Are games getting stale or am I getting too old?

[IREWolfman]

20 years ago I remember hearing from friends that stopped playing games because they lost that fun factor.

Today I'm getting to that stage too. I have a PS5 with 100s of games, but I find it hard to play any. Nothing really new and exciting. Nothing that makes you dream at night making you want to play the following day. Sure games like Palworld are stretching that feeling for short periods. But like many games, it will eventually get old.
I have 3 kids between 2-11, the oldest likes playing Roblox. The middle child likes to play outside. And the youngest likes to watch me play. But all 3 could care less about gaming.
I'm turning 42 next year, I'm hitting that point of not caring about gaming myself. Does anyone else get this feeling.

I love tech, and reading anything new that is out there. I love watching livestreams on PC builds and tech chat. I love building PCs still. And anything tech is still my go to.

But gaming is feeling like a third wheel. But it was my distraction from life. My go to for relaxing and having fun. Chatting with friends. I've played 1000s of hours in Destiny 1 and 2. But that is slowly ending. And Clans have come and gone. Some friends also.

If you have also felt this way did you find anything that helped? Am I alone in this? Would love to hear your responses.

 

[SoloDolo]

You’re not alone. I definitely hit waves of similar feelings as well although it sounds like our reasons for it may be different. When I connect with a game it can still blow me away and I have a ton of fun playing it. Just seems like those instances are few and far between these days.

I think factors contributing to this for me are:

1) Games taking so long to develop so the wait between things I’m interested in can be quite extensive.

2) An industry shift towards more live service, multiplayer games over my personal preference of blockbuster single player storytelling.

3) Losing events like E3, PSX etc. has lead to less and less transparency of revealing games to be hyped for.

So for example, Jedi Survivor and Spider-Man 2 are two games that clicked for me and I couldn’t stop playing. They were those “I can’t wait to get home to play more” type of experiences. But… that was last year. I haven’t felt that about a game in 2024. I still game, but it’s more just to do something/get my mind off other things.

I’m not giving the hobby up, but it’s not what it used to be when I was younger that’s for sure.

Curious to know what the last game was that made you feel that love for the hobby?

 

[IREWolfman]

Battlefield and Destiny did for me. But most recent, Spiderman. I'm a fan of driving games and football. But a lack of good driving games and football games becoming a pay to win instead of just a fun game.

Helldivers was my last I suppose, but the changes and less people playing ruined that. I think too many remakes and remasters.
Skyrim started it. After buying it 6 times. We didn't help the matter. It now instead of new games we get The last of us on PS3 PS4 and PS5. And now Horizon being remastered again. GTA Online was ok but I recently deleted that as I finally reached peak with that.

This generation also hasn't had that wow game either. Sure it's had those great games. But not like previous generations. Same with PC

 

[Tainted]

20 years ago I remember hearing from friends that stopped playing games because they lost that fun factor.

Today I'm getting to that stage too. I have a PS5 with 100s of games, but I find it hard to play any. Nothing really new and exciting. Nothing that makes you dream at night making you want to play the following day. Sure games like Palworld are stretching that feeling for short periods. But like many games, it will eventually get old.
I have 3 kids between 2-11, the oldest likes playing Roblox. The middle child likes to play outside. And the youngest likes to watch me play. But all 3 could care less about gaming.
I'm turning 42 next year, I'm hitting that point of not caring about gaming myself. Does anyone else get this feeling.

I love tech, and reading anything new that is out there. I love watching livestreams on PC builds and tech chat. I love building PCs still. And anything tech is still my go to.

But gaming is feeling like a third wheel. But it was my distraction from life. My go to for relaxing and having fun. Chatting with friends. I've played 1000s of hours in Destiny 1 and 2. But that is slowly ending. And Clans have come and gone. Some friends also.

If you have also felt this way did you find anything that helped? Am I alone in this? Would love to hear your responses.

This is an exact experience for me. As I age, I game less and less and less, and that doesn't seem to be changing direction. Not that I want it to either. I have a son (he is 24, but has a house and out on his own now), and my wife and I have a cabin up north, and we travel the world. I golf more and more. I spend more time now with friends and family. When I was younger I gamed more. And when my son was little, we stayed home a lot. I played a lot of gamers during that time, and he would game with me.

Multiplayer games, I am 100% done with. Single players gamers are now my go to, because they are at my speed, when I want. I don't have to "git gud". The only time I find to play games is the little downtime we have on Sunday nights before work the next day.

 

[Mike Straw]

I have this debate with myself regularly. I think it's a mix of games playing it too safe and then some great games being buried and never seen. Over my career, It's been tough for me to truly enjoy games because, for a while, I was reviewing a new game every week or so and couldn't sit and truly enjoy what I was playing.

Now, however, I can play games outside of reviews. But rarely have games really grabbed me. I'll admit Balatro hooked me. Roguelikes are my cup of tea and it was the perfect one for me. The more of those we get, the happier I am.

RPGs, I rarely get into now because most feel the exact same. Same with FPS. There's just nothing that makes them feel different from what I played 10 years ago. For the most part, I'll find the full cinematics/movie online if I really am interested in a story but no interest in playing the game.

 

[karthi]

I am 66, a retired physician from India. Started playing on Playstation 2 from my 20s. Now on ps5 having put in more than 4000 hrs in division 2. Never will I be bored of video games. There is the reality that good games are few and far in-between but few games like the aforesaid one then elden ring, all souls games, black myth wukong and now recently horizon zero dawn remastered keep me glued to my LG C3 for nearly 6 to 7 hours daily. Luckily I have an understanding wife and an empty nest I enjoy everyday of my life. Hope to die while playing.