Double Fine and Compulsion Games are going independent, and Microsoft is also selling Ninja Theory and Undead Labs.
  • SpaceCowboy@lemmy.caEnglish
    6·
    6 days ago

    There’s just a general downturn in the economy. People don’t buy video games when they’re struggling to pay for groceries.

    That and MS probably wants to throw more into the AI money pit.

    • Skullgrid@lemmy.worldEnglish
      9·
      6 days ago

      There’s a trend on more spending on cheap entertainment during recessions and times of finacial hardship

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_industry

      Since 2000, the video game industry was considered recession-proof, having thrived compared to other industries during the 2008 Great Recession, and as one of the more profitable industries during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021. Video games are seen as a low-cost vice and entertainment for consumers when approaching recession.[74][75] However, in 2022, atop pandemic economic fallout including chip shortages, supply chain disruption, and consumers preferring outdoor activities, the industry started to indicate recession with global revenues falling for the first time in twenty years.[76]

      It seems that they went a bit too far recently for price gouging, but you can do research on similar pre video game “amusments” like films and such and find similar patterns

      • SpaceCowboy@lemmy.caEnglish
        4·
        6 days ago

        There’s a much much bigger indy market now. I’m sure people will still be playing games, just not AAA games they can’t afford on hardware they definitely can’t afford.

        • zarathustrad@lemmy.worldEnglish
          3·
          5 days ago

          It’s a good time to have a few 1-5 year old PCs and some spare parts laying around to play games up to current Gen and future Indy games.

          Batten down the hatches me matey. We will need to weather these seas with narry a port in the storm for the next few years.

          The PC of Theseus will survive.

      • Coelacanth@feddit.nuEnglish
        3·
        5 days ago

        Yeah, interestingly enough we are so reliant on cheap entertainment for presumably mental health reasons that we tend to make other cuts instead. That’s why for example the Men’s Underwear Index is actually a pretty good indicator of recession.