studio, but still), or how SONY got their hands on FUNimation in 2017 and started vandalizing scripts they got for various anime dubs they were in the process of recording.

[@johntuel2375]

Corporate mentality only destroys everything good.

[@trentsworld7745]

I’m surprised Ubisoft hadn’t struggled years ago. Are people finally realizing that you don’t have to keep buying bad games?

[@ScatterbrainPete]

Jay Sherman, the Critic: If the game stinks, just don't buy.

[@ChrimsonFoxdon]

I feel like this is stemming from the current state of the economy atm. Things are expensive, and a lot of people just don't have the money to pay for a $60 game, much less the $70+ that they're trying to push as the new norm.

[@TheAshdan81]

True. You become very selective of the games you buy because of the lack of funds

[@andyackerman7123]

Adjusting, for inflation, video games cost more in the 90s. On average, a 90s video game would have cost $80-90 in today’s prices.

[@baltogames1501]

@@andyackerman7123 But the other costs of living in the '90s weren't as high as they are now. I remember gas being 99 cents a gallon in the '90s, and that isn't the only cost that has skyrocketed. Everytihing is piling up and a luxury like gaming is not a necessity, so people are prioritizing their spending and scrutinizing the value of their indugences.

[@Jppen]

@@baltogames1501$1 in the 90s is between $2 and $2.50 today, which isn’t that different. Assuming you aren’t driving a massive SUV or pickup truck, you’d still be paying less for gas today relatively.

[@mdstevens0612]

​@@andyackerman7123Minimum wage has stagnated while cost of living has skyrocketed. Spending $60 now when your income is comparable but your buying power has drastically decreased means games costing what they should would price out a massive portion of the market. Also, AAA games do cost $80 to $90 now, they just disguise it as deluxe editions, a thing relatively unheard of in the 90s. I've literally seen $60 games with a $40 season pass. Unless you're buying on sale, you're getting rinsed, and 2017's games play just as good today while costing dramatically less.

[@barebarekun161]

Americans and their video game crash amused me every time I think about it. The video game crash of 1983 was a phenomenon that only affects American video game market. In Japan, it's business as usual with the arrival of Nintendo Family Computer (Famicom) the same year of the so called "Video Game Crash" SEGA also releasing their first console, the SG-1000 on 15 July 1983. NES was basically a remodeled Famicom system with detachable controller ports and comes to US as red samurai in shining armor to teach them Americans how to video gaming again in 1985. It's embarrassing that after over 40 years the Japanese Koreans and now Chinese would be the ones to do all the heavy lifting again as the western devs and publishers are just putting their priorities in all the wrong places, too much trend chasers and risk aversive.

[@McCaroni_Sup]

You say that, but the Japanese are falling to the illness of the West in some ways as well. Just look at DQIII remake. Japanese people should remain Japanese, not subscribe to Western nonsense. I'd say the Koreans are on a roll right now except with Shift Up censoring Stellar Blade. Nexon and Blue Archive are based as hell though; so based in fact that it took down the GRAC lol.

[@ebrim5013]

Well, the Chinese are just stealing/pirating everything the Koreans and Japanese are trying to keep quality.

[@devilselbow]

Then GTA 6 comes out and the entire world forgets about Japanese video games. It's embarrassing that you're making this some jingoist America VS Japan nonsense. Lots of slop from asian countries too, don't kid yourself.

[@FreakGeSt]

@@devilselbow Lol, the murrican defender, go play you crappy GTA online.

[@Reddeth6332]

Idk why you're getting made for the dude talking about the 83 video game crash. it was brought up in the video with an American perspective and they are adding to it in the comments. if you want to talk about the current state of gaming then we can and Id argue that Japan is already making moves to turn things around, while the west will let things get worse. Yeah we have GTA6, but GTA6 isnt going to fix the entire issues we see in the industry. In fact with the comments made by the higher ups the game will probably do some things that will piss people off.

[@kahp1072]

Eh, the western side of the gaming industry is burning, especially because it's filled with devs that make games for themselves, not the audience. Meanwhile,the Asian market is booming.

[@Trujones]

Asian market is kinda scummy 😂 they got a few booms but asia market is king of gacha, don't forget that. Retro gaming is becoming more of a thing because of this. Emulator market is going wild.

[@clippygoat]

And you have the likes of Square Enix disappointing the Asian market for catering the western side 😂

[@hypebrain4150]

Things are looking good at other European studios than Ubisoft, Larian, remedy, guerrila, and more are doing well and have had recent hits

[@jefurihartono1630]

It is not like west is not filled with lootbox lol. ​@@Trujones

[@KingKikikoi]

@@Trujones well when you realise micro transactions is what pays devs bills no wonder gaming booms in Asia

[@AnimeGamerCorner]

That's why the retro game prices are increasing overnight

[@CD-vb9fi]

This is why I use emulators and support Preservation. Businesses will buy/sell/trade IP like candy. They will also corrupt, sabotage, gatekeep IP that should be in the public domain.

