One reason for the crash that isn't discussed is the demographics, namely millennials are getting older. The reason there was this boom in the 2010 (when games were selling 10-20 million effortlessly) is because millennials, the first generation to be raised on games, were entering the years in which they had money but no responsibilities (14-29). Now millennials are 29 to 44. They aren't fresh out of college now and with their first job. They probably have kids, a significant other, more responsibilities at their job, and maybe a mortgage. They don't have the same time and energy for gaming they used to have, and they also have enough money to do other things like traveling. This is a reason why, when you look at most data, people are playing older games. Its also why new GAAS games can't take off, since everyone is playing games they already got into.
>BUT WHAT ABOUT THE ZOOM ZOOMS
The problem is, one, they are a smaller generation. They are also less white and I'd argue game playing correlates with IQ. Second, they have no money due to the economic realities of today. So yeah, they are playing games and maybe at a rate greater than millennials, but they are smaller and poorer generation that they'll never replace the spending boom of the 2010s. Add in development budgets that are expecting revenues to be higher than the COVID boom and you can see why everything is imploding.
The companies that survive are going to be the ones making smaller, cheaper and possibly more experimental titles. Look at what sold well in 2024. Palworld ($30), Balatro ($15) and Helldivers 2 ($40). The big budget games pretty much all flopped. Compare the best selling PS4 games to the best selling Gamecube games and its fucking grim. Companies that rely on legacy franchises are going to get fucked because the next generation doesn't know those old games and if they cared, they can emulate or buy the older version. Who gives a fuck about Final Fantasy 17 when 7-10 are easily bought on Steam. This is why Square's newest plan will fail. The issue was the big tent pole games, not the smaller titles. Octopath wasn't the reason you're in trouble, it's the bloated mess than is FF16 and FF7 that took way longer and needed way more money to break even. Its KH4 taking an eternity and being underwhelming like 3 was. The future is new series with smaller budgets, smaller teams, and a more focused scope. We're seeing this more and more. Ubisoft is crashing with Black Samurai game while Expedition 33 ($50 mind you) is doing well and, because it wasn't a bloated mess, will be able to finance their next game while Ubisoft deals with Bankruptcy. The new model is taking 2-3 years to make a $50 game. Not 5-7 years to make an $80, no $90, no $100 game.
Nintendo has been immune to this since their games were cheaper and only cost $60. They are going to run into the exact same problem everyone else has now that their games are $70/80. The bleeding will continue until companies realize the industry has changed and the retard analyst are, in fact, retarded and shouldn't be listened to.