Old games are BEATING modern games badly

[Cyan]

Players are increasingly dedicating their time to older, established games rather than new releases. This observation is supported by data from Newzoo, a market research firm specializing in gaming analytics.

Key Points:

1. Dominance of Older Games:
   • In 2023, a substantial portion of gamers' playtime was concentrated on titles that are six years old or older. Specifically, five games—Fortnite, Roblox, League of Legends, Minecraft, and Grand Theft Auto V—accounted for 27% of all playtime that year.
     kotaku.com
2. Challenges for New Releases:
   • The data indicates that just 66 titles accounted for 80% of all playtime in 2023, with 60% of that playtime spent on games six years old or older. This concentration of player attention on established titles makes it challenging for new games to attract and retain players.
     kotaku.com
3. Implications for Developers:
   • The preference for older games poses dilemmas for modern game developers. They must compete not only with other new releases but also with enduringly popular older titles. This competition necessitates innovative strategies to capture players' attention and encourages the development of games with long-term engagement potential.
4. Platform Considerations:
   • On platforms like PC, the concept of generations doesn't exist, allowing players to access and enjoy games from decades past as easily as new releases. This accessibility contributes to the sustained popularity of older games.

In summary, there is a significant shift in gaming habits, with players gravitating towards established games. This trend presents challenges for developers aiming to introduce new titles into a market where older games continue to dominate player attention.

Spoiler: I got the data from this video, which isn't in english -use subtitles-

The author of the video uses the data from Newzoo, a market researcher.

 

[Dominik D]

Implications for Developers

Make more smaller, less expensive games targeting specific demographics. Spiderweb Software model is at the extreme end of this. This ties into platform considerations: bleeding edge graphics limit your target audience. People advocating for mind blowing graphics are at odds with what sells. The only tiiiiny problem is that unles you can fund your development yourself (i.e. you are independently wealthy) there's pretty much no chance of getting funded right now. A lot of small and mid-size studios are betting on this dry spell ending in 2025 but it's a bet.

 

[ZebMacahan]

I dont know how representative I am of the typical gamer, but I find myself enjoying older games alot.

Im currently replaying Witcher 3. I also had a blast replaying the remaster of Gears 1 and Gears 3, as well as mass effect master edition or whatever its called. From time to time I also play some co op in Halo 3 and ODST.

For me this comes down to two things.

* The worlds and writing of older games just resonate with me alot more. Witcher 3 combat and control havent aged that well, but the writing, world and quest design more than make up for it. Same thing with Mass Effect. I love the story, lore, design and world of those games. Newer games seldom have the same quality writing and acting and dont seem to resonate with me.

* I love the minute to minute gameplay of old Halo games, and the gameplay lends itself to co op. And there is no time consuming busy work. I played a bit of Far Cry 6 co op with a friend, and (apart it being much worse designed and balanced than FC4) theres just so much boring busy work and convoluted crap in it. We spent more times going from between places than actual shoting people. Then the collecting of resources, ammo types etc etc. I just want to shoot stuff with my friend god damnit! We got bored spending too much time not doing anything fun.

 

[homerdog]

I dont know how representative I am of the typical gamer, but I find myself enjoying older games alot.

Im currently replaying Witcher 3. I also had a blast replaying the remaster of Gears 1 and Gears 3, as well as mass effect master edition or whatever its called. From time to time I also play some co op in Halo 3 and ODST.

For me this comes down to two things.

* The worlds and writing of older games just resonate with me alot more. Witcher 3 combat and control havent aged that well, but the writing, world and quest design more than make up for it. Same thing with Mass Effect. I love the story, lore, design and world of those games. Newer games seldom have the same quality writing and acting and dont seem to resonate with me.

* I love the minute to minute gameplay of old Halo games, and the gameplay lends itself to co op. And there is no time consuming busy work. I played a bit of Far Cry 6 co op with a friend, and (apart it being much worse designed and balanced than FC4) theres just so much boring busy work and convoluted crap in it. We spent more times going from between places than actual shoting people. Then the collecting of resources, ammo types etc etc. I just want to shoot stuff with my friend god damnit! We got bored spending too much time not doing anything fun.

I feel you but the older games in question are things like Minecraft, GTA5, League of Legends, Fortnite etc. Primarily multiplayer games that have been around forever and have very large playerbases.

