The video game industry in the West faces a discouraging landscape, with over 45,000 layoffs since the COVID pandemic in 2022. This phenomenon reflects the difficulty that studios and publishers face in adapting to rising production costs and the changing priorities of players. According to Meghan Morgan Juinio, former product development director at Santa Monica Studios, companies like EA and Ubisoft may need to rethink their approach and develop smaller-scale games with more accessible budgets.
We are heading towards a new paradigm of video games
In a recent interview at the Gamescom Asia x Thailand Games Show, Juinio emphasized that the most crucial aspect of a video game is its ability to entertain. “If a game is not fun, it is not worth the investment, whether it’s two million or 500 million dollars,” he stated. Despite the high expenses on graphics and music, fun must be the core of the player experience.
The growth of low-budget games, such as Clair Obscur and Peak, demonstrates that small developers can create viral hits, which calls into question the effectiveness of large publishers in producing titles that truly capture players’ attention. Juinio emphasized that, although iconic games like God of War will not disappear, we will see an increase in the development of smaller-scale titles by large companies, adapting to a more sustainable model.
As the demographics of players transform, with a large portion of them being adults over 35 years old, the challenges for games to reach a broad audience are evident. “We need to focus on building solid games that are truly fun to play,” concluded Juinio, pointing towards a future that could include fewer big-budget games but more accessible and appealing to a diverse audience.
