I’d like to think that people in high positions, like CEOs, execs, and such, are smart next-level type people that know to manipulate capitalism to push the world forward. I want to believe they are God-like geniuses that should be worshipped, like some do for Steve Jobs or Elon Musk, for being such innovators. My brain craves such thoughts, perhaps to cope with the fact that I’m writing this in my tank top and shorts, with a few pairs of suits in my closet that need to be tailored but I’m still searching for the place that will do it for the least number of quid— and no, I’m not British, quid just sounds better.

However, what I’ve learned is that many of these people are just extremely lucky people that are privileged to be in their position—don’t get me wrong I know many of these people are intelligent in some sort of way or another. I think they somehow managed to convince enough people that they are competent people, or I’m just cynical because they are messing with one of my favourite pass times—video games.

I think I generally understand the role of a CEO in a video game company or any for profit company, do whatever you can to make the most profits for that said company and make the board and shareholders happy—which you can do with that very money! They’re NPCs coded to look at what seems to make money and do that.

As an NPC coded to be grumpy, the latest thing that makes me grumpy is the rise of Fortnite, or live service games. Fortnite, the biggest fish in the pond; the king of the jungle; the one that trumps all; the biggest piece of the pie—was that enough for you? In layman's terms, Fortnight is the biggest live service game out there, and arguably one of the biggest games in general.

My main issue is not Fortnite in itself, but the trouble it has caused for gaming. I think it can heavily be argued that it is one of the reasons there have been massive layoffs, studio shutdowns, and why there are less unique, creative games on the market. I remember growing up, nostalgia will tell me it was the golden era in gaming (think Modern Warfare 2, Uncharted, or Halo for some) there was a variety of different types of games. Throughout that period there were single player experiences, many couch co-op games, and multiplayer. Multiplayer was also simpler back then, there was no battle pass, there was a bit of DLC, and the lobbies were more of a mini community. Isn’t it rare to find couch co-op games now?

Flash forward to now, everyone wants a piece of that Fortnite pie—I’m not 13, I just had to correct my spelling from Fortnight to Fortnite. Rockstar’s GTA (Grand Theft Auto) series now made GTA Online and now COD (Call of Duty) has a battle-pass system, please don’t get me started with free-to-play COD Warzone. These modes all inspired by the Fortnite model of free-to-play, but with paid season passes, and in-game microtransactions. I’ll shoot myself before I ever buy a shark card.

I won’t get into too much detail here about how it targets young kids born with a tablet in their hands and whom of which are even more vulnerable to addition. Rather, I’ll focus on how it has ruined the diversity of games. I can’t get too angry at Rockstar’s GTA Online, because the single player component is still a quality, but with recent reports from a leak that single player story DLC was cancelled is heartbreaking. GTA Online + mommy’s credit card was equalling too much cash to reallocate resources a bit. I have a larger issue with recent COD games, because they botched making a quality singleplayer, offline story mode and kept the original price tag the same. Instead, they resumed focusing on their multiplayer component.

Now, more and more studios are being told to make those types of games instead of what they are used to or mastered. Rocksteady made some of my favourite offline singleplayer games of all time, The Arkham Knight trilogy, but they were forced into making The Suicide Squad, which probably did worse than the movie version by David Ayer. A live-service game that’s got a full price tag but no offline singleplayer. The studio has no experience doing such a thing, the player count is lacking, it was just a waste of time and money for both the fans of the IP and the company.

There are also other similar reports in the gaming industry of studios having to make these games. Then these companies lose money trying to win shares in an oversaturated market, they have closed studios and made massive layoffs. Less studios = less variety, especially since the big companies eat up and buy the little ones, then close studios down.

These companies want us playing the same game endlessly so they can practically print cash. They forget there’s only so much time in the day. For me, I’m old, I have less time in the week, I just want to finish a good story and move on, just like a movie.

There is hope though, maybe, after these companies realise, they are losing too much money trying to break into an oversaturated market. Warner Bros. Discovery understand that their biggest game of the year Hogwarts Legacy was a single player RPG. I just fear this will lead to the companies playing it safe and continue remastering and rebooting classics rather than creating something new. Just like Hollywood.

In the ever changing and evolving world of tech and gaming, bare with me, as this was originally written in early August. So Concord didn’t even happen yet.