The video game industry is at a crossroads.

I was listening to All Things Considered where they touched on video games and it made me more aware of the trends I have been seeing lately. Game development has become both extremely accessible and, for the biggest games, extremely expensive.

AAA games costs upwards of $500 million+ and take years to develop. Grand Theft Auto 6 (set to launch in October) has been in development for 13 years! 🤯 And because it’s unclear what might be a success, there are lots of sequels with familiar IP (hence, GTA6). Sinking in $500M & 5-7 years of dev time and having a flop can be the death knell for a company.

On the other side, indie devs are having a heyday - some of the most popular games come from them. They can be more agile, creative, and risky AND they can churn out games at a faster clip - giving them more opportunities to succeed. Some gamers also feel like AAA games can be overproduced and lack the ‘feel’ of a video game that these indie devs can capture.

It has a lot of similarities to the existential crisis the movie industry has found itself in recently with the rise of streaming, lack of theater traffic, and more smaller filmmakers.

AI is also making its presence felt - code can be spun up faster, games can be personalized feel more like a virtual world, and loads of different ideas can be generated. It’s polarizing, but here to stay.

THE STAR OF THE MINECRAFT MOVIE DOESN’T LET HIS KIDS PLAY VIDEO GAMES?!

Jason Momoa made waves on the red carpet recently:

I work in video games but I see his point. Momoa and I are around the same age - we grew up before the inflection point of technology fully embedded in our lives and I think we want that kind of childhood for our kids.

When I think about spending time with my kids, I don’t immediately go to video games. In fact, sometimes we go weeks without playing. They maybe get an hour of gaming in on average a week (and it’s mostly Minecraft 😅 )

There are so many things to experience, so I can see why Momoa pushes them into other areas. I think a full-on ban is a bit much; everything in moderation IMO. And there are many ways to be creative in gaming - 90% of Minecraft (he’s starring in the movie based on the game) is about being creative 🙃.

It’s definitely a click-bait quote but I can understand his take.

• Another day, another update to Roblox Parental Controls. This time they are expanding the ability to block and report specific friends, experiences, and see where your kids are spending their time.

  • I don’t let my kids play Roblox, but I know a lot of people do. Every game has its positives and negatives. For me, there are too many hoops to jump through to protect your kid and too many games that feel like UGC garbage made to groom kids to make in-game purchases. There are better options out there.

• Netflix starts to roll out their gaming strategy and part of it is focused on young kids but will also include immersive, narrative games based on Netflix IPs; socially engaging party games; and mainstream established titles (like Grand Theft Auto).

  • They are planning to launch a new mobile kids app called The World of Peppa Pig in June to capitalize on the success of the new season

• An insightful profile of Google’s Head of Gaming Moonlit Beshimov from Harvard’s Alumni group

Nintendo Switch 2 Revealed - Should you buy it?

The Basics:

Release date: June 6, 2025

Price: System only - $449.99 MSRP | System + Mario Kart World Bundle - $499.99 MSRP*

The High Level Details: A more powerful processor and a larger screen allow for better graphics, 4K quality, and 120fps gameplay, a big upgrade from the original Switch. There is now built in voice chat. Upgraded controllers can also be used as a mouse and they have revamped the stand so it’s sturdier.

I found the specs and features to be solid but the games felt lacking to me. The price is also quite high.

My take: Even as a huge Nintendo fan, I would wait to purchase. I want to see reviews once it is in people’s hands and I want to get a feel for other games that are coming out.

I’ve been getting into some retro games lately - going back for a hit of nostalgia on games I played growing up. If you ever played EverQuest - check out The Heroes Journey - a much more player friendly option to relive that MMO.

GLHF,

Chris