New game release doesn’t want to overstay its welcome

In Japan, there is a word to describe a shelf full of books that I bought but never read – Tsundoku.

Video games have their own version of this.

Accumulation.

Most controller owners or computers may have one group – an increased set of incomplete or even incomplete titles.

There are web sites that allow players to classify their digital shame tanks, and Reddit support groups that share tips on how to reduce them.

It is something. Symptoms of a greater problem.

More games are made more than ever, and popular versions in particular have become longer.

Some estimates indicate that at least 10 % of those who buy a game reach the end.

But have things began to change?

Among the 10 best review games since 2020, According to the review of the Metacritic ComplexIt is estimated that it takes at least five hours 60 hours to complete it.

Analyst Rice Elliot, from Mia research, says that the trend towards longer games was “treachery for time.”

“Games became larger every year, and then, for 10 years, it was a crazy jump in the length of the game.”

RHYS uses the famous Assassin’s Creed series as an example.

The previous sequences will take about 25 to 30 hours to the end. But the release of 2020 Assassin’s Creed Valhalla can take anything from 60 to 100 hours.

On paper, more game looks like your money as a big topic.

But Reese says that the games take longer and cost more than ever, while fees are imposed on players for them that they did not rise much.

Based on the general data of the main control unit and Store Steam, RHYS found that the longer the game is long, the lower the number of players who finish it.

He says: “This indicates that the timetables and the growing budgets that nourish these longer games have reached a point of decreasing returns,” he says.

Reese has already published research on the pretext that companies will be better in making shorter games.

“If the game developers cut a game like Assassin’s Creed by 20 %, most players will never notice.”

Another option – give the players a choice.

Carrie Patel is the manager of AdWowed – released on Xbox and PC this week – at Developer Obsidian.

Microsoft Microsoft Studio has a long history of the type of roles game (RPG), and was behind strikes including external worlds and repercussions: New Vegas.

RPGS generally takes dozens of hours to end, but Carrie says the studio tried to design to accommodate players who may want a shorter game.

“I definitely heard feelings of many of our teams, and from the base of our players, from:” Oh, good! A game I can already finish. “

The auditors have suggested that rapid play from the advertiser will take about 15 hours, and all its additional optional content will take place 40 or more.

This is in line with some of the previous studio titles, but with the advertiser, the developers were keen to indicate that it is a game “respects the time of the player”.

“We know that everyone has a lot of options, and a lot of things to do with their time,” says Curry.

“So we want to feel everything they find in our games worth their time.”

Games should not have hundreds of hours of content to be great successes.

Some fans complained when they learned that 2023 is the title of PS5 Spider -Man 2 – the full price version – could be completely completed in less than 30 hours.

But the game was well shown and broke a record in Sony sales – a high quality ride condition.

It is a consistent approach with Carrie.

“I don’t think most people are looking for something to kill a few hours,” she says.

“They want a truly overwhelming and valuable experience.”

Analyst Rice says this is a “smart” approach.

“If you just want to explode through it, you can go for it, and you still get the full experience.

“I think we will see perhaps a little more than this type of experience in the future.”

What asks the question – why do companies make long in the first place?

Even with a game like the advertiser, a large number of players will see only a small part of what the game offers.

“There is always this little voice at the back of your head, saying:” But what about the players who will exceed this? “

And so you always want to make sure that you have exit stairs for people who are interested in entering weeds.

“But I can make sure that the people who will search for it, and who will communicate with it will get the best possible time with it.”