The Gaming Industry is Growing; Should we be happy?

No one can deny that, at a slow but steady pace, the video game industry has only been culturally and commercially expanding in recent years; the forecast for the video game market in 2017 is predicted to be $82 billion up from $67 billion in 2012) . But as it moves into the realm of the mainstream, where it may eventually be as popular as film and other art forms, should we be excited or worried? There are several consequences of this trajectory and, hopefully by pinning them down, it’ll become clear whether it’s a good or bad thing.

Inevitably, when an industry grows, its output naturally enlarges as a result. What I mean by this is that more and more games are coming out every year, as game development is becoming more profitable and accessible as a business option (From 2005 to 2009, the American game industry’s real rate of growth was over seven times the real rate of growth for the entire American economy). On the plus side, this means we gamers now have a huge variety of games to choose from; from great little indie titles (which have found a prosperous home in the digital realm with online services like Steam and Xbox Marketplace) to AAA behemoths. One downside to this, however, is it can create intense competition within the industry itself. It is frustrating that fantastic games like Tearaway failed to get the attention it deserved, struggling under the weight of being released in the same month as the ridiculously hyped gargantuan that was Call of Duty: Ghosts. 

Then of course there are the problems associated with corporatism and it’s strengthening grip over the gaming industry as it becomes more commercial and business-like in character. You only have to look at the modern controversies of video gaming today: micro-transactions, poor business practices by greedy publishing companies, inflating prices, corrupt journalism (most notably dorito-gate), the growing disconnect between the customer and the man in the suit… It can all be traced back to the fact that the industry is a bigger and more corporate beast than it once was.

However, despite all this, we can’t over-complain about the game industry of today. The growth of the sector has allowed it to lead the way in technological advancements such as motion capture performance or virtual reality. It has given studios the resources and manpower they need to make incredibly epic, gorgeous looking games that none would have ever been able to make with the budgets of yesteryear. E3 has transformed from a small-time conference where executives talked dryly over statistics, to a worldwide entertainment event which was available to watch in cinemas this year. The rise of the industry has also meant that more and more people are becoming aware of video games and starting to consider them as a legitimate art form rather than just a menial hobby, which is surely a good thing no matter how you look at it. And hopefully, as the industry grows, so too will the gaming community, which can act as an ever-strengthening check on the problems of corporatism which I talked about earlier.

The growth of the gaming industry is thus, on the whole, a good thing for gamers and developers alike. There are undoubtedly some not so great aspects to it, but these are inevitable side effects of any business sector and can hopefully be combated by community action, so that the positives of a bigger industry can outshine those frustrating negatives.