They are F2P, which means they are constantly being played by Russians and South Americans on their 19th new account. Same with every F2P game. They are free, often low on requirements, and usually offer a chance to make money by grinding/selling. Not to mention, they are almost all multiplayer and thereby being played by massive groups of friends who need something to do that is free.
Its really not that hard to figure out, but considering how many times you prostrate that you particularly don't get it or agree with it tells me you never really tried. You just wanted to shit on people who aren't you.
From my time playing CS:GO I can tell you that people would often idle those bullshit F2P games just to make their account look legit. Dead giveaway for a hacker.
You'll need to keep Warframe and War Thunder out of the equation as they inhabit the niche of f2p that gets CONSTANT updates. Plus they both appeal to their markets even with grind, Warframe with power simulator and War Thunder with military enthusiasts.
GTA V, CS:GO 2 also need to be discounted as they are legacy games with a thriving player base, you know what you'll get when you play and you know there's a ton of players there so you aren't buying a dead game.
EA sports games.......I got no defence other than they are gambling addicts with how EA monatises those games...
The standouts really are BG3 and Lethal Company. BG3 getting high praise, been waited on for years and didn't turn into crap (at least till act 3) explains this one. Lethal Company might show how big the influence of simple game design as well as streamers have on the gaming market considering how much this game is steamed so could be another Among Us example.
Multiplayer, uh, stuff is the industry. Stuff like BG3 and Total War just break into the tops as single player games every now and then. A really popular single player title will hit the leaderboard. Otherwise it's whatever people can download to waste time for cheap/free.
Funny, I think we've had a very similar discussion previously. One of the elements you're failing to account for is pretty simple: Multiplayer.
All games are to some extent repetitive; games are in large part, even if voluntarily, constrained by genre. The "least repetitive" game would be an absolute chaotic mess spanning multiple genres...and probably not very fun.
For context, I personally don't even play any of the games you mentioned, but I've played plenty of other very repetitive games; MOBAs, shooters, ARPGs...even turn-based tactics could be considered repetitive. Again, most games have a very straightforward gameplay loop.
For things like MOBAs and shooters, the fun and challenge comes from the other players. The gameplay itself might be repetitive, but the fact that you're up against other people, and can actually lose (which is pretty absent in most at least modern singleplayer games, outside of roguelikes/lites) is what keeps things interesting.
It's like asking why people could play so much chess. It's not the raw gameplay itself, it's the fight and the ability to improve your skills and overcome.
I don't play on steam. I don't actually have much time for games at all and get a bit jealous at times of people like you who do.
But reading your post, I just wanted to add a comment. I understand that mobile is a totally different scene.. But if you scroll through the popular games there, you will find that the majority of them are mind numbing.
I think that regardless of the source, most people are stupid and want games they don't have to think about. If they are offered a simple, cheap game they will grab it. Even if they don't play it much.
What I'm getting at is that I don't think steam is manipulating much. Maybe throwing a few in their view creates a feeding frenzy. I always try to remember that although individuals can be smart, people are stupid.
For me, I started my own electrical business a couple of years ago. I get an hour or two each week that I can unfocus and play a game or two. I look at the new baldurs gate and wish I had half the free time it would take to get involved.
F2P usually have a fun tutorial portion, then there is a sweet spot between the tutorial and when all of the pay mechanics are introduced and when you run up against the first serious "pay or wait" wall.
You get to enjoy an hour or few of a high budget production game with possibly interesting mechanics, and maybe keep playing if the grind is enjoyable enough.
I played the hell out of Firefall and DDO when they want F2P. I even spent a bunch of money on DDO, not as much as I would have spent if it were still subscription and I played for the same duration but still more than the zero they would have gotten if the F2P hadn't encouraged me to give it a try.
From what I've seen Warframe has fun mechanics and visuals. I tried to play but they reject my revocable email addresses in making an account.
Warframe's grind doesn't get too bad until you get to the roughly 30% of the game that absolutely requires co-op to progress. That's when I dropped it, it's not a game my friends who just play CoD can get into and Darwin proved that random are descended from raccoons.
Randoms in Warframe aren't bad. It's not like you need old-school MMORPG raid-level knowledge and coordination. You can brute force all the high-end stuff so even a raccoon can do it.
The problem with raccoons is that they tend to scamper off. It's pretty difficult to get randoms to join because most high level players have moved way beyond the old quests. They changed a lot of the tile sets in the game without changing the quests to match.
