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AAA games have been responsible for many of the best gaming moments of my life. However, the direction the game industry is taking them has led me to believe that AAA games aren’t for me anymore. Here’s why…
1Release Now, Patch Later Mentality
Publishers are increasingly releasing AAA games with known problems. The intention is to fix bugs through post-launch patches, leading to a patch culture.
While no game is without glitches, some bugs can cause a lot of frustration. Examples include frame drops, quests not loading, and frequent crashes. For multiplayer games, there can be server issues like matchmaking, connectivity, and latency problems.
The mentality of releasing now and patching later might help publishers meet their quarterly sales projections. However, the frustration of being stuck with an unfinished and buggy game at launch is making the AAA industry look bad in the eyes of many players, especially considering the price of these games.
2Profits Over Gameplay Experience
A game can launch broken, but do you know what always seem to work perfectly? Microtransactions and the in-game store.
If publishers aren’t milking you through microtransactions, they are selling you multiple editions of the same game. You have the Standard Edition, Digital Deluxe Edition, and Ultimate Edition. Each subsequent edition is more expensive and adds bits of the experience that should have been available once you purchased the game for $70.
If that’s not frustrating enough,EA is considering adding ads to full-priced games. Furthermore, TakeTwo is considering challenging the $70 price tag due to GTA 6 having more content than your average game and being more expensive to make. All this has left me feeling like these game companies see me as nothing more than a wallet.
3Chasing the Live Service Trend
Live service games are endlessly monetizable, and with the massive success of titles like Fortnite, Genshin Impact, and Destiny 2, many AAA studios want in. I am a huge fan of single-player games and am disappointed that several studios known for delivering great single-player experiences are chasing the trend.
Other than being filled with pay-to-win orgacha game mechanics, live service games require a massive time investment. They simply turn gameplay into a chore or a second job. So, if more live service games are what the AAA game industry wants to give us, I’m not here for it.
4Reliance on Internet Connection
I understand that some games, such as MMOs,battle royales, and certain multiplayer games, require a constant internet connection. For example, features like persistent worlds, matchmaking, and social elements need this connectivity to work properly.
However, do games with single-player elements, such as Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League or Diablo 4, need it? Furthermore, why do I have to connect to the internet at least once to download content for offline play when I purchase the disc version of a game like CoD games and Hogwarts Legacy?
This reliance on the internet is troubling because ifservers shut down, I will lose access to the game. Furthermore, the game can be unplayable if I’m somewhere with shoddy or no internet connection. Not to mention the online privacy and security issues this raises.
That’s why, when I see a single-player game that requires an internet connection these days, I avoid it.
5Lack of Risk-Taking and Innovation
With AAA games becoming more complex, leading to extended development time and massive budgets, publishers are playing it safe. The problem is that, as publishers become more risk-averse, players are getting a lot of cookie-cutter gameplay and franchises are being milked to death.
I am tired of clearing dozens of enemy camps in single-player games or seeing combat systems that are interchangeable with similar games that were released five years ago. I am also tired of sequels, remasters, remakes, and reboots.
It has reached the point that if I don’t buy another AAA game now and stick to older titles, I am not missing much. Only the graphics seem to be improving while the gameplay experience remains largely the same.
6Mass Layoffs and Studio Closures
At the time of writing, the game industry has laid off over 10,000 employees in 2024,according to a report by Obsidian. And if the layoffs weren’t bad enough, Microsoft shocked us more by shutting down Tango Gameworks, Arkane Austin, and Alpha Dog Games.
The layoffs and closures signal that the AAA gaming industry is in trouble. And it is hard for me to root for it to succeed when major studios are sacrificing talent and creativity to cut costs.
The AAA game industry might turn things around and reignite my passion for these games. But in the meantime, I have amassive game backlog to clearand won’t be buying new AAA games anytime soon.