[@AnimeGamerCorner]

@CD-vb9fi also retro gaming doesn't require dlc patches or even season passes....and the best part the fun factor was the main selling point not graphics or half baked games unless you buy the dlc or season pass

[@blue-vo1sb]

Ps3/360 was the last gen game 🎮 was fun.started out with good graphics an fun games but the downfall for couch coop..

[@CD-vb9fi]

@@AnimeGamerCorner Yep, and these are not the only reasons for them either. Mods, Upscalers, performance boosts, added features, and even "fixes" for bugs in some cases for broken games. And especially "translations" for games many would never be able to enjoy otherwise. I would also like to expand on your DLC by also saying Preservation allows people to retroactively play the versions that they enjoy the most too, especially when things have been coded out due to re-balancing issues. This is a big deal for speed-runners for example where skills people have developed for their speed runs are rendered moot because a dev "fixed" the "exploit".

[@AnimeGamerCorner]

@blue-vo1sb I agree 100%.....if they really wanna remaster games they should do ps2/gamecube era games like sly/jak/ratchet/syphon filter/nfs underground/eternal darkness/ nfl blitz/ true crimes new York or streets of la etc so many games that could remaster to bring to a new audience

[@MichaelSuperbacker]

Crash? As in people ran out of ideas??? 💡 😮

[@TonyDanzaDancingExtravaganza]

If I could like this 50 more times I would lol

[@andrew8168]

the people with ideas got me too'd or quit and they hired cabbages

[@Level_Eleven]

@@andrew8168 THIS!!!

[@Legendalvin]

After NFT , live service, all digital, soon they will come up with new ideas to trick customers

[@jimmyju76]

been saying this for years, if you think about it if a company couldn't make the game they wanted for X gen because technology wasn't there they'd make it or sequel in Y, but you're not looking at sequels or much on original, jyst tons of remakes

[@linkzz00]

Only Nintendo has been keeping budgets and costs in check - a very wise company.

[@juancarlosalonso5664]

Wise? Have you seen what they’re doing with their lawsuits? If they succeed gaming is just as screwed.

[@linkzz00]

@@juancarlosalonso5664 I don’t really see why it matters. There will always be a preservation scene, be it underground or above, and always be methods to play games on other platforms. If you are legit it doesn’t matter. If you aren’t legit it still doesn’t matter. The only thing their lawsuits force is people to dev something possibly to completion then shadow drop it. Those who know will know who made it. As for lawsuits against Palworld - they must have some concrete reason for the suit; be it the recent poke ball thing or previous model structures - who knows. I just meant they are always wise when it comes to making money on hardware and software.

[@cire420siuol]

@@linkzz00 Pretty sure the point was that Nintendo shouldn't be able to sue over game mechanics at all (and no company should) because it stifles innovation... So if the reason turns out to be that poke-ball thing (throwing a ball in a field to catch a creature), it shouldn't be allowed to be patented in the first place, let alone should they be allowed to sue over it (especially since PocketPair did it first in a previous game)... If it is somehow about the actual character designs, though, that's a different story entirely and I don't think many people would disagree that Nintendo has the right to sue there... However, their lawsuit seems to be strictly on patent infringement... Basically, you shouldn't be able to patent game mechanics... And especially when you're not even the company that created them in the first place (yeah, Pokemon had creature catching in balls first, but not by having a 3D avatar throwing the ball in a 3D open world environment, which is what their patent is for)... If they win (and that patent is even part of their victory), that sets a really bad precedent for the future... I don't personally think it'd destroy/"screw" gaming, but you never really know... But yeah, they are very good with their money...lol

[@TayoEXE]

​@juancarlosalonso5664 OP didn't comment on anything like that. They've been wise in the sense that they've stayed well afloat as a company and are now entering their next generation console on the heels of one of their most popular and highly sold consoles of all time while many companies are syncing. Nintendo was recently named the richest company in Japan, period. Not just gaming company, company, period. No debt. 17.19 trillion yen as of February. It also has the highest market cap, which means investors feel the most confidence with Nintendo when it comes to stability, something very much lacking throughout the rest of the market other than Sony, Tencent, etc. Like or hate what they do with legal matters, they've very obviously been wise with their money and not overspending or making too many pointless games. If development is long like TotK, at least it's a game that is actually fun and sells well with wide appeal on an existing popular franchise. Not all games sell well, but Nintendo has the confidence of the industry to produce good products as they always do their own thing and it more often than not works quite well even business-wise.