 

[Dominik D]

We got bored spending too much time not doing anything fun.

There's a pretty good presentation from GDC on this topic (even if ultimately it's a product pitch).

 

[ZebMacahan]

I feel you but the older games in question are things like Minecraft, GTA5, League of Legends, Fortnite etc. Primarily multiplayer games that have been around forever and have very large playerbases.

Do you know why people play those games instead of newer similar ones?

 

[ZebMacahan]

There's a pretty good presentation from GDC on this topic (even if ultimately it's a product pitch).

Thanks, sounds interresting. I´ll check it out when I have the time.

 

[homerdog]

Do you know why people play those games instead of newer similar ones?

I'd guess it's a social thing. Also a fair amount of simple addiction. Some videogame companies operate like they are drug dealers. EA is like this with FIFA or whatever it's called now.

 

[Albuquerque]

I'd guess it's a social thing. Also a fair amount of simple addiction.

Speaking only for myself: I'm old, I'm married, and I have kids. Multiplayer and/or always-online games simply are not my thing, because I have responsibilities which may include getting up at a moment's notice and doing something else. I'm not my five year old who tries to ask for "just one more minute" because often that's not how Adulting works. I'm also one of those folks who wants a world to immerse myself in. If I'm going to escape the drudgery of the real world, then I want to ensconce myself in a new and different world.

The Elder Scrolls and CyberPunk and the Grand Theft Autos and Half Lives (lol) and Satisfactory are all very much the sorts of games I really enjoy in this space. All but Satisfactory are probably considered "older" at this point.

 

[homerdog]

Speaking only for myself: I'm old, I'm married, and I have kids. Multiplayer and/or always-online games simply are not my thing, because I have responsibilities which may include getting up at a moment's notice and doing something else. I'm not my five year old who tries to ask for "just one more minute" because often that's not how Adulting works. I'm also one of those folks who wants a world to immerse myself in. If I'm going to escape the drudgery of the real world, then I want to ensconce myself in a new and different world.

The Elder Scrolls and CyberPunk and the Grand Theft Autos and Half Lives (lol) and Satisfactory are all very much the sorts of games I really enjoy in this space. All but Satisfactory are probably considered "older" at this point.

I find Pause to be a very important feature. I tried playing Enshrouded and was shocked to find no ability to pause..even in single player. This was fixed in a patch I think.

However I don't think it's guys our age driving up the Fortnite, Minecraft, COD, Roblox etc. playerbases. And that's where the big money is. Roblox Corp is worth around 47 billion dollars

 

[Albuquerque]

Actually I own two or three copies of Minecraft and unironically play it with other people. More to the point, I host my own Java server on own home Proxmox infrastructure, and only play with my two kids We enjoy building our Minecraft world together, and it's both video game time for the kids while also being a wholesome family bonding time. I haven't convinced the wife to try, video games just aren't her thing hehe... Space Engineers is another example in the same vein; I run a local server instance and my little guy and I love building awesome spaceships and stations and rovers and roads and bridges and and and...

So, as it turns out, I do play two online multiplayer games, it's just that I multiplay with my kids and not with the internet. It's also easy because if the BossLady is coming to pry us away from video games, it's in our collective best interest to all follow her directions at the same time

 

[Dominik D]

Online games typically require large numbers of players around the clock for the matchmaking to be somewhat competent. It's extremely hard to get to those numbers when you're competing against an established title (or titles). This is where many of the otherwise great multiplayer games die.

 

[Cappuccino]

Have we considered that these older games are popular because new, modern games are mostly uninspired and bad, and are also not particularly easy to run? When was the last time we truly had a AAA game that was worth the cost, both in terms of the $70 you need to buy it on launch and the hardware needed to run it?

 

[homerdog]

Have we considered that these older games are popular because new, modern games are mostly uninspired and bad, and are also not particularly easy to run? When was the last time we truly had a AAA game that was worth the cost, both in terms of the $70 you need to buy it on launch and the hardware needed to run it?

That is a large factor. In order to get gamers to switch to your game it needs to be significantly better or more interesting. Otherwise there's not enough motivation for users to switch and forfeit all the knowledge, experience, and skins they've accumulated over the years. Marvel Rivals seems to have had some success. IDK why because it looks like Overwatch to me but there must be a reason people prefer it in mass to Overwatch.

