I don’t think I am going to buy a bunch of games this year. Lately games like fortnite have dominated the play cycle. I personally spend $10 or less on the game every few months, which is small compared to the $60 a shot for most stand alone games. I haven’t bought many thus far, though I set aside cash for the purchase. Games are becoming more like the free apps that create so much excitement on phones. You don’t pay to get in, but once you have it you find out that in-app/in-game purchases seem too appealing to pass up. Thanks to in-game purchases Fornite has made over a billion dollars from last October through this July (forbes).
When I was playing the Battlefield V beta yesterday I recognized that I would not spend a lot of time on the game. I wouldn’t spend $60+ worth of time on the game for certain and especially not with Madden being so engaging. Why buy that game when I can get my shoot em up fix for free with Fortnite?
This is the painful reality that gaming is facing at this juncture. We expect free in our society. If you are not willing to provide at least the illusion of something for nothing then you are not going to get the fan buzz you need in order to be profitable. Fortnite will fade away and something else will come along, but the model will remain. We are a culture of privilege and expectation and what we expect is everything for nothing.
Some Thoughts:
- I need a haircut,
- Phoenix AYF is slipping. It is Saturday morning–gameday–and the week’s schedule has not been publicly posted. They created that expectation, so they need to live up to the expectations–especially for the amount of money we are paying in order to be a part of this league.
- Youth sports are expensive and time consuming. Football is among the worst, but soccer… I am glad we got out on the one hand and sad my kids never had the ability to gain the skills they need in order to play at the high school level. The mid-kid especially has such natural talent, but I feel like he is not going to make a high school squad, because he just doesn’t have the training.