Hi everyone, what genre is the most popular among video games? I have been noticing that if you compare a genre like FPS or Action to RTS or RPG genres the RPG or RTS aren’t nearly as popular.There are also a lot more FPS and Action games than RPG or RTS games. Why is that and what makes a genres more popular than another?
I’d say RPGs are quite popular. FPS might still hold the top place but RPGs are not far behind (talking about Single Player only, not MMOs). But the reason they’re behind would be that they have less audience comparing to FPSs. Why’s that, you say? Well I’d say that RPGs are a bit more difficult with much more content to explore, require more thinkining, etc. Therefore, some people favour FPSs over RPGs cause in FPS you mostly just run around and shoot everything. The bottom line would be that it takes you longer to finish an RPG game than FPS (on average).
Also, it would be noteworthy to say that today we’re getting more and more hybrid games combining elements of FPS, RPG and much more.
RTS games are quite rare…comparing to the above.
The most popular genre isn’t even on your list. If we’re going to talk about player engagement, sales, retention and adoption rates?
Mobile free-to-play social games.
Why? Because they are distinctly exploitative from a psychological standpoint. They bring a person in with the allure of “it’s free”, offer them an engaging experience, and then limit how much of that they can experience with a monetisation system, usually based on very very low payment options. Because the price is so low at that point, it’s very easy to get hooked into a buying pattern to keep the person playing and paying.
And before you say “those aren’t real gamers”, stop. Because they are. They play games and are real gamers.
Not sure i could call the games on my android anything resembling engaging role-playing, Everything else you described above is pretty much spot on in fact so much so i find it a complete turn off from playing anything on my droid. I’m still trying too figure out away to block from being constantly spammed with these drivel free-to-play games monetary micro-transaction addons but don’t get me wrong some seem like a good time killer while on the train, bus, or the crapper.
Maybe it’s my age i dunno but my 21 year old rarely plays games with his iphone he’s to busy yapping or messaging.
I have the HTC Desire C, wife has the galaxy, and the dinky iphone screen is to small to play anything!
take note: Play lots of current games FarCry3 being the last…
Engagement is not exclusive to roleplaying.