Games Inbox: Is the video game industry in decline?

Gears Of War: E-Day – why did it cost so much to eat? The Thursday letters page is concerned about the current state of the video games industry, while one reader looks forward to Exodus and Star Wars: Fate Of The Old Republic. Games Inbox is a collection of our readers’ letters, comments, and opinions.

To join in with the discussions yourself, email email **Life as we know it** If Gears Of War: E-Day really did cost $500 million, I honestly don’t know what to say anymore. The game has clearly been a flop – nobody has an Xbox and its Steam numbers are terrible – and yet somehow it cost half of a GTA to make? How is a decision like that even possible at a company that’s supposedly trying to tighten its belt and is happy to lay off 3,000 people at the drop of a hat?

We’re well past the usual “publisher making weird decisions” stage now. We’ve reached a point where these companies seem to have completely lost the plot. Just look at EA.

They’re $18 billion in debt and already shutting down studios and cancelling games. What’s the point of any of it? All it seems to do is make money for a handful of executives, while everyone else – including the fans and the industry as a whole – suffers.

I honestly wonder if gaming is going to survive like this. It’s not even just unhealthy anymore; it feels like companies are actively sabotaging themselves, and the whole industry is dying, at least in the West. EA will never be the force it once was, and that means the biggest independent publisher now is… Ubisoft?!

Doesn’t that say everything? Jeffries **Popular choice** All these amazing games released this year, and the best-seller is a basketball game? And one that even the people who bought it don’t seem to like.

Sometimes I think the number of people who truly appreciate good video games is a lot smaller than we imagine, because this actually isn’t unusual. I remember being surprised and disappointed even 20 or 30 years ago when I saw the top 10 charts and realised what did and didn’t sell. Want GTA 6 news?

Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for the latest GTA 6 news, reviews of new games you should play, and exclusive analysis of the week’s biggest stories. All of a sudden, I’m glad GTA 6 is coming out this year, because at least we know that will be the best-selling game of the year. But add that to Call Of Duty and EA Sports FC, and you probably won’t get to the fifth best-seller before you find anything genuinely good.

Tomfall **Product support** I had to buy something on Amazon and didn’t want to pay a fiver for delivery, so I signed up for a two-week Amazon Prime trial. Then I remembered the games – the lovely free games. “Now this is pod racing!” So I spent ages figuring out how to get it working on my Xbox Series X.

Turns out you have to play it through the browser, or at least that was the only way I could find. I managed to get it running, but I hadn’t played it before sending this email, so my question is: how does it save, if at all, and do I get achievements? Also, is there any way to just launch it properly on the Xbox?

Anyway, off to carve up the sands. big boy bent PS: Tell me Darth Jar Jar is an unlockable racer! Email your comments to: email **The real BioWare** I got a real shock when I read the BioWare news on Thursday morning.

Well, it was a shock at first, but after thinking about it for a few minutes it became completely expected. Let’s face it, BioWare lost its way after Mass Effect: Andromeda and hasn’t been the same since. Everyone who helped make the company what it was has long since left.

Finding out that only 50 people are left says it all, because how are you supposed to make a modern game with that few staff? So yes, I still blame EA for buying them in the first place, but that deal was made years ago. I’m just looking forward to the new projects from some of the former developers.

Exodus has a number of Mass Effect veterans working on it and looks promising, while Star Wars: Fate Of The Old Republic has the director behind both Knights Of The Old Republic and Mass Effect 1. Those are much closer to being the real BioWare than the hollow shell EA has just shut down. Glottis **Not dead yet** RIP BioWare.

Thank you for Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic and Mass Effect. Like so many others, such as Psygnosis, Free Radical, AM2, Criterion, Tango Gameworks, Midway, and Neversoft, among others… Gaming will never feel the same. G4RBO GC: Technically, AM2 still exists and, as we mentioned in our article, Criterion isn’t dead – it just feels that way.

