With the increasing demand to always be improving comes additional expense. And, naturally, with more expense comes additional risk. In what, may you ask? Well, this could correlate with pretty much everything - but, in this case, I'm talking about the video games industry. Paradoxically, it is the game industry's fear of risk which may well end up causing a complete collapse in their franchise and customer base. It seems like every time I look at an established franchise they are adding new features which were not devised to benefit the player but pork barrel the company's earnings. For example:
It is not enough that we purchase the game; they want us to be continually striving toward social (and anti-social) interactions with your fellow gamer. Needless to say, this service also includes plenty of micro-transactions to bolster and tailor your player with virtual possessions and show up your ability to purchase more than your next compatriot. Naturally, they will state that this is to cover the costs of running the servers - but we all know their true agenda. GTA Online is a major cash cow for what was originally built as a stand-alone single player game. One would presume that the next Red Dead Redemption will probably require an online connection just to play the single-player game.
With the influx of gambling-based loot boxes, purchase-only avatars and vanity weaponry skins, I believe we are already at end-of-days. It is so endemic that I think there may be a revolt back to the simpler days of buy game, play game - or the retro game console as I call it. Maybe the nostalgia is a little rife but there's something to be said about not being verbally abused for using default skins while playing a compulsory team-based game of the latest COD when all you want to do is just play a game. And the best part about these retro consoles is that they don't require an internet connection just to play the game.
I have been considering building a new gaming PC so I can play multiplayer games without requiring a multiplayer tax but I'm unsure if I'll have more frustration. I originally purchased a game console so I wouldn't have to worry about poorly-optimised, buggy or incomplete games - little did I know that the game industry would find a way to break this misconception, although, I dunno ... maybe consoles still have an edge ...
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