 

[Nesh]

Shorter and denser games. That's what we need

 

[homerdog]

Was this thread OP referring to single player or online multiplayer games? It seemed aimed at the latter to me. I think the problem with entrenchment of multiplayer games is different than the problem of single player games underselling. Not entirely unrelated but there are different factors at play. People will still play and pour money into multiplayer games that they've been on for years even if they profess to hate it. Single player games can't operate like that. I think the main problem with the SP games that fail these days is that they suck. The good ones tend to do okay.

 

[arandomguy]

Do you know why people play those games instead of newer similar ones?

What newer similar ones?

Newer ones do manage to siphon and/or create their own userbase.

Valorant for example is a relatively newer IP in that list. Also given the date of the report using 2023 data it wouldn't account for games like Marvel Rivals or Helldivers 2.

I'm guessing that data is also not factoring mobile and/or non western markets as it's missing IPs from those groups including ones that are I guess similar to the ones you mentioned (eg. Honor of Kings as a MOBA).

 

[arandomguy]

That is a large factor. In order to get gamers to switch to your game it needs to be significantly better or more interesting. Otherwise there's not enough motivation for users to switch and forfeit all the knowledge, experience, and skins they've accumulated over the years. Marvel Rivals seems to have had some success. IDK why because it looks like Overwatch to me but there must be a reason people prefer it in mass to Overwatch.

I haven't played Overwatch in years but I remember a general feeling was that Blizzard flubbed Overwatch's momentum. This isn't likely the only reasons but there was the impression initially that Blizzard would build up the IP and the competitive side was supposed to be a driven by a new e-sports business model (closed franchised league akin to American sports) but both didn't work out and ended up stalled. On top of this there was this uncertainity and direction of whether the game wanted to be pushed more FPS competitive or more action casual. Last when I followed Overwatch it seemed like they were cutting back if anything (as even the SP game/expansion ended up being cut years into development).

Marvel Rivals well is Marvel, it benefits from the Marvel IP and has that inbuilt universe and crossappeal. I haven't played Marvel Rivals yet but for example their current game promotion seems to be focused on the Fantastic Four and guess what the next MCU phase is and teaser that also dropped today? The Fantastic Four. Now as long as the game is relatively polished and and well done (I'm guessing it is?) there's a lot going for it in terms of the rest of the package to draw people being Marvel.

 

[Cyan]

Have we considered that these older games are popular because new, modern games are mostly uninspired and bad, and are also not particularly easy to run? When was the last time we truly had a AAA game that was worth the cost, both in terms of the $70 you need to buy it on launch and the hardware needed to run it?

great games are great games no matter whether they are older or new. But older games tend to run much better, some revolutionary gameplay ideas were created when those games launched, and they are usually more fun overall. So..., crystal clear.

Shorter and denser games. That's what we need

Yeah, more arcadey fun, like when you had your game on a let's say SNES and you could complete Castlevania in less than 2 hours, or Final Fight, Ninja Turtles 4 and so on and so forth.

You can find many of those on Steam for instance. But you will have to be patient finding them in between so many games.

Btw, I'm currently completing Halo Infinite campaign once and for all, hopefully, and some Company of Heroes.

Whenever I feel dense and want something super engaging that you can play even for hours but you don't need to, Kingdom Rush -a tower defense game- is one of those games that helps you relieve stress.

 

[Cyan]

Was this thread OP referring to single player or online multiplayer games? It seemed aimed at the latter to me. I think the problem with entrenchment of multiplayer games is different than the problem of single player games underselling. Not entirely unrelated but there are different factors at play. People will still play and pour money into multiplayer games that they've been on for years even if they profess to hate it. Single player games can't operate like that. I think the main problem with the SP games that fail these days is that they suck. The good ones tend to do okay.

Both. Just because as classic gamers we have a huge backlog of games nowadays.

I think I have enough games to play for a lifetime. What I found out is that if a game doesn't feel engaging to me after playing it for 1 or 2 hours, I don't bother trying too hard if I'm not having fun.

Older games, whether they are mp based or single player, tend to run better, which makes them much more accessible. They are also usually very optimised and run well on olders systems, for which they were made.

Some of them are unrivalled since they've launched, i.e. Alien Isolation -no game like that in the last 11 years-.