[@Yinzermakesvids]

A crash is needed to put us back on course.

[@__BlacklotuS__]

Ubisoft; you don't really own your games You're right, nobody owns your games

[@IEgOImkAwx]

The industry needs to recede in my opinion. It grew so exponentially fast that they began putting people in charge that literally don't even know what a good end product looks like anymore, 95% of these execs are purely business trained. It's a recipe for disaster when the end product is paramount to the success of the company.

[@MrMac1138]

The one that will survive is Nintendo. They do not invest like others and focus more on gameplay and players enjoying the games.

[@SAVANTI711]

No.. Nintendo are just as bad. They hate their own community and game preservation.

[@metalmanexetreme]

You haven’t been keeping up on Nintendo, their diggin their ditch too

[@McCaroni_Sup]

@@metalmanexetreme You can argue that they dug their ditch with the WiiU but they came back. I think Nintendo comes back one way or the other. On the other hand, it's entirely possible the to other big two could go the way of Sega, which is especially concerning given their shift to the software rather than the hardware side since both PS and Xbox are publishing on PC now.

[@metalmanexetreme]

@@McCaroni_Sup no I’m not talking Wii U, I’m talking the hate they are developing from going after emulation, video game KZbinrs, and palworld, they are building bad karma with gamers who are actually paying attention, and that will bite them on the ass, they may crawl out of this by skin of their teeth due to their fanatics, but anyone that’s actually paying attention is seeing how vile and anti-consumer they have become, which is gonna hit their bottom line, and unlike Sony (maker of TVs, phones, ect) and Microsoft (windows OS and AI), they don’t have any other ventures to make up for the loss of revenue if they cause those who supported them to abandon ship, we will see though, the next five years will determine who ont he board knocks over their piece.

[@that80ssongyoulove84]

@@metalmanexetremenah, it will blow over. Most Nintendo fans don’t really care. Only people that already don’t like Nintendo are really concerned about it.

[@tgrujic1965]

This is why I kept all my retro consoles (gamecube/Wii, dreamcast, ps2-4....etc) AND games:) I am SUPER disappointed in modern gaming from the massive day one patches to numerous bugs to the always online &/or live service push. My backlog of older games is massive so I'm good.

[@TheViralKontent]

With games pushing agenda, telling public they don't own the games and being released in unfinished state! what else did they expect? I dont recall any recent Ubisoft game in last 5 years that was actually playable at launch.

[@ParadoxalDream]

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown and the Mario+Rabbids games were perfectly playable at launch.

[@HernasRoom]

​@@ParadoxalDream And neither of those are AAA releases. What an absolutely mind-blowing surprise!

[@ronniefazzio6979]

Prince of Persia the Lost Crown was an excellent game and it didn’t have photo realistic graphics. It represented the direction that Ubisoft could’ve gone but unfortunately it wasn’t supported. It will definitely be a hidden gem.

[@silvania1989]

Many people were salty because their beloved Sands of time was still a no show. Also Sargon’s design didn’t sit well with many either. I personally loved the game.

[@ronniefazzio6979]

@@silvania1989 I personally loved the game too. Sargon’s design while different never really bothered me. POP protagonist have had many different designs over the years. At the end of the day though the gameplay is fantastic and fluid.

[@Official_RetroMania]

I think we are already in one and that's great. We are desperate for one because the last crash fixed the industry and so will this one.

[@boscotheman82]

No it won't

[@ihavenoclue9756]

If it fixed it, why is it happening again?

[@blue-vo1sb]

Maybe they forgot there way on the way lol.​@ihavenoclue9756

[@KingofDMC19]

​@@ihavenoclue9756cause history repeats itself.

[@Official_RetroMania]

@@ihavenoclue9756 History repeats itself. A crash will fix things but this doesn't mean it won't happen again, because we humans love to repeat our mistakes over and over again.

[@Its_dr.proctor]

DRM, always online, incomplete games, free to play, micro transactions, DEI. I’m glad western developers are having a rough go of it. The industry needs to get fixed and get a bunch of the suits out of it

[@Jacketz123]

This is what happens when art is treated like a business. Too much decision making from the suits at the top who guaranteed don’t play video games. Let the people make what they want to make.

[@lowtech42]

Every AAA game is Shenmue now EDIT: For clarity, I meant in terms of ambitions and business-wise, not necessarily gameplay

[@zangoon4546]

This makes so much sense without saying much

[@croncorcen]

i played Shenmue 1+2 but i don't understand. can you explain?