The only truly negative thing I'll hear about Warframe is how unabashedly pozzed the dev team are. A tranny character, gay relationships, and they have Pride™ pfp's you can get every June.
For a F2P game, it's one of the best I've ever played. Unobtrusive "buy Plat" messages in the background, and 99% of content is purchasable with premium currency you get from trading stuff to other players, which you get from just playing regularly in the first place. Some of the real money stuff you can buy is just skins for the individual Warframes, and most of them are hideous anyway.
I have played assorted free to play games, be it on PC (Warthunder, MechWarrior Online, World of Tanks, Crossout, League of Legends, Fortnite) or mobile (practically any game now, though Brawl Stars is the first that comes to mind), and I have found enjoyment in some form or another from each.
To echo another poster, the F2P grind is fun until it is not. From that point, the player can choose if they want to quit, continue to grind or give the devs money to lessen the grind but not remove it entirely.
For me, paying money to speed up the process or have an extra edge tends to kill the enjoyment I was getting from the game, as though I have cheated. For others, paying is the point, for why grind when you can pay to win?
Why do I play free to play games at all? Usually, I want a little something new/different as I do not want to burn myself out on what I am currently playing, nor do I want a new game that is going to take over my gaming schedule. Furthermore, I absolutely do not want to invest my money in a game that could be garbage, so Mega Killfest Mecha Rumble is downloaded, played for a bit as a break, then deleted so I can get back to whatever I was playing refreshed and ready to go.
It's either a combination of being a good game like BG3 that eventually cycles out of the top list, an enduring game like GTA 5 or Counterstrike, or a free multiplayer game that you can run on any computer built in the last 15 years.
I don't know that I've ever looked at top sellers on Steam. I find interesting games on the "recommendations based on what I play" list, or by recommendations on this forum.
Consoomers and normies are the reason why western game industry got this bad in the first place, you can argue the whole game industry but they are still problem for me as they call incomplete game BG3 game of the year and the one devs have to learn from.
They are F2P, which means they are constantly being played by Russians and South Americans on their 19th new account. Same with every F2P game. They are free, often low on requirements, and usually offer a chance to make money by grinding/selling. Not to mention, they are almost all multiplayer and thereby being played by massive groups of friends who need something to do that is free.
Its really not that hard to figure out, but considering how many times you prostrate that you particularly don't get it or agree with it tells me you never really tried. You just wanted to shit on people who aren't you.
I don't think he cares much about what the customers want. remap keys? I don't get it, the preset keys are perfectly functional!
The kind of mindset that leads to everybody's favorite type of dev:
Can't wait for him to ban mods to the game because it strays from "the vision".
From my time playing CS:GO I can tell you that people would often idle those bullshit F2P games just to make their account look legit. Dead giveaway for a hacker.
You'll need to keep Warframe and War Thunder out of the equation as they inhabit the niche of f2p that gets CONSTANT updates. Plus they both appeal to their markets even with grind, Warframe with power simulator and War Thunder with military enthusiasts.
GTA V, CS:GO 2 also need to be discounted as they are legacy games with a thriving player base, you know what you'll get when you play and you know there's a ton of players there so you aren't buying a dead game.
EA sports games.......I got no defence other than they are gambling addicts with how EA monatises those games...
The standouts really are BG3 and Lethal Company. BG3 getting high praise, been waited on for years and didn't turn into crap (at least till act 3) explains this one. Lethal Company might show how big the influence of simple game design as well as streamers have on the gaming market considering how much this game is steamed so could be another Among Us example.
Multiplayer, uh, stuff is the industry. Stuff like BG3 and Total War just break into the tops as single player games every now and then. A really popular single player title will hit the leaderboard. Otherwise it's whatever people can download to waste time for cheap/free.
Funny, I think we've had a very similar discussion previously. One of the elements you're failing to account for is pretty simple: Multiplayer.
All games are to some extent repetitive; games are in large part, even if voluntarily, constrained by genre. The "least repetitive" game would be an absolute chaotic mess spanning multiple genres...and probably not very fun.
For context, I personally don't even play any of the games you mentioned, but I've played plenty of other very repetitive games; MOBAs, shooters, ARPGs...even turn-based tactics could be considered repetitive. Again, most games have a very straightforward gameplay loop.
For things like MOBAs and shooters, the fun and challenge comes from the other players. The gameplay itself might be repetitive, but the fact that you're up against other people, and can actually lose (which is pretty absent in most at least modern singleplayer games, outside of roguelikes/lites) is what keeps things interesting.
