The gaming industry has risen from mediocrity and into the spotlight of every attention in the world. This rise only happened recently, as millions of people started to flock to the hobby because of the pandemic. However, this billion-dollar rise certainly comes with its own set of problems, and these problems can quickly dissolve this billion-dollar enterprise in a matter of days.
Industries are fragile. Regardless of how much they earn every year, the pandemic has undoubtedly shown that. Any problem can cause a domino effect and can lead to an entire industry crumbling. This is true for the gaming industry. So let’s look into these problems and what the industry can do about them.
A Billion Dollar Industry
The gaming industry is worth over one hundred billion dollars. Experts believe that this growth was inevitable, but the pandemic has made it grow so much faster than expected. But this billion-dollar industry has so much more to go, and it seems that the problems it has been accumulating throughout the years are about to catch up with it. One of these known problems is the crunch.
Crunch
Producing video games is no easy task. Much like a well-made movie, it takes many years and a lot of effort from developers before it’s released. Sure, some video games are made by one or two people who were successes like Minecraft. But this is too and far in between.
The norm in the industry is the crunch. It means for people in the industry to work unhealthily amount of hours to meet specific deadlines. The crunch is most prevalent when a game is just about to be released. Unfortunately, this problem is about to be one of gaming’s downfall.
After the aftermath of Cyberpunk 2077, many experts realized the bad management found in many development studios. This is because everyone is trying to catch up to shareholder demands while trying to turn a profit. A solution to this? Increase employee incentives and give them more attractive benefits. Furthermore, limit the number of hours employees can have from overtime work.
Scalpers
Another problem that the industry is experiencing that can lead to an industry collapse is scalpers. Scalpers are people who purchase an unreasonable amount of gaming items to create a shortage and increase the price. These people are damaging the reputation of the industry while making every gamer more desperate.
The entire computer market is suffering from a GPU shortage. Scalpers are threatening many builders for gaming computers out of their livelihood because they are making the GPU shortage worse. However, they are also affecting the entire economy as a whole.
Millions of people are looking for GPUs to upgrade their computers for online school and their jobs, but because of scalpers, they can’t find the needed GPU at the right price. They are essentially stealing money from people who have a real need for GPUs. This is putting the gaming industry in a bad light.
Overall, scalpers made over a hundred million dollars in this scheme alone. The primary solution for this is to limit the number of gaming items a consumer can make. This can drastically reduce the number of scalpers because of the more effort needed to scalp certain items.
The Cost of the Hobby
Another problem that might collapse the gaming industry on itself is the overall cost of the hobby. We all know hobbies can be quite expensive, but gaming is one of the hobbies that require a decent amount of money. Console prices are at the $400 to $500 mark alone, while video games can cost an individual $60 every month. There are also plans to increase video games to $70, which is damaging consumer perception of the industry.
A gaming computer can also be quite expensive, costing people around $800 to $1,200 for an entry-level computer. But if built correctly, it can be relatively cheaper than a console and with better performance. You’d have to know the suitable gaming PC build to achieve this.
However, one of the main problems of the industry that is drastically increasing its cost and has gotten many lawmakers’ attention is loot boxes and DLCs.
Lootboxes and DLCs
Many gamers would argue that if you don’t want loot boxes or DLCs, don’t buy them. However, it’s never been that simple. Loot boxes and DLCs are part of the overall gaming experience of a particular product, and robbing people away of this while also fully pricing is theft in itself. The immediate solution for this is not to allow randomly-generated loot boxes to be sold to children. When it comes to DLCs, one real solution to them is to create DLCs worth buying.
There is a good chance for the gaming industry to collapse on the weight of its success. The companies and consumers of the sector should be made aware of this problem to work together to avoid them entirely.
Meta title:Understanding the Billion-dollar Problems of the Gaming Sector
meta desc: The gaming industry is tremendous in size. The more it grows prominent, the more likely it can collapse in itself. Here are some problems that plague gaming.
