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Why would retired people need their own video games?
They're playing MMOs. I am currently playing a game with a group of people and the ages range from 35 to 80. Game has been operating for 24 years at this point. Several retired during that time.
Yeah they have. They're the same fucking games as before. If you're not a gamer by the time you're over 65, odds are good that you're not gonna suddenly become one.
What makes a game "for retired people"?
What a silly premise.
Serious answer? By making a game that targets a vulnerable group that preys on loneliness and declining mental capacity. This speaks less about "what games would old people play and enjoy" and more about "how to leverage abusive techniques to maximize the extraction of wealth".
Oof. I can respect your cynicism though.
My thoughts as well.
Old people like the same shit as young people when it comes to gaming. Ever played D&D?
Ok brb making a game about being a self righteous asshole boomer who is always correct and its actually everyone else's fault that he has no friends and his wife and kids dont speak with him.
Call it Boomer Shooter, but its not an FPS, its actually primarily a series of small adventure/puzzle levels with complex branching dialogue options.
You get points for shooting down ideas you either didn't think of first or don't like because they might imply that you aren't perfect.
The rules are made up and the points don't matter beyond a high score at the end of the bad ending.
The good ending happens when you don't get that many points, despite the game constantly handholding you and telling you thats what you should focus on.
There, enjoy your retirement.
EDIT:
The DLC will add the ability to play as a privileged white woman who gets points for morally policing everyone around her but herself, spreading misinformation, and guilt tripping people who trust her.
EDIT 2:
In case I'm not being clear enough, a Boomer that wants a video game for their enfeebled retired ass can fucking make it themselves, and/or possibly think about why it is the case that the industry has enshittified to the extent that it has.
Who is it exactly thats in charge of all these enshittifying gaming companies again? Oh right yeah, its your 401ks, teaching children how to love their gambling addiction, so that you can retire well.
I mean, it can't be that hard, right? To make a toy that satifies Boomers? Just bootstrap it yourselves, I'm sure you'll discover that if you just shake a few hands and burn a few hundred million dollars, it's just about showing up and doing the job well, or something.
... you want a Boomer game?
It already exists, its Candy Crush, its Words with Friends, its Scrabble Go, its Solitaire.
That's not even an insult, that's just literally market research data.
Games for the unemployed? Have you not heard of MMOs?
Love how Gustafsson is focused on the money of old gamers.
I'm 47. I would be the prime target for this sort of campaign. Except a I've been boycotting shitty companies for so long any nostalgia I might have felt at the thought buying consoles, or a game published by EA, Activision, or Blizzard has been dead for more than a decade.
The enshitification of triple AAA titles by MBAs has driven me away from the space. Keep fucking slapping surcharges on EVERYTHING; day one dlc, microtransactions, always online DRM, the ability to revoke access to the games we paid for, because we never really owned it.
I will continue to ignore your shitty products and purchase small indie titles on PC that take risks and innovate. Withholding my money and refusing to purchase your shit will provide publishers with a sense of pride and accomplishment for retaining their customer base.
Video game companies are using their product to extract as much profit as possible, mostly young men.
Gambling companies are using their product to extract as much profit as possible, mostly young men.
There isn't enough money to satisfy both of them, so eventually they will literally go to war, and try to genocide the other. Sounds like it might have potential for a screenplay.
Did you manage to retire by 47? Seems like an outlier more than their prime target.
What about indie games? Lots of good games, also for gray people.
I'm grey (but still working), and old genX, people my age often retire. I play First Person shooters, mainly. About 12h per week on Destiny 2, all PVP, currently. Destiny is nigh-dead so I'm looking for a replacement soon.
Not a lot of indie games doing that genre well, sadly. I was going to play battlefield 6 then looked at ownership... EA was a nasty company from the beginning but is now owned by Jared the Lich Kushner and some Saudi oilymoney. Woof.
I think it's pretty telling that so many of the people they talk to and a lot of the focus of the article isn't really about older gamers, it's about their money.
The opportunity is substantial. The 40+ segment in the US is on track to grow from $19 billion in 2022 to $43 billion by 2030, a 132% expansion at a moment when the rest of the industry is shrinking. These are players with the most disposable income, the longest gaming literacy, and the highest brand loyalty.
I'm in that "40+ segment" and I suspect part of the "problem" these companies face is that older gamers have seen the enshitification of so many of the brands we love. Our tolerance for bullshit is basically gone at this point. Micro transactions, season passes, fucking ads in games, all of that bullshit is a quick way to not get our money.
I also suspect "brand loyalty" is basically gone for the same reason. As a kid, I looked for the Electronic Arts logo. If I saw this logo on a game package, I knew I was looking at a good game. I haven't bought an EA game in years. I don't expect to buy an EA game any time soon and I basically ignore everything they do. Sure, if a trailer for Starflight 3 dropped, I'd sit up and take notice. I'd also expect it to be an enshitified mess wearing the skin of a beloved series to sucker me in, before pouncing on my wallet.
