How can we save Core Gaming?
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Tkumpathenurpahl
Veteran
You must be kidding?
How are you measuring the board games industry to claim it's larger than the video game industry?
I'll have to find the source back, I think another way is to compare the amount of money spent on kickstarting video games vs board games and the latter is bigger AFAIR.
A lot more people buy board games (that includes titles such as Monopoly, mille bornes in France, ...) than video games. (And board games fans have as many board games as video gamers ^^ (before indy explosion likely), except they take a lot more room)
Very debatable. In terms of hours spent played, I'm certain VG would win. In terms of people playing, I'm sure VG wins (factoring in mobile). In terms of revenue per year I'm certain VG wins. Something like $1 billion spent on hobby games last year in US versus $10 billion spent on VG last year going by some quick Googlage.
Even anecdotally it's a landslide victory for video games. Families get a new board game once or twice a year, typically for Christmas, and pull out the board games only on rare occasions. But all of them play video games if you include mobile, with little Jonny spending a few hundreds a year on COD, FIFA/Madden, etc.
One random graph
https://www.statista.com/statistics/323943/average-time-spent-gaming-weekly-uk/
What would a graph of board games look like? Y axis would need to be in double precision float to record numbers that small.
Can definitely believe Kickstarted board games is way bigger than Kickstarted video games because you basically need Kickstarter for board games, whereas there's many revenue options for video games including self financed for tiny indies. There's no way I could create a board game solo, for example.
Even anecdotally it's a landslide victory for video games. Families get a new board game once or twice a year, typically for Christmas, and pull out the board games only on rare occasions. But all of them play video games if you include mobile, with little Jonny spending a few hundreds a year on COD, FIFA/Madden, etc.
One random graph
https://www.statista.com/statistics/323943/average-time-spent-gaming-weekly-uk/
What would a graph of board games look like? Y axis would need to be in double precision float to record numbers that small.
Can definitely believe Kickstarted board games is way bigger than Kickstarted video games because you basically need Kickstarter for board games, whereas there's many revenue options for video games including self financed for tiny indies. There's no way I could create a board game solo, for example.
I don't think core gaming is dying, it might need maturing though. Through the giant and deep pockets of many of the actors involved, foremost
in the console market, the market has been quite significantly distorted. The risk/ROI is off for the actors involved. On the other hand costumers expectations are out of control wrt the prices they are willing (and can) to pay.
Simply put the market as to adapt to reality which on many topics our contemparies seem to have an issue with.
An issue of funding comes from competition and simply how many games there are. Too many games. Too much everything these days with global competition only low barriers to entry. Recently read a report about the number of films exploding and it becoming financially unsustainable. People aren't going to read every book, watch every film, play every game. There's a limit to people's time and money. All these industries need to balance towards what people can sustain, which likely isn't going to happen until we have lots of failures and people giving up. Which in itself is unlikely given millions of young folk entering the market every year wanting to make games for a living.
Tkumpathenurpahl
Veteran
True, but I've found myself buying cheap, relatively short indie games more than I buy £40-£50 life-consuming blockbusters. And I don't anticipate my habits changing.
Maybe that's a wider buying pattern to which the industry needs to adapt?
Not every game needs to have photorealistic graphics, voice actors, online multiplayer, or last the lifespan of the average field mouse. Give me a charming game, with soul, that I can buy for a tenner and clock within a weekend.
That's enough to tell a story or have an experience, and I don't have to throw away swathes of my life grinding. I already do that at work.
Maybe that's a wider buying pattern to which the industry needs to adapt?
Not every game needs to have photorealistic graphics, voice actors, online multiplayer, or last the lifespan of the average field mouse. Give me a charming game, with soul, that I can buy for a tenner and clock within a weekend.
That's enough to tell a story or have an experience, and I don't have to throw away swathes of my life grinding. I already do that at work.
Precisely. So every man and his dog is wanting to be an Indie Dev, leading to countless numbers of games, competing on price, driving prices down. Consumers then come to expect more for their money. I think we're seeing over-competition in every creative market.
Silent_Buddha
Legend
The size of the board game industry isn't larger than the Video game industry. However, it's growing at a much faster rate. Both unit growth and revenue growth.
For example, CAGR (compound annual growth rate) for board games is in the ~30% range, while for the video games market it's in the ~13% range.
I think some confusion may be caused by the fact that board games generate far more Kickstarter revenue/investment than do Kickstarters for video games. However, games publishers dwarf board game publishers. IE - Hasbro while large has multiple non-gaming related divisions.
One benefit that board game creators have over video game creators, however, is that it's far less costly to develop a board game while at the same time the price of board games is allowed to keep up with inflation, unlike video games. While video games are now significantly cheaper than they were 10-20 years ago due to mostly stagnant game pricing, the same cannot be said for board games.
Regards,
SB
I think games generate more money through their lifetime than before thanks to DLC. Compared to PS2 era and before, there's definitely more than $60 got from a game. It also mitigates some of the resale value when a second-hand game then convinces a player to buy a couple of $5 DLC packs.
As a consumer I love that!
That's actually good. The casual of today are the core -some of them the quad cores- of the future.
As per the OP title..Maybe an English native knows this, but...core and hardcore are the same term? I see those as two different terms.
what does RPSC stand for?Sounds like a comment for RPSC.
Rurouni
Veteran
Racist Poop Shit Crap
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Well, in the end it usually go that way.
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Well, in the end it usually go that way.
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Tkumpathenurpahl
Veteran
Agreed, but an awful lot of games (e.g. Broforce) are no better than proof of concept demos. At a certain point, there will be so many of those games that they can't compete on price and, instead, will have to compete on other grounds.
Given that the last generation essentially did away with mid budget titles, I'm hopeful that this abundance of indie developers is their re-emergence.
Uncharted 4 sold gangbusters at £40-£70 (depending on the version,) and the likes of Supergiant Games are flying the flag for well crafted £20 games. If we have those two tiers as well as some £5 shovelware, I'm personally very pleased with the direction of the industry.
Personally, I'm of the opinion that the way to improve the health of the industry, along with most others, is to increase the wealth and expendable income of the majority of people.
Productivity has massively improved over recent decades, but wages have largely plateaued for all but the ultra rich, who have seen their wealth explode by an order of magnitude. Consequently, I'm sure the luxury yacht industry is doing rather well, but retail and entertainment are both fighting a troublesome war. It's just a pity that they don't make improved wage parity one of their battles.
