About 2023:
1 — We saw the rise of small games such as Vampire Survivors. Diversity within game development is always nice. It provides more options for indie game studios.
2 — Indie multiplayer becomes an important genre, with small teams capable of making 10s of millions with less than 300k budget.
3 — We got fed up of Unity and it’s freaking load time. I meant, freaking executives.
4 — Steam kept doing good things, good work, and is the jewel of our indie industry. Just imagine if there was a Steam for movies, comic books, music, TV shows; it would be amazing. SteamDeck was insanely popular among gamers, proving there is still space for new hardware.
5 — AI tools were a source of great conflict and philosophical questions. We didn’t have enough debate about these powerful tools, and the responsibility behind them.
My hot takes for 2024
1 — Small games will flow the game stores. Indie game developers follow trends a lot! Too many indies become obsessed with short term development for maximized gains, for the better and worst of it. (I’m one of them)
2 —Indie multiplayer will continue to shine, as people are accustomed to playing with friends on Discord in groups of 2 to 8 people.
3 — At least 1 AA game studios will switch to Godot and dig a new path for the years ahead.
4 — Developers will realize that AI, like VR, applies only to a small number of use case. The rest is futile and an overhyped gadget.
5— Console marketplaces get overcrowded with games, their owners don’t upgrade fast enough the stores and discoverability becomes utter crap.
Let me know if some things sound true or just plain stupid ; even your own predictions for 2024 are interesting for me! Send them to me on tavrox@tavroxgames.com.
