As great as video games can be, the industry is filled with mistakes, missteps, and poor decisions made for even poorer reasons. One of the most frustrating in the recent age has been the fascination the big publishers and manufacturers have had with an entirely self-contained platform. Even if we’re naïve enough to listen to their marketing and assume the best intentions, the results of these actions have long hurt the way players engage. Thankfully, the times are a-changing, and open communication and acceptance seem to be making serious headway, with some key exceptions.
When we talk about an all-in-one approach to gaming, perhaps the most illustrative example could be found with the Xbox One. As the third Xbox, the name One here signified that Microsoft’s system wanted to be the complete package when it came to entertainment. The Xbox One would help you game, watch movies, chat, listen to music, record TV, and so much more. Inevitably, this jack-of-all-trades approach made it the master of none, and that pattern repeated with all others who tried a similar approach.
It wasn’t just software where big companies would over-stretch either, as this same attempt at creating a walled garden also prevented the interaction of players. For a long time, video games would compartmentalize their player bases into each platform. This hurt the overall spirit of competition and would cause online communities to die out long before they should have. Thankfully, as we routinely cover at https://thegamehaus.com/, this is also an approach that is rapidly falling out of favor with huge new releases like Street Fighter 6 launching with cross-play support.
The call for not going all-inclusive was a loud one from diehard fans initially, but casual players might have lacked the context and understanding to appreciate how poorly things would go. Over time, as frustrations became too significant to ignore, big gaming businesses began to change tack, and in knowing where to start, they had both player suggestions and contributions from other more communicative industries.
Instead of relying entirely on their own often lacking chat systems, consoles have increasingly adopted better systems like Discord. Instead of locking players by the system, cross-play is becoming standard. Additionally, instead of relying on proprietary music players, Spotify is focusing on an increasingly integrated approach.
Similar approaches appear within the different big gaming companies, where cooperative attitudes have boosted the fame of everyone involved. Smash Bros. Ultimate is a fantastic example of this idea. This game pulls characters like Sonic the Hedgehog, Ryu from Street Fighter, Joker from Persona 5, and Sephiroth from Final Fantasy 7 into its roster, despite some of the companies being strict competitors at some point. This is a kind of extension of the affiliate programs we’ve seen in industries like online casinos, which might demonstrate a new normal.
In online casinos, affiliate programs have long operated on a similar path through companies that work for the good of the entire industry. In this instance, the companies which run affiliate partnerships build strong reputations with reputable names, each of which helps boost the status and standing of the others. Respected services in this arena like https://moonrocketaffiliates.com/ then allow websites even in vastly different industries to link to their affiliate sites. Clicks into affiliate links can generate up to 45% share in revenue for the linking websites, while also giving more players what they want. Such efforts are making headway in the video gaming space too, as greater awareness and participation in gaming continues to grow.
As far as video games have come in becoming more open systems, there have been some recent shakeups that have many players worried. Specifically, these include the purchase of major studios Activision-Blizzard and Bethesda by Microsoft. As noted by https://www.theverge.com/, these purchases mean that Microsoft will eventually be able to prevent series like The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Doom, and Call of Duty from appearing on PlayStation platforms. If this comes to pass, it will be a real slap to the face of players. There is also a possibility, however, that a shared profit system like the affiliate approach mentioned above could come to save the day.
“Xbox Series X” (Public Domain) by ru3chInitiative
A big part of being humans is repeating patterns. Eventually, lessons hard-learned are forgotten, as we continually fall into the same holes we spent so long digging ourselves out of. With players so much savvier today than at any time in the past, there is hope we could break this cycle, as we set out into a new golden age of gaming. As for what comes next, the ball’s in Microsoft’s court, so let’s all hope that it can work out a deal that works for everyone. Some things, like slaying the demon hordes of hell, transcend all boundaries and borders, and we hope gaming companies in the future continue to respect that.
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