Technology

I mean I'm early 50s, so a bit below one of their thresholds, but still in the "older gamers, 40, 50, 60..." bracket used elsewhere in that article.

I'm not sure what's underserved. There are shitloads of games out there that I'm happy to play. Sure, I'll nostaglia myself into a coma playing Infocom games in bed on my laptop. But I'll also sink hours into a good story or walking sim, the single-player campaigns of an FPS, a puzzle game or hell, I'll keep the kids off my lawn in Fortnite and have fun making them cry. How am I underserved?

there aremore than enough games in circulation to keep retired people entertained forever

Perhaps unusually, I plan to take up gaming when I'm older, having never seriously tried it. I'm 48. I work in IT and I'm a nerd for retro computing, but beyond 16-bit platform shooters and Lemmings, I have barely dipped my toe into gaming culture. At work, I feel like an Irishman who's never tried Guinness.

I've avoided it for two reasons. One is a mental block: a strange and unjustified prejudice against gaming culture. In 90s rural Scotland, where I was raised, you had to fight hard for your place in the social pecking order. I enjoyed football, but my friends were nerds, and I preferred their company to that of the jocks, so I chose my tribe early.

When puberty hit hard, I was already at a disadvantage by not being into sports. I loved my Atari ST, but I was socially aware enough to know that that definitely wasn't going to attract girls. Fortunately, I also loved music. Nirvana was getting big, and I was hooked. Drinking, smoking, and playing in bands were my thing, and they held strong social currency for a self-conscious kid.

As a result, an almost pathological fear of being judged kept me from getting involved. I missed the whole GTA thing and, except for a bit of Portal, never bothered with it.

I also know that I'm quite prone to addiction, so if I were into gaming, it would eat my life.

So, when I do finally retire and find I'm unable to do much, that's when I'll jump on. I'll be the oldest noob in town and I'm kind of looking forward to it.

i mean they are mostly played by younger people. old people dont seem to interested in playing games.

Games are overwhelmingly made by and marketed to younger generations, argue analysts, while the older demographic is being ignored

They're busy playing the stuff of their young days.

Any game that relies too much on quick reflexes will usually not be good for older people. Easier difficulties can mitigate that somewhat. Turn based games are perfect for all ages, you can take as long as you want to think your stuff through. You don't need to make these games "for old people". I also remember seeing a video that talked about a 70yo man who began playing Asheron's Call (a 1999 MMORPG) with his grandson and really enjoyed the game, to the point he kept playing until it was shutdown for good.^[Found this massivelyop link, but the video is unavailable https://massivelyop.com/2017/01/11/check-out-one-of-the-oldest-asherons-call-players-in-all-senses-of-the-word/]

The industry has spent 40 years chasing the same narrowly defined audience because it was the safest bet, until everyone was chasing it. Imagine if Hollywood only made movies for 18-year-old men. That's roughly the bet games have been making.

True for big studios, false for indies, who, as always, prove time and time again that you can achieve success with "non standard" formulas, such as Balatro, Stardew Valley, Return of the Obra Dinn, Undertale (some survivorship bias is being applied here, lots of indies, even those that follow "standard formulas" more closely, fail to find success, even with good games)

There is a mismatch between the general investment in tutorials for the first few minutes, relative to where actually the player loss happens,

Make the fucking tutorial OPTIONAL and something you pick as an option in the fucking main menu. This isn't rocket science.

But that brings you down to other categories that have been growing, like cosy[sic] games, casual games, and retro. And retro has an advantage in that audience in that you don't need the latest [computer].

There is an important thing to keep in mind here: most casual games are predatory mobile shit. That market has been an absolute cesspool for something like 12 years now, which is almost as long as they existed. Yes, the games are "enjoyable", because they've been finely tuned to be as addictive as possible.

"Give me those 60 year olds who watched Star Trek the original series," he concludes. "Come on down, play Star Trek Online with me."

STO? Pass. Unless we can kill this dude:

Bullshit. Plenty of games oldnpeople can enjoy.

Balatro

Stardew Valley

Peglin

New heroes of might and magic

XCOM

Civilization

Flight Simulator (plus a ton of all the other sim games on the market).

Man I've seen my fair share of old people rocking it to Best Saber and and Synth Riders. Just play on the right difficulty..

They can always go play LoL

Did not read the article just saw the headline and thought that’s gotta be the dumbest thing ever that’s all.

They are making games for retirees

AARP.com has a long list of games, and all the leaderboards resets everyday at midnight.

