I feel my interest in games has almost entirely faded into my 30s

Hey gang,

Like many of you, I've been gaming probably...my whole life. I got an NES and Mega Man 3 when I was 5, back in '94. I kinda played games all day, every day. Infact, thinking back, I was allowed 30 minutes a day right up until I got an PS2, when the limit was kinda lifted. Over my decades of gaming, I've played...a lot of different games. My favourites growing up were Final Fantasy games on the SNES/PS1. I played a LOT of JRPG's over my years, but I spread my gaming net VERY wide, to the extent where at any one time, I could be playing Goldeneye/Ocarina/Beetle Adventure Racing/Body Harvest at a time.

I think my absolute gaming pinnacle was around the days of WoW: Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King. I was playing...easily for 12 hours a day, every day. I actually failed my first year of university because I did NOTHING but play Burning Crusade (?) all day. The one with Shattrath.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, I'm 31 now, and I feel that in the next...5 years (?), I'm gonna quite games ENTIRELY. I just cannot find any joy in anything I play these days. I think it boils down to 2 main points:

My life has changed, and I don't need to use gaming as an escape anymore

So, growing up, I played a lot of games to escape from real life. I had a good life, sure, and I had a very fortunate upbringing. But being able to come home from school on a Friday night, and just play FF7 in secret till 2am was a really fond memory. Nowadays, I just don't need that anymore. I have things going on in my life. I have friends that I chat with on discord every night. I have a great job that I'm passionate about and that keeps me really busy most of the time (By the time I finish work, I kinda flop, watch Youtube/Twitch for an hour or so, eat, then go to bed). I've also got pretty heavy into D&D (Why didn't I get into D&D as a kid, I'll never know). I'm also applying for a job teaching overseas now, as I'm entirely done with teaching in the UK. When I think of that, and what adventures my future can hold, I forsee absolutely no desire to play games. I guess when I'm over there, public transport might be a thing, and playing some Switch on the go is a very real possibility- but at the moment, I walk 2 miles each way to work and back, and I've filled that time with MBMBAM and Audiobooks (After getting so bored with the Bomb/Beastcasts that after 8 years of religious listening I've stopped ENTIRELY unless Mike is on an episode.)

I don't really like what the modern gaming space has turned into

If you grew up playing games in the '90s, you'll almost definitely know what I'm talking about. I know it's deffo nostalgia talking, but it feels like, when I was playing N64/PC games in the 90s/00s, I would sit down, play a pretty refined game for 20 hours, and I'd be done with it. Nowadays, games have changed into something pretty unrecognizable. Every game is political, in some way or another. I'm not trying to spark a debate, or get into an argument, but it feels like most modern games have a "message" to show, and I guess I just don't need that in my leisure time. It doesn't help that social media/gaming websites have almost entirely ruined any surprise or thrill to games nowadays. I used to go to a store, look at the front cover, or read a magazine, get a sliver of info, and I'd make my decision that way. Nowadays, everything has trailers, and previews, and walkthroughs, and lets plays, and Youtube walkthroughs for the slighest hint of a puzzle. I know that, objectively, it's never been a better time to play and be into games, but everything is so in your face, the entire time that it's overwhelming.

I think Vinny said recently somewhere that "Every game nowadays is trying to monopolize your time", and that's true. Every game has a battle pass, or a season pass, or a DLC roadmap for the next THREE years- who is playing a game for THREE years?! Either that, or every game is over 50 hours. I'm currently slogging through "Pathfinder: Kingmaker" in tandem with a friend. He has over 110 hours and he's still not at the end. I've put 33 hours in, and I feel like I've almost entirely got EVERYTHING I can out of that game. It's good, but...I don't need games to take me 2 months to beat. I'm an adult, I have responsibilities! I can't commit over 120 hours to a SINGLE GAME just to eek out every little thing. When I see reviews say "Well this game has 50 hours of content, so you'll really get your money out of it!" I groan, because there's no way on earth I can commit to playing a game that long.

