Crossplay will be the key to the $42B double-A market

Binary is back in the video game industry — not for coding, but for development strategy, with the focus being on super-hits or indie games, with not much in between. Launch the stores or subscription services on any of your consoles right now, and you’ll find the latest menu of triple-A fare gracing the homepage or independent critical darlings that have found their niche audience, but not much in between. An industry that pulled in nearly $140 billion in 2020 alone has neglected one of its most substantial markets: the middle.

A swell of middle market games often follows a new console launch, and now we are at the beginning of a new wave which represents a $42 billion opportunity. (For the purpose of my thesis here, I am referring to games that cost $9-$35.) From 2008 to 2012, iOS went mainstream, and tentpole triple-A games ruled the roost. Meanwhile, the “niche” middle market vanished from the retail shelf as direct downloads on consoles and Steam took root. Since 2012, free-to-play emerged on mobile with the “niche” or “genre” titles that used to comprise the middle market, and the development of HD games became exceedingly expensive.