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Gamers Have Become Less Interested in Strategic Thinking and Planning

Thick Thighs Save Lives

NeoGAF's Physical Games Advocate Extraordinaire
Brain_Activity_2-1200-min.png


Source - Quantic Foundry

For this analysis, we used the data from 1.57 million gamers who participated in the Gamer Motivation Profile between June 2015 and April 2024. Respondents from China were excluded because gamers in China have a very different gaming motivation profile (likely due to the historically more isolated development of their gaming industry).

What is Strategy in our Gaming Motivation Model?​

In our motivation model, Strategy is defined as the appeal of long-term thinking, planning, and careful decision-making. Gamers who score high on Strategy prefer longer time horizons for planning and complex decision-making with many underlying parameters to consider (i.e., all the branching decisions and likely outcomes) seen in games like Europa Universalis and Total War. Gamers who score low on Strategy prefer more reactive/spontaneous gameplay and simple decision-making with few underlying parameters to consider, such as in games like Just Dance and Animal Crossing. A good metaphor for Strategy is the size of the whiteboard in your mind that each decision is taking to map out, think through, and optimize.

Of the 12 Motivations, Strategy has Changed The Most​

When we looked for long-term trends across the 12 motivations, we found that many motivations were stable or experienced minor deviations over the past 9 years. Strategy was the clear exception; it had substantially declined over the past 9 years and the magnitude of this change was more than twice the size of the next largest change.

In the chart below, the dots represent the average Strategy score among the gamers who responded to the Gamer Motivation Profile each month between June 2015 and April 2024 (using a rolling 3-month window). Strategy is represented on the y-axis as a percentile, with the starting date (June 2015) anchored at 50th-%tile—i.e., the initial collected data is used to define the starting norm.

Using the starting norm (i.e., the 50th-%tile) as the basis for comparison, the average Strategy score has declined to 33rd-%tile as of April 2024. Or put more plainly, 67% of gamers today care less about strategic thinking and planning when playing games than the average gamer back in June 2015.

00-Strategy.png


How Big Exactly is a Drop to 33rd-%tile?​

Both percentiles and psychometrics are fairly abstract concepts and the magnitude of a drop to 33rd-%tile can be difficult to grok. To help anchor this finding, here are some real-world magnitude equivalents using more familiar metrics:

  • It’s the equivalent of all men age 20+ in the US losing 17 pounds in weight.
  • It’s the equivalent of all adult men (worldwide) losing 1.34 inches in height.
  • It’s the equivalent of everyone (worldwide) losing 6.75 points of IQ.

Gradual, Persistent Decline That Pre-Dates COVID​

When we initially had an inkling that Strategy had declined, we suspected that it was potentially due to COVID (and avoiding anxiety related to thinking about the future), but when we conducted the longitudinal analysis, several things stood out:

  • The decline in Strategy clearly pre-dates COVID; it is noticeable from the earliest data collection periods and the trend line suggests it started before June 2015.
  • The trend line also makes clear that what we’re observing is a gradual but very persistent long-term downward trend in Strategy. Whatever the cause, it’s likely not a sudden single historical event, but part of a larger, long-term cultural/psychological shift.
  • The downward trend slowed down prior to COVID (right before January 2020), regained traction during the COVID era, and then has slowed down since COVID restrictions have been lifted. So there is a potential argument to be made that COVID exacerbated or prolonged an ongoing trend.

The Decline is Identical for Both Men and Women​

We’ll look at potential confounds and data sampling issues in several ways. First, let’s break down the chart by gender. Note that in the chart below, we’ve anchored the starting point of both cohorts to 50th-%tile so we can more directly compare differences in change over time—i.e., men actually care more about Strategy than women so there “should” be a gap between the lines, but this would make it harder to visually see any differences in the longitudinal trend lines.

The decline in Strategy is remarkably consistent across male and female gamers. This also means that the overall finding would be the same even if the proportion of men and women had changed over time (which it largely did not; see below).

01-Strategy-by-Gender.png


The Decline is Similar Whether We’re Looking At US or Non-US Gamers​

The decline in Strategy is also very similar whether we’re looking at US alone or non-US countries. As with the gender chart above, the starting point for both cohorts is anchored at 50th-%tile to allow for better visual comparison of differences in the longitudinal trend.

01-Strategy-by-Country.png


But Why has Strategy Declined Over Time?​

There are many seemingly-related findings in terms of our media consumption habits. For example, over time, shorter YouTube videos have garnered a higher share of overall views. The duration of shots in movies (i.e., between each cut) has decreased from 16 seconds in 1930 to 4 seconds in 2010. The average time spent on a computer app window (e.g., on a Word doc before switching to a browser window) has decreased from 2.5 minutes in 2004 to 47 seconds in 2016.

In this light, the decline in Strategy is likely not an idiosyncratic phenomenon among digital gamers, but parallels the general reduction in attention spans observed by researchers in different fields.