I'm sorry, this has turned into one big rant. I like games, I really do. They've objectively never been better, and it's a great time to be playing games. I just don't think at my age, they're for me anymore. Have any other older gamers had this experience?

tl:dr: Ok Boomer

Hey! Just feel however you feel and be true to yourself! Don't beat yourself up if you have changed how you feel about anything. Sounds like you should at least move away from games for a bit just to see if it helps in general. Almost sounds like there is a sense of owing something to games, which you don't obviously. Personally I think if you just give them the space you can be able to come back after time with a fresh perspective and maybe games will occupy a more well delineated chunk of your time that you can define then. Like maybe you'll just want to play them for an 1hr. or less a couple times week or less, like watching movies, reading a book or whatever. Doesn't really matter just have to let stuff fill your life better in a way that suits you and try to not let anything or things dominate it or take away your control.

I've been playing since... sometime in the very early 80's starting with the Atari 2600 my parents had. Played a ton when I was small through probably early 90's when I started to be a teenager. But at some point early on I decided (probably when my dream like view of baseball fell apart) that it's more about defining and deciding what you like and not letting things or even other people define who you are. At some point in my 20's I started to come back more to games, probably a lot of it out of the nostalgia for the old feeling that it gave me and I believe I was trying fill certain wholes in my life with that feeling or at least try to bury myself under it at times. Our modern life is and can be very complicated especially if you want to make it that way, so it's easy to try to find ways to ease that or run away from all of it.

I could probably go on forever figuring out different ways to answer you, but I'll spare you and anyone else what would probably be mostly babbling and just respond more directly if anyone actually wants it!

Anyhow mostly just figure out you, whatever that is and do that, if it's not hurting someone else then it's the way to go... but remember that you'll need to keep refining you pretty much all the time most likely. Or at least I find that continual refining or work on the self more rewarding than not doing it!

To steer this away from games for a bit: Having something you're deeply passionate about and working toward every day is incredibly healthy. At the height of a feeling like that, you're naturally going to start winnowing away extraneous daily routines, whether those routines are impulsive or otherwise, in favor of committing to your real passion.

That's one of the cool parts about hitting your 30s—the brain starts to get really good at identifying what's important and how to prioritize it.

Regardless of everything else—that change, particularly in the context of your passion for teaching, is admirable. I hope your career continues to flourish and that you continue to see yourself grow in meaningful ways.

I'm the same age as you and I started to feel this way last year. I used to buy every game I could for every platform but due to work I just can't commit that much time to so many games anymore. However, what I have done is decided that I will only buy game if I'm certain I will enjoy it (via the help of our Giantbomb friends) and won't buy any other games until I'm done with it.

If a 50hr game takes me 2 months to complete, then so be it. At that point I will look back to see if I've missed any games that interest me, pick it up cheaper than launch price and then benefit from the updates, etc.

I bought CoD last year and enjoyed it a lot, but I have no interest what so ever in spending any more money on Battle Passes, etc. Once I feel like I've done with a game I just move on.

I feel somewhat similarly. I still play games, but of late (last six months, say) it has mostly been things like Tetris 99 or Slay the Spire that only occupy a small part of my brain while I watch TV/YouTube and listen to podcasts. I haven’t had as much interest in the latest AAA games. They take up too much commitment in my life. I don’t want to devote 30 hours to a game that requires my full attention, unless it’s something I really, really want to play like a Zelda. I was much more interested in gaming when I was feeling isolated, but now that I have an active social circle I don’t feel the urge as much.

Weirdly, I spend much more time reading/watching videos/reading podcasts about gaming than I do playing. I always have to follow the latest developments in the industry.

I can’t quite relate to the complaint that most games are political. Very few are, I think, and regardless I don’t mind if it’s not too ham-handed.

I'll read the full thread later, but I wanted to quickly talk about this.

It's less that the games themselves are political, but more the entire eco-system around them. Just look at your average developers/fans twitter pages. They're RELENTLESS

There are some great 10-20 hour games coming out these days, but they're sadly no longer coming from the AAA, magazine-cover, highlight of the year space. At least not most of the time. If you're looking for new video game experiences from the heavily advertised time sinks that the AAA industry produces, you're looking in the wrong place.

