Video game saturation and the reasons behind it

It's no secret that the industry is going through a rough patch. The lack of new ideas and poor funding for some studios means that we are having more and more problems to enjoy what we love so much. The saturation of certain genres is a symptom that studios do not want to bet on unconventional ideas for fear of losing that investment. This was the subject of Rami Ismail, indie ambassador and advisor, as he took to the Gamereactor microphone at DevGAMM in Gdańsk to talk about his fears for the future.

In his remarks, Rami says there is some saturation, but points to what he sees as a bigger problem. "I think fundamentally the main issue is just that the model of making games, even indie games, or at least what we generally call indie games in the commercial sphere, right? (...) The costs have just ballooned, and it's because of the publishers to some degree, because they can afford a $300,000 budget with a $200,000 marketing budget."

We have a very expensive industry, where prices are going up and up, in all areas of publishing the product. Smaller games with poorer graphics and faster production come out of this situation. "I hope we see it in AAA as well, a bit like smaller, more sustainable projects.
But for now, the economics of games, they don't make sense. They're not sustainable. They can't grow. AAA studios and publishers are trying to reduce their size and scale, and move to AA, then the saturation will be even bigger."

Rami also highlights the reason behind the loss of creativity at some studios. Many developers had creative control of their projects, but ended up with such giant growth that they were forced to scale back. "They became dependent on external funding, it takes away that creative freedom. Because everything is expensive, everything has to be secure, and because everything is secure, nothing recoups its income. It's a really frustrating loop.

If you want to delve deeper into the current situation of the industry, you can watch the full interview with subtitles below.