The video games crash of 1983, or know in Japan as the Atari shock did not make the future of the video games industry look promising. I’m sure the majority of us know about this of some sort. The industry was rising at a rapid rate and it was easy for anybody and everybody with some knowledge and know how to make video games for many consoles that where on the market at the time. At the top was the Atari 2600. The revenues for the industry peaked at $3.2 billion in 1983 only for it to crash a few years later to crash to a shocking $100 million.
The cause was down to complete market saturation, with poor quality games being released in the masses which resulted in many people getting bored and giving up on the growing hobby all together. The big blow most of us should know about is the infamous ET The Extra-Terrestrial for the Atari 2600. The game was such a disaster the remaining millions of unsold copies and the mass of returned copies that where purchased where dumped into landfills only to be discovered recently.
After all of this though the long road to where we are now started and people started to create legitimate publishing companies to stop the saturation happening again. The industry has slowly grown through the generations and now we are at the point where the gaming industry is bigger than the music, movie and book industries which is great right…..
My worry right now is we are heading for the same fate as before. You may question me as the kind of things developers put out today are a big leap from those days but with indie games being a huge part of today’s industry more and more are being churned out and I can’t help but start to see the masterpieces being outnumbered and lost. Along with the huge budget games millions on millions being spent on single titles for the game to release and simply not work either online or single player game breaking bugs. The list is endless, it would actually be easier to count the games that have had no issues. I can only think of one in the past generation that’s not had an update to fix bugs and that’s MGS 4. If we had gone out and bought a game for the PS2 and it didn't work there would be no firmware update the devs could tell us to be patient for, the game would be broken and it would be returned.
It’s clear to see people are being more cautious on buying games as the prices also creep higher for more issues to be happening. The constant sales of games like call of duty and FIFA show people would rather play it safe with what they already know rather than risk wasting money on a broken new IP such as DriveClub as the most recent example. I can see through sites and the fan base comments people getting tired of this shovel ware. If it’s not masses being produced its broken games if it’s not that then its platform favoritism. Review embargo's being lifted on release days, I thought reviews where there for people to make an informed decision on their purchase. And this isn't just including the product and publisher scandals, it’s the journalism in general, there are obviously click bait sites out there posting ridiculous review scores to get attention or sites again choosing there platform to support. They are supposed to be a neutral entity describing the products as they are and not their own opinion on the products.
This may be going over the top and nothing will happen, but from where I am sat I can see the fans getting tired of being promised things and never seeing them come to light. How long till we finally boycott a company to stop releasing yearly rehashed or broken games. I can’t help but think it will be too late before they get the message and 1983 will happen all over again before we know it.
Nagoshi Studio’s YouTube channel with the Gang of Dragon trailers appears to have been removed following reports that NetEase will stop funding.
Dear team,
Xbox has always been different.
We started with a simple idea. Games should bring people together through shared experiences. That led to the first Xbox in 2001, Xbox Live in 2002, and new ways to connect, from friends lists and achievements to parties and play across devices. Today, Xbox reaches over 500 million players around the world, with some of the most important franchises in entertainment.
re-evaluating exclusivity 💀
PS players will need to go back to pretending to dislike Xbox games
Or meaning since it’s doing so good they might just do everything day 1.
They didnt say re-evaluating their multiplatform approach.
🤣🤣🤣 Xbox is so dead. I know you scared🤣🫵ӿ 97;
Even when the topic is strictly Xbox he can't stop talking about PlayStation. Xbox has basically become the hate of PlayStation... and not much else.
This whole mess is the result of bad decisions and strategy from those who have "the vision" inside the company.
Hurt over video games 🤣🤣
Lmao we all grew and got jobs but apparently you stayed home broke 🤣🤣.
Man I love loyal dogs like you. MS kicked Spit and slapped you around but you still come back on all 4s.
Good little boy 🤣🤣
My only question is what games are PlayStation gamers gonna play now? They don’t really come out with new games anymore. I’m looking forward to wolverine, but after that then what?
