The Casualization of Gaming

As we all know gaming has become a very big industry, and the best and most talanted designers are always trying to out do each other for our attention. Production costs have skyrocketed, and it seems our favorite franchises are only getting simpler as time goes on. The question is why?

My theory for this? Games are getting simpler because they have to. To break even a studio has to sell "x" amount of games. As the production costs get higher, "x" becomes a larger number. To appeal to more people to ensure that "x" amount is sold, they dumb down the game, to try to get newcomers.

 It's not surprising that "Farmville" a free to play game by Zynga is one of the most profitable games of all time. It has a very low production cost, presumably and anyone can pick it up and start playing whenever they want. Of course, there is stuff for real money, but most people fool themselves into thinking they will never pay real money for it. They do of course. This is because the gameplay (from what I've heard/read) is so simple that even a house mom who has never played a video game before can pick it up, and do well. When you do well at a video game, psychologically you will want to come back to it. MMO's use this same kind of logic. If you feel good at it, and that you are being rewarded for your efforts you will want to keep coming back for more.

However this "dumming down the game" logic is putting people off as well. There were a lot of people dissatisfied with Skyrim because it felt shallower then Oblivion/Marrowind. Same with World of Warcraft, people have been dissatisfied with it because Blizzard has been making things easier such as getting into dungeons/raids, as well as making getting gear easier. It is a very interesting concept. A lot of people see it as designers turning their backs on the people that made them popular in the first place. I don't see it that way. If you look at WoW, in Wrath of the Lich King Blizzard introduced "Heroic" raids for people who want the extra challenge (although, they do seem to have difficulty tuning the heroics for the right group of people.) If companies can learn to design games for the masses, and for the "core" fans, I think that a happy medium can indeed be reached.

The problem? I don't think that many companies will  try to appease both groups. I think that most will try to grab the majority, and leave the "core" because it would just be more development time and money to try to please both. Don't get me wrong, some will. Some may even do it right. But I don't think most will.