It’s 2025. 

Aside from the insane anticipation and non-stop talk surrounding Grand Theft Auto 6 — which has now been pushed all the way back to next summer — there isn’t that much going on in gaming. 

In a weird way, GTA 6 has sort of become the last hope. It’s the thing that people are desperately clinging onto to revive gaming whether it is console vs pc gaming and make it feel like the good ol’ days, where a new game would drop and everyone would be playing it. And because it’s been so long since a game of this magnitude has been released, it’s fair to say the weight of the entire industry is on Rockstar’s shoulders. 

Gaming’s Big Ten-Year Shift 

So, what exactly is going on with video games?

The truth is that it’s not all bad. 

Sure, the past decade has seen a bunch of negative trends take over the industry — which we’ll discuss soon — but there have also been some good changes, too. 

There’s been the recent rise of social gaming sites, like the sweepstakes casinos listed on sweepstake-casinos.com. Essentially, what these sites allow Gen Z, Millennial, and new generation players to do is interact with each other, climb leaderboards, and even win rewards like gift cards if they collect enough “Sweeps Coins”. It’s even led to sites like Stake.us and WOW Vegas attracting millions of users, with legendary rapper Drake signing a $100 million-per-deal with Stake to promote them. 

At the same time, we’ve also seen an epic rise in cross-platform play. It’s now much easier than it was 10 years ago to play against people from other platforms, which has been great to experience (after all, gamers had been demanding cross-platform compatibility for years). Apex Legends, Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0, and Fortnite have all helped push the cross-platform trend forward, making gaming more connected than perhaps it’s ever been. 

But that’s where the good news ends. 

When you take a step back and look at the gaming industry over the past 10 years, it’s ultimately taken a step back. 

We’ve gone from getting incredible AAA games every year to an industry where console sales have slumped and the entire business model has become heavily reliant on remakes, remasters, and microtransactions. As you might expect, gamers aren’t too happy about it, either. 

Let’s unpack everything. 

“Remake” and “Remaster” Saturation 

The biggest complaint that people have voiced about gaming over the past decade has been — yep, you guessed it — too many remakes and remasters. 

It’s become something of an ongoing joke on social media, with almost all major new releases being nothing more than remakes of what came before (or, if not remakes, then sequels).

Ironically, though, this is something that gamers had been demanding for years (“we want to play the old classics again”) but it’s ended up backfiring for everyone. The remakes — Final Fantasy VII (2020),  Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 (2020), Resident Evil 4 (2023) —  — aren’t as good as the originals and it’s caused a huge overreliance on nostalgia to the point where modern developers can’t seem to think of any new ideas.

Plus, it gets even worse when you realize that there seems to be no end in sight for remake saturation, with plenty more remakes and remasters scheduled to come both this year and next. Ultimately, it’s an issue that needs to be fixed fast before it’s too late — as gamers can’t take anymore remakes. 

Overpriced Games 

Have you noticed that games are much more expensive than they used to be? 

Sadly, it’s not your imagination but pure reality. 

When big titles used to drop back in the heyday of gaming — we’re talking 2007 to 2014 — they used to average at around $35. For what you were getting, it was a great deal. Now, though, new games are reaching as high as $80 and the juice simply isn’t worth the squeeze. Games are worse yet the price is three times higher, so there’s no wonder why so many people are complaining. 

The recent announcement of Nintendo’s upcoming Switch 2 really put the nail in the coffin. Aside from the fact that it’s going to launch at $449 (something that Nintendo fans were raging about) the Switch 2 games themselves are expected to retail at around $80 each, which is absolutely insane to think about. This has even got some people predicting that the Switch 2 could flop in sales if Nintendo doesn’t adjust its prices, as the average gamer simply can’t afford such high costs anymore. 

And because video games have gotten so expensive, it’s led to huge waves of gamers switching to mobile. On iOS and Android, games are significantly cheaper — often free-to-play — and don’t require any extensive downloads. This is why mobile gaming has exploded since 2014, as it’s technically the only budget-friendly option. However, even though there’s nothing wrong with mobile as a platform for gaming, it’s led to our next problem — too many microtransactions. 

Too Many Microtransactions

Because the majority of popular mobile games are free-to-play, developers have become too reliant on microtransactions — in-game purchases — as a way to make a profit. 

Sure, there’s nothing wrong with this when you’re ultimately providing people with free games. But the issue arises when you realize that a microtransaction culture is causing a serious decline in the overall quality of games, not just on mobile but on console and PC, as well. 

Make no doubt about it, microtransactions are damaging gaming. When developers are more focused on how they can attract players to keep making in-game purchases instead of providing them with actual good gameplay, you have a major problem on your hands — and we’re already starting to see microtransaction fatigue impact the wider industry. 

Terrible Launches

Video game launches used to be movie-like. 

People would camp outside GameStop overnight just to get their hands on a fresh copy of whatever popular game was being released, whether it was Call of Duty: Black Ops or GTA V. You simply couldn’t beat the hype that surrounded these types of releases and the marketing campaigns behind them. 

Today, though, all we seem to get are terrible launches. 

Unfinished games, release date pushbacks, and bug-ridden updates are all serious problems that have become all too common in the industry. Remember when Cyberpunk 2077 was released in a completely broken state? Or Battlefield 2042 and its non-stop problems during the first few weeks of hitting the market? These were big releases from huge companies — yet they were more than happy enough to release them uncompleted. 

It’s a major industry problem. 

A Lack of Creativity – Where Are the New Games? 

A key ingredient missing from most new games is creativity. 

Simply put, today’s games aren’t that creative, from the storylines to the characters themselves. 

This isn’t that much of a problem with indie games, as most of them still have that creative spark. The lack of creativity is more of an AAA problem — and it’s gotten out of control. 

The likes of Ubisoft and EA are largely responsible for this. Their main priority is seemingly profit, while creativity takes a backseat. It’s sad to see, too, as remakes and microtransactions shouldn’t be taking priority over providing people with genuinely fun and creative video games, like the ones we were getting back in the early 2010s. 

Check social media or Reddit: gamers want releases to be creative again. And considering how expensive games are now, they’re not asking for much. But with countless shareholders demanding profit over anything else, the return of creativity to gaming might still be a long way away. 

What’s Next for Gaming 

It will be interesting to watch the gaming industry over the next few years. 

One thing for sure is that gamers are reaching a breaking point. 

What do they want? 

Making games affordable again would be a great start. 

At the same time, there needs to be a shift away from microtransaction culture. Instead, games should become about the gameplay again — not how much money they can rinse out of people. 

Also, developers need to leave remake culture behind. We’ve been getting remakes and remasters for over 5 years now and they’re simply not working. Sure, some people might get a short boost of nostalgia, but that’s where it ends — we need to start getting new and creative game franchises instead. 

A lot of this will ride on the success of Grand Theft Auto 6. If GTA 6 smashes sales records and introduces groundbreaking gameplay, then it might just push other companies to go all-out and start getting creative again. For now, at least, it’s the best we can hope for. 

While you’re here, make sure to check out our article on the 15 surprising benefits of online games, and follow us on Google News, Twitter, and Facebook for more gaming updates.