There are some exceptions, like modern Capcom, Arkane Studios, and CD Projekt Red, but sadly there aren't enough.

During my university years I stopped playing video/computer games for 6 years or so. I had too many activities to spend my time on. I only got back into gaming in my late 20's.

I've been focusing on genres that offer shorter campaigns, segmented progress, custom sessions, or on-and-off gameplay.

Strategy games for example. A session with a 4X game like Endless Space 2 will last me 20-30 hours or so. I can also make custom sessions in games like Anno 1800 or Transport Fever 2, that will last me 20-30 hours. It's a characteristic I really like about strategy games in general.

Racing games and sports games are good for "segmented progress". For example, I might complete a GT4 championship in 20-30 hours, or one season of Nascar or AOTennis. Then I go away to play some other games, and later return to do some other kind of championship or continue with the next stage in the Career.

I find sim-games quite good for on-and-off gameplay. Games like Euro Truck Simulator, Hunting Simulator, Bus Simulator, etc. I might do a 10 hour session then leave to play other games, then return to do another 10 hours or so. As with strategy games and sports games, these kind of games don't really have an end, so I don't feel stressed out about taking a break from them.

I also stick to certain genres where the games are typically only 10-20 hours long, like point-&-click games, platformers, and action games. I'm also warming up to rogue-likes finally.

So maybe you need to try out some new genres? something you haven't tried before?

One thing that annoys me with modern AAA games, is that they try fit too many gameplay elements into the games in order to make them last much longer, even indefinitely. A game can't "just" be an action game, ... unless it's something already established like Doom or Wolfenstein. Then there's NG+ and all that. Season Passes and endless DLCs don't really impact me, because I don't pay much attention to them and don't feel forced to buy them.

Yep. Leaving behind the "These are the games I'm interested in over the next couple of months. I need to try and make time to play all of them and if I don't I feel kind of bad for missing out on the hype." schedule was the biggest adjustment I had to make during the transition to old man what still likes the games. They don't have an expiration date and there's no penalty if it takes you a few months to finish one. Do what you like when you like.

I feel a lot of things you've stated above. While I haven't found a job I'm passionate about, I've been spending a lot of time finding it, or trying to reach there. When I'm not working, I'm practicing and engaging in things I like, such as graphic design, writing, and making music. To rest my eyes from staring at a screen for long, I tend to read, play with my dog, or spend time with friends (or even be a stranger at a cafe). All of that takes up most of my time; and while that leaves little for games, I'm find with that.

Sometimes I'll partition a little time for a small game, or whenever a FromSoft or Diablo game comes along, I'll play it. Games are fun, but investing time into activities that make me grow in strength and knowledge feels more rewarding. Plus I'm more interested in the economy and politics of games these days, as that stuff has a tendency to swing in wild directions.

I think anyone who has been gaming for 10-20+ years has a pretty good idea of what games they're genuinely interested in and which ones they may play simply out of FOMO. I'd say take a break and/or really focus on those several games a year that you feel really speak to you. And if you get tired of a game, put it down - you don't owe it to the game, yourself, or anyone else to be bored or frustrated. At most I usually put a lot of time into 1 AAA game a month. And only one at a time - trying to juggle 2-3 vast, open-world experiences is just too much.

I'm 41 and I would classify myself as someone that plays games.

Life changes, our interests change as we go...It's normal. There are times when I play games, and then periods of time where I don't play anything.

I find I spend more time watching people play games on the internet now then I do playing them, it's a good way to zone out.

Do what you makes you happy :)

All of this is halfway in between just acknowledging that interests have changed and blaming games for not being what they used to be that always feels vaguely frustrating to me. Even when recognizing at the same time that it's a lot of nostalgia influencing it.

Don't look at Twitter...problem solved.

I totally get it. When i look at the games i've played recently i'm talking about games like Brothers in Arms, Gabriel Knight 3, Tex Murphy, Crisis Core, Breath of Fire IV, Kelvin & The Infamous Machine, Obra Dinn, Inside and The Sexy Brutale. Definitly still some reasonably modern games sprinkled in there ,but all games that are completable.

