From the global RAM shortage driving up console prices to job loss in the industry, gaming is shaping up to be one of the AI boom's biggest casualties.
They will be able to survive it far better than indies. They already wish they could push users to subscription and cloud gaming models, and I suspect this will drive the most predatory of the lot (EA) into acquiring their own PC rental programs. It will be an opportunity for them to sell you a packaged experience at a monthly subscription price. The indies that will survive will be those whose games don’t really have high hardware requirements, but the fan base isn’t the same.
Indie games can generally run on a potato, so they aren’t really affected by the hardware shortage.
And indie game devs aren’t being pressured to push out AI slop or be “made redundant” by someone more willing to sacrifice quality for speed.
90%+ of my gaming time is indie games in recent years. Very many of them are doing great. The coming market crash and recession from AI over-investment is going to affect all non-necessary spending, of course. But, even then, it’s a lot easier to justify a $5-20 game purchase when money is tight than $80+ for AAA games (not even counting hardware to run it!)
I literally don’t understand how you could possibly see how indie devs are losing out here. Nobody needs to buy the slop big studios are putting out. If EA is pushing out shit, then just skip eating the shit sandwich, maybe?
Did I miss your point? Or do you not know that indie games are making up an increasing share of gaming revenue?
Indie games can generally run on a potato, so they aren’t really affected by the hardware shortage.
So …
The indies that will survive will be those whose games don’t really have high hardware requirements, but the fan base isn’t the same.
Did I miss your point?
Yes.
Yes, largely because you can’t or don’t want to acknowledge the sort of fanbases they have. AAA have at 8x the market share that indies have, and their bases are more loyal predictable whales. They will be more willing to throw away money. People like you are more demanding with their money, are more likely to be more selective, demanding, and might even choose to save it over other things you have to worry about. Proportionally, the indie market might be growing, but the amount it actually grew is still less than what the AAA market did, and again, not the same type of gamer.
There’s also this part, “Nobody needs to buy the slop big studios are putting out. If EA is pushing out shit, then just skip eating the shit sandwich, maybe?”, where you seem to be arguing against the strawman you are trying to superimpose onto my argument. Just because I don’t like does not mean I have to act like it isn’t so.
It’s also just measuring sales from the games itself, not the predatory game shop sales.
You also cite the article and ignore that Black Myth: Wukong and Palworld require decent PCs, both cited performers in it.
on PC.
And thanks for bringing that up, consoles are also going to snipe at the market because they share the same components, and are another way AAAs farm whales.
They will be able to survive it far better than indies. They already wish they could push users to subscription and cloud gaming models, and I suspect this will drive the most predatory of the lot (EA) into acquiring their own PC rental programs. It will be an opportunity for them to sell you a packaged experience at a monthly subscription price. The indies that will survive will be those whose games don’t really have high hardware requirements, but the fan base isn’t the same.
What?
Indie games can generally run on a potato, so they aren’t really affected by the hardware shortage.
And indie game devs aren’t being pressured to push out AI slop or be “made redundant” by someone more willing to sacrifice quality for speed.
90%+ of my gaming time is indie games in recent years. Very many of them are doing great. The coming market crash and recession from AI over-investment is going to affect all non-necessary spending, of course. But, even then, it’s a lot easier to justify a $5-20 game purchase when money is tight than $80+ for AAA games (not even counting hardware to run it!)
I literally don’t understand how you could possibly see how indie devs are losing out here. Nobody needs to buy the slop big studios are putting out. If EA is pushing out shit, then just skip eating the shit sandwich, maybe?
Did I miss your point? Or do you not know that indie games are making up an increasing share of gaming revenue?
So …
Yes.
Yes, largely because you can’t or don’t want to acknowledge the sort of fanbases they have. AAA have at 8x the market share that indies have, and their bases are more loyal predictable whales. They will be more willing to throw away money. People like you are more demanding with their money, are more likely to be more selective, demanding, and might even choose to save it over other things you have to worry about. Proportionally, the indie market might be growing, but the amount it actually grew is still less than what the AAA market did, and again, not the same type of gamer.
There’s also this part, “Nobody needs to buy the slop big studios are putting out. If EA is pushing out shit, then just skip eating the shit sandwich, maybe?”, where you seem to be arguing against the strawman you are trying to superimpose onto my argument. Just because I don’t like does not mean I have to act like it isn’t so.
Right, but that’s incorrect in the PC space:
Indie games are eating AAA’s lunch on PC.
It’s also just measuring sales from the games itself, not the predatory game shop sales.
You also cite the article and ignore that Black Myth: Wukong and Palworld require decent PCs, both cited performers in it.
And thanks for bringing that up, consoles are also going to snipe at the market because they share the same components, and are another way AAAs farm whales.