The push for "live services" has been disastrous. Having played a few of these, each one requires a time commitment comparable to a part time job to not "fall b

The push for "live services" has been disastrous. Having played a few of these, each one requires a time commitment comparable to a part time job to not "fall behind". This means even an adult with a lot of time on their hands will probably be able to keep up with at most two of these. Once you do fall behind the "fomo" mechanics often mean you feel like there's no point in returning since you already missed out. I've been playing with a theory in my head that because the core reward structures in live service games are often similar (dailies, battle pass rewards, points earned from matches), live service games are their own genre. The live service reward system is the primary game system and the other gameplay (shooter, MOBA, whatever) is kind of a minigame you play to earn points in the primary reward structure. I don't think this is true for all live services, but it definitely makes sense for some of them where the gameplay is highly repetitive - all the variation comes from the "live service" systems not the "core" gameplay. All of this adds up to fatigue. If you are even a little conscious of your spending a battle pass is not a set of rewards but a list of chores to be done so you don't feel like you wasted your money. And this same system of "chores you have to do" is repeated in a bunch of modern games. I get tired just thinking about it.