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I love making software. I also love sharing that experience with others. I explore it all in this Podcast, from apps to games and in between. From developers just getting started to professionals. We all have something to learn and share with others on our journey.
What's up, everybody? Welcome to another episode of the UI Buzz Podcast. I'm your host as always, Peter Witham. You can find me and this podcast at peterwitham.com. For anyone that's into gaming, you'll know that we just had the game awards for 2025, and I wanted to share some thoughts and observations.
Peter:I think it's great that this year, I saw so many small game houses, independent games. I I don't even know what the definition of indie game is anymore, but basically not the triple a houses is how I'm gonna define it. Right? And it always gets me excited when I see people being rewarded for their work on indie games and things like that Because these are the folks who genuinely do these things for the passion of doing it. Whereas, I'm sorry, but I still feel AAA game houses are just doing things for money grabs.
Peter:Now full respect to everybody that works on these games in these places, but we all know that they're money driven, right, at the top of the chain where they're like, okay, it's going to cost us this many millions of dollars to make this game, and therefore we want to make whatever, 10 times the profit. Things like that. You know what I'm talking about. And I noticed an interesting pattern this year, more than any other year, I think. And it went like this.
Peter:You would see them announce who won a couple of awards, and it would be some smaller game houses, independent developers, one person development teams, that kind of thing. And then they'd be followed by a trailer. And it'd be a trailer for a new game or more likely a game that's just the new version of whatever franchise. And clearly, those trailers, they put an absolute ton of money and effort and everything else into the PR and the marketing for these trailers. And you wouldn't see gameplay.
Peter:And I'll speak about that in a second. But, you know, it was clear that they were putting all this money to try and convince you that you needed to go and get whatever this new version of the game was, or this new game, by these AAA houses. Now, the thing is, the dates that they would say were ridiculous. And this is why I say about trying to convince you and not seeing gameplay, because it seemed like a lot of these, they either didn't have the gameplay to show you, or for whatever reason, they're they're not showing it to you. Right?
Peter:You're just getting the fancy trailer. And interestingly, a lot of these would say, like, you know, whatever game it is, coming in 2027 or late twenty twenty six, which is ridiculous. Right? It's and and this always gets me with movies and everything else. Why are you telling me about a game that's coming out, maybe coming out, two years from now?
Peter:I think I know why, and I'll I'll share a thought in a second. But it's so ridiculous because you're like, okay. So we're supposed to get excited about something we're not gonna see, maybe, for two years. And I'm sure they'll put out other trailers and everything else, but, basically, we won't get to play it until a couple of years from now. And that to me is just so interesting because in the world we live in today, two years from now, might as well be forever because people's attention spans don't last that long.
Peter:Now that's the other point here is I think that they the the development houses announced them because maybe they're thinking, if we tell the world this game is coming, there is less chance the the, you know, the the bean counters, the people that control the money will cancel this game before we get a chance to finish it and release it. Because we've told the world, and we gotta deliver something, or there's an increased chance that we'll deliver something. And I get it. That's actually pretty smart from the perspective of trying to keep your project alive because we do see games that go into development for years and then a couple of years, whatever, and never appear and get canceled. And maybe this is their thinking behind, you know, we tell you now, and it'll get to live, and we'll get the funding that we need to make it.
Peter:I don't know. Maybe. Right? But, also, the other thing is it is such a crazy long development cycle that there will be so many iterations of whatever game engine, even if it's their own custom one, the gameplay and everything else. And it's very unlikely that it will deliver on all of the promises that it makes two years from now.
Peter:Right? And, you know, that's that's just another aspect of these triple a game houses. And they're gonna charge you a fortune. Right? I mean, what is it now?
Peter:Somewhere between 70 and $100 for a game? That's insane. Right? And it's not that I don't think some of them are worth it, but people don't have that kind of money, especially at the moment. And, you know, it's clear that audience is not what it used to be, right?
Peter:The audience used to be kids for games, right? Or the younger generation, let me put it that way. Well, we're really now saying that it's the working generation, right? Define that how you want, who can afford these games. And they're clearly targeting an older audience.
Peter:Nothing wrong with that, but it's just an interesting observation, I think. And especially when you take into consideration. Right? If you think about it, you buy, let's say, 10 of those games. That is arguably the cost of your console, but that's another aspect right there.
Peter:Of course, console prices are gonna go up. That's a given. Right? It's getting so expensive these days. But anyway, that's why I wonder if that's why they're announcing them so early.
Peter:I was thrilled to see so many games that deserved to win actually winning. I'm not gonna list the games here. You can find them anywhere else. And in all likelihood, if you're a gamer, you probably already knew some of the ones that were gonna win or certainly have read it since then. But I think this year more than ever, especially with all the layoffs in the tech industry and especially the game development industry.
Peter:It was interesting to see the games that are winning. Clearly, AAA studios are not learning from the way the industry is going as far as the game players themselves. Right? People are gravitating to these more interesting, I don't want to say unique, but more interesting games than just the next iteration of first person perspective shooter x or this year's sports game with the new teams and the new colors for, you know, jerseys or whatever uniforms. That is not cutting it anymore.
Peter:I think people are finally realizing that they're getting ripped off on these things. Right? You you're you're paying what? $70 every year for a new game that's just new skinning over the top of stuff. You know, certainly, that doesn't interest me.
Peter:Never has. And I found that this year, I have bought more interesting little games. And I don't mean little in a derogative way. I mean it in games that don't last as long. You know, you complete them pretty quickly, but I play them over and over because they are more interesting.
Peter:And I think that you you're seeing a lot of folks go in that direction. Anyway, just wanted to put that out there with some thoughts this week. Congratulations to all the winners, to the triple a game houses that are spending all this money on trailers. Maybe you really need to stop and realize that people are wised up. Right?
Peter:It's not about lining your pockets. It's giving us good games. Maybe you might start to pay attention to that. Anyway, that's just my thoughts. That's it, folks.
Peter:I will speak to you in the next episode.