I read this on Ars earlier today, and I couldn't help feeling so...uneasy about the current state of the gaming industry. Financially speaking, Fortnite (and i

I read this on Ars earlier today, and I couldn't help feeling so...uneasy about the current state of the gaming industry. Financially speaking, Fortnite (and its F2P antecedents) have found a business model that's clearly superior to the traditional "boxed release" models (for want of a better description). They've hit upon a formula that makes them some serious cheese, no two ways about it. But I have to wonder - to what end? Does this actually create a better experience? At some point aren't you just taking your users for suckers, finding more and more ways to squeeze every last dollar out of them? What happened to the Valve of Half Life, Portal and TF2? What happened to the dedicated band of creatives who just wanted to make awesome games that entertained people? When did they decide "Fuck it, let's throw all that away and just make as much money as possible?" And now they're suggesting plugging into your brain to find even more ways to stamp out the childlike joy that we all used to have? I know it's hard to turn away a billion dollar company. But is this kind of success really what they wanted to build when they started? Do they honestly feel they've made the world a more fun place? To some extent, it has me questioning capitalism's role in the fabric of society. I mean, clearly it is an efficient use of resources - players wouldn't be paying money if they didn't value the experience in some form or another. But that doesn't mean they're enjoying it. Slots players surely aren't having "fun" when they're pumping thousands of dollars through the casinos, but they still do it. Very meandering rant, I know. But I don't think I'm the only one who feels this way.