[@dan-crum]

I wish

[@NeedInkRibbons]

Shenmue had a tight, compact and detailed world that was finely crafted with complexities alongside interaction and depth...which sounds like the opposite of every AAA game nowadays. Odd comment.

[@techno_otaku]

At least Shenmue had great ambience and characters you can care about rather than they existed as boxes to chekmark on a list

[@julieb3240]

The price of games, the many different versions, many of which are gutted, early access, season passes, dlc, mtx. The fact that quality is sub par, buggy, and the games just aren't as fun and inspired anymore. Ubisoft being one of the worst in all of these regards. I don't know if it's representative of the bigger picture, but I wouldn't be too surprised if consumer's are ready to push back, in a world that made sense. We are not living in that world, so the industry at large is probably fine.

[@Accidents41]

This generation *IS* the crash man. Indie developers are the ONLY ones keeping new games alive while AAA shits the bed 75% of the time with bad games and bad hardware. I honestly feel bad for PS5 owners because there is still very little value in their console and it’s worse on the Pro.

[@MrJesseray06]

Don't blame the industry, blame us the gamers. We continue to buy COD even though there's been no innovation for years, and when they brought 3rd person back last year hardly anyone tried it. We continue to buy skins for 1st person games, we continue to buy side scrolling 2 bit games on the PS5, and continue to buy remasters, and directors cuts. Are ya loving having no access to an EA game without an account even though were all paying for internet access through Xbox and PSplus. How about instead of a Spinter cell or MGS remake we get a new IP or a new story from those IPs. We've done this to ourselves.

[@EldritchErik94]

While gamers are part of the problem, the bigger problem really is the industry and its practices.

[@McCaroni_Sup]

@@EldritchErik94 Which the normies support. It's really not that hard to stop buying games.

[@Manic_Panic]

FIFA, Madden, NBA and CoD - the 4 horsemen of the gaming apocalypse. I swear most people who play games just play them exactly because of these 4 along with a few F2P games like Fortnite.

[@StigmataTickles]

AAA games haven't been worth a damn in years. A AAA game crash really just means big game companies realize they can't make money shoving out expensive slop. Indie development will always ensure that games as a form of media is always evolving and progressing.

[@BuildLancer]

Every company keeps trying to make these 50-100 hour games with ultra realistic gralhics and instead give us games with unnecessary padding to drag out what shluld be a 20 hour game into a 80 hour experience, then they through in reskinned copies of side quests, force a grind for no reason, and sell us day 1 DLC. The AAA game industry is crashing, the indie game industry is flourishing because they deliver afforadable quality games that dont drag it out.

[@LG555]

Remember, when those studios were able to make smaller games for something like the DS. Meanwhile, studios have already a problem making games work on the Series S. That is just insane.

[@twobrotherscycleanda]

One of the issues in gaming is this open world fiasco. It used to be a genre, now every game is open world, and this caused development cost to skyrocket.

[@shmackatrotsky5394]

yup, great point--this is a massive issue. linear games can still be fun, if done well, and "open zone" games can still have a good amount of exploration, without having to be fully open world. just focus on solid gameplay and story/characters, and people will be satisfied.

[@thegameplayer125]

well i think it's more of a aaa crash than the video game industry as a whole crashing

[@cloudtune.]

Just like in the 80s, Nintendo's about to save the gaming crash with the Switch 2

[@christopherboye5498]

They have problems of their own and they can't save the rising development cost and lenghty game development issue.

[@figuredrawing4912]

Nintendo says, "Hold my Sake "

[@jimcarrey2866]

Ubisoft games have always been buggy/glitchy starting during the ps3/360 era. They have absolutely been over monetized and formulaic during the ps4/xbone era. But something changed in the past 4 to 6 years and we can't even address it

[@KevinTheSpeedster5000]

Switch 2 needs to save the day

[@mrconroy4672]

It’s most likely going to.

[@MichaelSuperbacker]

Handheld console is so 1989(GameBoy)

[@alandiegovillalobos]

The one that will surpass all the prophecys.

[@burnsy96]

You're the reason Nintendo says stick drift is not an issue

[@alottahealthgames]

Switch 2 will save the day.

[@Hobnobrob10]

A lot of these companies forgot the most important aspect of running a successful business: the customer

[@tdotran]

Nintendo is on its way to save gaming…again.

[@strahm998]

They're the kings for a reason!

[@date5960]

​@@strahm998 King of lawsuit

[@bert949]

They'll sue anyone they deem a threat. They'll be the last ones standing because the rest of gaming companies will either ruin themselves, or nintendo will ruin them.

