Is The Video Game Industry Headed For A Crash?

You don’t have to be a hardcore gamer to know that gaming is at an all-time high. Just look at all the people gaming online right now. Gaming online once was a fad that is now a billion dollar industry. Not only are game developers taking advantage, but gamers are taking advantage of the lucrative market as well. In fact, it has been estimated that consumers will spend more than $137.9 billion on games before the end of the year. Well, what if someone told you that things are far more ominous than what they seem?

Massive Updates

Have you noticed that nowadays when you buy a game it comes attached with some atrocious update? This is especially true when it comes to the big name titles. There was once a time when you could just insert the disc into the console, wait for it to load, and then you were free to play. That is no longer the case. It seems that the big releases will require some day one update to either patch a glitch or stabilize the system. And, these are not little updates either. These are like 40GB updates that take near an hour to download. For most gamers, it seems like gaming has become more of an inconvenience than a novelty.

Increased Prices

Have you looked at the price of a new release video game these days? If you haven’t bought a game in a few years, you are going to be surprised. Games are getting a lot more in-depth and advanced. Some people have tried to blame the increase in prices on the economy, but the truth of the matter is that it is just getting more expensive to produce video games. When technology and gameplay improve so will the cost of production. It simply takes more to build games than what it used to in the past. As the past has shown, technology will only continue to improve so you can only expect the prices to rise in the future.

Lacking In Single Player Mode

If you look at the video game industry, you will easily see that online gaming has done wonders for it. In fact, it is the online gaming aspect that has catapulted the profits in the industry, but this could be the very thing that ruins it. There are no longer gripping storylines. Players no longer bond with the characters. Most of today’s storylines can be completed in a lazy afternoon then you are catapulted into the online world. Most of the storyline just seems like a basic introduction to the online gameplay. It is true that the graphics and the gameplay are much smoother thanks to technology, but this doesn’t not by far make up for the lackluster storylines. Players will eventually grow tired of the online aspect.

Possible Outcome?

Each industry has its struggles, and game development is not an exception. And when there are issues, the industry can attract a lot of people who are willing to change the status quo. These people, or future game developers, might see what is happening now, start with small projects of learning to make games with Unity, then move on to something more challenging and later turn up at the front of the gaming industry. After all, when there are hard times, it's usually a sign for an upcoming change. And even if the video gaming industry crashes for a while, it's probable that game development will make it rise back up again and maybe even higher than before.