As a medium, gaming has witnessed incredible growth in recent years. Now, games set massive entertainment records: Grand Theft Auto V became the highest grossing entertainment product of all time by 2018, outpacing major blockbusters. Yet despite the immense financial success the industry has received, it’s arguably in its most dire state. Not necessarily in terms of the quality of games – plenty of fantastic games have released this year alone, such as 007 First Light, Mina the Hollower, Splatoon Raiders and Denshattack!. But amidst growing commodification, consumers being priced out of the medium, mass lay-offs for developers and the potential incoming death of physical media, it’s hard to look at the gaming industry with anything less than contempt.
The industry feels like it is getting greedier by the day. Grand Theft Auto VI is a prime example. While I’m sure the game will be great as Rockstar are known for producing immensely high-quality titles, everything surrounding the game has dampened the excitement immensely. The first look at gameplay for instance will be locked behind Netflix, a baffling decision and especially so when you consider that it’ll premiere on YouTube six hours later. To make people pay for an early look at an advertisement is comical and feels like something that would be parodied in Rockstar’s previous games.
The base price of GTA VI is £70 with a digital deluxe edition for £90: nothing new, if still an unlikable practice. However, the amount of content that is kept for the deluxe edition suggests less traditional DLC and more withholding content from the base product, so the £70 edition is seemingly a lite version. Entire in-game shops and potentially even missions are withheld, and they know they can get away with this as the game is setting sales records while still being over three months away, with Take-Two receiving $1.4 Billion in pre-orders alone.
What makes this worse is that GTA VI is spear-heading a digital-only future as the game will lack any physical option. It’s a decision that was already controversial but quickly became even more despised as Sony announced their intention to stop printing physical discs for PS5 games in 2028. This is disastrous for several reasons. The death of physical games raises questions about game ownership. Digital games are essentially a license to play that game; you do not own that game unless you buy it on GOG (a PC storefront which focuses on preservation through the complete ownership of games and the removal of DRM) which theoretically means you can permanently lose access to those games.
I in fact have experienced this with GTA San Andreas which was ported to PS4. When I got my PS5, the license wouldn’t work anymore on both it and my PS4 and a few months later, the ‘definitive edition’ was announced. The port was delisted, permanently locking me out of a purchase and forcing me to buy an infinitely inferior version just to play again – which I did not do. A digital-only future spells disaster for game preservation and for games which could get delisted, not only if there’s an upcoming re-release but also with licensed games such as Transformers War for Cybertron and Fall of Cybertron which were removed from storefronts due to licensing issues between the publisher Activision and Hasbro, who owns the Transformers IP.
A digital-only future could also price gamers out of the hobby. When I was younger, my main way of getting games was through second-hand stores as they usually had them much cheaper. I could also sell older games to buy new ones. Digital sales often occur but can be inconsistent and often still more expensive than a physical copy. More niche series which had deep sales in the past could also stop receiving such discounts once that series becomes more popular. I have witnessed this with both the Yakuza series and FromSoftware’s titles. The days of getting Yakuza 0 for £3 are long gone. This also means lending a game to a friend or a family member is likely unavailable.
Not all physical games are dying. The Nintendo Switch 2 is still going strong even if game key cards are irritating (and the price of some games is ridiculous), and there is a chance, albeit unlikely, that Microsoft could come in to protect physical games. However, when Sony is the one producing the Blu-Rays, that’s less of a possibility. The end of physical media is nothing but a terrible decision. Digital games certainly have their benefits, but that doesn’t mean they should be the only choice from now on.
PC Games aren’t exactly safe either. While PC gaming is becoming the preferred option thanks to more choice with storefronts, more consistent and deeper discounts and general customisation with mods, the price of getting a PC is steep. Parts have skyrocketed in price amidst the AI boom – another reason to despite it. RAM has become absurdly expensive and is actively pricing people out of the medium. When I got my Steam Deck two years ago, I considered it the best deal in gaming. But thanks to the spike in RAM prices, the price of a Deck has also gone up considerably, and I can no longer consider it as such. And even if you do have a good PC, games simply aren’t well optimised anymore. Metaphor ReFantazio is a game I played for the first time recently and I adore it but the PC Port is extremely intensive for seemingly no reason.
Internally, the industry is messy as well. Mass lay-offs are almost a weekly occurrence at this point with many losing their livelihoods while the execs remain safe. In July, Doom: The Dark Ages had its DLC release. To celebrate, Microsoft laid off “roughly half” of Id Software’s staff. The pattern repeated after Halo: Campaign Evolved released where a good chunk of Halo Studios (formerly 343 Industries) were fired. Microsoft itself has been hit with mass lay-offs, most likely a result of their many costly acquisitions backfiring.
The industry has further been questionable in terms of how it treats workers it does keep. A few years ago, Activision Blizzard came under heavy scrutiny after it was revealed that several major figures were responsible for a hostile work environment that was heavily misogynistic. This followed a similar inquiry into Ubisoft the previous year. In December 2025, Rockstar Games also came under scrutiny for union busting and overworking their employees, something which is all too common in the industry.
The gaming industry is simply becoming worse by the day and this isn’t even mentioning elements like micro-transactions, the advent of live-service games and the general culture of gaming becoming more toxic than ever, with many online choosing to direct their anger at the mere appearance of any woman, queer person or minority in their games, rather than deconstructing a title’s actual issues. The broader gaming landscape is bleak and I unfortunately do not foresee it getting better, no matter how many great games continue to release.
