Rather than slowly chipping away at a narrative full-price game, you can get at least three indie games for the same price and enjoy three different stories in a probably shorter time span. Or, when you really want to play something new but don’t feel like forking out for a game that you probably won’t even finish, turning to indie games seems like the right choice, and you won’t feel guilty about spending $60 on something you don’t even play. While it feels quite logical that indie games have become popular due to their variety, freedom of expression and ease of access, some theorize that there are other major factors at play.
Danryoku, an illustrator who works in the game industry, most notably providing monster designs for Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes and Brave x Junction, recently shared their opinion on the topic, suggesting that the recent boom in popularity of indie games is due to gamers having less time for games and a shorter attention span.
“Having heard various people of different backgrounds share their opinion on this, I believe that in recent years, there’s a large number of people who:
- Can’t finish games
- Want to be able to complete games in a shorter time frame, so they seek indie games instead
- Can’t make time for playing games in the first place
It’s becoming increasingly easier to visualize why indie games are becoming so popular.”
However, Danryoku suggests that the lack of disposable time to dedicate to gaming is not because people are busy with work – but rather because of the huge impact short-form content has made on modern day entertainment. “What’s happening now is a scramble for entertainment time – I presume TikTok is undoubtedly the strongest here, with webtoon apps coming in second. My impression is that media which requires less overall commitment to pick up tends to be the strongest in this sense,” the artist commented in a follow-up post.
The topic quickly took off on the Japanese side of X, with many gamers seemingly agreeing with Danryoku’s sentiment. They point out that people getting used to content like TikTok, YouTube Shorts and Reels may have an impact on their willingness to pursue games – as short video content is much easier to delve into and passively digest compared to games, in which you’re in the control of your experience. “Games are a type of entertainment which you can’t enjoy unless you actively engage with it. No matter how simple the game actually is, you have to at least press one button, but with videos all you need is to just play them and passively take them in. If you get too used to this, of course booting up your gaming system will feel like a chore,” a user commented.
On the other hand, some users suggest that the grindy feeling of modern-day games, especially with live-service games growing popular, is what discourages players from further engaging with the medium. “Those who create games have a tendency to force players to do laborious in-game tasks. There are already so many players who struggle with work in real life – what they want from games are not quests and tasks but a way to feel exhilaration and a great sense of achievement through something that they can’t experience in their daily lives,” a comment to Danryoku’s original post said.
However, rather than fearing this change in trends – embracing it can also have its benefits, and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 comes as a possible an example of that. One of the factors behind the game’s popularity is its shorter and more focused experience compared to the average full-price story-driven RPG, and this was a conscious decision from the developers’ side. (Source: MP1st) Being aware of gamers’ preference for short but dense games might just be what helps AA and AAA developers recover audiences, while also lowering production costs and, as a result, game prices.
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