Tango Gameworks is also still going after Krafton bought it from Microsoft, although only around half the original staff have remained. **Darker Ages** Sony has clearly lost the foresight to see that the decline of physical media may be a regrettable choice. With news that Phantom Blade Zero will be getting a physical release in 2027, it’s strange to see it following the same path as Black Myth: Wukong and Alan Wake 2.

I honestly wish it had been that way from the start. But 2028 really will be the dark ages, for fans everywhere and for me personally. No disc for the next God Of War game, after Laufey.

The Last Of Us Part 3, if it ever happens, will be digital only. Uncharted. Maybe a new Killzone, or a remake.

Ratchet & Clank will no longer be physical. It’ll be a tragic end for disc manufacturing and physical collections. But the world is already digital, so I suppose that’s the future.

Which is why it’s such a lovely time to be a Nintendo fan. I’ve been building a steady physical collection myself. Zelda: Breath Of The Wild and Tears Of The Kingdom on Switch 2, Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave and Three Houses, Super Mario Odyssey, Xenoblade Chronicles 3, Super Smash Bros.

Ultimate, Donkey Kong Bananza, Astral Chain, Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition, and today I’ve also secured quite the gem: a Japanese-imported Bayonetta for Nintendo Switch. That’s incredibly rare, especially here in the UK, to find in a shop. Even CeX has it priced at £85 second-hand.

Along with my copy of Resident Evil: Generation Pack, these are perfect examples of the true joy of physical collecting. To have these on a shelf, and simply know you own something worth cherishing, is real happiness. I will still be buying the PlayStation 6 and Project Helix whenever they are officially announced, but it’ll be hard to be a Sony fan in the future.

Still, I’ve been with them since the PlayStation 2, and I’ll always be there until my last breath. Shahzaib Sadiq PS: The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time remake is next. So excited for it.

**PlayStation 32X** With all the complaints about the likely price of next-generation consoles, maybe Sony and Microsoft should take a page from the past for inspiration. Gears Of War: E-Day – why did it cost so much to eat? The Thursday letters page is concerned about the current state of the video game industry, while one reader looks ahead to Exodus and Star Wars: Fate Of The Old Republic.

Games Inbox is a collection of our readers’ letters, comments, and opinions. To join the discussion yourself, email email Life as we know it If Gears Of War: E-Day really did cost $500 million, I honestly don’t know what to say anymore. The game has clearly been a flop – hardly anyone has an Xbox, and its Steam numbers are terrible – and yet somehow it cost half a GTA to make?

How is that even possible at a company that’s supposedly trying to cut costs and is perfectly willing to lay off 3,000 people at the drop of a hat? We’re way past the usual “publisher making strange decisions” stage now. We’ve reached the point where these companies have genuinely gone off the rails.

Just look at EA: $18 billion in debt, and they’re already shutting down studios and cancelling games. What exactly is the point of all this? All it seems to be doing is enriching a small group of executives, while everyone else – including fans and the industry as a whole – pays the price.

I really do wonder whether gaming will survive in this state. It’s not just a matter of the industry being unhealthy; it feels like companies are actively sabotaging themselves, and the whole thing is collapsing, at least in the West. EA will never again be the force it once was, which means the biggest independent publisher now is… Ubisoft?!

Doesn’t that say everything? Jeffries Popular choice All these incredible games released this year, and the best-selling one is a basketball game? And not even one that the people who bought it seem to like all that much.

Sometimes I think the number of people who truly care about great video games is much smaller than we imagine, because this sort of thing is actually pretty common. Even 20 or 30 years ago, I remember being shocked and disappointed when I saw the top 10 charts and realised what really sells and what doesn’t. Want GTA 6 news?

Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for the latest GTA 6 news, reviews of new games you should play, and exclusive analysis of the biggest stories of the week. Now I’m almost glad GTA 6 is coming out this year, because at least we know that will be the year’s top seller. But once you add that, Call Of Duty, and EA Sports FC, you probably won’t get to the fifth best-selling game before you find something actually good.

