Much like book collectors before them, dedicated gamers are facing a problem that keeps getting bigger over time. Their collections are continually growing, but the majority of titles just sit there collecting dust. While games may not take up physical space like books, this backlog eventually makes it nearly impossible to finish even those titles that are worth investing some time in.
Several trends in the gaming industry are actively contributing to this issue, which seems to be only getting worse. Let’s take a look at the main drivers.
Abundance of Cheap Games for Download
Gone are the days when you had to visit a shop and pick up a physical copy of your game. In the present technological era, any newly released title is available for instant download from one of the major platforms like Steam, with mobile versions following soon. Since the competition is very intense and a huge number of games in the same genre are published nearly every month, there is a downward pressure on pricing. An avalanche of new titles is also affecting pricing of older games, which are gettable for a symbolic sum if you time it right. With all this in mind, a typical gamer can realistically afford far more games than he has the time for and some purchases are quickly pushed aside to try more exciting titles.
Online Access to Free-to-Play Games
You don’t even have to download any software or spend any money to enjoy a nice gaming experience. Games of all kinds are hosted on the web and can be accessed from any device. Traditionally, online games were simpler than ‘real’ video games but that may not be true anymore as game designers are increasingly able to develop strong products within this model. Smart players can also take advantage of promotions like Impressario Forever Spins™ where they can participate in games of chance without risking their own money. That’s why some gamers will neglect their own collections for a while to pick up some low hanging fruit available for free on the web.
Best Games Are Long and Highly Re-Playable
Games that have a lot of depth generally take a long time to complete. It takes many hours of practice to figure out the best strategy, build a character with perfect traits, and complete every mission and defeat every boss. In many cases, finishing your first pass is not the end as you can start again with a completely different approach. Gamers tend to be quite devoted to a handful of favorite games, and eagerly anticipate every new version or installment in the same franchise. That leaves only limited space for trying out new games, especially following a long-awaited drop of a new game that immediately becomes the no. 1 obsession and eats every free minute for weeks on end.
Large Collections Hide Great Titles
It’s not rare for game collectors to completely forget what they bought a couple months ago. Once a game has been neglected for a certain period, the chances it will ever be run start decreasing sharply. The larger the collection, the easier it is for a great game to be buried under a pile of freshly acquired content and effectively lost. Impulsive buyers and players who love jumping on every new game are particularly prone to this, as their minds are constantly on finding the next great game. As it turns out, sometimes that game is already in your possession, and all you need to do to find it is to browse through your old purchases that you haven’t looked at in a long while.
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