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The part I found interesting: With the rise of free-to-play, cloud gaming and live ops, the power (and revenue) will increasingly become concentrated among a s

The part I found interesting: With the rise of free-to-play, cloud gaming and live ops, the power (and revenue) will increasingly become concentrated among a smaller number of games companies as games production and publishing become a lower margin business (just like any business that experiences content commoditisation via streaming). The number of installs / downloads / plays will not go down (neither will the number of gamers), but the number of developers and publishers likely will. Hence Unity's per-download pricing decision. It is recognising tougher times ahead and de-risking against the coming consolidation of the games industry's landscape – which is, strategically speaking, sound thinking for a company that spent a lot of time and money to move towards profitability and is looking to maintain it in the current landscape.

dleslie 3y ago
Roblox is an example of this, and Fortnite is following its lead: the game is the social network, the distribution platform, the development target, and the runtime for other games. There's an entire generation of kids for whom "Video Gaming" is synonymous with Roblox or Fortnite, rather than Steam, Xbox or Playstation. Interestingly, it seems like Nintendo is still its stalwart and indefatigable self; unrelentingly unstoppable and irreplaceable.
- stuckinhell 3y ago
  Wow, thats a mind blowing example.
- Macha 3y ago
  And Minecraft before those and call of duty before that, and wow/RuneScape before that. Call of Duty at least relied on Xbox Live, I guess but the others were their own ecosystems
- duxup 3y ago
  The social aspects are huge on Roblox, but so is the ease of just ... trying lots of stuff quickly. When I watch my son play with his friends they hop from game to game a lot, often trying out new games, similar, or completely off the wall. It's a wild ecosystem that offers a crazy amount of variety. That ease of access to the variety I think is a big reason for the success.
- gustavus 3y ago
  Its funny you mention that. The enormous variety of games is what kept me on WC3 Battle.net for hours and hours at a time.

dleslie 3y ago

Roblox is an example of this, and Fortnite is following its lead: the game is the social network, the distribution platform, the development target, and the runtime for other games. There's an entire generation of kids for whom "Video Gaming" is synonymous with Roblox or Fortnite, rather than Steam, Xbox or Playstation. Interestingly, it seems like Nintendo is still its stalwart and indefatigable self; unrelentingly unstoppable and irreplaceable.

stuckinhell 3y ago
Wow, thats a mind blowing example.
Macha 3y ago
And Minecraft before those and call of duty before that, and wow/RuneScape before that. Call of Duty at least relied on Xbox Live, I guess but the others were their own ecosystems
duxup 3y ago
The social aspects are huge on Roblox, but so is the ease of just ... trying lots of stuff quickly. When I watch my son play with his friends they hop from game to game a lot, often trying out new games, similar, or completely off the wall. It's a wild ecosystem that offers a crazy amount of variety. That ease of access to the variety I think is a big reason for the success.
gustavus 3y ago
Its funny you mention that. The enormous variety of games is what kept me on WC3 Battle.net for hours and hours at a time.