Lmao
There’s no way after everything it’s going back, the damage is done
What you are seeing now is the new management telling what the core fanbase (aka…you) want to hear so they are pumped full of hope and are more likely to invest in the next Xbox console
When Phil took over after the awful Xbox One reveal he did the same thing, he told people what they wanted to hear for damage control.
It’s crazy people are getting suckered into this again.
FWIW..... wasn't the new management speaking to the other staff.... not so much us (regular folk)?
And you'll now go back to again thinking exclusives suddenly matter, that multiplatform is no longer the future, or that revenue from multiplatforms doesn't matter, like all you flop flopping xbox grifters lol.
The whole post just sounds like the previous phil corpo slop talk to me, whole thing reads like a nothing burger lol.
“re-evaluating exclusivity”
She also said this.
“The model that got us here won’t be the one that takes us forward.”
I don't know if they have a model anymore it's flipped so many times since the xbox one reveal
There's a bunch just like him but that's what happens when some rely on dreams, hope and wishful thinking. lol
"pretending"? Bro gears hasnt broke 1mil on ps5, and starfield hasn't passed 200k, Hellblade 2 was even stated to be a financial disappointment in sales on its own console, let alone ps5. Im not saying people don't like them, but they certainly aren't setting the community on fire, Forza may be different tho
Xbawx is ''re-evaluating exclusivity''... Translation: After throwing all sort of crap to the wall to see if something sticks but clearly nothing worked, we, including our lord ''in charge'' Phil came to the conclusion that exclusives indeed do matter so please forget if we ever said otherwise.
Yup, I feel it in my gut, next gen belongs to xbox, PS6 is cooked...
Someone can’t sleep after those 5 million forza games PURCHASED by PlayStation owners🤣 🧌 💥
Well with the decreased price of gamespass even with cod off it there is no way it is profitable given the cost of making their 1st party games (not if you actually include that cost in gamespass costs which they typically dont but should) they will just make a loss without the sales on
If they go back to exclusive games it at least shows that they are finally getting it. They would be turning down immediate money for something that will potentially workout in the long term.
Only issue is they've already opened Pandora's box. A lot of their base has moved to PC or jumped to PS. So will be a long road to get back on track.
We have been saying this from day one exclusives are a must if you are going to be selling hardware look at Nintendo and Sony before Jim Ryan. That's the proven formula. You had some that were deluded and blinded by loyalty accepting that multiplat was the future and that MS was merely getting ahead of where the industry was headed, but at least they can finally see the light and agree with what everyone has been saying for a decade+
True, blame it on the rabid fanboys. MS can do no wrong and spinner this multiplatform move. While the actual fans moved on.
I feel like with the new Xbox coming they are hoping to bring back those old fans and then if it goes well. Bring back exclusives.
If the new console is performing like series x and one. Naw they staying multiplatform.
Actual fans dont move on... they can add to their hobby while waiting for the next new release. If you believe what you typed then I guess PS fans moved on too.... you know, since its been a Sahara for 1st party games this gen.
Funny world where Sony is pro consumer and Xbox is not? At least according to what you loyalists have been saying all this time 🤭
@itveds For how many years have you been doing this sad stuff? For how many years have you been creating fake accounts to troll? For how many years have you always been cl vnn
Pathetic incels with nothing better to do than argue over a box... Because they don't have any good games to play on theirs, obviously. If your precious box is so special, why don't you shut the fuck up and go play it?
I think it's too late, xbox sales were diving even before ABK, they got even worse since then even long before the full multiplatform push. I'd be surprised if they even went back to timed exclusivity at this point, Helix is basically a PC and is going to be expensive, they already struggle to sell cheaper xbox consoles, it will be low volume and they'll have a very small 'console' base to sell to, which has already been conditioned to just play via gamepass anyway.
I don't see them removing PC from the equation. Considering MS has a heavy enough investment in the PC market, it would be foolish to abandon them. I could see them taking away games from PlayStation or ensuring they are timed exclusives at the very least. Say what you will but if Call of Duty ends up becoming a timed exclusive to Xbox machines, that would hurt PlayStation, don't pretend like those games don't sell millions.
