Why do we not play new games anymore

[DieGrootHammer]

The recent MyGaming GOTY votes and nominations threads made one thing apparent; there are not a lot of people that play the latest games as they come out anymore. And I wondered, why? Why is that? Why is it that we, the elite members of the gaming world, do not stay up to date with the latest releases, having discussions and plays of the latest games together.

I have a few theories...

Theory 1: New games are too expensive
If you look at the latest games released this year, almost none of them released for less than R900 retail or digital. Most games are well over R1000 actually. And the reality is, that's just too expensive! We just don't have that kind of money to just drop on new games. Our buying power due to the weak Rand has dropped significantly in the recent years. And lets be honest, between Steam sales, Humble bundles, Xbox GWG, PSN games and a whole host of other options, why would we buy games at full retail.

Theory 2: Broken new game PTSD
How many times have you bought a game only to find out that it simply isn't working at launch? Too many I would say. It's almost like we gamers have developed PTSD of too many broken games at launch, and more and more people are just waiting for the game to become more stable. A couple of patches and updates later, the game works better and we decide to go back into it.

Theory 3: New games can be shit
Following on the previous theory, more and more people are waiting for reviews to come out before jumping into new games. And while this year has been one of the best for gaming, there sure has been a fair share of turds being dropped as new games. We just don't trust certain studios (cough EA cough) anymore, so would much rather wait for reviews or even sales.

Theory 4: We have too many games already
Go look at your backlog of games. We all have a gargantuan backlog of games to get through. Games we bought because "one day we will play it", only for it to sit in your library, silently judging you for buying more and more games. Looking at any backlog does take the motivation away from any gamer to buy new games.

So, what's your reason for not buying new games? Can I redirect you to the r/patientgamers subreddit?

[Dohc-WP]

Theory 1: New games are too expensive

i normally wait and get the games for alot cheaper a year later, case in point this year i picked up recore and Forza horizon 3 for peanuts compared to their launch prices last year.

[czc]

Probably a combination of Theory 1 & Theory 4

With so many games why get more at full price. Its an unending circle.

Added to that I don’t think many games actually add anything new to the pot. So its even less of a motivation to get a new game hot off the compiler. For what extra 10% prettier graphics?

[TechThief]

Theory 1 & 2

An example, my friends baught bf4 premium when it launched, for i can't remember how much, meanwhile i waited and got all the dlc for free (i believe it was last year)
It is much better to just wait for the games to become cheaper, and in that time you wait chances are a few bugs will get fixed, in multiplayer some cheater will get banned and servers have a chance to stabilize, just look at diablo 3 few years after release and it is a much better game and cheaper think i got both original game and expansion for like 250-350 or something along those lines.

And it is also good to wait since it allowes you to work on your backlog, and before you know it that "new" game is much more affordable and even a bit better now

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

[czc]

An example from the mygames. The only reason 2016 is on there is because I used the official release date of Grim Dawn.

[mottamort]

An example from the mygames. The only reason 2016 is on there is because I used the official release date of Grim Dawn.

Not entirely sure these statistics are so relevant, since a driving factor for quite some people was "do enough people own this game, or failing that, can grab it easy". The latest AAA title would make for a terrible MyGame

Also your horizontal graph isnt in any particular order o_0

[Ser_Bunnylot]

We're spoiled for choice.

For me it's combination of theory 3 and 4. I'm limited by time more than anything and with the huge selection of games available I can afford to be very picky. Just so happens that slightly older games have more polish and less bullsh!t with season passes, dlc's, etc.

[bradbear117]

new games are too expensive and I have a massive backlog. Im still playing ps2 and gamecube games that I missed from back in the day.
I actually almost playretro exclusively at this point.

[Tjitah]

Theory 1 by a long shot. New games are just ridiculously priced. Add Season Passes, DLC, and all other kinds of gimmickry then it gets absurd. I wait 2 years for the "Game of the Year" version, which includes everything for under R200.

Then theory 4. I have 250 games on Steam. My average game completion time is 2 months. It will take me 42 years to finish what I have and I'm in my 50's. In other words, I will be in my 90's when I've finally finished them all. Do I really need to pay top dollar to add to that?

Then theory 2 and 3 together. Because of all the pre-ordering, developers have lost the incentive to release finished games. Publishing companies are also rushing developers to get products out so they can get more money in quickly. I'm so glad Steam is giving refund option nowadays, so that we at least have some way to show our displeasure where it hurts. I made use of the refund option for the first time ever in Steam's recent autumn sale and it works really well.

[DarthMol]

For me it is a combination of reason 1 and 4. I have plenty games in my backlog and the list of games seems to grow faster than I can play them.

Secondly, new game prices are way out of my budget, why pay R800-R1000 now when you know that there will be a special coming along soon. The only new releases that I bought at full price this year was PUBG @ R319. Last year my full price purchases were Factorio @ R220 and Overwatch @ $40. If games were released at a lower price point I would be more likely to get them at release (especially MP games).

The thing is, I've bought games (at a discount) only to not have played it yet when it goes on sale for an even deeper discount. I normally find myself sticking to bundles these days.