I think the Call of Duty bubble will burst soon

[Xeogred]

I know I'm kind of out of touch with the series, but personally I hope you're right and it craters. ... Can't say I was not smiling seeing diminished sales of the franchise, MOH too among the other trendy ones. ... If anything I'd like to see the big budget model die a horrible death, even if it makes taking out some big name companies to get the point across.

Wow, that's some big bundle of negativity, there. From what I've heard some of those big budget titles are pretty good, even if the market's a little saturated. I prefer more choice to less. The current dominance of AAA games is fading, though, so maybe big budgets will persist, but as slightly more modest affairs. Maybe this will give rise to AA games as a mainstream replacement. And while in the short term many people have defected to indie games, there's trouble afoot there as well. There was a boom, and now there's a bubble, and it will not be long before that bubble bursts on the indie game market. Japanese devs are also feeling the pain, especially on their home turf. The truth is, there's more than enough trouble to go around in the games market right now. But I don't wish any of that ill wind on any company or market. Nobody making a particular type of game I don't want has ever stopped other folks from making stuff I do want.

Basically agreed. I actually see it as somewhat of a blessing, this gen has had less games on the AAA front in general so it's felt way easier to keep up with most of the ones that interest me. That's not to say there's any lack of new games either... still an abundance as always, but it doesn't feel like last gen which was ultra oversaturated. It's a shame the mid grade middle class devs have kind of fizzled out, but I think we're seeing a comeback there too with smaller budget indie stuff getting better as tech improves. Also, Japan has seemingly gotten over their "Westernization" fad that plagued the last gen (and I think people like Capcom are still hurting from it), it seems like we're getting a ton of great Japanese stuff on the PS4 and whatnot.

Steam opening the floodgates for practically anything to get put on there is problematic, but I guess that's better than a lot of mid tier releases that aren't very good and sink bigger companies.

We're definitely in a weird time right now with game development for sure. I don't think revenue for most big releases in 2016 was very good. Budgets broke the ceiling and it's going to be a major issue probably sometime very soon. But graphics, tech, and celebrities aren't everything and I think some publishers are starting to realize that.

[Tanooki]

That's just how I feel about it, wouldn't really call it negative, just fed up with the trends is all. Like it or not I grew up on arcade, console and handheld games of the 80s and 90s along with PC DOS/Win9X too. I'm used to a large splash of Japanese feeling type games or the creative American end of the PC market too of the era.

I feel a LOT has been lost to corporate greed and oneupmanship of each other with the blockbuster budgets into these re-run games and they've choked out the variety, daring, and attempts at doing something great with consoles. It's all about the overly play it safe, or relegate it to the digital dumpster and the indie people who scrape up the other disenfranchised types.

In the years since the PS4 has been out I've owned less than 20 games and have 1/2 that now and don't even bother using any of them in over 6-9mo now and see nothing of value for me that isn't on PC too at this rate. PS3 was a stark contrast as I had a lot and loved the lots hours, more can be said for the generation before that so it's not just some anti-3D tirade either. Things are just stale and Call of Duty and other blockbuster me-toos of a narrow few genres don't cater to my cares and needs at all.

I hope you're right the day of the huge budget AAA is waining. I'd rather have a AA, A or B game that is lower in budget and high on doing something fun and right than more clone ware me too junk with an actor in it to carry the day and other marketing type plugs.

As Xeo there said -- graphics, tech, and celebrities aren't everything and I think some publishers are starting to realize that. (And I hope you're right.) I also think not so much Steam/GoG but Android is doing this. They're realizing you can do a lot and sell a game for $5-20 in a 1-4GB download space and appeal to far more than a whopper on a disc that costs them many times over in developmental costs with far higher risk.

[samsonlonghair]

Yep, all aaa games are the empire and fps games are their death star.

Now all we need is a smart-alec robot, a gorgeous brunette, a blind samurai, a crew of scufflaws, a handful of CG faces, and a couple brief cameos from Vader. What could possibly go wrong? This story is sure to have a happy ending!

[BogusMeatFactory]

Yep, all aaa games are the empire and fps games are their death star.

Now all we need is a smart-alec robot, a gorgeous brunette, a blind samurai, a crew of scufflaws, a handful of CG faces, and a couple brief cameos from Vader. What could possibly go wrong? This story is sure to have a happy ending!

I love you.

And in response to Tanooki... sure you can live in that world where you ignore the hundreds of thousands of games that are made by both large and small development teams that do in fact stray from what you consider part of the problem. Just keep giving yourself reasons to be upset about the game industry.

[ZeroAX]

well is this really new in the industry guys?

All genres come and go. Think adventures, RTS games, huge CRPGs, MMORPGs on computers and platform games, mascot platformers, JRPGs, GTA clones on consoles etc.

Fads come and go, the best of the bunch stay around while people move on to new things.

[Tanooki]

No I don't ignore them, they just don't really exist on consoles on physical media, which I have no interest in if it's not in that format with consoles. 3DS has the variety, I went there. Beyond that it's the PC and plenty enough new and old there giving me what the console market has failed to do this go around. It's why I two years ago went for a high end computer and let the PS4 grow dust bunnies and I'm better for it as I have my variety. But as much as I used computers to game since 1990-91 forward, consoles are where I got my start and it bugs me seeing the direction things went in.

I'm not convinced at this rate to buy the Nintendo Switch (maybe the 12th will change that) and I don't see buying another Sony box (or still ever a MS one.) Next step probably back to using a desktop computer so I can just keep part swapping to keep up with the entertainment...or another laptop like this which is all modular too while using a tablet for mobile uses.

My point is that the problem isn't the industry on the whole, it's the driving forces behind it currently eating itself alive with yearly re-ran crap because it's safe due to their insane way they make and budget games these days on consoles. No model should be based upon a huge budget and praying for as huge sales or you go out of business or have to merge to survive. Industry ran for many years without that kind of dumb ideology just fine and it would be nice to see a forced return to it if it happens in the form of a reality check (android/apple killing their profits hard) or a few big names going out of business to scare the others.

[PartridgeSenpai]

Fads don't die for no reason. Fads die because their lasting power diminishes, and then they are dethroned as the current fad. The plastic instrument fad died not only because their formula was stale, but because dancing games are so much more inclusive and fill the same niche (effectively). CoD and Battlefield have been competing for the same audience on console for ages, and Battlefield is winning the PR war. Of course, it doesn't help that their audience is being sucked up by the monoliths of CS:GO and Overwatch on PC.

As y'all have said, the big thing in spectator e-sports right now is Dota-likes like League of Legends, Smite, and Dota 2. RTS games like Starcraft are feeling a very similar strain of people flocking from one genre to the next. I'm not sure CoD is dead-dead (I mean, Guitar Hero and Tony Hawk's corpses got dragged for quite a while before they actually died), but it may very well be one of the next continue declining in a very competitive market space.