[@pakaman9101]

@@date5960honestly starting to think their lawsuits are a good thing. That’s what keeps the originality and uniqueness in this industry

[@matthewlongo6404]

Meh, they suck just as much these days. From Software is the king of gaming.

[@GMThEMaN]

Imo, we are witnessing the symptoms of the AAA gaming crash, and that crash will happen when the next generation of PlayStation and Xbox consoles begin. I bet everything that is happening right now, that is making the current generation feel dissapointing to many people: cross-gen releases, remakes, remasters, less new games, games taking longer to release, layoffs, studios shutdowns, etc; all of that will continue to happen in the next generation, but more amplified.

[@samwalsh8299]

Even if there is a huge AAA gaming crash, AA games and first party AAA Sony/Nintendo games will fill the void to satisfy the market demand. I think this will also benefit the consumer; most of these huge AAA games are often less fun and interesting than smaller games.

[@GMThEMaN]

@@samwalsh8299 The thing is, I think PlayStation will kickstart the gaming crash that is about to happen.

[@AlexP-dz7ew]

@@samwalsh8299 yeah. Sony will save us with allllll the original first party games they’ve been putting out lately They sell more remakes/remasters and consoles revisions than they do good games this generation. They’re creatively bankrupt rn just like everyone else

[@mrpyrostorm3165]

If this is what it takes for the industry to learn its lesson, then let Ubisoft fall. This is decades of taking the audience for granted and milking them dry. They grew fat and lazy on micro transactions, day 1 DLC, and early access. While other entertainment options came along and took them by surprise. And dont forget how they protected their higher ups when they did Blizzard like things. So ya know, happy to see them fail.

[@jimc.3563]

You’re going to see how healthy the console market is when Switch 2 gets released.

[@allenfrisch]

Everybody assumes market crashes are a purely bad thing, but the truth is they are necessary on occasion. The current video game market is due for a major reset. After the 1983 crash Nintendo revived the industry with a much healthier business model. The time has come for the same sort of transformation to happen. Too much money is being spent to create too many subpar AAA games over too much time!

[@andresdr]

History has a funny way of repeating itself.

[@LG555]

It's like poetry, it rhymes.

[@markhavick7115]

77777777 What does a 9foot dude with a big a** mace indiscriminately merking crowds of ninjas and s*** in broad daylight have to do with assassins?

[@SparcImagination]

Focusing only on PROFIT instead of PASSION makes you loose money. The problem is not the Devs but the Suits and their shareholder parties.

[@JarlBarbossa]

They've been focusing on passion. They're passionate about antieuropeanism and homosexuality.

[@Dandoskyballer]

The suits want $. The Devs want to push "the message."

[@jakob87]

I couldn’t be more happier that Ubisoft might go under. With them only focusing on live service, not putting their games on physical discs, and the majority of their games not having passion in them whatsoever makes it seem like they wanted to tank the company.

[@SGman3000]

It's going to be hard for a turnaround. Ubisoft just have such a stigma around them and they've become notorious for a reason. The biggest thing killing them now I feel is most people realize they're shovelware gets put on sale pretty quickly nowadays, and THAT is the standard price most people know a Ubislop game actually is worth.

[@Klatubarada1979]

When you make games for the 0.1% and ignore the 99.9%, crap is gonna hit the fan.

[@Lunkjohnson]

Nintendo is killing it rn. Nintendo will have a good Christmas, and not so much for Xbox or Sony. Nintendo is prolly going to knock ps2 record down a notch this christmas.

[@penguinguy2167]

Until Sony inevitably pulls an extra few million PS2s out of the back again to keep the spot.

[@joaoffmoraes]

Can't come soon enough. The market needs to stop inflating the cost of games with stupid an unnecessary bloat and focus on making good games for that specific genre and not self-serving gamer-hating crap.

[@mrconroy4672]

Honestly, I can definitely see Nintendo surviving long term beyond any issues other parts of the gaming industry. They need to succeed with their next gen console.

[@kuroxiii9481]

I forget where but somebody did the math and post switch they'd I think it was 6 wii u level flops before they start to sweat. Nintendo's not going anywhere

[@christopherboye5498]

They have issues too. So many remakes/remasters on the Switch. It's exclusive library pales compared to even the Gamecube.

[@mrconroy4672]

@@christopherboye5498 The only reason why it came up like that was because the Wii U was a failure that didn’t bring it like the Wii did. Also, it allows people to play on the go.

[@oblivieon1567]

Here's a hot take. Maybe companies should try releasing products gamers want and stop injecting their DEI agenda into everything. How about stop trying to rip off gamers while your at it? There are far too many generations of games that gamers can fall back to if the industry insists on continuing to release garbage.

