Remember when buying a new game felt exciting? When studios actually cared about delivering unforgettable experiences rather than chasing trends? Those days feel further and further away.
It has been years since I last reviewed anything, not because I haven’t been playing games, but because I never thought about doing one. However, given the way the industry has been heading, I felt it was time to speak up.
I’ll be sharing my thoughts on games I am playing, have played, or will play. But for now, this post is going to be a rant, because there’s a lot to unpack, and each topic could easily warrant its own discussion.
Gaming’s Decline: Where Did It Go Wrong?
The gaming industry is in massive decline, and there are several reasons for it:
- Inflated budgets – Games now demand massive financial investments, with productions sometimes exceeding blockbuster movie budgets. Grand Theft Auto VI, for instance, is rumored to have cost over $1 billion to develop.
- Corporate greed – Many studios prioritize profit over player experience. Nintendo has increased game and console prices for the upcoming Switch 2, further pushing its premium pricing strategy. Meanwhile, companies like EA and Ubisoft aggressively push microtransactions into their games, turning titles like FIFA (now EA Sports FC) and Madden into pay-to-win experiences.
- Mass layoffs – 2024 and 2025 have seen thousands of job losses across the industry, with major companies like Epic Games, Microsoft (Activision Blizzard), and EA cutting huge portions of their workforce.
- Oversaturated markets – The sheer number of games being released, especially low-effort live service titles, makes it harder for quality projects to shine.
- Live service failures – The industry has chased live-service games aggressively, but many have flopped. Look at Concord, another live-service shooter struggling to differentiate itself in an overcrowded market. Ubisoft’s XDefiant, another multiplayer attempt, has also faced hurdles in gaining traction.
But in my eyes, the biggest issue is that developers are failing to give players what they truly want, a good game.
Gaming is meant to be an escape from reality. When we boot up a game, we want to enjoy ourselves, whether that’s through epic stories, lovable characters, stunning environments (not just graphical fidelity), or engaging gameplay that keeps us coming back.
Yet, for some reason, many companies, particularly AAA studios, struggle to deliver this. While we largely understand why it’s happening, this post isn’t about discussing the politics behind it.
AAA vs. Smaller Studios: The Shift in Power
Recently, a friend and I discussed the last new release we bought on launch day. My last buy was Baldur’s Gate 3, a game that quickly became one of my all-time favorites. I’ve poured almost 200 hours into it, which is rare for a game these days. Before BG3, I can’t even remember the last game I paid for on release.
More often than not, I find myself playing through my backlog instead of purchasing anything new. Honestly, if I didn’t have Game Pass, I wouldn’t be playing new games at all until their prices dropped.
This trend highlights a major industry shift, non-AAA studios understand gamers better than the big corporations.
Many smaller teams are moving away from the outdated “what companies think we want” approach, instead focusing on what developers themselves know we want. When a game is made by gamers for gamers, the passion behind it is clear.
For example:
- Indie Success Stories – Games like Hollow Knight, Hades, and Dave the Diver have delivered incredible experiences despite smaller budgets.
- AA Games Thriving – Titles like Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice and Lies of P prove that mid-tier studios can craft stunning, innovative games without bloated development cycles.
- AAA Failures vs. Indie Wins – Ubisoft’s troubled releases keep falling well short of the mark, while Larian Studios’ Baldur’s Gate 3 was a massive success, proving that passion-driven development wins over corporate formulaic releases.
These studios are proving to the so-called industry leaders how it should be done, and big publishers aren’t happy about it. It’s hurting them badly. Just look at Ubisoft and EA’s declining stock performance for proof.
The Future of Gaming: What Needs to Change?
We need a shift, a move away from the annual garbage that AAA studios keep shoving down our throats. Gamers are sick of it, and now we’re finally seeing that reflected in player spending and reception.
Just look at Call of Duty and FIFA (now EA Sports FC), both franchises that churn out yearly releases with minimal innovation, yet expect players to shell out full price every time.
The backlash against unfinished launches is growing, too. Cyberpunk 2077‘s disastrous first year proved that rushing a game to market can destroy its reputation, forcing CD Projekt Red to spend years fixing what should have been right from the start.
As the classic saying goes: Don’t bite the hand that feeds you, because if you do, we’ll go support someone else. Unfortunately for some companies, they’ve already bitten off the entire hand, leaving nothing left to sustain them.
Final Thoughts: Hope in the Chaos
The gaming industry is at a crossroads. The cracks in AAA dominance are showing, and gamers are no longer willing to accept recycled, soulless releases. We want passion. We want creativity. We want games made for players, not for profit alone.
As big studios scramble to maintain control, smaller teams are stepping up, proving that when developers listen to their audience, greatness happens.
My heart goes out to those affected by industry layoffs, and unfortunately, I see more on the horizon. But from the ashes of corporate restructuring, I also predict a new wave of independent studios rising to fill the void.
The future of gaming isn’t in the hands of executives, it’s in ours.
Let’s support the developers who still believe in the magic of gaming. Because if we do, the industry might just turn itself around.
But until next time, Panda out.
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