The gaming press conference as we knew it is dead, replaced by a prerecorded games showcases uploaded to YouTube. The gaming convention is dying too but what will happen to all the communal energy that went there? That filled forums with their new? That was there lifeblood?

A trailer would enrapture an audience, then a smattering of applause, hushed woops and jeers, the signal that something had just hit home. Quickly giving way to journalists being pulled back into the reality of their dimly lit screens, typing reports of what they just saw, to be read by thousands who didn’t have the bandwidth to watch live. Each section of the industry pulled closer together for another two hours of self-congratulation-indulgence, only to return to their dedicated forums with the information they’d mined from the corporate suits to share with their subsection of the gaming community.

Press conferences were oddly intimate, communal things.

The traditional press conference presentation is dying. Nintendo, despite our ‘better judgement’ proved it was ahead of the curve running Directs for years. We see Microsoft and Sony follow suit with their own videocasts. This paired with the diminishing importance of trade shows and conferences as a whole has led to a question.

Where do communities focus all their passion and excitement?

In the past journalists would meet, listen to the suits in person, corelate the important information, while we would gather round the open fires of the videos and interviews posted directly to their websites (YouTube didn’t necessarily even exist at this point). Then when we returned to our niche tents with likeminded individuals we’d layout all the info we’d gathered about what could become our new favourite game. For something that took place mainly online, it was an oddly tangible system, like solving a mystery. What is this game going to be?.

This form of media briefing consumption is dead. But the passion is still there. No longer are we breaking down everything said in a conversation between a person that gets games and someone that is making our game, interpreting, analysing and questioning every statement. Forums are no longer littered with disparate threads trying to link interviews together, instead its just one mega thread with a link to the developers official statement on twitter or their website at the top, the scavenger hunt is dead and gone.

What happens to all that energy when communities no longer need to work together to break down statements designed for the wider public, into direct messages that matter to them, the diehard players? Now that developers and publishers talk directly to their community it means that the debate happens on the games forums, not a 3^rd party website. In a streamer’s chat rather than asking a journalist for more details.

It makes sense for publishers to wish their games’ community to become more disconnected from the rest of the games industry; if there is no one recommending other games or questioning what they’re currently playing it allows for more control and retention of players. This can create a disconnect, between the dedicated community and the more casual player base or even those reporting on the games at trade shows. A split between those that play games to pass some free time and those that free up time to spend with a game.

There are two directions a community goes when it becomes more disconnected from the wider gaming zeitgeist and begins to be directed by community leaders or developers and publishers instead. One sees them become isolationist and put a high barrier of entry on those seeking to get involved, becoming gated; whether it be ‘are you knowledgeable enough about a game’s lore, mechanics etc’. or ‘are you skilled enough at the game itself’. The second has the community become more inclusive and accepting; seeking to introduce more and more people to this unique and special thing that has been crafted by those with a common love. Developers and publishers usually would prefer their community be welcoming for obvious business and practical reasons, however the fact that the job title Community Manager exists proves this is easier said than done.

Games which launch to a mixture of fanfare and dissent can often struggle, falling into the former category as every conversation about the game descends into a debate or argument.

Sometimes it’s up to the community leaders to save the game’s playerbase from becoming a black mark against the game itself. Destiny was one such game when it launched back in 2014.

Destiny released mired in controversy and was constantly proclaimed dead by many message boards and forums due to how many people bounced off its rinse-repeat gameplay. I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but as it turns out people really seem to like these looter-shooters. They get something ticking in our head. More than just an addictive gameplay loop, many of the most successful ‘life-style’ games (Destiny, The Division, Warframe etc.) put loot at their centre because it drives their community. Comparison, investigation, experimentation all to figure out the best loadouts, all done co-operatively by communities acting as one.

However, for much of its first year the Destiny community became more and more insular and isolated, treating outsiders with open arms less and less and becoming more hostile, protective of an experience they enjoyed but constantly found themselves having to defend or justify. Looking For Groups for raids began to require you to have a short CV to prove you’d stuck with the game when others moved on, that you truly played it as the ‘lifestyle game’ some toted it to be. The competitive PvP scene became an unbalanced elitist mess of K/D’s and ‘number of times to the Lighthouse’, while forums seemed to be in a constant state of flux, either bemoaning the state of the game or bemoaning the state of how the game was perceived by those that didn’t play it.

In this time a collective of streamers, fearing that such a negative fanbase wouldn’t be long burning itself out, began an initiative. Whether it was raiding a smaller streamer’s chats with encouragement as they went offline or organising huge charity streams for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital streamers, like Gothalion (to only name one for sheer expediency’s sake) they began to change the tone of the community.

