People have been claiming a certain genre or type of game is dead throughout the history of video games, and it has practically never been true. From adventure games to space-combat simulators to 2D platformers and who knows how many others, and it's almost never true. Every genre has its peaks and valleys in terms of popularity and relevance, but just because something isn't always on the top of sales charts doesn't mean it's instantly dead as a genre. Calling it that is most of the time just sensationalism that disregards most evidence to the contrary.

The two articles cited there seemed to largely be just from the perspectives of individual people who have only a limited grasp of turn-based RPGs as a genre. Games like Banner Saga, Legend of Heros: Trails in the Sky, Ni No Kuni, Child of Light, and many others show very clearly that the genre is doing quite well for itself. They may not be selling millions of copies at launch, but that doesn't meant they are somehow instantly unsuccessful.

I could probably write an entire article debunking this idea that a video game genre is dead because it's not quite as popular as before.

Absolutely no if we talk home console AAA games.

It still exists, though like Shikamaru said, they live on in the AA realm, while within the AAA side they are tapering. This reminds me of how in the AA space, TBS are on the rise and RTS (Actual C&C/AoE style, not mere real time movement) is on the decline. The AAA space only has the likes of SCII which has now concluded it's own story and has come to an end, leaving only MS with Halo 2 as the only player on the board for a single RTS game.

Meanwhile in Japan and the rest of the Western world, TBRPG's still exist within the AA space and some in the AAA.

If there's one thing I've come to want in the industry, it's that I want genres to continue existing. I'm not remotely much a fan of turn based gaming, but I don't want it to rise and dominate everything, nor do I want real time to either.

Okay. I retract my wish.

😞

Besides pokemon there are still games like divinity original sin.

Not sure what constitutes alive or dead in this, but turn based has seemingly never been a dominant trend in western markets. Even at its peak in PS1 era I would hear how turn based was "archaic" from western reviewers trailed only by complaining about random encounters.

I'd say it is as alive today as it has been for past 15 years.

As someone who does not play JRPGs I can't honestly remember when RPGs were mainstream in the first place. Sure, TES and Witcher are now mainstream, but even in period of Interplay's golden era, with Baldur's Gate, Planescape: Torment and Fallout 1/2, they were not mainstream. Sure, (almost) everyone knew of Diablo...but then again, Ultima was never mainstream, Might & Magic or Wizardry as well. RPGs, at least of C and W variety were always semi-niche products at best.

That said, since that sort of RPGs are not only still being made, but in sort of a second renaissance, I can't really say they are dead....but not mainstream, since they've never been that to begin with.

No, like other have said there has been a good amount of turn-based rpgs released this year and next year there will be more.

AAA turn-based RPG's will be few and far between, but the Indie turn-based RPG's will be plentiful

2 of the three biggest RPGs coming next year, actually 3 of four are turn based.

FF12, No no Kuni 2 and persona 5