But because all over-time comparisons are inherently correlational, it’s difficult to pin down cause and effect. While we often blame social media for our decreased attention spans, there’s a lack of concrete causal evidence for this. Of course, it bears pointing out that causal evidence for this would be difficult to produce since it’s unethical to raise children in artificial labs. Also, the shot duration analysis in movies is a counterpoint to blaming social media entirely: this downward trend in media attention span can be traced as far back as the 1930s, although it is certainly possible that social media accelerated the underlying trend.

Another potential hypothesis is that the increasing negativity, polarization, intrusiveness, and emotional manipulation in social media has created a persistent cognitive overload on the finite cognitive resources we have. Put simply, we may be too worn out by social media to think deeply about things. For example, higher engagement with social media is correlated with lower math and reading scores and poorer mental health among teenagers. Of course, again, these findings are correlational and not direct causal evidence.

Implications for Making Games and Understanding Gamers​

Even if the underlying cause(s) cannot be identified, it’s clear that gamers have become less interested in strategic thinking over the past 9 years. It implies that gamers are now more easily cognitively overloaded when they play games and are more likely to avoid strategic complexity. This has implications for game design and marketing. Overall, gamers now prefer shorter time horizons to plan for (i.e., the number of steps and branching outcomes they have to think through) and less complex decisions that rely on fewer parameters to consider.

And for those of us who study gamers, typically in the more confined context of specific game titles/franchises, this finding may help explain observed changes among Strategy-related player segments over the past decade that we would otherwise have more likely attributed to game feature changes or COVID.
 
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NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt

Biggest Trails Stan
The reviews for Eiyuden Chronicles are a good example of this

The game does have issues but the issues the reviewers complain about for that game is them wanting all the QOL Features to be handed to them right away when in that game, you have to put in the time to get those QOL. Which is a investment but gives a much more satisfying sense of achievement in my opinion
 
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HL3.exe

Member
Ok, I have ADHD but LOVE immsims (which are on higher difficulties require strategic thinking). The Hitman games being my all-time GOAT.

It makes sense why games like Hunt Showdown aren't as popular as I'd hoped it would be by now.

I personally love slowpaced tactical games, BUT reactivity is probably more important for players. (doing something in the world and the world reacting in some way). Most strategy games don't immediately do stuff like that. Immersive Sims (System shock, Deus Ex, Prey, Dishonored, etc) actually do and utilized the strategic thinking and planning elements as well.
 
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Little Mac

Member
Skill trees are my jam. I love thinking about builds and planning out my characters growth. “Metas” ruin it though when everyone online min maxes everything to hell and it takes the thinking and experimentation (aka fun) out of games that promote decision making.

I think roguelites/likes grew in popularity because the randomness took away players ability to follow a “meta”, or online build guide, and forced them to think on the fly and learn how to be a better player. It made winning sweeter.
 
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ReyBrujo

Member
Besides reduced attention span you also have a need for immediate rewards to keep oneself motivated, something that contradicts with long-term thinking where small, seemly insignificant actions eventually become an advantage. The interesting thing is that chess got some boost during pandemic but apparently wasn't enough to dent these statistics.

Add that developers follow that "dumbization" trend, back in time you had to know which button to press to get a combo in Killer Instinct, nowadays you can basically do combos by just pressing the same button again and again.
 

Unknown?

Member
Besides reduced attention span you also have a need for immediate rewards to keep oneself motivated, something that contradicts with long-term thinking where small, seemly insignificant actions eventually become an advantage. The interesting thing is that chess got some boost during pandemic but apparently wasn't enough to dent these statistics.

Add that developers follow that "dumbization" trend, back in time you had to know which button to press to get a combo in Killer Instinct, nowadays you can basically do combos by just pressing the same button again and again.
Do you think escapism could also play a factor? Perhaps many people just want to turn off their brains after work?
 

NeoIkaruGAF

Gold Member
I can relate, but I’ve always been like this. Fine-tuning in games is something I never had the patience for. It’s why I was never into card-based games or strategy games of any kind. Being a working adult only exacerbated this - no way I’m gonna spend my limited gaming time pondering over stats, teams and placement. Also the reason I almost never beat secret bosses in RPGs that require precise strategies to overcome bullshit damage, ridiculous defenses, and multiple attacks.
 

lh032

I cry about Xbox and hate PlayStation.
not surprising , you can see the behaviour of the youth these days
 

STARSBarry

Gold Member
Since this is the kind of thing I want in a game and I am usually have the opposite opinions of "most gamers" on what I like to see in games, I can believe this.
I agree, I remember you telling me that Mobile Suit Gundam : Target in Site was one of the greatest games ever made. Which is the opposite opinion of most gamers.
 
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cireza

Member
A lot of games like to pretend they offer a wide variety of choices while actually it is all an illusion, and there are only so few meaningful choices. I find this incredibly annoying. Why should I have to spend hours to understand and exclude all the fake/shit choices in a game ? You can make a very strategic game and not include hundreds of fake choices. Keep it simple and go straight to the point, rather than having hundreds of items or skills that are barely any different one from another.
 
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winjer

Member
That's what y'all get for killing off RTS.

You are so right. In the case of RTS, it's mostly the consumer's fault.
There are still good RTS being released in the last decade, but they all had poor financial performance, because few people are buying them.

Admittedly, I'm part of the problem. As I have moved away from the genre, into 4X.
 