So ya, maybe just make good games and older gamers will inevitably buy them. I mean, Larian can pretty much say, "hi we're making..." and I'll have my wallet out and be pulling bills before they get any further. And maybe that's your "brand loyalty". Game companies who make good games and aren't private equity firms wearing the dead skin suits of brands we used to love.
This sums up my thoughts on it, too.
Before reading it, I was ready to come back here expecting to say I'm glad someone's thinking about older gamers and joke that I feel attacked (being grey and not feeling my age), but then I saw it went down the "but their juicy wallets" angle and... I am Jack's complete lack of surprise.
They're not even couching it in more palatable terms. So now I expect it will be just a patronising nostalgia IP reboot fest designed to extract as much cash as possible. And almost certainly subscription-based, because what company doesn't these days.
Good luck with that: older people may have more disposable income, but they also have years of experience with marketing and FOMO tricks, along with the exploitation and butchering of franchises they once loved for a quick buck.
So now I expect it will be just a patronising nostalgia IP reboot fest designed to extract as much cash as possible.
Ya, this is one of the big turn-offs for me. For example, I really liked Prince of Persia: Sands of Time back in the day. I've got exactly zero interest in the remake. Ubisoft's logo now looking like a neat pile of dogshit, viewed from above, is pretty apt.
Prince of Persia is a great example! Did Lemmings ever get a reboot? 😄
I kind of want to see what modern game developers can do with old C64 games like Parallax or Head Over Heels, or Amiga ones like Cannon Fodder or Sensible Soccer, but time has taught me 2 things:
I do like that GOG, etc, do their game preservation thing. Seeing games like Hexen, Rise of the Triad and Wing Commander running on modern CPUs is kinda fun, but often confirms point 2 above.
I still break out the old Sierra games (specifically the Quest for Glory series) from time to time. Those are still a lot of fun and ScummVM makes them run damn near perfectly.
I am not quite in that demographic but getting pretty close. I've bought maybe a game a year for a very long time now. Most non-indie stuff is complete and utter trash. If I see a AAA publisher logo, I take it as a sign that it's not worth my time or money.
It's not a good long term market because retirees will be gone in 20-30 years and millennials+ will never be able to retire.
Most games are not lasting longer than 5 years anyway, then the userbase is getting so small that the revenue isn't attractive anymore.
I still care about video games very much but the industry suffers from growing bad incentives. Stop Killing Games is merely the start for me - I want games to catch up with other software and start respecting user's software freedoms.
what the fuck? isn’t the dark souls for retired people… just dark souls?
I thought that when you turn 40 they just give you a copy of Tetris The Grand Master and that's all you get to play for the rest of your life?
I still like my 3D Tetris, though. I was just never able to beat my record that i scored in 1995.
Tetris effect and lumines rise are the replacements.
My dad is in his 70s and he spends most of his time playing open world shooters/rpgs. He just finished borderlands whatever is new and started his 5th or so witcher 3 run. He also plays free to play puzzle games on mobile (to my disappointment)
My point being that I think "games for the retired people" is just games....
I'm old and I agree. I play Elden Ring, Dark Souls, and stuff like Overwatch. I do not want games aimed at old people - just good games. No one wants "Shuffleboard: The Game" or "Pickleball: The Game". And if they do want those things, they probably already exist.
There are literally 9000 hidden object games on Steam
Why would older people prefer hidden object games?
My guess is that they're not twitchy and they keep your mind active.
There are so many non-twitchy games, though, and hidden object games are not what they grew up with.
And maybe they like twitchy games. Platformers were among the first games older people played in their youth.
Rather retire and play starcraft
What would a game for a retired person look like? Stuff that isn't twitchy is all over the place: puzzlers, sims, casual experiences, and visual novels exist by the truck load. The main character doesn't need to be 80 for it to be a game for the older generation.
Turn based strategy. Anything that doesn't require reaction time and too much fine motor control.
Sid Meier's Civilizations series is a great example.
I am almost 50, so not quite retired yet. I like slow casual games. Puzzle games, survival games and CRPGs scratch my gaming itch.
My mother used to complain that they didn't make movies for old people. She literally did just want movies with old actors. What, are we gonna watch gamgam go to 6 doctors appointments?
they do make those movies. they don't make any money, because old people don't want to see them either and don't want to look at old people.
WTF are games for retired people?
I got into fortnite with friends over the winter, as I was turning 40. I get my share of zb dubs youngins
"Analysts" are a large part of why I abandoned "AAA" games over the decades. Keep them.
As soon as I retire, every single one of the multiple hundred games in my steam library will be a game for at least one retired person... except the ones I don't like and don't play anymore, like PAYDAY 2.
