New research among British gamers found that many of them believe that the implementation of political and social stories in the last ten years had affected gaming in a negative way. Such an opinion has been shared by more than 50% of the survey participants.
The survey was carried out by OnBuy.com, a UK online marketplace. It showed that when asked whether video games had become more entertaining over the past ten years, only 47% of the participants agreed. The majority of the video gamers, who took part in the research, shared they are now finding the gaming experience less enjoyable than before. According to the results of the survey, over half of them explained that the implementation of political or social narratives was the key reason for this.
The research involved over 2,000 video game players. It found that 21% (just over one-fifth) of the surveyed gamers consider video games less enjoyable now. As mentioned above, a total of 54% of the surveyed individuals described the fact that more social or political stories have been integrated into video games as the thing they disliked most about the games’ development in recent years.
Apart from that, loot boxes and micro-transactions were also described by more than half of the survey participants as the main reason why they found gambling less enjoyable than before. A total of 52% of the people surveyed described the additional purchases of in-game items unlocking certain characters or items as some of the worst changes made by video gaming companies in the last ten years. A few games faced severe criticism for the loot boxes featured by them, with campaigners claiming such items could spark gambling among underage individuals.
High-Profile Video Games Come in Great Variety Nowadays
When researchers asked the survey participants what they consider positive improvements in the past ten years, individuals pointed out the increased variety of games available and better graphics as such improvements. However, many of them still say that narratives or storylines of video games involve too many social issues.
Although most fans and critics have acknowledged that high-profile video games have had remarkable growth in variety and portrayal in storylines that better mirror society, there are people who believe such strategy is in conflict with the idea that video games are used as a way to escape reality.
After PlayStation released the exclusive The Last of Us Part II last month, several of the game developers received death threats and faced online abuse by people who were unhappy with the storyline of the game, and more specifically, by some of the characters of the game. After members of the development team and actors made some of the threats public, developer Naughty Dog released an official statement on the matter, saying that they condemned all forms of threats and harassment directed towards the cast.
According to the research held by OnBuy.com, The Last of Us Part II was the second most-mentioned game, behind Borderlands 3, when survey participants were asked to give examples of a game featuring social or political narrative.
- Author
Olivia Cole
