Video Game Market Analysis Thread

One plot mechanic could be a Stranger Than Fiction/Free Guy type thing, where the main character starts noticing weird things going on, and eventually realizes their life is being controlled by someone else. Then you have lots of options where to take that setup. Will they try to escape the videogame? Will they try to contact whoever is controlling them? Will they realize they live in a world with no actual rules? Etc.

Another direction is the Last Action Hero approach, where a Sims player falls into the world of the game, and have the full knowledge that he’s in a game but no one around him does. Will he try to get back home? Will he try to let everyone know they’re in a game? Will he come to a crushing realization that all the screwed up things he’s done to his game world actually had lasting consequences for seemingly real people?

There’s tonnes of places they can take it. Just look at the Barbie movie for an example of what creative people can do with a very basic premise.

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Oh I knew they were popular, just not to this extent

https://twitter.com/MatPiscatella/status/1776274700337078410

It’s funny how some people in the comments are straight on denial about the data because it goes against their narratives.

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https://x.com/chris_dring/status/1777303744390013403?s=46&t=jjXxOoE4yWMd4fG6_-MQMQ

https://x.com/deeketweak/status/1780979295315243326?s=46&t=jjXxOoE4yWMd4fG6_-MQMQ

https://x.com/deeketweak/status/1780979595597979699?s=46&t=jjXxOoE4yWMd4fG6_-MQMQ

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This is the dumbest pie chart I’ve ever seen.

Makes me happy to see Grounded on that list.

I also forget how big Overwatch is, it just quietly does its thing

I always find it funny when I see people saying how dead Overwatch 2 is lol, couldn’t be any more further from the truth!

Update:

https://twitter.com/DeekeTweak/status/1781473566183030916?t=Qc23sPII9AJCEETIjQe6aQ&s=19

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How odd to qualify that MS has a F2P game when Sony’s Destiny is also F2P. Is that not worth mentioning too?

Same Energy.

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Yes you’ve got a point there!

I find it interesting that Microsoft own all their studios in this list, whereas Sony doesn’t own Arrowhead, Shift Up or Team Ninja!

It really shows how the tables have turned in recent years.

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https://x.com/welfare_jbp/status/1787245152571994438?s=46

Hopefully things get better with Hellblade 2 and the Summer Games showing, I feel like numbers should be higher considering what’s on offer imo.

They (the numbers) won’t be better.

Xbox needed a game like Helldivers 2, not Hellblade 2, in order to give itself a serious boost.

By & large though none of this really matters because what’s really going on is very simple: the console market (& associated demographics) are stagnating ergo it’s the brand with the smallest install base (Xbox) which feels the pinch first.

But this will happen to Sony down the line as well. Console players are simply getting older, aka there’s a lack of renewal. This is not something anyone can actually ‘fix’ because it relates to societal trends & not the gaming market per se.

A bit like movie theaters, i.e. no matter how much fans of the movie theater experience shout “go to the movies!”, it doesn’t work. It’s the same with consoles.

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I still think its not just 1 game, but multiple. For example, Palworld went viral, but I don’t think it impacted sales much.

Also, its deeper than the games itself because look how well received Sea of Thieves is on Playstation and that game has been a good state on xbox/pc for years.

Xbox’s best route forward is to go more PC like with the console

Even Sony is going to run into the problem of consoles declining, I mean they already are just not as fast as Xbox

Gen Z and beyond don’t want these things when mobiles are getting stronger, PC getting all games now anyway and the biggest games are everywhere

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If one company can figure it out it’s definitely MS. If they can keep all of the games backwards compatible through some layer and add all PC game compatibility at the same time and also become competitive in the PC handheld space, honestly if it fails at that point it’s definitely not on them as they would have the hardware, the ecosystem and the games. By then if they can’t sell its definitely a problem with the user base more than anything.

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I think Gamepass creates an insulated environment for viral stuff on Xbox. I need to workshop that theory lmao but I’m cooking.

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https://x.com/matpiscatella/status/1787495524670804358?s=46&t=jjXxOoE4yWMd4fG6_-MQMQ

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