The biggest threat to the gaming industry is internet giants? - News - Offical News | Rustar

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The biggest threat to the gaming industry is internet giants? On September 13th at 1 AM, Apple held its annual fall product launch event, where the long-rumored iPhone 15 and the transition to USB-C across its product line were officially unveiled. Despite Apple's product launch events being criticized for being repetitive in recent years, at least their chip technology has been steadily advancing. However, this year, Apple brought some surprises for gamers. At the event, Apple announced that games like Capcom's "Resident Evil 4: Re" and "Resident Evil 8: Village," Ubisoft's "Assassin's Creed: Mirage," and Kojima Productions' "Death Stranding: Director's Cut" would all be available on the iPhone 15 Pro series. While Apple didn't reveal specific details about these games coming to the iPhone 15 Pro series, one notable aspect is that "these are all native AAA titles." This means that Apple isn't just implementing some gimmicky "cloud gaming" solution this time but is genuinely bringing full-fledged AAA games to its own mobile platform. In the past, mobile games have often been associated with microtransactions and casual gaming experiences, while high-quality, AAA titles were usually out of reach. Apple's iPhone 15 Pro seems to break this norm. From a technical standpoint, this could be a significant move by Apple. So much so that many people, after watching the event, felt that Apple might have a massive impact on the existing gaming industry. This sentiment is shared by industry veteran Shawn Layden. Not long ago, former CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment America, Shawn Layden, attended an investment summit hosted by game media GamesIndustry.biz. During his speech at the summit, he brought up two highly controversial topics. First, Shawn Layden believes that "existing tech giants are the biggest threat to the gaming industry." In his view, internet companies like Amazon, Apple, Google, and Netflix are all "barbarians at the gate" of the gaming industry, and when they enter the gaming industry, they will bring destructive changes. Shawn Layden stated that these internet giants are envious of the billions of dollars in revenue generated by the gaming industry each year and want to grab a piece of the pie. However, their actions are disrupting the entire gaming industry. For instance, when Apple launched iTunes, it revolutionized the way consumers purchased music products globally. Their "30% cut" policy also affected the operational model of the App Store. Similarly, streaming companies like Netflix have made irreversible changes to the film industry, with increasingly fast and flat content weakening the creativity of young filmmakers. So, we should be vigilant and prepare for these changes while anticipating them. This argument from Shawn Layden does have some merit. A typical example is Google's attempt with Stadia, a cloud gaming service. After investing millions of dollars and working with both in-house and external studios for three years, Google's Stadia project ended up in significant losses. However, a single example doesn't necessarily tell the whole story. Sony, despite not being originally from the gaming industry, has grown to be one of the "Big Three" gaming companies. Sega, a company with a gaming background, not only lost in the console wars but has also struggled in game development, which just goes to show that it's a complex situation. Shawn Layden's other point is that "the rising cost of game development is a threat to the gaming industry," and AAA games are heading in a worrisome direction. He mentions that due to an emphasis on high quality, major developers are releasing fewer games each year. Combined with industry acquisitions and consolidation trends, the cost of developing AAA games is continually rising. Nowadays, games produced by large companies are becoming more homogeneous, and it's often the games from smaller studios that offer fresh and innovative experiences. With the rising costs of AAA game development, there should be a greater emphasis on ensuring that the quality of the product justifies the investment. The soaring production costs of AAA games are evident. Sony Japan Interactive's CEO Shuhei Yoshida revealed that the development cost of "God of War: Ragnarok" exceeded $200 million, which is over five times the $40 million cost of developing "God of War 3." However, in terms of gameplay, "God of War: Ragnarok" didn't offer a significantly more impressive experience compared to its predecessor. Similarly, "The Last of Us Part II," developed by Naughty Dog with an investment of $220 million, had little difference in gameplay compared to the original title. In this respect, it's indeed challenging to disagree with Shawn Layden's viewpoint. The example of Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard for a staggering $68.7 billion is astronomical, and such a price was unimaginable in the past. Post-acquisition, studios owned by Microsoft have not yet produced games that have satisfied players. Games like "Redfall" from Arkane Austin and "Starfield" from Bethesda have not met the high expectations. Even the long-standing Halo franchise from Microsoft's in-house studio, 343 Industries, faced significant criticism. On the other hand, "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim" and "The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt" are examples of games from relatively smaller studios that became incredibly successful due to their craftsmanship. So, what do you think of Shawn Layden's viewpoints? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments!

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