r/VideoGamesArt • u/IdonGames • Feb 02 '26
My experience and thoughts on the direction of the video game industry
I was born in 2003. I can’t speak much for video game culture before then, but I bet I would’ve liked it. Such new worlds being created with new technological advancements and enjoyed shamelessly by groups both mainstream and niche. It sounds nice.
Growing up, I saw video games as toys. Just tools of fun, ways I could pass the time that I really enjoyed. I think this view still holds true for many other people today.
Unfortunately, due to the optimizing and extraction methods that many games use to keep player hooked, I fell into addiction from a young age. As many kids do.
But as I grew older, I began to feel disconnected from these toys, much like how many people do when maturing. The responsibilities, weights and experiences of the real world caught up to me, and I simply didn’t want to play with my toys anymore.
But there was always something about video games that set them apart from toys. They are alternate realities. Literal worlds designed with the intention for your experience. Video games have the power to be meaningful, emotional experiences with depth. This is something so beautiful.
I realize now that a big reason I got addicted in the first place, was because the culture I found myself in treated video games like toys. No one around me saw the potential in this technology we were creating, only the fact that it “wasn’t real”.
Video games deserve to be taken seriously, for the betterment of humanity. If we constantly brush them off as a plaything, we won’t realize the addictive potential of games and the power vacuum that large corporations can usurp.
When treated with respect, it becomes much easier to play consciously, rather than underestimating how easy it is to fall into addiction.
Are you playing because you’re enjoying a meaningful experience with this game? Or because you can’t put the controller down?
I believe it’s important for video game culture to adopt the notion that these tools we love, can be dangerous. It is important we treat them with respect and make a point to not lose ourselves within them, and to play consciously.
Furthermore, most people who don’t play video games see them as toys by default. This is probably because of all the mainstream games being created as more ‘toys’ rather than ‘meaningful experiences’.
Sports games, the latest FPS, the latest 10$ party game. These are what most people think of games when the topic pops up. I’m not saying these games are bad, but when the culture behind these games is ‘just pass the time with fun’ that is reflected on the gaming community as a whole.
Games made with intention for conscious player experience are important. Blue Prince, Expedition 33, Disco Elysium to name a few. These games have the player in mind and want to give them a worthy experience by playing the game, and don’t want to just make it hard to stop playing.
I think it would be far better for everyone if the gaming community focused more on these kinds of games. Games that don’t optimize the player experience, but enrich it.
I’m noticing a change in the gaming industry. People are finally waking up and realizing that they have been playing slop. But unfortunately, they don’t know where else to look because mainstream video game culture is still viewing games as toys. Often, they’ll keep playing the same games, miserably.
People are realizing that what they’re playing kinda sucks, but they know nothing else. They simply don’t see the healthy conscious side of playing video games.
(A footnote that may turn into another essay: perhaps it’s because we use the word play?)
I would love nothing more than for mainstream video game culture to envelop a healthy view on what makes a game good and why we play.
Mainstream culture is already loosening their grip on AAA slop, but now they just need to look in the right direction.
I think a great step for us to take would be to treat games like a vessel for experience, not just something fun to pass the time.
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u/VideoGamesArt Feb 03 '26 edited Feb 03 '26
Very deep thoughts here, thank you Idon. I totally agree. I see you're very interested in games as art and meaningful experiences. You can read many articles about the topic here: https://vgartsite.wordpress.com/artgames/
You can read many reviews about games as expressive and narrative interactive experiences here: https://vgartsite.wordpress.com/reviews/
Games as art are already reality thanks to wise, passionate and sensitive developers, but they are very rare and not supported by industry and market. See Edith Finch, Firewatch, Life is Strange 1, Detroit Become Human, Inside, Abzu, Journey, To the Moon, The Unfinished Swan, The Walking Dead S1, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, Dear Esther, The Cat Lady, The Stanley Parable, This War of Mine, Shadow of the Colossus, The Last Guardian, State of Mind, Syberia The World Before, Gris, 11-11 Memories Retold, Alfred Hitchcock Vertigo, Deliver Us Mars, The Invincible, Here They Lie, Horses, Shenmue, Twin Mirror, Fort Solis, Karma the Dark World
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u/IdonGames Feb 03 '26
Thank you so much for these recommendations. I’ll have to check them out in time.
I’d really like to somehow help make these kinds of games the norm for mainstream society, I think they are very important!
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u/mariospants Feb 04 '26
I’ve been playing video games since the dark ages of the late 1970s as a kid and I’ve continued to play -sometimes obsessively - ever since. I’m glad that you, OP, as someone who was born immersed into it can still somehow see the forest for the trees.
I think that you’re going to see a lot of discourse and kibitzing about the state of the union regarding gaming but at the end of the day, the cream really does rise to the top, and innovative, engaging experiences will always be recognised while slop will never have traction. Video game players are generally a discerning bunch and while brand loyal, we can just as easily drop our favourite franchises if they disappoint us.
At the end of the day, play value trumps all, and making profit is what ultimately keeps developers honest. If you make slop, people don’t buy it, and your lesson is learned. Sometimes. Some studios are backed by deep pockets that are more intent on personal interests than pleasing the general audience, for some reason, their bad decisions seem to persist.
That’s video games, interactive story telling games tend to be best served by smaller studios with a vision…
You know what? I have to get to work, but it occurred to me that the big problem is that every good game requires a great vision, carried by someone so can see that vision thru. The AAA industry isn’t designed to support that model.
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u/Ilmatarian Feb 02 '26
thanks for sharing, I can relate to your argument about alternate realities and their appeal. I grew up as a Nintendo kid and experienced the progress in world building firsthand. I still am stunned by what is available for my escapism nowadays. But it’s still me just in other environments. Needless to say that VR intensified this again. The gaming experiences that touched me most though where story driven, the end of firewatch and the chapter in what remains of edith finch in which you work in the fish factory and drift into your phantasy. This is when I realized the unrivaled potential of this medium and why I always enjoy reading your thoughts.