1. Price

Purchase games when they're on sale. If u still have a problem wait until a deeeeep sale. perfect example- I got Titanfall Ultimate edition for $5.99 earlier this year. Only spend $60 on MUST HAVE games. For me this gen was Witctcher3, UC4, God of War, Red Dead 2, and Kingdom Hearts 3. Problem solved

2. Anti-Consumer Practices

It sucks but there are ways around it young one. Simply wait for complete edition (wait for sale), ignore micro transactions, or simply ignore the damn game mate!

3. Lack of Innovation

Thats based on perception mate but I gotta hand it to ya... you're dead wrong. I see plenty of innovation. Ex) Witcher 3- Side quests, unparalleled consequences to your actions, never before seen AAA production on open world RPG. Red Dead 2- Interactions with EVERY DAMN NPC!!! Rob, greet, duel, defuse!!!. Shadow of Morder- Nemisis system - also seen in AC Odyssey. Plenty more such as BOTW and God of War and AI in Horizon Zero Dawn. If you dont see lack of innovation thats YOUR problem or maybe you're just blind mate.

4. Lack of Variety

Whatttttttttt??? You think every AAA game has the same style or follows trends? RD2 has the same style as BOTW or even Persona 5? You really are blind or just plain ignorant. There are now more variety between AAA games than ever because more creative control due to technological advancements.

5. Excessive Exposure

Dont watch

6. Toxic commuity

..... Ignore maybe?

There solved all your issues with AAA games. You're welcome mate
Word of advice- Indies aint all that great. 99% are shovelware (garbage)

Hmm, strange. I think there is a strong variety of indies, but I have the feeling recently the most used genre in indies are adventures. May it be classic point-and-click like Thimbleweed Park or more controller friendly games like Oxenfree, or 3D action adventures like Mulaka - this I see more often than platformers. Maybe you look onto Indies too much from consoles. On consoles platformers are a bit more common, as this maps well onto the platform. But indies actually are most common on PC.

Some people lack imagination.

Yes, there are problems in certain spheres when it comes to 'AAA' game development and there's no denying the predatory monetization practices are definitely ruining the industry...in a certain sense. However, I play a combination of Indies, Middle-tier games, and AAA games and you'll find good stuff and bad stuff at every level; the primary difference is that AAA games have major marketing budgets and have the highest sales so the issue appears more widespread than it actually is. sure, EA and Activision are pretty bad for their bullshit, but don't try to pretend that Nintendo is predatory.

1 - The Price

This is one that always kinda got to me. See, people keep complaining about the price of AAA games and how you can get more value with indies but I'm not seeing it. Sure, you can buy more games for the same price if the indies are 15-20 bucks instead of 60, but there are very few indies that can compete - even at a fraction of the cost - with AAA games in terms of value but the same can be said in either way. Sure, you get your games like Hollow Knight and minecraft and other indies that last just as long or longer than AAA games, but you're delusional if you think that those games have the same level of polish or anywhere near the same volume of content that AAA games often have. Indies are fun and cheap, but you often get what you pay for. A decent 8-10 hour game with moderate polish. I don't have a problem spending more on a game that is more refined and has a campaign 2-3x longer than that. Yeah, some AAA games are super short (The Order 1886) and some indies are massively long (Hollow Knight) compared to their prices, but in my experience you get what you pay for in AAA games.

As for the monetization and season passes and microtransactions and DLC expansion packs, well, again that's not really as widespread a problem as you might think. God of War has no DLC and you can enjoy that microtransaction free. Zelda: Breath of the Wild has DLC but you're delusional if you think it's required to enjoy the game. it adds to the game, sure, but it's not like the content was artificially carved out to be sold, it was an additional feature with new content; the game was whole even without it. Red Dead Redemption 2 could never sell a bit of DLC and I don't think it will feel like it's missing something. Mario Odyssey offered a tremendous value even without the DLC add-ons. Smash will ALREADY launch with 74 characters and 0ver 100 unique stages - one of the largest rosters and most stages ever - even before you buy the DLC.

Saying a game is incomplete because there are additional bits to be added is like saying a burrito is incomplete without paying extra for Guacamole. yeah, Guac makes it better no doubt, but it's not like a guac-free burrito is bad or not a burrito.

And again, I am WELL aware that there are some games where DLC was carved out. This is true and it's shitty, but you lack imagination if you can't find a game that suits your needs and is devoid of the montetization practices you despise or is a complete package out of the box.

2 - Anti-Consumer Practices

Again, 90% of these problems are fairly well tied to a few franchises and developers. you could go your whole life without playing COD, Madden, NBA 2Kxx, or any game from Activision or EA and never be able to keep up with all the games out there. you could play Red Dead Redemption 2 for 200 hours without ever touching a microtransaction or even downloading multiplayer. The shitty bullshit is there but it's super easy to avoid. I do it all the time. I don't remember the last time I dealt with a microtransaction-laden game and like I said I play a variety of games from many publishers on many levels.

3 - Lack of Innovation

I'll give you this one. I see a LOT more creativity and unique ideas in the indie space than I do in the AAA gaming landscape. That said, I'm okay with rennovation as well as innovation. I get just as excited over a refinement on an idea I already love as I do for new ideas. New ideas are a risk since they COULD completely fail, but newness is exciting. My point is simply that a game doesn't have to be unique and innovative and 100% original to be enjoyable. There's nothing wrong with refining existing ideas.

4 - Lack of Variety.

