Creating games and fun experiences is my passion!
I am a fast learner who self-taught programming, modeling and animation and successfully published two mobile games on google play store in 3 months.
I do and love anything related to games and game design.
Updated: Aug 23, 2022
I've recently become aware of a trend in which indie games from the casual and life simulation genres, such as Dinkum, Power Wash Simulator, and Valhem, are achieving massive success, while the big AAA studios appear to be struggling to bring anything new series or maintain positive reviews on sequels to old IPs. It is surprising that the cat simulator "Stray" beat the God of War PC port and became Steam's top game in 2022 with 2 million copies sold. After watching a complete walkthrough, I conclude that "Stray" has an eye catching cyberpunk dystopian world view where you play as a cat with amazing level design, average control, an average puzzle, and an average story. The game receives an insane number of positive reviews—97% out of 68,000 reviews just because you can "meow" in the game (yes, 9 out of 10 positive reviews I read were "meow" or "can play as cat").
Why would some indie games in a particular genre be more likely to succeed while some amazing AAA games in the RTS, sports, and even FPS genres struggle? Can we explain this phenomenon with economic theory?
Call of Duty 4 - delivers the most intense and cinematic action experience ever, was the most popular game with strong GDP growth in 2007.
LittleBigPlanet and Mario Galaxy were the most popular games in 2008 (Platformer, recession). Will Sport was the bestselling game in 2009 (Sport Sim, recession).
Mass Effect was the most popular game in 2010 (Action Role Play, Strong GDP).
When the GDP is high, gamers appear to prefer games with the most intense experiences, such as FPS and action role-playing games. When GDP growth stopped in 2016, the most popular genre was MOBA games like Overwatch, Dota 2, and League of Legends. When GDP increased in 2017, players began to lose interest in MOBAs and return to action role-playing games. Surprisingly, the Untitled Goose Game (puzzle) won D.I.C.E game of the year in the nightmare pandemic of 2019.
According to DataProt statistics about gamer demographics, the average age of a video game player is 35. The economy's state can gradually affect a video game player's mood. They may be concerned about their jobs and thus spend less time playing games, causing the game market trend to shift due to the limited amount of playtime during a recession.
The pandemic cost the world billions of dollars and led to the bankruptcy of many businesses. It did not only cause serious damage to the economy but also affected gamers' preferences. Back in 2020, Animal Crossing: New Horizon and Fallguys launch became a global hit in a sudden and unexpected way, seemingly out of nowhere. With identical gameplay, Animal Crossing: New Horizon sold ten times more than the 3DS version in 2012. The success of Animal Crossing and Fallguys benefits from satisfying the psychological needs of isolation and stress during the pandemic.
One of the most important advantages of gaming is the reduction of stress. I believe that there is a correlation between the economy and gamers' stress levels. When the economy is good, gamers tend to look for more intense experiences. On the other hand, gamers tend to look for stress-relieving games with flat experiences like Stardew Valley and Stray when the economy is bad. The preceding is my take on game genre popularity prediction in relation to economic state. When the economy is good, players seek out genres with extreme experience; when the economy is normal, players seek out genres with quick and short excitement, such as MOBA; and when the economy is in recession, players seek out genres with flat consistency casual experience.
It might be a good idea to take a look at the economic cycle before the planning stage for your next game!
I expect the global and UK economies will become the worst in 2023, which is why I believe relaxing games are going to be popular until next year. Now might be the perfect time to release minimally Zen-inspired games!