[@Afr0Punk]

A big publisher failing isn't anything new (see Atari, Midway and THQ) and is hardly indictive of a videogame crash.

[@Banzors]

The environment is totally different from the 80s, and the way you define a video game crash has to change as well. Big publishers may have issues, but the indie/smaller publisher scene has continued to flourish over and over again.

[@featjie]

So he’s not gonna talk about Square Enix disaster with Dragon Quest that got “deleted” recently?

[@Noname15514]

Are you talking about the creator of Dragon Quest criticizing the w0ke DEI for censoring Dragon Quest III?

[@yepievelux5295]

He probably doesn’t like to talk about those topics about character designs/etc if you look at his own videos

[@tokirabbit]

he doesn’t like to talk about censorship in videogames even if gaming devs talks about it unfortunately. i dont even remember him talking about dustborn. maybe he doesn’t care that much about those discussions

[@ElJosher]

His channel doesn’t delve in super controversial topics, and that is fine. His channel ain’t political. There are plenty of channels that deal with that.

[@EthnicWeeb]

He'll ignore it because he's a coward, and his podcast friends will call gamers 'chuds' and agree with the censorship.

[@ATAGChozo]

Ubisoft definitely has an image problem. Getting a full star wars open world game sounded awesome at first, but ubisoft's name being attached made it feel more like a monkey's paw. Their open world formula was cool back in 2012, but I'm just kinda sick of playing the same damn game over and over again. They need to innovate, not stagnate, to survive.

[@joeherrera8826]

Of course gamers are asking for good graphics but not to the point I think were its realistic. They have to cut the budget in developing these titles.

[@SnakeX2X]

All this is Ubisoft fault, treating gamers like stupid and spitting on our faces. Gamers should feel comfortable with not owning their games ah? Look I feel bad for all the employees who lose their jobs over this situation, I hope they find something way better than Ubisoft, but Ubisoft deserves this.

[@chorinasadun]

AAA devs and massive publishers are having trouble, but if you look at Indie games this year you have several million-copy sellers done by teams of less then 20 people, so the consumer spending is still aimed at video games as an industry, it's just not available for companies who are trying to compete with Fortnite

[@Drstrange3000]

Hmm... I keep seeing this with Ubisoft but when they do release different kinds of games, no one buys them. Both Mario and Rabbids Sparks of Hope and Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown didn't sell as well despite both being very well-made games that break out of the formula. I honestly hope more people play Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown because it is such a great Metroidvania with really fun and varied combat with enough content and platforming.

[@Bob69303]

​@@Drstrange3000 I loved the first Mario Rabbits Kingdom Battle, I didn't buy the second one because I was tired of the switch performance. If I get the switch 2 I'll definitely buy it.

[@Drstrange3000]

@@Bob69303 That is definitely a good reason to hold off. It looks great but the performance definitely isn't the best.

[@eb564]

Blaming people for not liking their games is probably the worst thing you could do to try and sell a game. This goes with all products and services. If it sucks, it sucks. Plain and simple

[@sagepirotess6312]

Ubisoft has 1 ace card and it's not games. Remember when Microsoft got Activision, they had to sell streaming rights to ubisoft. That has much potential.

[@DubsBrown]

True. They also technically have their own launcher so in the future if app stores have to demonopolize they could get more competitive

[@anthonyd4309]

Except that gamers at large don't want to stream games. They want to own them.

[@SomeCanine]

It's my opinion that we've been in a video game recession for about a decade. We might be witnessing a full on crash now though. Just about every AAA game that comes out now is failing and getting reviewed down hard.

[@blizmo2]

Ubisoft's problem is they keep making games that aren't good. They keep making basically the same game over & over & over Ubisoft formula is tired & played out

[@quentinb734]

This I don’t understand ppl defending them we want good quality games

[@Drstrange3000]

When they made Mario and Rabbids Sparks of Hope and Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, no one bought them despite them being quality games that break out of the usual Ubisoft formula.

[@blizmo2]

@@Drstrange3000 Lost Crown definitely should have done better & Sparks of Hope is a very niche title

[@dan-crum]

Yeah except Outlaws was a good game and people just wrote it off before it even dropped.

[@Drstrange3000]

@@blizmo2 That's fair. I do wish Ubisoft did break out of their formula more for sure. They haven't changed much since Far Cry 3.

[@LeftEarth2]

As a Retro Gamer, I stopped buying new consoles long ago. My last 2 console purchases were the PS3 and PS Vita. I broke the streak yesterday and purchased a R36S handheld from AliExpress. 😅

[@elmasheavy89]

Digital games only lead gamers to unfinished games and even removal from your game libraries all together.

