Depending on what you actually count as a “video game” the industry is now generating somewhere between 200 and 350 billion dollars a year in annual revenue, making it by far the largest entertainment sector in the world regardless of whatever your exact definitions may be.
More people are playing video games than ever before, they are playing them for longer, and (the not so secret reality is that) video game companies have gotten a lot better at getting money out of them while they are.
Over what should have been the best half decade in the history of the industry, the overall market is down by as much as 30% from its peak, in the same time that the broader market has more than doubled.
Sooo how is it possible that even with record sales, record new revenue streams, record numbers of new players, and record new opportunities to monetize that new audience… video game companies have still managed to screw this up so badly?
More and more people are saying the solution:
We need more better alternatives to what we currently have
More worker-owned unionized game studios that make spiritual successor games to what the big publishers make (To gradually replace them. AC is only thing keeping Ubisoft afloat. A spiritual successor that is better than it with mod support would make Ubisoft tumble fully)
More worker-owned companies that champion physical media, same for worker-owned companies that champion digital ownership for all industries, even videogames
A few more videogame hardware components, and hardware manufacturers to compete with each other. To fight for our money and actually have to innovate
Those are what will help game industry. Oh and supporting Indies, and AA games of course.
Everyone let’s keeping building those new options up and supporting any good alternatives that already exist too.
“Different parts of industry head honchos need to be replaced by way better ones”