So I am going to be going on a huge rant of video games where it is currently and potentially why there is either lack of care or no creativity anymore.
AAA GAMES
So back before 2010 games were at its peak in regards of creativity or even the mass scale of content that was put into games. Everything from COD WAW, Fallout 3, GTA IV, Left 4 Dead, Dead space,Metal Gear Solid etc all of these games were revolutionary with the mass content with 30+ hours and can be played over and over again without being bored.
Jump to now with how the current games are orchestrated with day one patches and loot boxes as you pay 120$ for 10 hours of game play. Now with loot boxes its semi alright with games like CS GO where there is no game breaking loot though depending on the game it eats at the development times towards games that the content creators are wanting to create new modes or new levels.
Our great games this year that runs under AAA games are The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild,Resident Evil 7: Biohazard,Super Mario Odyssey and Assassins creed. Now my thoughts for as to why this is the case as to why this has happened other than greedy companies is unfortunately politics. Everything between from Gamergate to Feminism has stopped the creativity within these companies (I dont care for politics for where it doesnt belong btw) and thats why we have seen a surge into indie games as the shackels are gone.
Now if this example isnt enough look at something like Assassins creed as a big comparison when both the company hires were forced to fit an agenda and the creative teams were restrained due to gamergate and all the drama surrounding it. If you look online Black Flag the prior big game has a 88% vs Unity one of the most controversial with politics and also adding loot boxes etc having a 64%
Unity
Black Flag
What's gonna suck is if all of this gets worse the game pool could worsen and all we will see with all these companies are the same rehashed stories that were handed to them by one company who has no care except not to offend anyone.
INDIE GAMES
So with everyone upset over the over saturated loot boxed buggy games costing 60$ of AAA games the new trend of all now is to consider for indie games. This trend is the next big thing as people can simply make a game from simple assets and either grow the game/community or end up scamming lots of people. We have something as simple as Unturned which is a very simplistic game where you try to survive in a world against players and zombies.
Now people who make Indie Games can go to a couple types of places to make these kind of games as those being either steam direct/early access or even crowd funding. Now both have issues like take for example Kickstarter which has issues within it which are the fact of you pledging to back an idea not even the game itself so technically they dont even have to give you a game and the other huge issue is having these newbie devs calculate the numbers of how much money they need and most of the time they throw a dart at the wall and go from there.
Now one game we have seen this lack of knowledge is Dead Linger
They realized halfway they messed up and bought a new engine and within doing so and having to start over they in the end went bankrupt and everyone who backed are left dirt dry with nothing to play.Now whats interesting are devs like Smedley who made H1Z1 wanted to go down a "Indie" route and when doing so failed miserably and in doing so blamed the community within it.
The other huge factor is Steam's early access program which can prove for good games in the end or simple messes. With games like White Noise or Kerbal Space Program that did well, this program can work well as the community can help shape and test their games.
Though there are other games like Rust or Overgrowth that have been/was in early access for 3+ years and no end in sight. Having had multiple of these games like Dayz which I love dearly though the lack of content and having to come back every other year to see them add one item/animation is plainly sad.
Now with the rampant amount of indie devs soaring to make games when AAA devs wont, there are now AAA devs quitting their jobs to achieve this life like Bioshock or Smedley
We saw this when the devs of Bioshock went on to make Flame in the Flood which was a hit on Kickstarter.
OVERALL
In short point if politics pull out of video games and these companies stop treating this like a strict business and let creativity flow through we will see games go back to how it was. I fear a bubble is going to pop soon between loot boxes and low quality games like Mass Effect this will get a lot worse unless people talk about this. Luckily we saw a slight push back against EA and their games as they lost millions towards making games the community sees as toxic. I hope you guys like my rant as I love video games but we have gotten to a point of waiting for updates vs releases.
