> And big studios don't really have the option of lower budgets. They need to go bigger and bigger to meet the ever increasing demands of spectators, cheap prod

> And big studios don't really have the option of lower budgets. They need to go bigger and bigger to meet the ever increasing demands of spectators, cheap production won't cut it anymore. I disagree. Very few people are demanding studios spend huge amounts of money on their films. Spectators (that is, those who watch movies for entertainment) want good stories and "good enough" production values and if they have that they will be happy with inexpensive, even low budget, films. It does feel like our standards for TV have gotten a lot higher though. Creating quality content is difficult and risky so studios would rather push low effort material (remakes/sequels/weak stories) and try to make up for it with spectacle and popular actors/franchises which is usually enough to make people feel like they didn't totally waste their time/money but not always. As you said, "good enough" is becoming increasingly accessible, but big studios aren't at much risk. They have tons of money for marketing, they control the MPA which means they control the ratings system, they also have massive influence over distribution meaning that smaller/independent films will have a harder time getting shown in most theaters or getting on many streaming platforms. Right now bad movies with bloated effects budgets still do better at the box office than quality films made by independent filmmakers which is exactly how the big studios like it. There's a lot of things competing for our attention these days and even looking only at movies having instant access to so many options on our phones or in our home theaters makes the trip to a movie theater less appealing. When it comes to games I agree with you though. People really do want games that have great graphics and more content, although with the prices of video cards and most people struggling to afford their current lifestyle I expect that games which look great on consoles and lower end hardware will only get more popular.