Not sure I agree here at all. AAA games run the gamut from JRPGs to Shooters to racers to open world action games to hack and slash games and platformers and everything in between. Again, we all know there's a LOT of shooters and racers and sports games in the AAA industry but that's completely disregarding some amazing stuff out there that isn't the same shit over and over again. I do not feel that you're looking hard enough or even trying to glance past the most homogenized material in the industry. Stuff is there, it's not Sony Santa Monica's fault nor is it Nintendo's fault you can't see past Call of Duty or Battlefield or Assassin's Creed.

5 - Excessive exposure

It's called marketing. What do you expect? This is just an unrealistic complaint.

6 - Toxic Community

Totally agree with you here. I just find a wide variety of gamers in general (moreso in the AAA space) entitled, whiny, demanding, rude, arrogant, and unpleasant. Then again, I also can't stand it when people see a few trends and assume the whole industry is like that, yet here we are.

Yeah, was never a huge AAA guy but much of the stuff these days is just becoming more formulaic, and I just can't afford to drop $60 on a game (will occasionally if it's a big one like Smash or Gears) but I usually just wait for price drops or buy used when it comes to AAA titles. The one aspect I appreciate with AAA games are the open world-type games, but even these are beginning to grow somewhat formulaic and stale.

I'm definitely noticing more and more than there are a lot of great indies out there with some exciting new ideas, addictive gameplay, and quality that can rival some of the bigger name stuff in a lot of cases.

The price objection makes no sense at all.  Five minutes ago, I was looking at a long list of items on my Steam Wishlist, many of which are "AAA" games that are now under $20.  As for DLC, so what?  I only pick and choose the best DLC.  It doesn't hurt me not to play the rest.  If you're somehow driven to buy all DLC then that's really your own fault.

What it looks like to me is that you want to like indies and you want to dislike AAA games, so you're casting around for rationalizations.

Personally, I play whatever I see that looks good and don't give a toss about the labels.  Without thinking about genres or budgets, it turns out that I like a fairly mixed variety of titles.  I think it would be a waste to give up one or the other so I can fit "gaming" into a compartmentalized agenda.

A game isn't good or bad because someone sticks "indie" or "AAA" on the tag list.

Some people need to seriously read the last paragraph, but I'm going to highlight a few points to clarify some things.

1. I'm not trying to make you dislike AAA games and like indie games.
2. I'm not saying that ALL AAA games suck and that there's no single exception, I actually said that I might buy AAA games here or there.
3. I'm not saying that ALL indie games are great and innovative.
4. I'm not saying that I dislike AAA games just because they're labeled AAA. It's just that the majority of AAA games are doing these things that I dislike.
5. I'm not saying you're wrong if you disagree with me. After all, the thread is named "Why I gave up on the AAA industry", not "Why YOU should give up on the AAA industry".
6. I'm not saying my opinions are facts. That's why they're my opinions.
7. I'm not saying that ALL AAA games are the same. I'm just saying that a lot of them reuse previously established formulas.
8. I'm not saying microtransactions should bother everyone. I'm saying that they bother me.

You were supposed to give your own perspective, but a lot of you just seem to be trying to convince me. I don't miss playing a lot of AAAs, I'm actually very happy playing mostly just indies. Think of this thread as more of a story time than a call for help.

No one should have a gaming diet entirely comprised of AAA titles unless they’re a casual gamer, which is fine. There’s nothing inherently wrong with anything you listed. But if you get tired of it, just indulge in some AA or indie goodness. I enjoy movies but I wouldn’t watch only comedies or only horror or only go to summer blockbusters.

Also much of what you have issues with can simply be avoided by having patience. AAA games not made by Nintendo go on massive sales regularly. If you take issue with AAA game B launching at $60 with a season pass and day one content, wait a few months. You can typically find that complete edition for $40-50.

And obviously smaller games will be more innovative. Bigger games need to sell to recoup costs or people lose their jobs, so you take less risks and go for something you know will sell.

labels, labels, labels , a good game is one you enjoyed regardless of the box its put in, or the rating it did or did not receive.

Now the thread reminded me of a friend who likes to let everyone know that she only watches  independent /art house films usually why wearing a corresponding t shirt, but would never explain why, beyond a general decry of the industry, now the reaction from her friends hasn't been so much about what she watches more about what her motivation to do so is and it ranges from the typical she's a hipster tag,  to entertainment by agenda, the evidence used to support the later revolves around how she pushes her views ,when the counter argument is brought up that it's natural to see fans pushing their particular fandom, the counterpoint is rather than being the poster girl for independent films and what they add to the cinematic landscape she comes across as not someone who was drawn into that world by the subject matter , but more as someone who's anti industry views lead them there.

Now my take is yes there's hipster in there we all have some hipster traits in our dna, but in that case it was combined with an agenda. now some people will say in the end it's a personal view,while I agree with the personal view, it's important to see what motivation lays behind a person's actions even if it's just to better understand where they are coming from.

hear hear.
Don't worry, there are enough classic games in the world to last a lifetime.

I agree with much of the OP. However, despite the negatives mentioned, I think AAA gaming is in the best place it ever has been. Many of these games have budgets that would be totally unfathomable just a generation ago. And that budget isn't just being burned away. They're making massive, visually stunning, incredible games with it. There certainly is a lack of variety, but that's how it works when you're spending tens or hundreds of millions of dollars on a game. You simply cannot take big risks very often with that kind of money. but that lack of variety works the other way too. They keep refining the formulas and competing with each other. That's what has pushed AAA gaming to where it is right now. If you're going to spend a hundred million dollars making a game, it damn sure better be better than the other guys hundred-million-dollar game, if you want to rake in $60 from millions of consumers.

I think Indie Games have their place, but very few of them interest me. I play A and AA games from the major developers and Publishers when I want variety. Because there's one thing you know for sure when you buy from the big boys. The games never totally suck. And that just cannot be said about Indies.