According to statistics, the most popular video games have a simple look, and nobody needs beautiful graphics, nor powerful gaming computers. In this article, we will analyze the market, understand the psychology of the player, and try to understand what guides developers and typical gamers.
Let’s start with an analysis of the most popular projects in Steam. Statistics show that people hardly ever play graphically high-quality projects. Almost all of the games on this list will easily run on a desktop with an Nvidia GTX 1050, 8 GB of DDR3 memory, and an Intel Core i5-4590.
Okay, with online games «old school» it’s clear, they are eternal, but what about noveltiesthat sell well? The situation here is similar: there are almost no graphically high-quality games, while projects with the simplest visual design become the best sellers.
It is obvious that simple games, not the best AAA titles, have the greatest impact on the global development of video games. Minecraft — one of the most popular games for computers, which has been breaking sales records for more than a decade. Without exaggeration, it is one of the most preferred games of children (the main gamers), although it has many adults among its audience.
Also conditional Roblox receives thousands of times more attention than Sony exclusives for PlayStation consoles. Complete the game’s linear story in nine hours as if watching an interactive movie, or get an endless stream of content in Roblox created by other players.
Of course, the vast majority of players will not want to launch a game with top-end graphics after an incredible adventure in the world of dice. There are so few fans of beautiful graphics that they hardly affect sales statistics.
It’s not about the cost of games because casual games on Nintendo cost no less than those on Sony, but they sell many times, tens, hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands of times better.
For example, consider sales popular series of games for Nintendo:
And what’s on a «large platform» PC? Alan Wake 2 has perhaps the best graphics of all video games and everything was sold 1.3 million copies. This is still a good result for a boring AAA game with top-end graphics. A small audience still buys such games, but all these sales are negligible compared to really popular games.
People are not interested in playing realistic games, literally. Casual projects with cartoon-like graphics are the bestsellers. Moreover, these games are played not only by children but also by adults. The simplicity of the gameplay (read gameplay) has always been above any graphic technology.
Ray tracing, realistic textures, high-quality lighting, long rendering distances, animations recorded by real people, and budgets of hundreds of millions of dollars — none of this is any match for Nintendo’s projects.
The console developers realized that the pursuit of realistic graphics makes no sense, so they stopped competing with Xbox/PlayStation. As a result, Nintendo is the main player in the gaming console market, leaving its large counterparts far behind.
There are exceptions, such as GTA V, but this game is not a benchmark for graphics and realism either. Casual adventures about bandits who kill policemen and create chaos on the streets are fun. That is why GTA V is still played 11 years after its release, and everyone has already forgotten about the graphically high-quality Watch Dogs 3.
Sony and Microsoft have no chance of beating the best game console manufacturer because they focus on something that people hardly need — graphics. The emphasis on realism and the lack of portable versions of consoles has done its job, and now Nintendo is the most widespread player in the market, of course, after mobile phones, which will be discussed later.
For gamers, the simplicity of mechanics and the complexity of the gameplay play a giant role. For example, DOTA 2, although considered an e-sports discipline, is relatively easy in nature so that a beginner can play at a decent level in a few months, which is impossible in any other genre except MOBA.
It is thanks to the low requirements for the player that such RPGs have a large online audience. Add to this the terrible graphics of 15 years ago, for which an ancient video card with 1 GB of VRAM is enough, the ability to buy virtual items for real money, and the recipe for a successful computer game is ready.
While AAA studios are struggling to recoup the money they spent on development, VALVE is earning millions from loyal fans by spending a paltry amount to maintain and update an old game on an irrelevant, technically backward 20-year-old engine.
Yes, DOTA 2 has mediocre animations, low-quality textures, outdated lighting that looks like it was made for a 2004 game, etc., but none of this prevents it from gathering up to 500 thousand players online every day. People are interested, so they continue to play Warcraft, «tanks», «counter», and other old projects.
Smartphones are doing even better — the popular game is downloaded more in one year than GTA V in 11 years. Yes, all of these mobile masterpieces are free, but they bring in so much revenue that Rockstar, EA, Ubisoft, Activision, or Valve can only dream of this.
The most popular mobile games (total downloads in 2023):
This strategy (emphasis on ease) allows developers to attract hundreds of millions of players on mobile platforms. A young man who has played Asphalt 9 on his phone will never want to play Forza Horizon 5 or the best sports simulators with top-end graphics.
In Asphalt 9, the car drives itself without the player’s participation, literally. You don’t even have to poke your finger at the screen or twist the phone inaccurately — you’ll win in your pocket even if you put the phone on the table. Such an aggressive assistant plays instead of a human, and the player does not suspect it.