They would lose out on a lot of CoD sales tho. Doesn't PS make up most of the sales?
Their lifeline of solely the Xbox consoles is dry. Good-Great games on a 1st party scale can't be made at a loss so willingly - sent to the Xbox to only sell limited copies.
They invested billions scooping up studios and need to start making returns.
Sucks that nearly every company is publicly traded and have to be so shareholder biased but that's how it is.
Their words are strong but it'll take time to see what their actions accomplish. Lowering the cost of Game Pass and taking CoD off of it was a good clear start.
More like, allot of their base just played game pass. So now they need to encourage them to start buying again.
What exactly is the long term goal with exclusives though?
Because for the most part, the hardware side of things has never been the most profitable, even sometimes being subsidized for a period before breaking even. And that’s before the hardware component nightmare we currently live in.
The whole point of exclusives was to get more people to buy your console in order to have a bigger install base, which meant even bigger software sales.
But if their ports to PS5 are selling (for the most part it seems) quite well, then other than negating the cut Sony takes there, unless you are REALLY increasing your software sales on your own console, it probably doesn’t make that much of a difference?
Honestly I don’t even understand Sony’s decision to scale back on it for PC unless they weren’t even recouping the port expenses. They released ports when the hardware sales never really dropped, and now that all consoles will undoubtedly take a noticeable drop in sales due to the ridiculous prices, that’s when they decide they don’t want to sell to a larger install base to more easily recoup dev costs… it’s just weird
Despite all of that, it's clear that Microsoft's Xbox division is broken beyond repair.
PlayStation is currently draining money on flop after flop. It's Sony that needs to re-evaluate their strategy
Wonder how much money was lost on perfect dark, hellbalde 2, 300 million lost revenue
by putting cod on gamepass. The recent Jason schrier news that Xbox has cancelled dozens of projects, spent 70 billion just to see Xbox sales further collapse and gamepass see little growth.
The fact is this has been PlayStation's most profitable generation and they are making loads of money and selling plenty of consoles and games. While MS won't give you any sales figures or profit numbers for Xbox, says it all really.
It isnt. But I dont think they mean in 'games', rather, footprint.
They own the OS but as far as gaming is concerned, Steam dominate. I imagine the VAST majority of people who use the Xbox app/launcher are PC gamepass subs. No ones buying their 3rd party PC games through Xbox PC.
and many gamers prefer SteamOS for gaming over Windows too. If only Valve would be more uncompromising to the anti-cheat makers that locked out non-windows players, more pc gamers would have moved onto SteamOS by now and not looking back to Windows. overall, Win11 is a terrible, bloated, unoptimized OS which is not what many people want
Insider Gaming writes: "Marathon was one of the best-selling video games in March 2026 in the United States. On Wednesday, Circna released the best-selling games of the month, and it featured six new releases along with two games returning to the top 20 after previously falling out."
Is it April fools day again?
The game is dead.
EDIT: the numbers are fudged. “digital sales on Nintendo and Xbox weren’t included in the data”
well it's not on Switch / Switch 2.. so their number would be zero.
The game had a decent launch however the userbase numbers are dwindling on Steam.
“ Is it April fools day again?
The game is dead.
EDIT: the numbers are fudged. “digital sales on Nintendo and Xbox weren’t included in the data”
Does it hurt you to hear a SONY game was BEST selling ?
You gotta let go of those OBCURED feelings 🤷🏿
I mean the only reason MLB was the best selling title was because it was multi-platform. Likewise with Marathon. Will ring true for MS games. Only Nintendo titles are truly flexing their muscles when they chart as they are only to be found there.
It's kinda funny how this Obscure guy lives rent-free in your head. lol
Does Phil also live there?
It's kinda funny how this Obscure guy lives rent-free in your head. lol
Does Phil also live there?
I’m sorry did you wrote something smart ?
Or are you trying to to be funny because you failed at both
Now kid run to mommy legs the grown ups are talking.
