Here's a hot take for you: The gaming industry is in the toilet!

Yeah, I'm not about to tell you anything that you also haven't thought about recently. But I've really been shaken up this past week, and a word vomit post is my only way to really process it. The consolidation and layoff train has been rolling for years by now, but the last straw for me was Xbox's closure of Arkane Austin and Tango Gameworks. I will freely admit, I'm not as savvy a consumer as I thought. I was drawn in by Xbox's honeysuckle words. I liked Game Pass a lot, and I was grateful that acquiring studios like Double Fine gave small teams financial security. And, by acting in such a disruptive way, Xbox convinced me they had a strategy. Turns out, none of that was true.

Needless to say, Xbox's carefully crafted image was vaporized instantaneously. Oh, they've shown lots of interesting-looking games in their summer showcases. Then, those titles disappear for years on end. At this point, how is anyone supposed to feel confident that the studios slaving away on those products won't be shuttered once the games don't reach an arbitrary target performance? I couldn't really get into Hi-Fi Rush, myself, but I was a big fan of everything it represented. To see people that created such a widely-beloved, award-winning thing go down for points on a balance sheet is maddening. This is happening everywhere. Take a look at this Wikipedia page and see how many human lives were swept over in just the first five months of 2024. It isn't stopping. I was crushed when Mimimi closed last year, but at least they went out on their own terms. If they were part of Embracer or something, all those people would have been thrown to the wolves.

All of this is giving me a serious case of burnout. If I can't follow Xbox anymore, what about the others? PlayStation does the same shit. They closed Japan Studio and tripled down on games that increasingly fall into the same few categories. Before Xbox blew itself up, everyone was focused on how unsustainable PlayStation was, too. And who even knows what's happening with Nintendo? Neat, there's a new console in the next year. But that itself isn't enough for me. Once the Steam Deck enters your life, the Switch kinda becomes obsolete aside from Nintendo's own games. Sure, I will want to play a Pikmin 5 et al. But that software library will have to reach a critical mass before I consider buying yet another new gadget.

On top of that, my feelings have been shaped by what I'm currently playing. Continuing on from last time, I'm still going through Grand Theft Auto IV. I switched over to the "modern" controls, which are a lot better. Even still, it's impossible to not feel the game's age when playing.

As I said last time, this playthrough is driven mostly by historical curiosity. I'm also in the minority of players who goes through the missions and leaves it at that. The more I play, though, the more the design wears on me. The handful of memorable levels are hidden in a sea of cruft. And in the base game, there are no mid-mission checkpoints. Now that I'm nearing the end and the challenge is really ramping up, I find myself getting increasingly angry every time I fail. It doesn't even seem like I'm having fun anymore, it's just an obligation.

That got me thinking deeper about GTA's place in all of this. 4 was a cutting-edge masterpiece when it came out, the result of millions of man-hours and dollars all squeezed on a disc. But now, all that work feels pretty dated. Despite all the pain workers are dealing with now, the cycle is only going to repeat as time goes on. It's just not worth it. All of this is to say, I am not currently looking forward to Grand Theft Auto VI. The well has been poisoned for me.

My YouTube algorithm recommended this video to me from a channel I had never heard of walking through the history of Rockstar. It's pretty entertaining, but the way he concluded left me scratching my head.

Basically, he talks about how modern gaming is a dump of microtransactions and upselling that has ruined a lot of the fun of this hobby. So far, I'm with you. But then he props up Rockstar as an exception to this rule and the last bastion of purity in this industry. What the fuck are you talking about? I don't touch the online, so correct me if I'm wrong. But is Rockstar's current model not sustained on the back of GTA whales? Do they not operate a separate subscription service for all the digital garbage they sell you? Is their unprecedented success with this model not indirectly responsible for its adoption by the industry at large?

More recently, Rockstar's parent company Take-Two shut down Roll7 and Intercept Games. I don't blame you if you forgot. I know it was like three controversies ago, but it's less than a month old! OlliOlli World or Hi-Fi Rush, it's the same thing - that money is getting funneled to GTA and Call of Duty. I can't do this anymore. Hopefully, indie teams know to stay away from the suits by now.

Do you know what released not too long after GTA 4? A little game called Bastion. Just seven people made it. If you play it now, though, you will still appreciate the tight controls, gorgeous art, haunting music, and creative worldbuilding. Over a decade later, all seven people are still at Supergiant, which is now 25 people strong. They are independent. They are also working on one of the most anticipated titles in gaming, Hades II.

If there is a cure for this burnout, it will be through Hades II. Every single time, I am stunned by what Supergiant is able to accomplish at their scale. This game is no different, and it has already proved to be a worthy sequel. Aside from a few temporary art assets, I would hardly know it's in early access. The action is as fun as ever, but so much thought has been put into how to improve on "the loop." I'm seeing something new almost every run, and it's magical. The writing and voice acting are arresting, too. I can't wait to keep learning more about these characters. I don't hop into early access... well, ever, but I had to make an exception for Hades II. I haven't been genuinely thrilled about a game to this level in a long time.

Because of all that, I'm making the choice to step away from big-budget games for the time being. I'll check out the indie showcases next month to see if there's anything for the wishlist, but I'm detaching myself from the marketing machine. I'm not going to sit here and watch the industry burn. I'm going to look for the small rays of hope instead. Maybe I'll even go outside once in a while.