As I look around at video games and what’s being made and foor whom, I find myself wondering where this hobby is going. In some ways, video games haven’t really changed. There’s still big blockbuster releases and still big companies trying to attract the widest possible audience while also making as much money as possible. That’s always been the case and will never change.

On the other hand, gaming has changed massively over its lifetime, to the point where finished products are no longer the best and easiest way to make obscene amounts of money. More than that, the “traditional” platforms are slowly giving way to mobile devices.

As we all have learned by now, a truly good gaming experience from a AAA developer is becoming an increasingly rare thing. EA, Ubisoft, and Activision have all basically given up on making good standalone experiences and are instead almost solely focused on either GaaS (Games as a Service) or games that are otherwise easily monetized (think boosters in games like Assassin’s Creed).

The logic is simple and is, unfortunately, being born out by the market: there’s no need to settle for a single sale when players will happily keep spending forever. Heck, they don’t even need most of the playerbase; just a few “whales” (i.e. big spenders) is enough. This is why $300 skins exist, because enough people will buy them.

Then there’s the rise of mobile. It’s a big platform, one that’s growing every day. It’s the way that most casual gamers play, and it’s the way that most young gamers play. The kids that grew up on smartphones and ipads are more and more becoming the primary demographic with each passing year, meaning that fewer developers will be will to focus on PC or consoles like Switch 2 or PlayStation 5. Gamers, as they have been up until now, are on their way to being “out.” That is, at least as far as the big publishers are concerned.

Now, that’s a lot of doom and gloom to be sure, but I see something of a silver lining here. If AAA gets to the point where it refuses to serve us in favor of churning out pay-to-win slop for the casuals and kiddies (they pretty much already are, let’s be real), then we’ll see more solo, indie and AA developers stepping in to take advantage of the gap. This means that, rather than fewer high-quality experiences, we’re likely to see more. The catch: a lot of them will likely be PC exclusive.

Xbox is, for reasons known only to itself, doing its best to exit the hardware market. Sony seems iffy on whether it wants to continue making PlayStations too. Nintendo has decided it’s going to nickel and dime its customers as much as humanly possible with Switch 2, and now Steam has a console player-friendly Steam Machine coming out in the next few months or so. I wouldn’t be at alll surprised if, in ten years time, the only gaming platforms left are Nintendo, PC and mobile.

I don’t think I’ll ever switch to mobile as my platform of choice. I’m too attached to large screens and physical buttons. I’ve also yet to see a mobile game that’s meant to be more than a time-waster. There could be some truly good games made for the platform eventually, but I think it would first require a shift in the mentality of your typical mobile game developer.

So for me, the future is probably going to be the Steam Machine and lots of smaller-scale games. Who knows though? Maybe GaaS will implode or people will finally recognize how scummy the business model is.

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What do you think gaming will look like ten years from now? Do you see it shifting in some way or staying largely the same?

Image by Flickr User: nixinStudio