It's like asking why people could play so much chess. It's not the raw gameplay itself, it's the fight and the ability to improve your skills and overcome.
War Thunder is popular for the same reason the other games you mentioned are popular. You're really hung up on not liking a game.
I don't play on steam. I don't actually have much time for games at all and get a bit jealous at times of people like you who do.
But reading your post, I just wanted to add a comment. I understand that mobile is a totally different scene.. But if you scroll through the popular games there, you will find that the majority of them are mind numbing.
I think that regardless of the source, most people are stupid and want games they don't have to think about. If they are offered a simple, cheap game they will grab it. Even if they don't play it much.
What I'm getting at is that I don't think steam is manipulating much. Maybe throwing a few in their view creates a feeding frenzy. I always try to remember that although individuals can be smart, people are stupid.
That is a conundrum and I wish you later success.
For me, I started my own electrical business a couple of years ago. I get an hour or two each week that I can unfocus and play a game or two. I look at the new baldurs gate and wish I had half the free time it would take to get involved.
F2P usually have a fun tutorial portion, then there is a sweet spot between the tutorial and when all of the pay mechanics are introduced and when you run up against the first serious "pay or wait" wall.
You get to enjoy an hour or few of a high budget production game with possibly interesting mechanics, and maybe keep playing if the grind is enjoyable enough.
I played the hell out of Firefall and DDO when they want F2P. I even spent a bunch of money on DDO, not as much as I would have spent if it were still subscription and I played for the same duration but still more than the zero they would have gotten if the F2P hadn't encouraged me to give it a try.
From what I've seen Warframe has fun mechanics and visuals. I tried to play but they reject my revocable email addresses in making an account.
Warframe's grind doesn't get too bad until you get to the roughly 30% of the game that absolutely requires co-op to progress. That's when I dropped it, it's not a game my friends who just play CoD can get into and Darwin proved that random are descended from raccoons.
Randoms in Warframe aren't bad. It's not like you need old-school MMORPG raid-level knowledge and coordination. You can brute force all the high-end stuff so even a raccoon can do it.
The problem with raccoons is that they tend to scamper off. It's pretty difficult to get randoms to join because most high level players have moved way beyond the old quests. They changed a lot of the tile sets in the game without changing the quests to match.
https://i.imgur.com/desuDAf.png
The only truly negative thing I'll hear about Warframe is how unabashedly pozzed the dev team are. A tranny character, gay relationships, and they have Pride™ pfp's you can get every June.
For a F2P game, it's one of the best I've ever played. Unobtrusive "buy Plat" messages in the background, and 99% of content is purchasable with premium currency you get from trading stuff to other players, which you get from just playing regularly in the first place. Some of the real money stuff you can buy is just skins for the individual Warframes, and most of them are hideous anyway.
I have played assorted free to play games, be it on PC (Warthunder, MechWarrior Online, World of Tanks, Crossout, League of Legends, Fortnite) or mobile (practically any game now, though Brawl Stars is the first that comes to mind), and I have found enjoyment in some form or another from each.
To echo another poster, the F2P grind is fun until it is not. From that point, the player can choose if they want to quit, continue to grind or give the devs money to lessen the grind but not remove it entirely.
For me, paying money to speed up the process or have an extra edge tends to kill the enjoyment I was getting from the game, as though I have cheated. For others, paying is the point, for why grind when you can pay to win?
Why do I play free to play games at all? Usually, I want a little something new/different as I do not want to burn myself out on what I am currently playing, nor do I want a new game that is going to take over my gaming schedule. Furthermore, I absolutely do not want to invest my money in a game that could be garbage, so Mega Killfest Mecha Rumble is downloaded, played for a bit as a break, then deleted so I can get back to whatever I was playing refreshed and ready to go.
Oi! I play war thunder. Used to play Warframe too but honestly, quittin for over a year and coming back i did not know where to continue.
It's either a combination of being a good game like BG3 that eventually cycles out of the top list, an enduring game like GTA 5 or Counterstrike, or a free multiplayer game that you can run on any computer built in the last 15 years.
I don't know that I've ever looked at top sellers on Steam. I find interesting games on the "recommendations based on what I play" list, or by recommendations on this forum.
Consoomers and normies are the reason why western game industry got this bad in the first place, you can argue the whole game industry but they are still problem for me as they call incomplete game BG3 game of the year and the one devs have to learn from.