I regularly watch a YouTube channel named SkillUp and listen to several IGN podcasts for weekly video game and gaming-industry-related news and updates. Almost every week since 2024 started, the weekly shows have contained reports about layoffs throughout the gaming industry. Many were due to bad management or lackluster sales of mediocre and unsuccessful titles. Around 7000 people have already lost their jobs in the first two months of this year alone, following up the more than ten thousand last year. This is compounded by the fact that game development is becoming an ever-growing financial undertaking. From recent leaks and the legal battle between Sony and Microsoft, we know that PlayStation’s last AAA first-party masterpieces have broken through the 200 and 300-million-dollar production cost barrier.

The more I think about it, the more I ask myself whether I should be looking for deals rather than paying full price. Relying solely on discounts is incredibly hypocritical of me as I am predominantly a PC gamer. A PC gamer with a very costly gaming computer, I am sad to admit. And despite having the cash for all that fancy hardware, I constantly look for discounts rather than accepting the full price for a video game. How does that make sense? Isn’t that salt in the wounds of all those talented developers and artists who lost their livelihoods? Am I part of the problem and equally despicable like the handsomely paid CEOs who gamble with the lives of their employees in their relentless chase for a slice of that shiny live-service money? I shudder to think what will happen to Rocksteady after the unfortunate release of Suicide Squad.

I will rethink my approach to game purchases, but I alone will not even make a dent. It’s a conscience thing more than anything. It requires more people to do the same and also changes in the industry. Are development cycles that now span the typical lifetime of a console generation sustainable in the long run? Who, other than full-time game reviewers or streamers, maybe, is supposed to have the time to repeatedly spend 100 hours on every single game because the new norm for AAA releases is to be a gigantic time sink? Why do we need countless hours of filler content? Aren’t shorter, more focused games of 40 hours not more affordable and more uncomplicated to produce? I often feel bad for skipping so much side content because the main story is so engaging or because the side content is not entertaining enough. Sometimes, I want to finish a game because I have already spent so much time in its world that I am ready to move on. That means I skip on content somebody put their sweat and tears into to produce. It feels wrong, yet I want to experience more of the many great titles released yearly, not more of a single one. Maybe it is an attention span issue of mine. I do not know. All I see is budgets skyrocketing and people losing their jobs.

As a passionate gamer and a software developer, I can only hope the gaming industry reaches an equilibrium soon. These massive waves of workforce reductions and studio closures must stop. The industry needs a sustainable approach to high-quality, high-profile cinematic experiences so we can continue playing these incredible stories and even more of them. Studios also need a way to try something new, to take a risk without fear of the loss of everything. I immensely enjoyed Immortals of Aveum, but Ascendant Studios did not ascend far with their first game. If this industry only knows the two extremes of blinding success or heartbreaking disaster, it will become harder and harder for creative minds to take the plunge and dare raise funds to create something new.

Now, these thoughts mainly apply to high-profile releases. However, the concept of paying full price is even more applicable to double-A or indie productions. Smaller studios need all the money they can get without a giant publisher backing the development.

This is a complex topic with many more points I could discuss if I invested more time. Despite that, I said what I thought was necessary, and I will end this post on that note.

I apologize for the downer. These thoughts did not let me go.

Thank you for reading this sad gamer’s tale.

PS

The header image was created by Microsoft’s Copilot with a minor edit job from me using the following input:

“create an image of a video game store with a bargain bin full of discounted video games next to a stand of triple-a full price titles”