Bigger numbers can be impressive. Telling someone that your game has hundreds of hours of content, dozens of immersive side quests, and a map that takes an hour to cross in its entirety were at once great selling points. Now, though, there seems to have been a shift towards less being more, and former Bethesda developer and Starfield quest designer Will Shen thinks gamers have mostly grown tired of massive experiences.
“We’re reaching a point where people are fatigued,” he told Kiwi Talkz. “A growing section of the audience, is becoming fatigued at investing 30-plus, 100-plus hours into a game. They already have the games that they will continually come back to, and adding another one to that list is a tall order. It’s always a tall order.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCYpt9Zg7cM/
As gamers grow older, and their lives become busier, it becomes incredibly hard to commit to an 100+ hour RPG. Sure, the odd game comes across here and there that you can’t help but play, but overall it can feel more daunting than exciting to step into a massive experience now. The month of February will contain at least four massively in-depth RPGs, and you won’t be able to beat all of them in that month.
Or, what do you think. Should games keep going for bigger = better?