But hey, everyone's different, and your demands for a fun game can change over time. There are still big flashy AAA games that look appealing to me. I still think Dota2 is among the best games ever created. But i'm not in that mode right now. Not every bookreader is willing to go through 1000-page tomes. Not every moviewatcher will also watch an 8-season series. If you fell in love with the games that all offered something fresh and ended after 10-40 hours, that's an entirely different kind of experience than hanging out with people online and hunting for the newest thing, knowing that there will always be a newest thing afterwards. If you enjoyed mastering the controls of a fast paced game, that's an entirely different experience than moving a story forwards by clicking objects and read text. It's very reasonable to like one thing and dislike the other thing.

As a "in my 40s" gamer I have seen some pretty big changes in what I play and how I play games over the years. There's bits I miss, bits I think I am better without but recently it's been something I have found an acceptance of. 20s me spent some many hours on a couch playing all sorts of multiplayer goodness, 40s me can't remember the last time anyone other than my partner played a game in the same room as me. 20s me would be all in on a AAA banner release and pick up any first person shooter that looked vaguely average or better. 40s me gets done in by the constant shooting in games but will happily while away hours tending to a digital farm, driving digital trailers across Europe or lose my mind trying to create dishes for demanding customers at my digital food truck.

Most of these changes came about naturally enough - peers get older and social time is spent out rather than in, people have kids, not having the most recent gen of consoles, the perpetual violence and horror on the news make some games leave a bad taste on the palette and such. I think my moving away from the mainstream a bit more has meant I've avoided a lots of the traps of monetisation and season passes etc. which is no bad thing.

I hope you find and settle into a gaming place that makes you feel better, it also sounds like work-wise and with the D&D stuff you've filled or are filling the gaps left by dropping off gaming nicely though. And if you can get overseas teaching that gets you away from the anxiety inducing shitstorm the UK seems to be thrusting upon itself go [clap] for [clap] it [clap]. As a teacher recently made redundant it's a nightmare in the adult learning sector. Were it not for commitments to supporting older members of the family here I'd be seriously looking to find a post further afield (although I have no idea where, everywhere seems up to their neck in it at the moment...)

I grew up similar to you. The reason I didn't get into D&D as a kid though, was because I was the only nerd in a town of about 800 people. I find myself on the opposite side of the spectrum though. There are a lot of games I want to play, but don't really have the time. I agree that there are so many games that want to monopolize your time, and all I can think is, "If Fortnite/Apex/etc. were out when I was 10, I would have never purchased other games." There are so many of those types of games, and part of me wishes I could get into one, so that I had one game to relax with, not spend money on other games, and be satisfied. I just can't though. I have to keep playing new things. I do tend to stick to single player games for the most part that I can play, enjoy and finish.

Yes, that's exactly what I've been doing too. I will play stuff for maybe an hour or two max per day, and often will not play anything for days at a time. I've been playing through older games mostly. As it turns out, Horizon: Zero Dawn is just as fun in 2020 as it was in 2017.

Everyone is different; and, thusly, everyone has interest that wax and wane in different ways. I game a lot less at 50, than I did at 40 or 30. It's all good and ist all valid. It is even okay to be someone who appreciates games, that doesn't game much anymore.

To everything (turn, turn, turn)
There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
And a time to every purpose, under heaven

A time to build up, a time to break down
A time to dance, a time to mourn
A time to cast away stones, a time to gather stones together

I feel like I felt like this the most when I tried to follow what other people thought were hot games. I think when you have more disposable income (vs. being a broke teenager) its easy to get sucked in when someone is very enthusiastic about something and you try to play it to discover why, and get that same enthusiasm. Then when you don't, its easy to be self critical and think you just don't love games anymore.

For me this peaked when I was maybe 28, I was buying so many games and just not getting into them because I was trying to follow the hot titles. Some games in that group I loved, like I think I picked up Hot Line Miami during that time and it was great. And I still play Xplane today and am super into it, but like I haven't touched 90% of the hours in those games just because I bounced off and thats ok.

