8 Ways The Gaming Industry Can Improve

The annualized sequel release is as prevalent in gaming as death, taxes and mediocre David Spade movies are in real life, but have you ever taken a step back and looked at the situation properly? Because if you did you'd likely say "Well what the absolute chuff is going on here then?"

You see, while the likes of FIFA and NBA will churn out new titles each and every year without fail are they really doing enough to justify a new release? Arguably not in the slightest, something best exemplified when 2K's NBA franchise was called out for literally copy-pasting elements from prior games and not even bothering to update character models and logos.

As a result, this relentless churn harms the IP as not enough time is given to developing new elements and it all feels like a new coat of paint is just slapped over a rotting facade and propped up with micro-transactions.

In effect, the annualized model traps players into a progress loop that is constantly undone by the publisher smashing the reset button with each new release, and as a result, will never be allowed to grow beyond this regurgitation of content.

Giving developers breaks from this model would allow true progress to be made as well as a deadline that doesn't promote crunch culture. The industry needs to allow time to innovate rather than serve up the same reheated dish again and again and expect bigger returns as it's simply not sustainable.