Couple of background details: I have been gaming since 1993, been out of the hobby for some years in the 00's. Had a NES, SNES, PS1, PS2, Gaming PCs, Nintendo Wii so I have played (just like most of you) a ton of games through the years. I try to always be optimistic about the hobby, didn't say anything about last year gaming shows, but this... this is already a recurring theme and it has nothing to do with the pandemic.
Maybe the gaming industry is slowly pushing us folks in our 30s away from it? I am seeing game reveal after game reveal, and barring a few exceptions it seems like the games I am seeing do not target me at all. When I was a teenager I always expected this industry to progress, better graphics, more immersive worlds, better gameplay, better stories. But now I am seeing that we are going on the opposite direction.
I know that there are quite a few games to look forward to: Avowed, TES VI, Halo Infinite, Starfield, FH5, BoTW2, Prime 4, Bayo 3, Horizon 2, God of War Ragnarok, GT7, Elden Ring and more. But other than first party devs and a few select third parties, it seems that no one tries to create campaign based single player games anymore. There are also genres that are not being catered at all, survival horror, car combat, arcade racing, inmersive sims, character action games and more, genres that were the cornerstone of gaming in past generations.
Seeing how Arkane had to restort to co op trash because Prey and Dishonored 2 didn't set the world on fire is so dissapointing. Maybe their first game after MS acquisition will be a return to form. Also what's about games being so colourful and having that horrendous Fortnitey artstyle? The Pimkin/Animal Crossing Great Value editions? And don't get me started on the eternal hard on indie devs have for 8bit styled games. Also if a game looks like a proper modern 3D game, chances are its Co Op or MMO... Maybe the backlash against games of the sixth/seventh gen, the grey/brown era was too overblown.
Honestly if most indie devs keep resorting to 8bit or 16 bit throwback games, they have no chance competing against a Retropie or a chinese handheld with Retroarch on it.
Where are the indie devs trying to top Silent Hill, Fatal Frame, Project Gotham Racing, Vagrant Story, Legacy of Kain, SF Alpha III, Twisted Metal, Slyphon Filter, Devil May Cry and many more?
Sorry for the long rant but I had to get this off my chest. Maybe someone in their teens can weigh in to put some perspective? Are single player story based games not popular anymore unless they have best in class production values?