Why The Gaming Industry Needs to Refocus on Gameplay Driven Design

Video games are getting more and more fun to watch. The graphics are stunning and the visuals are as close to photorealistic as we’ve ever seen. It’s easy to spend hours just aimlessly wandering through an open world map, enjoying the scenery and watching the in-game world go by. 

But that’s kind of a problem, isn’t it? Games aren’t meant to be watched; they’re meant to be played. The most gorgeous graphics ever can’t make up for a boring story, repetitive gameplay, and dated game formats.

It reminds me a lot of the iconic line from Dr Malcolm in Jurassic Park (1993), just tweaked a little to fit the situation. Our game developers were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, that they didn’t stop to think if they should. The excitement surrounding what the newest iteration of Unreal Engine was capable of, carried many developers and studios away. 

In order to keep gamers entertained, happy, and curious about what new games have to offer, studios and developers need to refocus on gameplay-driven design. This doesn’t mean that we need to revert to 8-bit graphics or anything that reactionary. We just need a balance. This article will look at why this has become an issue, how another gaming industry has managed similar concerns, and what the necessary steps forward should be.

Current Concerns

Video games remain one of the most popular pastimes in the world, but concerns are being raised about the industry and the decreased quality of the games. Gameplay has become more simplistic and basic in recent years (with the obvious exception of a few games like Elden Ring). The effort that would have gone into developing intriguing puzzles or complex game mechanics has, instead, gone into graphics and marketing.

Mobile games could be a contributing factor. Players who started gaming by playing mobile games expect all video games to be repetitive and simplistic. Another influencing factor could be how competing payment models have shaped player expectations. In-app purchases and the ‘pay to win’ ideology have decreased the incentive for studios to make creative games.

One of the causes of these problems is the loss of talented professionals because of the general tech layoffs that we’ve seen in the past few years. Even for developers who remain in their positions, the stress and fear of losing their jobs have a negative impact. Combine this with a developing reliance on AI tools for game development and it’s easy to see how things have gotten so bad.

Lessons From the iGaming industry

The ability to easily create amazing visuals isn’t just impacting the traditional video games industry. It’s also having an impact on the world of iGaming. Slot games are particularly prone to being overly focused on graphics to the detriment of gameplay. Luckily, the lifecycle of these types of games is much faster, so the problem can be addressed more rapidly.

We’ve already seen pushback and a return to gameplay-focused slots. Slot games like reactoonz still have engaging graphics but they don’t let over complicated graphics take the place of solid gameplay. With reactoonz, the symbols are cartoon aliens that are cute but not overly designed. The gameplay, on the other hand, is more complex than a traditional slot. It includes four bonus features and two special symbols that influence gameplay.

The iGaming industry moves faster than the traditional video game industry, so we can use it as an example of how refocusing on gameplay can have positive impacts on the games and player engagement.

Steps Forward

One of the best things about the gaming industry is that it is a site of continuous change and innovation. Since the earliest days of video games, there have been occasional lulls or missteps, but these have always been overcome.

The gaming industry should look at the massive success of games with gameplay driven design. Two of these games on opposite ends of the spectrum are Elden Ring and Animal Crossing: New Horizons. These games couldn’t be more different, but both are gameplay focussed and were overwhelmingly popular among adults, giving an immersive gaming experience.

Designers need to look at how the gameplay shaped the player experience with these games, and then use that as inspiration in their future projects.

Final Thoughts

Gameplay-driven design should be the focus of all game developers because that is where player enjoyment is most impacted, and where we see real replay-ability increases. AI tools and programs like Unreal Engine make it incredibly easy for developers to create visually stunning games but this shouldn’t be the only thing that new games can offer players.