I know it's a thing generally these days because of how shit multiplayer especially has gotten but if I see something that's 'online' now I don't want anything to do with it. Every new release it's the same story, they can barely be called games anymore they're more like a live service with some minor gameplay elements tacked on in the most half-arsed way imaginable. That goes for a lot of supposedly singleplayer releases as well depending on the company.
I think I'd much rather pour my free hours into something like Microsoft Flight Simulator because then I'd at least gain a valuable skill from it and I've also found myself delving back into the good stuff that was the early 2000's releases. Even if you see something that looks vaguely promising it inevitably gets annihilated by the DEI contractors that plague this industry now.
It's extremely ironic that the games industry is trying to cater to anybody who isn't a gamer and they seem to be all mentally ill weirdos to one degree or another who have an addiction problem and fleece them for all their money before moving onto the next cringey fad. I'm sorry for coming across too black pilled, but if a game does well it seems like that developers will go out of their way to ruin it because yet again, they've shown that gamers do not matter and we're nothing more than a vehicle for hype to get their product into the normie sphere who just want to college digital items all day instead of play the fucking game.
I don’t know if it’s aging or just seeing the world around, but I’m with you. My gaming time is down 80% the last few years. I learned a lot from Covid clownery, and moving on from hiding behind escapism is one of those things. Why not use that effort to try to make less reason to want to escape? It’s going to be a different plan for everyone, but for me I put that time in either building family relationships or learning and enhancing skills. In a fun way though, it’s fun hanging out with nephews and cousins and I get to try to rub off some sanity on the future generation.. Or, if I’m working on skills, maybe I’m building something, maybe I’m on the computer developing something, but always learning. Video games for me now are just something to do the last hour or two of the day when it’s dark outside and I’m winding down for bed. It’s not a lifestyle anymore.