Technology

Ok brb making a game about being a self righteous asshole boomer who is always correct and its actually everyone else's fault that he has no friends and his wife and kids dont speak with him.

Call it Boomer Shooter, but its not an FPS, its actually primarily a series of small adventure/puzzle levels with complex branching dialogue options.

You get points for shooting down ideas you either didn't think of first or don't like because they might imply that you aren't perfect.

The rules are made up and the points don't matter beyond a high score at the end of the bad ending.

The good ending happens when you don't get that many points, despite the game constantly handholding you and telling you thats what you should focus on.

There, enjoy your retirement.

EDIT:

The DLC will add the ability to play as a privileged white woman who gets points for morally policing everyone around her but herself, spreading misinformation, and guilt tripping people who trust her.

What about indie games? Lots of good games, also for gray people.

It's not a good long term market because retirees will be gone in 20-30 years and millennials+ will never be able to retire.

I still care about video games very much but the industry suffers from growing bad incentives. Stop Killing Games is merely the start for me - I want games to catch up with other software and start respecting user's software freedoms.

I thought that when you turn 40 they just give you a copy of Tetris The Grand Master and that's all you get to play for the rest of your life?

what the fuck? isn’t the dark souls for retired people… just dark souls?

I got into fortnite with friends over the winter, as I was turning 40. I get my share of zb dubs youngins

I think it's pretty telling that so many of the people they talk to and a lot of the focus of the article isn't really about older gamers, it's about their money.

The opportunity is substantial. The 40+ segment in the US is on track to grow from $19 billion in 2022 to $43 billion by 2030, a 132% expansion at a moment when the rest of the industry is shrinking. These are players with the most disposable income, the longest gaming literacy, and the highest brand loyalty.

I'm in that "40+ segment" and I suspect part of the "problem" these companies face is that older gamers have seen the enshitification of so many of the brands we love. Our tolerance for bullshit is basically gone at this point. Micro transactions, season passes, fucking ads in games, all of that bullshit is a quick way to not get our money.

I also suspect "brand loyalty" is basically gone for the same reason. As a kid, I looked for the Electronic Arts logo. If I saw this logo on a game package, I knew I was looking at a good game. I haven't bought an EA game in years. I don't expect to buy an EA game any time soon and I basically ignore everything they do. Sure, if a trailer for Starflight 3 dropped, I'd sit up and take notice. I'd also expect it to be an enshitified mess wearing the skin of a beloved series to sucker me in, before pouncing on my wallet.

So ya, maybe just make good games and older gamers will inevitably buy them. I mean, Larian can pretty much say, "hi we're making..." and I'll have my wallet out and be pulling bills before they get any further. And maybe that's your "brand loyalty". Game companies who make good games and aren't private equity firms wearing the dead skin suits of brands we used to love.

My dad is in his 70s and he spends most of his time playing open world shooters/rpgs. He just finished borderlands whatever is new and started his 5th or so witcher 3 run. He also plays free to play puzzle games on mobile (to my disappointment)

My point being that I think "games for the retired people" is just games....

There are literally 9000 hidden object games on Steam

What would a game for a retired person look like? Stuff that isn't twitchy is all over the place: puzzlers, sims, casual experiences, and visual novels exist by the truck load. The main character doesn't need to be 80 for it to be a game for the older generation.

WTF are games for retired people?

"Analysts" are a large part of why I abandoned "AAA" games over the decades. Keep them.

As soon as I retire, every single one of the multiple hundred games in my steam library will be a game for at least one retired person... except the ones I don't like and don't play anymore, like PAYDAY 2.

I'm 54 in a couple of months... I'm currently playing BF6 to death. Before that it was Apex. I've been playing games since the 8-bit days and just never stopped.

sure there are games for retired people. EVE Online. pretty much everyone who plays that are either middle aged or retired.

My band plays charity gigs at nursing homes, and they seem to love the Wii! They'll have like Wii Sports nights and stuff.

I'm getting on in years a bit myself. I have no problem with strategy/sim type games, but those where you can't afford to even blink are beginning to test my stamina. Though my wife recently got me into Diablo IV, and I seem to be doing better with that. Maybe because it doesn't use a 1st person perspective?

it's a dead market. once the current crop of retirees die off, there won't be anymore because the rest of us will have to work til we die.

While they're not to my liking and have exploitative microtransactions, the market is highly served by games like Candy Crush and Wordscapes.