Now, we know already plenty of you are going to dive into this thought and scream that the gaming industry has thousands of varying titles. We won’t argue and claim that that isn’t entirely false. For every Call of Duty game out there—by the way a series many of us here at Honey’s Anime love—there are a few hundred games that copy the gameplay mechanics of Call of Duty and lead to an almost dizzying amount of FPS titles. If these titles were always like DOOM or Battlefield, then this wouldn’t be a problem because those titles are the embodiment of fun. However, that, unfortunately, isn’t the case as many of those clones are cheaply made or rushed. We won’t start naming those mediocre titles to keep things fair, but we will say a lot of them are easy to find gaming titles on the bargain bins of various stores that sell games.

The reason why a lack of diversity is a bad thing for games is that we as people tend to want newer things after a while. Sure many of us can play Call of Duty for years and not grow tired, but that’s only a small percentage. Others seek games that are deeper in concept and gameplay. We won’t say there’s no hope for gaming diversity; One just needs to look at events like E3 or Tokyo Game Show to see that the industry always has some fresh titles awaiting release. However, it’s up to us gamers to make sure that if a game by a newer studio appeals to us, we need to go out and buy those games when we can. This simple move allows game developers more resources for newer titles and shows that a new gaming franchise isn’t a risk with some titles. Trust us folks, we haven’t stated that diversity in gaming is completely gone yet, but if too much time passes and gaming companies feel only one type of game works, then you can bet in the future newer IPs will probably be too much of a risk. Why would a company sell a game that they know there is no market for?

Speaking about original IPs, or intellectual properties, that’s another concept games are losing at a quicker rate. Maybe you did watch E3 2017 and saw a slew of new IPs out there such as A Way Out or The Last Night to name a few games. However, these titles are usually made by indie-like companies because big brand corporations tend to avoid risky ventures in their gaming brands.

Obviously that does make sense; Why try to make titles that could flop and fail? The issue with this mentality in games, though, is that it leads not only to what we discussed earlier—a lack of diversity—but also, a lack of newer game franchises or titles from companies that have the resources to pump into a title. Imagine if companies like Ubisoft continued to release titles like For Honor, a recently released third person action game with warriors from different ages fighting against one another. This could greatly change the gaming world because it would mean other companies would try to make more risky properties and while not all will be a grand slam, some will be amazing and truly show there is a need for big name IPs.

Finally let’s wrap up this article with our last major point, which is a word you may have noticed flying around within, “risk”. We here at Honey’s Anime aren’t game publishers or developers so we can’t claim to know how much a risk a game truly is, however, we have read earning reports that show what it costs to make games and we know there is a significant risk and reward concept to most titles. That being said, the gaming industry as a whole doesn’t take enough risks in their creations. Even if a Call of Duty or Assassin’s Creed title are poorly received, because they earned so much credibility in the gaming world, these are still financially successful. The reality is that those same studios could use some of those funds and make other titles and while it does happen, it doesn’t happen enough. We must point out that as most entrepreneurs out there would say, there is always a need for smart risks to have the chance at making it big.

Now we do want to add there is a fix already occurring but once again, mostly smaller game developers use this concept, demos and or alpha releases. In the mid-90s, systems like the PS1 would use a thing called demo discs to allure potential gamers into trying a product, then send feedback to the companies through either snail mail or in the early 2000s online. This concept hasn’t been lost as now, a lot of indie developers and some larger companies make use of Betas or pre alpha games to see what players think about a new IP and see what they can improve on. This needs to be executed more with larger companies as it allows that same risky venture a way out if the game is not well received or at the very least, it gives companies the ability to fix what gamers feel doesn’t work.