My grandma, who has dementia, and severe arthritis, has an alarm to get up at midnight to go play the games so she can be #1. Every night. She loves being #1.

She's 82 years old. Just broke her hip for the 3rd time, and she asked if we can bring her laptop so she can play her games.

If i could introduce europa universalis to some old people who like history, it would probably ruin their lives...

Old people games:

You mean like halo?

I'm not sure having games made for you would be better than having games you can play. There's plenty of shit out there that's not marketed towards me anymore, but I still enjoy it. And yes, it's rarely AAA games. Even more enjoyable AND cheaper.

Pretty sure my dad just wants to play Skyrim forever.

Kinda figured we'd just make games for eachother

I used to know an elderly gamer, he was very sad he no longer could play FPS and car racing games. He instead mainly played Heroes of Might and Magic and its clones.

EVE Online exists? (sorry! couln't resist, don't pod me!)

also World of Warcraft: Retired housewives

Call of Duty: Almost retired Mall Ninja Dads

Candy Crush: Actual Grandmas

conspiracy Youtube: Grandpas

Uh, every sandbox vehicle construction game?

Every factory optimization game?

I had to quit playing most of them because they each one could count as a second job.

Yeah they have. They're the same fucking games as before. If you're not a gamer by the time you're over 65, odds are good that you're not gonna suddenly become one.

I think it's pretty telling that so many of the people they talk to and a lot of the focus of the article isn't really about older gamers, it's about their money.

The opportunity is substantial. The 40+ segment in the US is on track to grow from $19 billion in 2022 to $43 billion by 2030, a 132% expansion at a moment when the rest of the industry is shrinking. These are players with the most disposable income, the longest gaming literacy, and the highest brand loyalty.

I'm in that "40+ segment" and I suspect part of the "problem" these companies face is that older gamers have seen the enshitification of so many of the brands we love. Our tolerance for bullshit is basically gone at this point. Micro transactions, season passes, fucking ads in games, all of that bullshit is a quick way to not get our money.

I also suspect "brand loyalty" is basically gone for the same reason. As a kid, I looked for the Electronic Arts logo. If I saw this logo on a game package, I knew I was looking at a good game. I haven't bought an EA game in years. I don't expect to buy an EA game any time soon and I basically ignore everything they do. Sure, if a trailer for Starflight 3 dropped, I'd sit up and take notice. I'd also expect it to be an enshitified mess wearing the skin of a beloved series to sucker me in, before pouncing on my wallet.

So ya, maybe just make good games and older gamers will inevitably buy them. I mean, Larian can pretty much say, "hi we're making..." and I'll have my wallet out and be pulling bills before they get any further. And maybe that's your "brand loyalty". Game companies who make good games and aren't private equity firms wearing the dead skin suits of brands we used to love.

Wamp wamp

What makes a game "for retired people"?

What a silly premise.

Ok brb making a game about being a self righteous asshole boomer who is always correct and its actually everyone else's fault that he has no friends and his wife and kids dont speak with him.

Call it Boomer Shooter, but its not an FPS, its actually primarily a series of small adventure/puzzle levels with complex branching dialogue options.

You get points for shooting down ideas you either didn't think of first or don't like because they might imply that you aren't perfect.

The rules are made up and the points don't matter beyond a high score at the end of the bad ending.

The good ending happens when you don't get that many points, despite the game constantly handholding you and telling you thats what you should focus on.

There, enjoy your retirement.

EDIT:

The DLC will add the ability to play as a privileged white woman who gets points for morally policing everyone around her but herself, spreading misinformation, and guilt tripping people who trust her.

EDIT 2:

In case I'm not being clear enough, a Boomer that wants a video game for their enfeebled retired ass can fucking make it themselves, and/or possibly think about why it is the case that the industry has enshittified to the extent that it has.

Who is it exactly thats in charge of all these enshittifying gaming companies again? Oh right yeah, its your 401ks, teaching children how to gamble so that you can retire well.

I mean, it can't be that hard, right? To make a toy that satifies Boomers? Just bootstrap it yourselves, I'm sure you'll discover that if you just shake a few hands and burn a few hundred million dollars, it's just about showing up and doing the job well, or something.

... you want a Boomer game?

It already exists, its Candy Crush, its Words with Friends, its Scrabble Go, its Solitaire.

That's not even an insult, that's just literally market research data.

They're playing MMOs. I am currently playing a game with a group of people and the ages range from 35 to 80. Game has been operating for 24 years at this point. Several retired during that time.

Why would retired people need their own video games?