2024 Was the Year the Bottom Fell Out of the Games Industry

Games with black protagonists and characters are derided as forced. Female characters considered unattractive or masculine suffer from “Deqin”. Dragon Age: Veiled Wardenswhich has been criticized by far-right trolls for its customization options that allow players to create characters with top surgical scars or play with non-binary companions. After the review was posted, conspiracy theorists seized on clichés or other language as evidence that BioWare Studios was coaching reviewers on how to talk about their games.

Even games that haven’t been released yet are under bombardment. forced play’ midnight in the southtells the story of a young black woman living in the Deep South, drawing the ire of the anti-DEI crowd on platforms like edited The heroine makes her seem less “disgusting” and raises conspiracy theories about Sugar Babies’ influence on the game’s development.

But the pressure to remain apolitical—an agenda for a fun entertainment form that combines artistic preferences for narrative and imaginative worlds with agency given to the players who inhabit them—comes not just from a vocal few. after release Black Myth: Wukongsome ribbons are give instructions Avoid talking about Covid-19 or “feminist propaganda”. The guidelines had the opposite effect, encouraging streamers to use the very codeword they were banned from: pushing standards designed to actually censor players.

Looking to the future Ball said he’s generally hearing more pessimism about 2025, but “it’s terrible to think about, let alone predict.” If there’s one upside, he said, it’s that “recruiting numbers are higher than generally thought.” Much more.” The downside is that it barely compensates for the overall performance, especially in an indie game.

2024 is coming to an end and, from the outside, the industry is operating with a business-as-usual mentality. In early December, developers gathered in Los Angeles to celebrate The Game Awards. On stage, host Geoff Keighley gave brief remarks amid game announcements, honors and a performance by Snoop Dogg.

“The sad reality is that over the past few years, the gaming industry has suffered massive, unprecedented industry-wide layoffs,” Keighley said. “These impact the games we play and, more importantly, the people who make the games we love. We can debate and certainly disagree as to why, and honestly, as a show, we are in a position to be constructive about how Difficulties were encountered in addressing these topics.

Keighley used the segment to introduce the TGA’s first-ever Game Changer Awards, recognizing individuals who have made a positive impact on the industry. The show then continues with announcements about major projects dominating the headlines, e.g. The Witcher 4 and next title the last of us Developer Naughty Dog.

In the midst of it all, there exists the specter of artificial intelligence. Not much is known yet about how much artificial intelligence will continue to develop and how future games might use it, but it’s a growing concern As rank and file workers were laid off. No one knows when or if the industry will rebound with sustainable employment and wages. Yes, there will be games to play. It’s hard to say how many people could make them.