While you would often read headlines of those who fell away from Destiny early on or found it impenetrable to return to, these streamers were focusing on their core audience. The people who were staying with the game through its growing pain, ensuring that they were the sort of people you wanted to be sharing your lobby with. If these people, the stalwart players, became entitled or began to resent those that left the game when it was in a rough state, what hope would creators have of building up a larger followings for themselves or the game, it would be toxic on contact. They had to ensure that the community people would be returning to would be one where people felt at home; where you felt permitted to ask questions and ok with messing up during raids, without fear of being cursed out over voice chat.

Now, years later, after the highs of a resurging fanbase from the release of The Taken King and Foresaken and the lows of content droughts and major DLCs disappointing, the Destiny community is certainly a curiosity. With a huge community run Con, GuardianCon, in Tampa every year, and a large enough player base to allow Bungie the freedom to go independent, Destiny has been successful in establishing itself a resilient community. Despite times when the game was deemed borderline unplayable, due to it’s balancing and competition from other ‘lifestyle’ games, but a dedicated community has stuck by Destiny. And while many of its largest streamers have gone on to become multi-game-influencers, their impact lives on within the spirit of the daily players.

Destiny 2, the game, has gone from a bare bones check list of ‘improvements’ over the first game to a game deeply complex and nuanced in its story, gameplay and design. It also offers great onboarding and a satisfying learning curve for those that are willing to invest their time. The Destiny community is just as layered; made up of PvP and Gambit players, Fireteams of Raiders and solo players. Destiny 2 players use it as a competitive platform, chasing scores in PvP and racing for speedrun times and challenge run accomplishments in PvE. Destiny 2 players use it as a canvas to create montages and machinima or use it to weave tales of lore, making sudo-documentaries from abstract and obfuscated Grimoire. Destiny 2 is a social network allowing friends to party up and shoot the shit. Destiny 2 is something to half pay attention to while watching a Twitch stream out of the corner of your eye or listening to a podcast while doing your weeklies. Destiny 2 is many things to many people, but the foundation is a shared cmmunity. Built by streamers, YouTubers and moderators that saw the potential for something stabile, both in terms of content and community, something that could benefit players in a way rarely seem in games. By tending to and nurturing a supportive community these leaders allowed Bungie to focus on deepening the Destiny experience so everyone in the community had something they could be passionate about.

(BTW it’s at this point I feel I should say, I’m sure lots of this could be applied to Warframe too, but I never tangoed enough with it to be able to start making claims).

Here a positive community was formed by the will of content creators. Bungie was (understandably) busy trying to fix their game and create content for a live service that people weren’t happy with and could only do so much in the way of community management. In that time the creators that took to the forefront pushed messages of patience and positivity. Now not only is there a community with a lot fewer gatekeepers but one that actively seeks to share how much better an experience the game has become for all types of players. Players are reminded by creators to be appreciative for the current state of the game, and franchise compared to the launch version, while encouraging constructive criticism. Bungie, on their end, continues to enhance the game in as many ways as possible almost seeking forgiveness for the poor states certain iterations of Destiny had wound up in.

It is great to see a gaming collective evolve into a community of people supporting each other in and outside of the game. It is worth remembering though, that with more franchises and games than could ever be counted, the opposite happens. Instead of positive role models shaping the direction, those that are disparaging and shouting the loudest dissent become spokespeople, amplifying the already negative message of the vocal minority. These games wind up with (oft deserved) public perception of being exclusive and uninviting. Not to name names but ‘git gud’ has been everything from a community mantra to a meme because of how derisive some games’ communities can be (also the COD, Battlefield, LOL, some of the FGC, many more are guilty of similar them vs us wall building). But the Soulsborne franchise is easy to pick on purely because of how notorious it became for a while there for how dismissive and hostile parts of it were… Oops, I just named a name, didn’t I?

However, that franchise has had its harsh edge dulled down too by some degree thanks to the hard work of its own more positive subsets. The speedrunning and challenge running section have become favourites at charity events like GDQ. Even in what were once thought of as the most exclusive and exclusionary of communities, thanks to the hard work of several prominent community members, many games have become forces for good and positively. All this isn’t lost on developers. GuardianCon is strongly promoted and supported by Bungie, while Digital Extremes have taken to running their own convention for similar reasons, in their words it’s a celebration, of not just Warframe but their playerbase too.

Imagine someone using your product to entertain thousands, allowing many of them form friendships and bonds they would have never formed before. Imagine your art being a rallying point for pulling others up; streamers helping others turn their entertainment into a liveable income; giving those who’ve never experienced a raid a chance to claim victory over Gods and helping those with disabilities play competitively at levels they never thought possible. Imagine the motivation and lift in moral and drive that would give you to make your game better when you see millions being raised year over year for a children hospital by people only connected by your creation. Whether it be welcoming newcomers or raising money when a community decides to take a step in a positive direction everyone benefits, especially the players.

This is a creative piece I wrote which I'm not especially happy with from a technical point of view, if you have any feedback let me know!