I'm 31 now, and like now I have slightly more expenses for various reasons and I know myself better. Like instead of buying another "hot" game, I'm more likely to buy DLC for something I already love. The games I do buy, even when on sale, are ones I'm pretty sure I'll love, and as a result I'm much more enthusiastic now then when I was not being true to myself. I assumed then it was me just not liking games as much, but in reality I never loved games like Mordor even as a kid.

Honestly, take a break and see if you get pulled back. Happens to me every few years. I quit games like 15 years ago for awhile, but nowadays I play quite a bit (at 34).

Big games might want to monopolize your time, but just find other, shorter games to play. They don't have to be an escape, just another entertaining past time. Don't worry about being an official Gamer and just play what grabs your eye whenever you want.

I'm an adult with responsibilities. My solution is to not spend 33 hours on a game I'm not interested in, but to find something that I really want to spend my free hours with.

Edit: Meant to post @2:20 mark

Happy to hear you found something to be passionate about! That's great and I wish you boundless luck. Honestly take the break from gaming and come back if you feel that itch (e.g. a certain title releases). I wouldn't forever lock the door and throw away the key. Keeping that possibility open let's you gain a smidgen of intrigue for the future and almost makes you excited to see if something can pull you back in on hype alone.

It makes me wonder if Jeff and Vinny feel the same way, but they are kinda stuck because, well, it makes them money

Yeah, I agree everyone is different. And everyone (hopefully!) changes as life goes on. I'm actually almost the exact opposite - I only lightly dabbled in games (sometimes going years without gaming at all) up until I turned about 35 or so. Built myself a decent computer for work, heard about some cool sounding games on an anime podcast - and the next thing I knew gaming was my primary hobby. I've probably put more hours into games more since turning 40 than I did all the years before then.

I think sometimes passions grow and evolve differently than than their ecosystem, and you end up less connected. Or you don't change and the world does. And sometimes we just find a new thing to be interested in. It's all good - maybe you'll just be a dabbler from now on, or maybe a new game will relight your love for a genre or gaming as a whole. Or not. I wouldn't waste my time trying to force myself to do something just to hold onto the past. Enjoy your new passions and feel free to become a dirty casual. ;)

i'm 34, my interest has waxed and waned over the years. feeling pretty positive about video games at the moment though.

i don't know, it comes and goes. i'm in a good place in life, good job, good relationship, pretty happy. video games are a fun pastime, i don't place too much importance in them.

I’m going on 29, and while my interest hasn’t waned, I have found that my interest in most genres has.

I used to be big on platformers, party games, adventure games, puzzle games, basically everything but sports games growing up and until my mid 20’s.

These days though I’m pretty much exclusively playing RPGs, first person shooters, and fighting games. And due to how few full blown RPGs are being made now as opposed to literally everything having light RPG mechanics, this has lead to me playing and emulating a bunch of 5-25 year old games.

Due to the heavy streamlining of RPGs and the games as a service approach shooters, and even fighting games have adopted, I’m definitely buying less games then I used to. At this moment, I’m playing Baldurs Gate, SoulCalibur VI, and Overwatch in rotation weeknights after work. I played Modern Warfare for 3 months pretty heavily, but outside that, I’ve basically put no real amounts of time into anything new released in the last 2-3 years. Persona 5 was the last big new thing I finished and that was almost 4 years ago now.

Life comes at you fast or so the saying goes. Years ago, I used to feel bad about never finishing a game I bought, but not any more. I'm content with trying out a game to see what it's like, and maybe catch its game play on Twitch, or here on Giant Bomb.

As for my future with gaming, I see myself signing up for an Xbox game pass subscription to get a feel for the games being released, but beyond that, never actually buying another game at retail. Bottom line, I still like video games. It's always been a fun diversion for me and I've been at it since 1981!

Edit: Oh my God, it's been almost 40 years!

35 here.

I still play games a bunch. But I never got into the MMO thing much, and mostly do single player (or couch multiplayer). I used to play online FPS casually (e.g. TF2) but haven't touched that kind of thing for a long time (I tried Overwatch when it came out just because it was new and hyped...liked it fine but I just wouldn't feel compelled to play it in daily life). So a lot of the zeitgeist-y games recently are ones that I barely even touched.

