Contrary to the development of the game industry. However, it seems that the Xbox One is backward compared to the era. The game industry i...
Contrary to the development of the game industry. However, it seems that the Xbox One is backward compared to the era.
The game industry is growing. It is gradually gaining ground and changing the stereotypes of many people. In parallel with the rapid development of technology, gaming systems have also made significant progress. However, there is a paradox: why do modern consoles (such as Xbox One) seem to have a game library less than their predecessors?
Let's first glimpse the number of users through the Xbox lifetime (data from Wikipedia):
Original Xbox: 1047
Xbox 360: 2104
Xbox One: 2089
From the above figures, it is easy to see that the Xbox One has nearly the same number of users as the Xbox 360. And perhaps, the day when Xbox One surpasses its senior will not be far away. However, the number of games available on newer systems is less than the seniors themselves, despite having the same company.
The first reason to mention is marketing. Currently, besides refining their products. Big and well-known game production companies often hit hard on the marketing market. They think that promoting the image is the key to deciding whether the game is successful or not. Therefore, we can see that games like Assassin’s Creed or Call of Duty were born that dominated the entire advertising market. Small games developed by less reputable studios are not often mentioned. And that makes us feel like the current game just surrounds some good names that appear before us.
Second, it seems unfair to compare something that has completely developed with something that is still in development. As the data has been posted at the beginning of the article, the Xbox One currently has a nearly as many users as the Xbox 360, and has yet to see a stop sign. Along with that, the Xbox One era will definitely be long, and game makers will increase the richness in its game library.
The fact that mid-range titles are losing ground has also partly affected the current market. Since the PS2 era, we have witnessed a big drop in mid-range titles. Categories such as survival horror, JRPG and RTS games have reduced the popularity and number of games produced. The end result is fewer indie games produced. Game-making companies are also gradually turning themselves into popular genres rather than risking small games.
With the promotion of blockbuster game production. Game companies will have to push up the cost and time to put in a single product, instead of dividing it equally into 2 or 3. Take the example of Rockstar console games over the seasons to check. proof:
- Generation 6: GTA 3, Vice City and San Andreas, 3 Midnight club games, 2 Manhunt games, 2 Max Payne games, 2 Smugglers Run games, Surfing H3O, Oni, State of Emergency, Bully, Red Dead Revolver, The Warriors and The Italian Job. Total: 19.
-Generation 7: GTA 4 (and 2 DLC's), GTA 5 (and GTA Online), Red Dead Redemption (and 1 DLC), Midnight Club LA, Rockstar Presentation Table Tennis, LA Noir and Max Payne 3. Total: 7 games + 3 DLC.
-Generation 8: Red Dead Redemption 2 (GTA V was a port). Total: 1 game.
We can easily see that major manufacturers (eg Rockstar) are reducing the number of products annually. It can be said, they are focusing on quality over quantity. In recent 2 generation consoles, Ubisoft usually releases more than 20 games per year. Now they average less than half of that, similar to EA. This has contributed to the increasing number of games on modern systems. But don't worry, this means you will be able to play super-cool AAA titles that you've never seen in your life.
Mr. Amateur
