A former Starfield developer reveals player fatigue with excessively long AAA games. This saturation of the market with lengthy titles, he suggests, is fueling a resurgence of shorter gaming experiences. While behemoths like Starfield remain popular, the preference for more concise gameplay is growing.
Will Shen, a veteran Bethesda developer who worked on Starfield, Fallout 4, and Fallout 76, voiced concerns about the length of modern games. He argues that players are overwhelmed by the sheer time commitment required by many AAA titles, making it difficult for another lengthy game to stand out. He points to the success of games like Skyrim as contributing to the current prevalence of "evergreen" titles – games with vast amounts of content. However, he draws a parallel with other genre-defining games, like Dark Souls, noting that their success doesn't necessarily translate to the same formula working for all games. A key point he makes is that most players don't complete games longer than 10 hours, highlighting the importance of game completion for engagement with the story and overall product.
The impact of this AAA market saturation with long games is, according to Shen, a contributing factor to the renewed interest in shorter games. He cites the success of Mouthwashing, a shorter indie horror title, as an example. He believes its brevity was crucial to its positive reception, suggesting that a longer version with extensive side quests would have been less successful.
Despite this growing trend towards shorter games, longer titles like Starfield, with its 2024 DLC Shattered Space and a rumored 2025 expansion, show that the demand for expansive RPGs remains strong. The industry, therefore, appears poised for a diverse range of game lengths to cater to varied player preferences.
