2024 is the year the game industry’s bottom falls
Games with black characters and protagonists are derided as forced. Female characters considered unattractive or masculine are suffering “DEI chin.” Dragon Age: Guardianhas been criticized by far-right trolls for its customization options, which allow players to create characters with top surgery scars or play with a non-binary companion. After the reviews were released, conspiracy theorists used clichés or other language as evidence that the BioWare studio was coaching reviewers on how to talk about their games .
Even unreleased titles face an onslaught. Forced game’ South midnightabout a young black woman in the Deep South, drew ire from the anti-DEI crowd on platforms like X, where they has been photoshopped female protagonist to make herself look less “disgusting” and spread conspiracy theories about Sweet Baby’s influence on the game’s development.
But the pressure is on to remain apolitical—a curious agenda for a form of entertainment that combines the artistic interests of narrative and fantasy worlds with the agency granted to living players among them — not just from a vocal minority. After release Black Legend: WukongSome streamers have given instructions to avoid talking about Covid-19 or “feminist propaganda”. These guidelines have the opposite effect, encouraging streamers to lead with codewords from which they’ve been banned: a push against standards that actually censors players.
Look ahead In 2025, Ball said he hears more pessimism overall, but “it’s terrible to contemplate, let alone predict.” If there is a plus, he said, it is that “there is a lot more recruiting going on than is commonly believed. The downside is, it’s generally almost impossible to compensate for, especially in indie games.”
As 2024 comes to a close, the industry is operating—from the outside—with a business-as-usual mindset. In early December, developers gathered in Los Angeles to celebrate at The Game Awards. On stage, host Geoff Keighley gave a small speech between game announcements, awards and Snoop Dogg’s performance.
“The sad reality is that over the past few years, the gaming industry has suffered significant and unprecedented layoffs across the industry,” Keighley said. “Those things affect the games we play and, more importantly, the people who make the games we love. We can debate and certainly disagree as to why, and frankly, we have difficulty finding ways to address these topics in a constructive way.
Keighley used the segment to introduce the TGA’s first “game changer” award, paying tribute to an individual who has had a positive impact on the industry. The program then continued with outstanding announcements about major projects such as Witch 4 and the title follows from The last of us Naughty Dog developer.
Amid all this lies the specter of AI. There are still few details about how far the AI will develop and how future games might use it, but it’s a growing concern when ordinary workers are laid off. No one knows when or if the industry will bounce back with sustainable employment and compensation. Yes, there will be games to play. It’s hard to say how many people can do them.