Similarly, in shooters, a mobile gamer uses automatic shooting by default (on PCs, triggerbot is considered illegal software, i.e. cheats), all objects are automatically picked up and replaced if necessary, and shooting is easy thanks to the «magnetic sight».
All of these program assistants give you a sense of confidence, strength, and superiority over your enemies: «I am such a skillful shooter, invincible racer, skillful magician, agile samurai, perfect player in everything».
After such a gameplay, a mobile gamer will not want to play any games on a PC or PlayStation because he already has a habit. As practice shows, most affluent gamers who have switched from mobile to gaming computer continue to play mobile games.
What will such an owner of Nvidia RTX 4090 play on his top-end computer? Of course, Android games through an emulator. There are incredibly many examples of this, as in India, China, Indonesia, Pakistan, Iran, Nigeria, and other populated countries with rapidly growing economies, almost no one knows about the PC version of PUBG.
Having the opportunity to play the best AAA titles of our time, they will play mobile versions of Call of Duty, PUBG, Asphalt (not Forza), etc. This once again confirms that many gamers aren’t concerned about graphicsThe quality of game mechanics, physics, and game detail, while the entry threshold and low complexity, are important.
It’s nice to play PUBG Mobile with a statistic of «22 kills, 2 assists, 0 deaths», of which there will be 21 bot kills and 1 player with a frozen phone. In online games on a smartphone, almost all «players» are actually bots of low difficulty, but disguised as real people with seemingly realistic nicknames.
It is logical that after this, gamers would rather not try their best in hellishly difficult computer or console games, where every opponent is a serious threat, and it will be almost impossible to achieve such statistics.
Forza Horizon 4 or Asphalt 9? Which is better? What will a modern gamer choose? Of course, most players will immediately say: «Asphalt 9 is better in everything». Give a typical gamer of the 21st century the most powerful computer with an Ultra HD OLED monitor, and he will still download an emulator to run the game for a smartphone.
In one video on the Internet, the authors asked the audience to write which game they like best. The statistics are really impressive. Here is what users write under the video comparing Forza Horizon 4 vs Asphalt 9, PUBG PC vs PUBG Mobile:
«I love Asphalt».
«Both games are fun, Forza has better graphics, but I prefer Asphalt».
«I love Asphalt 9 because it’s unrealistic and fun».
«I like Asphalt 9 because the graphics are great, but also because of the power you feel when you play. It’s much better than Forza Horizon».
«Asphalt 9 is much better. Asphalt looks better. I’m a mobile gamer and I’m proud of it. That’s why I never play on consoles and PCs because they are the worst».
«Asphalt 9 is certainly much better than Midnight Club on the computer, my friends».
«I don’t understand why people say that Forza Horizon 4 is realistic, I don’t really see the difference, almost everything is the same, I think they are just fanatics».
«I downloaded the demo version of Forza Horizon 4 and played for an hour on maximum graphics. I uninstalled it. Forza has bad physics and awkward controls. Asphalt 9 is much better than all other racing games».
«A perfect example of how more beautiful graphics does not mean better».
«Mobile is easy, computer is not».
«PUBG Mobile is the best».
Almost unanimously, gamers prefer mobile games with poor graphics, even in a direct comparison. They are not interested in a beautiful picture, but rather in the gameplay, low complexity, ease of use, and easy access to the next dose of dopamine.
Since beautiful games are still being released, it means that there is an audience of consumers. It is very small, almost invisible against the background, but it still makes itself felt. For example, a AAA game can bring in 500 times less net profit than a primitive game with childish graphics, but if it has paid for itself in 10 years of heavy sales, then this is a hint of a sequel.
Incredibly realistic Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 has gained a little more than 1000 online players on Steam, while the conventional Counter Strike 2 collects more than 1,000,000 daily. The difference is 1000 times, and that’s only at the release of a new product. In six months, everyone will forget that such a game ever existed, and people will continue to buy skins for tens of thousands of dollars (there are some) in CS2.
Fans of Ultra HD resolution, high-quality AAA games, ray tracing, and classic single-player games are incredibly few against the background of billions of gamers. They can be considered eccentrics, without exaggeration, a dying minority with their own special fetish.
The number of true aesthetes is decreasing, as the new generation grows up with mobile games that make it impossible to enjoy beautiful graphics. Modern gamers are simply not interested in looking at a realistic picture, because for them it is boring and primitive.
No one needs graphics except for a handful of eccentric gaming computer owners and some gaming console fans. Game image quality and realism is the lowest priority among the vast majority of gamers. Whether one likes it or not, the market dictates its terms based on the needs of society, and society says that graphics is not important.