The Rise of Bite Size Games

            This generation of video games has certainly introduced its fair share of problems to the game industry. The rise of downloadable content, the prominence of annually released franchises, and the sharp increase in popularity of social games are three of the biggest concerns of the average “hardcore” gamer. We worry that the industry will be taken over by Call of Duty and Farmville, leaving no room for innovation and the franchises held near and dear to our hearts. While I can’t argue that these aren’t disappointing trends in the game industry, I think that this generation has introduced some good things as well.

            While many are concerned about the medium-budget releases that can’t compete with AAA games, I think that the rise of smaller, downloadable games in the $15 price range can make up for that. Microsoft’s Xbox Live Arcade and Sony’s PSN Store have helped bring these games to prominence on consoles, while Valve’s Steam has allowed hundreds of smaller games to reach much larger audiences. These games don’t offer the length of single player games that higher budget games do (in general), but the lower price tag makes it a justifiable purchase despite the lower amount of content.

            I think that the shorter length of these games allows for more unique concepts to be tried out. When a single playthrough takes only 6 hours, the gameplay, story, and setting don’t get old to the player. Developers don’t feel the pressure to create more content to satisfy players, and as a result, the content in the game is often very enjoyable. Take Limbo, for example. The game is only a few hours long, but almost all of the puzzles are well-designed, challenging, and interesting. I would rather have a few have 3-4 hours of great content for a quarter of the price of 15 hours of mediocre content.

            The business model of these games is much different from an AAA game, and I think it allows for more innovation. Developers are more likely to try new, unique gameplay and settings for their games, as these games generally don’t have amazing graphics or physics engines, keeping development costs much lower. The Summer of Arcade promotion on XBLA has helped to promote some great games, such as Limbo and Bastion. Gamers are more likely to take a chance on games when they are cheaper, and discounting the games on Steam often brings a lot of revenue to the developers. The developers of Limbo were able to use revenue from the game to buy their studio back from investors, and Bastion sold over 500,000 copies in 2011, which is only 5 months of sales. Hopefully this continues to encourage developers to innovate and not be afraid of smaller releases.