[@PeterSkaOi]

Mostly on Console a Problem

[@DeadPhoenix86DP]

Buying Digital is basically burning all your money away. They've made it clear, that we don't buy, but rent our games.

[@SheepAmongG.O.A.T]

Love it when people equate a 'video game' crash to the bad games based off activism, lack of management and lack of creativity. It's like attention is being diverted.

[@codexpopzx2860]

Is it a crash if it’s only in the western market

[@ericp631]

While the AAA business is crashing, the AA and indie scene keeps going. They could easily just spend less on the games/budget for realistic sales targets instead of making games and expecting everything they put out will get 20+ million in sales and each of those people paying for all the micro transactions. Problem solved, you are now turning a profit again and the games are meeting sales expectations. Start making games that they themselves would enjoy playing and not just something that checks off market researched boxes If Ubisoft doesn't want to go under they should simply look to the past and see what made them popular in the first place, rayman, splinter cell, beyond good and evil and the soulfulness and creativity games/series like those had.

[@Planag7]

There are no AA nonsense that’s something people convince themselves is real Which like Hollywood there was a time where nothing had to be 100 or 200 million but they were like $20 million little guys that would make 100 million there were the occasional crazy little independent $1 million movies that made $50 million Not everything has to be expensive experiment. I can’t remember which remake Nintendo did, but there was one that I think only cost a few million but ended up making enough sales where it was completely justifiable but if you see the numbers, most people would freak out because it’s not 1,000,000+ sales. But different budgets demand different returns

[@tazgamerplays]

Take out quality, put in dei, attack the fans, and raise the price of games during a terrible economy. Somehow they are still surprised when their games games don't sell well enough.

[@markvicferrer]

Concord is the new E.T. It makes no sense to buy Ubisoft games at launch as they drop the prices so soon afterwards, devaluing their games & hurting profits. Nintendo rarely drops prices, which implies a certain level of value.

[@AnimalTruk]

“Nintendo Switch 2 saved the video game crash of 2025”

[@RRW276]

It’s not just video games, but also movies, TV shows, and even books. They’ve just strayed away from what worked and are doing things that just make you wonder what they’re thinking. And then people don’t buy it because it’s a waste. As far as video games, are we in a crash? Could very well be. And it might be a good thing if it shakes the industry up enough to go back to what worked - quality over quantity and leaving out the pandering, among many other elements of course.

[@isayzhitl]

I haven't bought allen wake 2 yet because its currently digital only however i will finally buy it when the physical edition comes out. I refuse to buy anything digitally.

[@Meinnameful]

It is too late for me. Was interested in this Game but there was no physical release. I don't care anymore for this game.

[@naytron210]

This is not a gaming crash, this is gamers saying no to terrible games that only exist to milk wallets. When game publishers decide to care more about making excellent products again and less about maximum monetization, things will get better again. The companies that tow that line will be the next major players in the industry, once all the live service greed hogs pass away.

[@__drew9576]

One company making a series of mistakes so there for the video game industry is crashing is an insane line on reasoning.

[@IAmNotASandwich453]

Yea but we need the clickbait bro

[@Howwy191]

Thats exactly how the first one happened, one company (atari) threw quality out the window and the whole market crashed.

[@psylencecy]

problem is, its not just any one company. but probably one of the oldest and biggest ones. plus, is it not true that games cost more to make nowadays, take longer to develop and they generally sell fewer copies?

[@suroguner]

Ubisoft is 1 company Squarenix is 1 company Sony is 1 company Microsoft is 1 company

[@anthonyd4309]

It's not one company. Most of the major publishers are pushing anti-consumer things that many gamers lament - microtransactions, season passes, emphasis on PVP over single player experiences, releasing bug-ridden games at launch, over-charging for sub-par experiences, etc. In fact, notwithstanding all the other frustrations and controversies around Nintendo and their litigious behaviors, they seem to be one of the last major publishers to largely avoid these mechanics and consistently push quality game experiences. The business side of the industry for the most recognizable publishers and studios has been absolutely brutal in 2024, if you've been paying any attention.

[@thisisnotreallife20]

There's no way that even half of Ubisoft's 19k staff is worth keeping. They are def bloated with ppl that probably don't contribute much of anything and are not that talented. Their output and quality does not make sense with having that many employees. I wouldn't feel sorry for any of them, because they probably were just coasting for a paycheck.

[@MrEvev1872000]

If there is a crash, Sony will feel it first. Games are not selling on PS5

[@Patrick-f1o]

Microsoft is losing the console wars (and relevance), Nintendo got lazy and stopped innovating, and every time Sony has a win they have an equal loss.