Don’t bother writing anything I will not respond to a bratty child like you
Yeah sure, yet the player count is no where near what they want for a AAA game with so much money behind it
Why people are trying to spin this game like it’s done overly amazing is baffling to me.
It won’t even be a blip on peoples radars by the end of the year .
You must me typically wrong cuz those Steam chart numbers (AKA where the game sold the MOST) is less than what Hunt has, and Hunt didn't cost $500 million to make lol
I agree with most of what you're saying. I'm not buying into x1 or ps4 simply for their reliance on the internet. The game we buy off the shelf is not complete and will be worthless if servers for that game get shut down. Look at Destiny, COD, Titan fall, and others are garbage without internet. How about Skyrim? Without the download patches it's a broken game.
So the big battle against DRM was a waste of time because they got you logged in anyway. Some games like Gears 2 and 3 did things right. Putting bots into the game allows you to enjoy the multiplayer modes without the internet. If more games did this I'd feel more compelled to buy but they don't. Once the servers are gone it's done. Sad.
I think there will be a crash, it will probably be sooner rather than later. Poor DRM Practices, excessive microtransactions, dlc, broken games at launch are all signs that we are headed in that direction. Having said that, indie games will survive through the crash.
Maybe it will be a cycle? If there is another crash, I'm sure the industry will pick up somehow. Maybe nintendo saves it or something like the oculus rift. I don't believe there will be a massive crash like back in the day, simply because videogames were as popular as they are today. Back then, all the games kinda looked the same too, so variety was pretty low.
If there is a crash, I think the big companies like M$ and EA would be hurt a lot more than the smaller companies. With Nintendo doing its own thing too, they might survive simply on that. I'm sure a lot of Nintendo's games don't cost too much to make when compared to COD. Maybe Smash bros Wiiu/3d were their big budget games, but does it match or exceed CODs? Kinda doubt it (would like to know though).
Well, first i assume that this article is about video game consoles. Because growing up in 70's and 80's , the arcades in the years 83, 84 , and 85 was still doing pretty good and the PC market was getting pretty popular here in the USA.
As far as yearly releases of games, like CALL OF DUTY , ASSASSINS CREED and SPORTS GAME's. The money those games generate help get new IP'S green lighted.
I really do not see a crash happening today because there are way more people playing console games today, compared to the amount of console gamers back in the early 80's.
I do agree there are lot problems, today with games. but i think that is due to developers trying to put so much into to video games and publishers rushing the developers to get these games out for holiday.
Hopefully the publishers will learn from all the mistakes they have put out in the last couple months.
Best advice i can give is, do not buy games on day 1 , and wait a little bit, so they can patch up all the problems before buying a video game.
There were more dynamics to the videogame crash of 1983 then just the bad ports.
You see our fed chief massively raised interest rates, to the tune of about 21.5 percent. Consider that versus the free money for fraud and derivatives, not to mention Dodd-Frank'ing your deposits (steal them) situation we're in now.
It's easier for people to put all the crap on their credit card when the rates are lower.
If interest rates spike, if the stock market tanks again (and it will, and it will be bigger, much bigger fail the 2008...the only question is...when), who will buy the videogames?
You see it wasn't just regular people who had their interest rate jacked up high, it was also all the retailers who bought their inventory on margin. (i.e. borrowed money that was all of a sudden massively expensive).
The videogame crash was a perfect storm of flooded landscape of crappy games AND the money aspect of the Paul Volcker interest rate rise to 20 percent (prime hit 21.5%).
People stopped buying the flood of low quality games, and people that still wanted to buy some stopped being able to put them on the credit cards, meanwhile the retailers had all these crappy games inventory they bought on margin.
But things rebounded and we got Nintendo shortly thereafter.
So while a videogame crash is coming, it's not until the economic depression turns worse that it will happen, and once again it will be different as you'll still have services like Steam that can stay afloat because it's not the same as a mom and pop store holding 100 E.T. cartridges and a bunch of other stuff on their small business credit card.
Lots of retailers went under during that era, more and more small shops closed and the reign of big nationwide/multi-national chain stores becoming predominant began.
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