I was tempted to open this by saying that “touchstone” games had become a thing of the past. This, of course, isn’t true. In just the past couple of years, we’ve seen the releases like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Baldur’s Gate 3 and Helldivers 2 just to name a few. All of these were big events in the hobby when they released and still are now. I also wanted to say that multiplayer is dead, but how can that be true with Fortnite and Apex: Legends still reigning supreme and the deluge of “friend” games like Peak and Lethal Company coming out every year? I can’t. No, I think what I’m getting at is the lack of a new, true “everyone” game. The sort that brings the whole friend group together all at once.

For myself and my friends, the last “everyone” game was the first Destiny. Everyone was psyched for it. Everyone was all in on it. Everyone was there for the entirety of the game’s lifespan. Fortnite interrupted it a little when it first came out, but for us, 2014-2016(ish) were the Destiny years. It’s been nearly 10 years since then, and nothing has hit like that game did. There’ve been times when portions of the group have been into one game or another. Helldivers 2 got a few of us for a little while, but nothing has been able to bring the whole group together like Destiny did or like Halo, Left 4 Dead or Gears of War did before it.

Like I mentioned above, I really wanted to blame this on the industry somehow, but I don’t think I can. AAA might not be what it was ten years ago, but there’s still a lot of multiplayer fun to be had if you’re willing to put in a bit of effort to find it. That might be the true difference between trying to find something to enjoy together now as adults and how it was during our school days, though. It takes effort now, when it really didn’t before. We all also gotta be more careful with our money these days too. You can’t just put down $50+ on the latest multiplayer release and trust that it’ll be worth the money.

Having to put in that effort, though, I think, is much more troublesome than the money. When we were all coming up through the 2000’s and even up to the mid 2010’s, there was much more of a monoculture. Everybody watched the big TV shows, went to the hit movies and played the big new AAA games. You didn’t have to get the group together and try to come to a decision as to what you’d all play or watch. It just flowed naturally because everyone couldn’t help but be on the same page most of the time.

Now though? Now it’s as if the “mainstream” has run out into endless cult tributaries. Part of it is that we’ve got more choice and access than ever before, but I can’t help but think the deterioration of the old entertainment pillars is playing a role in it as well. Yeah, I guess I do have a dig against the big entertainment companies after all. I love having my choice of indie projects across TV and video games, but I still wish that the old publishers and studios, the ones whose games my friends and I used to count down the days to, would give us a reason to play their stuff again.

Or, perhaps it’s better to say that I wish something would hit hard enough to replace them. Perhaps Grand Theft Auto VI and Rockstar will be the one that manages to do it. Who knows? As they say, though, “you can’t go home again.” We’re in the world of the 2020s now, and it’s turned out to be a very different one from even that of the 2010s much less the 2000s. For now, the monoculture is gone and we have to adapt. It might come back in the future, but right now, well, I guess it’s just going to take a bit of elbow grease to get everyone on the same game again.

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What was the last game you and all your friends got into together? Have you found it difficult to find new ones? What about movies and TV?

Image captured from the Destiny 2 Lightfall trailer