We’re currently on the cusp of a new console generation, and as players start to look back at the gaming industry’s last decade, there are bound to be mixed feelings. We’ve been gifted with some truly phenomenal experiences like The Last of Us and Red Dead Redemption 2, but at the same time, players have also seen the emergence of some really damaging trends.
Micro-transactions, season passes and as-a-service models are but a few of the worst offenders, while lootboxes, annualised releases and more were all also popularised over the last decade.
Some of these trends are finally on their way out, but as the new Xbox and PlayStation beckon, it stands to reason that most will look back on the last two console cycles with mixed feelings.
And it’s with that in mind that it’s worth considering how these trends actually began. They all had to come from somewhere, and in some cases, the actual source of the outbreak, as it were, is genuinely quite unexpected. No genre is spared; single-player, multiplayer… all have had a hand in fashioning the trends most players today simply cannot stand.
