If there’s a culprit that causes the AAA titles to not do so well sales-wise, it must be because of the free-to-play games.

You know, games like Fortnite, PUBG, and Apex Legend?

That seems to be the consensus among the industry insiders.

They blame these free games for being the reason that causes the AAA titles to not do so well these days.

What else causes the sales for the AAA titles to dwindle when more people are flocking to play these free-to-play online games?

It’s because these games are free that they no longer want to fork over $60 every time they want to play a new game.

They can simply switch from one game to another considering that they have plenty of games to choose from.

Well, they can blame all these free online games for all they want.

But they’re not the main reason that causes massive downfall in sales for the AAA titles.

The allure of free-to-play online games

You can play this game for free, of course.

But if you want more options for costumes and need better weapons?

You will have to pay for it.

In some games, you will have to pay for power leveling too.

Of course, you can choose to spend your time grinding if you don’t want to spend a dime on leveling up.

But the ecosystem within these games makes it an uphill battle to level up.

You will need to spend more time and effort than you normally would just to beef up your characters’ stats.

That may seem like a sleazy marketing tactic considering that the game should be free with no push to buy add-ons.

And yet, you don’t see people who play the game complaining about it.

What’s even more fascinating is that they’re willing to spend a lot of money than they normally would for a normal game.

If free isn’t the reason that got them to play these games, then what makes them pick these free online games over the AAA titles?

I will say it boils down to the game being fun, especially when you can play it with your friends.

In some games, they’re easy to play, making them more accessible and appealing even to non-gamers.

They got it all wrong

It’s understandable why large game developers in particular would blame these free games for causing the downfall among the AAA titles.

Unlike the non-AAA title games, the AAA titles tend to be more appealing to a broad audience.

If anything, there shouldn’t be much distinction between these free online games and the AAA titles considering that they also appeal to casual gamers, not just the hardcore ones.

And yet, they still fail in garnering people’s interest in the AAA titles.

While it’s true that casual gamers are the likely target audience for the AAA titles, the term casual gamers no longer has the same connotation as it used to be.

Just ask any hardcore gamers how they define casual gamers and they will say that they’re the people who play these free online games.

Of course, they won’t say that people who play games like Fortnite are largely casual gamers.

If anything, they will say that casual gamers are the sort of people who play games like Candy Crush and Angry Birds.

They don’t define someone who buys Spiderman for PS5 as a casual gamer since they know the current casual gamers aren’t someone who would buy a console to play games.

Sure, that could be the case decades ago.

But now, casual gamers are the people who play easy and simple games on their phones or tablets.

With casual gamers moving toward these sorts of games, it narrows the likely target for AAA titles even further.

The actual cause behind the AAA titles’ downfall

If these free games aren’t the reason that causes a downfall in AAA title sales, then what it is then?

Like it or not, it’s the woke agenda that leads to the demise of the AAA titles.

If the shift towards free online games is the reason that causes the game sales to decline, it will affect all games, not just the AAA titles.

And yet, we see so many non-AAA titles are doing well despite the current gaming climate.

Take Tales of Arise for example where the game is doing so well despite it’s not the AAA title.

If free games like Genshin Impact and Honkai Star Rail are causing people to move away from normal games, then games like Tales of Arise won’t do this well.

Another reason that causes the non-AAA titles to do so well in sales?

They’re not pandering to the woke agenda.

Take a look at most of the AAA titles that come out over the years and you’ll notice they’re riddled with this nonsense woke stuff.

Sure, these companies argue that they try to make their games to be more inclusive.

But what they end up doing is narrowing down their target audience even further, alienating the very people they originally served.

There’s still hope for the normal games in general, AAA titles included

The good news is all is not lost for the normal games.

Despite games like Fortnite’s popularity, most people still prefer to play normal games over these free online games.

The idea of having to grind a lot more than you normally would and the need to spend the money to have better stats doesn’t sit well with most people.

And we’re not talking about spending a small chump either. You will need to pay hundreds of dollars if you’re serious about out-leveling everyone else in the game.

It’s impossible to play the game without having to pay your way.

Let’s not forget about games that decided to close their doors on short notice after being around for years.

Imagine losing your progress after spending a lot of time and money to beef up your character.

No matter how good these free online games are, they can’t still beat normal games for various reasons.

Yes, the audience for these types of games seems to have shrunk over the years.

But if the AAA titles can stop pandering to the nonsense woke stuff, they can still remain profitable even with the shrinking audience.

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