Many players have noticed a frustrating trend with some new games from major studios. They often feel like they were made with low effort, launching with bugs, repetitive gameplay, or lack of fresh ideas. This isn’t always because the developers themselves are lazy; it’s often the result of the complex and high-pressure economic environment these large companies operate in.
There are several key reasons why this occurs. First, the cost of making a top-tier game is now enormous, with budgets often reaching hundreds of millions of dollars. With that much money at stake, company executives become very risk-averse. They prefer to rely on proven formulas and established franchises rather than taking a chance on a new, innovative idea. This leads to a cycle of sequels and similar games that can feel stale.
There is immense pressure to get a game to market quickly. To capitalize on a popular trend or meet a financial quarter’s goals, a game might be rushed out the door before it’s truly ready. A famous example of this is the launch of Cyberpunk 2077. According to reports, the game was released in a state that was poorly optimized, especially on older consoles, which severely damaged its initial reputation and required extensive patches to fix later.
Big gaming companies are increasingly chasing trends they see as more profitable. This often means shifting focus toward mobile games or “live service” titles, which are designed to make money over a long period through in-game purchases. This focus can come at the expense of polished, single-player experiences. Sometimes, these live-service games are shut down only months after their launch, leaving them feeling like abandoned projects.
It’s not that these companies have stopped trying; their effort is just being redirected. A lot of resources are poured into areas that are safer for marketing, like cutting-edge graphics and cinematic visuals. However, this can sometimes mean the core gameplay underneath those stunning visuals feels shallow or underdeveloped. There’s also a growing “fix it later” mindset, where a game is released in an unfinished state with the plan to patch it after launch based on player complaints. This effectively turns the paying customers into the game’s testers.
The good news is that the industry is always changing. The recent wave of layoffs across many large companies is a sign that the current model may be unsustainable. In the meantime, the passion and creativity of smaller indie game studios have filled the gap, delivering unique and engaging experiences that remind everyone what makes gaming fun in the first place. In the end, the perception of low effort in big-budget games is less about the people making them and more about a corporate system that sometimes values financial safety over creative passion.