Peliala on tällä hetkellä hankalassa tilanteessa varsinkin pelinkehittäjien osalta. Vuosi 2023 oli irtisanomisten vuosi, ja vuosi 2024 on ollut sitä vieläkin enemmän. Käsikirjoittaja, ohjaaja ja The Last Worker -pelin luoja Jörg Tittel pääsi Gamereactorin haastatteluun.
Tittelin mukaan peliala on nyt siinä pisteessä, missä elokuva-ala oli 1960-luvulla television yleistymisen vuoksi. Pelialalla varsinkin perinteinen konsolipelaaminen on kokenut laskusuhdannetta. Ja isoista AAA-peleistä vain aniharva pelataan loppuun saakka. Toisaalta pienemmillä tiimeillä on paremmat edellytykset onnistua jatkossa.
"It is a very similar situation to what was happening to the film industry in the 60s. And in the 1960s, at the beginning of the 60s, 45 million people would go to the cinema each week. And by the end of the 60s in America, and by the end of the 60s, the number dropped down to 15 million. And we're seeing the same thing, especially in the console space now."
"Also, films were made on factory lines, especially back then. You know, you would be assigned a job at a studio," he continues. "This is exactly how video games are made. So just do a texture map for a lizard over there and whatever. I mean, it's just like no one even knows what they're working on anymore. No one gets to actually finish the games that they're working on. No one gets to actually play them. No one cares. The AAA games, 1 to 5% of the actual player base actually finishes any of them."