I hear what OP is saying in "I don't really like what the modern gaming space has turned into", but IMHO one actually can avoid most of that noise. Maybe it's just the luddite in me but I do fine staying away from social media etc. and just playing games that interest me. It helps that I don't get too bothered about trying to "keep up"...the backlog is never-ending and I can always just pull something out that I meant to start (or finish) and enjoy. Recently that's been Celeste (some new stuff added since I had put that down). Next will probably be Persona 5. Game Pass for PC is also shaping up to be a neat way to dip into things. I guess my preference for more encapsulated games (vs. "games as a service" types) is making it easier for me to enjoy stuff in this way.

Of course everyone is in a different place. Unlike OP I do find myself with enough free time each week to feel like I play games "regularly". Though actually I did have a few months period where work got really busy and I pretty much didn't play anything aside from some timewasters on my phone. My brother, who has started raising children, has pretty much completely dropped gaming for the foreseeable future (and that's fine! though we still ensure to enjoy a few rounds of Smash during the holidays).

I'd say one big thing that changed for me was, now I can afford to buy all the games that I have time to play. Which is pretty sweet.

I think the worst thing you could do is force yourself to do something that you're not finding enjoyable. If it means leaving video games on the backburner for a while, that's what you should do. They won't go anywhere and chances are that something will eventually come along that piques your interest.

That part of getting older. We don't have enough time and what we enjoy just changes, that or it's just not a priority for you anymore. You will drive yourself crazy trying to fight that.

Personally I love the "games you can play with a podcast/youtube in the background." I actually feel it enhances both, and makes the ones where I turn off all the background noise and JUST play the game more special. Sometimes games and leisure start to mean different things as we age up. Sometimes I want something that's going to grab my engagement and not let up until I hit the "POWER" button, and sometimes I want something that's a few steps above a fidget spinner because I'm a chronically nervous person.

And yeah, nostalgia goggles are a helluva thing, and often what we're ACTUALLY pining for is a return to when we FELT simpler (these days I'm lucky if I have the time to get through Baldur's Gate 2's initial tutorial in one sitting, whereas I used to be able to just plunk down and play the game until my eyes got too dry). So we pine for the times more than the actual games, it's why everyone's "golden age" is a sliding scale upward chronologically. But the flaws were always there just like the politics were always there. Because all art is flawed and all art is political (and all art is dangerous).

I can't say I've ever taken a "real" break from gaming (obviously if I go on vacation or go camping or something, but I wouldn't call a week or two a 'real' break), but there have definitely been times where my desire to play has waned. And it sounds like you've found other stuff to be passionate about, but that's the great thing about games: they'll always be there if you ever want to come back. The desire to play games like you're a professional can sometimes be overwhelming, especially in the internet age (every time around GOTY I have to remind myself to hold back because I'm NOT being PAID to play), but you can always walk away. And you can always come back.

I'm 32 and I have 2 main problems. One is I keep buying games I don't actually have time to play (having a job, house, and 2 kids). I've made great progess the last couple months though and have cut way back. Some PSN sales have been so good though. Its like $10 here or $15 here, oh wait when am I ever going to have time for this. Second problem, like already mentioned, is the battle pass problem. If you like the game, its an amazing way to extend the life of your enjoyment with it........It just stops you from enjoying and finishing new games. I've put so many hours into Apex Legends and Rocket League that it has seriously hindered how many new games I played in 2019.

I'm 31 and I can deifinitely feel the fatique with games. I used to play all kinds of mediocre games just so I had something to play, but my patience is so thin now. A game really has to grip me in the first few hours. My gaming time has propably dropped by half in the last five years. Last year was the worst. I completed just a few games and nothing really kept my interest. This year is shaping up the same way, but at least there are games coming up I'm genuinly interested in.

I try to be cool with it. Like everyone else has already said, you can't fight it. Clinging on to what was and not living with what is just makes you an unhappy person.