Tomfall Product support I needed to buy something from Amazon and didn’t want to pay a fiver for delivery, so I signed up for a two-week trial of Amazon Prime. Then I remembered the games – the lovely free games. “Now this is pod racing!” So I fiddled about trying to get it working on my Xbox Series X.

As far as I could tell, the only way to play it was through the browser. I did manage to get it running, but I hadn’t played it before sending this email, so my question is: how does it save, if at all, and do I get achievements? Also, is there any way to just launch it properly on the Xbox?

Anyway, off to carve up the sands. big boy bent PS: Please tell me Darth Jar Jar is an unlockable racer! Email your comments to: email The real BioWare I was completely stunned when I read the news about BioWare on Thursday morning.

Well, stunned at first – but after thinking about it for a few minutes, it became sadly expected. Let’s be honest, BioWare lost its way after Mass Effect: Andromeda, and it hasn’t been the same since. Everyone who made the company what it was has long since left.

Finding out there are only 50 people left says it all. How are you supposed to make a modern game with so few staff? So yes, I still blame EA for buying them in the first place, but that battle was lost years ago.

What I’m looking forward to now is the new work from some of BioWare’s former developers. Exodus has a number of Mass Effect veterans on it and looks promising, while Star Wars: Fate Of The Old Republic has the director of both Knights Of The Old Republic and Mass Effect 1. Those are much closer to being the real BioWare than the shell of a company EA just shut down.

Glottis Not dead yet RIP BioWare. Thank you for Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic and Mass Effect. Like so many before them, such as Psygnosis, Free Radical, AM2, Criterion, Tango Gameworks, Midway, and Neversoft, among others… Gaming will never feel the same.

G4RBO GC: Technically AM2 still exists and, as we mentioned in our article, Criterion isn’t dead – it just feels like it is. Tango Gameworks is also still around after Krafton bought it from Microsoft, although only about half the original staff remained. Darker Ages Sony seems to have completely lost sight of the fact that losing physical media may be a regrettable decision.

With the news that Phantom Blade Zero is getting a physical release in 2027, it’s strange that this is following the same pattern as Black Myth: Wukong and Alan Wake 2. Honestly, I wish it had been like that from the beginning. But 2028 really will be the dark ages, for fans everywhere and for me personally.

No disc for the next God Of War game after Laufey. The Last Of Us Part 3, if it ever happens, will be digital only. Uncharted.

Maybe a new Killzone, or a remake. Ratchet & Clank will no longer get physical releases. It’ll be a tragic end for disc production and physical collections.

But the world is already digital, so I suppose that’s the future. Which is why it’s such a wonderful time to be a Nintendo fan. I’ve been steadily building a physical collection.

Zelda: Breath Of The Wild and Tears Of The Kingdom on Switch 2, Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave and Three Houses, Super Mario Odyssey, Xenoblade Chronicles 3, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Donkey Kong Bananza, Astral Chain, Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition, and just today I managed to get a real gem: a Japanese import of Bayonetta for the Nintendo Switch. That’s incredibly rare, especially in the UK, to find in a shop.

It’s even £85 at CeX, despite being second-hand. Along with my copy of Resident Evil: Generation Pack, those are two perfect examples of why physical collecting still feels special. To have them on a shelf, and simply know you own a piece of history, is true happiness.

I’ll still be buying the PlayStation 6 and Project Helix whenever they’re officially announced, but it’s going to be difficult to be a Sony fan in the future. Still, I’ve been here since the PlayStation 2. I’ll always be here, until my last breath.

Shahzaib Sadiq PS: The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time remake is next. I’m so excited for it. PlayStation 32X With all the complaints about how much the next generation of consoles will likely cost, maybe Sony and Microsoft should take some inspiration from the past.