[@yepievelux5295]

Gaming disasters is happening on everything. From translations to remaster/remakes where they changes designs with no reason and less gore to everything else. Also remasters that doesn’t need it like Until Dawn and Horizon. Even if the eastern gaming market is better there will be people who works there that will destroys it. That Katrina for example

[@DavidFGM]

What’s going to happen is that companies will start rethinking how they spend their money. Indie games are amazing-cheaper to produce, and in many cases, extremely profitable. A lot of things that balloon video game costs, like hiring celebrity voice actors, excessive marketing budgets, and over-the-top cinematics, are things most players don’t even care about. By focusing on creativity and gameplay, indies can deliver quality experiences at a fraction of the cost, and that’s why they’re thriving.

[@coreyatherley8903]

There’s no crash, there’s just a shift in power.

[@patrickmurphy9470]

We blame these studios but we did it to ourselves. For the longest time we’ve fed into buying games digitally more than physically and micro transactions have been the norm and we accepted it until recently. People are waking up. Now gamers realize they don’t own digital content and their content can disappear or be taken away at anytime. Games are being released incomplete and DEI is being shoved in our faces. Gamers are voting with their wallet now.

[@SUPERVEGETTO92]

RGT level clickbait.

[@pieroluciano3272]

As an end user, I'm not buying any games that have stupid micro transactions and usage rights that have an expiry date like what they have for GT7, nope!

[@Shablagoooo]

Ubislop needs to go the way of the dodo. Absolutely soul-less evil company.

[@blockyoxwinkle5829]

We're at a point where games cost so much for next to no impact. Who cares what the next Ubisoft game is? If you're not already bought into that formula, you don't care. They don't make new fans, and the ones they have are growing apathetic. And this is the big problem I see. Apathy. Junk food sells. But there's a ceiling for how much it sells. Budgets are ballooning but the audience is not growing. Even Call of Duty will hit a breaking point if the budgets continue to grow with no notable benefit to the customer. And that's not even mentioning how the executives continue to make more year after year. The industry is busted.

[@asdfxcvbn746]

AAA might be crashing, but indies & the rest of the gaming industry is doing just fine. Black Myth sold what? 10 million? people say they don't want DEI garbage in their games, what do we get from AAA? Suicide Squad, Concord, Redfall, etc. & those games keep NOT selling. games will keep getting played, just not AAA slop like Outlaws. it is what it is.

[@ChiruKobra]

Like how the 80's crash only really affected North America, I believe this crash will only really affect AAA gaming. Indie games will still chug along, providing players willing to engage with great games all through this debacle. Hopefully the AAA gaming industry can see this and reshape themselves to be less self-destructive.

[@LG555]

It will also mostly affect western studios. Most eastern studios, besides Square, are doing just fine.

[@SahilG23]

Subscription services combined with a 70$ tag is deadly for the industry. Ubisoft and square launch generic unpolished games. And these companies throw thier games on subscription so quickly, budget gamers and parents buying for their childs wait for it. Ubisoft and square were top earners till 2020. Valhalla and Ff7 remake is prime example and then the ps plus and 70$ happened. Games are not like movies where subscriptions on netflix doesnt really effect a new movie in theater. As experience is totally different. Theater is a social emersive experience. In gaming industry subscription is direct competition of new releases. Xbox is suffering since gamepass launched and now sony's prime developers ubisoft and square enix is suffering.

[@scoth2455]

Well every UbiSoft game for the past decade plus has been the same soulless open world game with a different coat of paint.

[@DTower1970]

Capitalism.. if potential customers think your product is shite, this is expected..

[@King_Jab]

Feels like you used to get 2 or 3 games from developers per generation, but now its like we get 1 over budget game a remake/remaster.

[@James-fo8rf]

Agendas has taken over from creativity. I believe Ubisoft as AAA(A) developer going bankrupt may be necessary to wake up the other big studios.

[@shanedeanhofmeister-yi1kw]

250-300 Million Console Users, That Is Where the Real Concern Should Be!!!! I Still Can Not Believe That Even After 50 Years Of Consoles Being Released There Is Still ONLY 250-300 Million Console Users....By This Point 50 Years Into Console Usage, WE SHOULD BE AT AT LEAST AT 1 BILLION CONSOLE USERS AS COMPARED TO THE TOTAL TELEVISION USERS BEING USED!!!!! I never understood why there is no advertising campaign being used where anytime a television is sold there should be an Upsale for buying a console along side selling a television like when Sound systems are Upsales to televisions being sold!!!!! I think the video game industry needs to formulate a plan on more households in buying consoles!!!