Glancing across social media, this seems more like a societal problem more so than a gaming one. :messenger_winking_tongue:

Seriously, I blame the mobilification of games. So much emphasis on ease of access and pick up and play. Luckily there is a treasure trove of great strategy games out there, whether it is real-time, turn-based or tactical, and these games hold up relatively well since graphics typically aren't the main focus.
 
Source - Quantic Foundry

For this analysis, we used the data from 1.57 million gamers who participated in the Gamer Motivation Profile between June 2015 and April 2024. Respondents from China were excluded because gamers in China have a very different gaming motivation profile (likely due to the historically more isolated development of their gaming industry).


"Let's not address the elephant in the room but instead misdirect the attention from the actual problem, which is how stupid people are becoming in the West contrary to the efforts of the Chinese, the ones with a TikTok with educational values instead of zombifying videos. Also, let's not mention the IQ gulf between us, because we are not ready for that conversation"
 

DonkeyPunchJr

World’s Biggest Weeb
The reviews for Eiyuden Chronicles are a good example of this

The game does have issues but the issues the reviewers complain about for that game is them wanting all the QOL Features to be handed to them right away when in that game, you have to put in the time to get those QOL. Which is a investment but gives a much more satisfying sense of achievement in my opinion
Yes, today’s feeble minded gaijin dudebros can’t wrap their head around the deep strategy of turn based JRPGs.
 

Humdinger

Member
Interesting. I've never been a big fan of strategy-heavy games myself, because I find them too mentally taxing. I play games to relax and enjoy myself. I prefer to put my mental resources into other things.

In fact, I think that's the most obvious explanatory factor that the article overlooks. It's not just about attention span. It's about increasing cognitive demands, related to increased consumption of media/entertainment/etc., in addition to all of the normal cognitive demands from work, family, social life, etc.

The brain is built to conserve energy. Especially when things get crowded and pressured, our brains naturally look for shortcuts - things to make it easier, to conserve energy. And cutting out mentally taxing strategy games is one simple way to do that.
 

Madflavor

Member
AI is going to make us dumber and a lot less self sufficient. We've been trending in this direction for awhile now. First calculators did the math for you, then GPS told you how to get to your destination, and now it's AI.

My two year old was asking me to watch Dinosaurs on youtube. So I put it on. 10 minutes later he wanted a different Dinosaur show. Then another 10 minutes goes by and he wanted Rugrats. It's wild to me that as a kid, whatever show he wants to watch can instantly be put on the TV, whereas in my childhood you either watched what was on, or go outside. The age of instant gratification, convenient as it is, will probably make the younger generations take everything for granted. They want everything now. I don't blame them, because they've been conditioned that way.

I imagine once my kid is old enough, if I try introducing him to Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy Tactics, Starcraft, or Classic WoW, he'd think it's the most boring shit ever.
 
Gamers are not gamers anymore. All the masses want is interactive movies. And a lot of you as well. It's sad really.
lol, what? Interactive movies are maybe a strong point for Sony, but in general hardly sell. Even CoD has basically abandoned SP even though it was the selling point with MoH and CoD at first. Repetitive open worlds and MP treadmills are selling and accumulate the most play hours. People who play one and done cinematic games probably have more strategic thinking affinity, at least wanting to experience something new every time, than people lulled into maye high reflex but mindless grind games.
 
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The good news is at some point it doesn't even matter anymore from which countries you get your refugees immigrants from. It all evens out. I'm all for fairness.
 

Shin-Ra

Junior Member
Soon you’ll have an AI to help you smooth over any of the mental ‘humps’ you’re experiencing which will surely help humanity to persevere and problem-solve.

I have to admit having played FFVII Rebirth and Octopath Traveller II recently, the bump in difficulty in the end-end-game content had me searching for strategies and enemy patterns I hadn’t noticed myself. I think by the time this content is presented to you, 100 - 200+ hours into a padded out game, you’ve lost the hunger to try new strategies after settling on what works for so long. In Octopath II the Armsmaster Sixfold Strike was so powerful, it got rid of the tedium of repetitive random battles by smashing through everything, but I could mentally switch off during most of the boss battles from that point onwards too.
 

Švejk

Banned
Not surprising one bit. The culmination of society, technology and the "quality" of food and drugs consumed now, the decline will keep on.
 

darthkarki

Member
I don't doubt it - it seems pretty obvious that attention spans in general have massively declined.

Personally, while I often played games like StarCraft in my younger years, I just don't have the time any more for something that requires a lot of investment. I might only have 30mins to play something, so a complex strategy game that requires multiple hours literally just doesn't work for me. I'm also generally playing to decompress at the end of the day, so my tastes have veered towards more relaxing entertainment as well.

There are still exceptions that can bridge the gap though - Into the Breach being a perfect example. Truly stunning game design with strategy packed into a format that works in shorter bursts. Love that game.
 
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KXVXII9X

Member
Glancing across social media, this seems more like a societal problem more so than a gaming one. :messenger_winking_tongue:

Seriously, I blame the mobilification of games. So much emphasis on ease of access and pick up and play. Luckily there is a treasure trove of great strategy games out there, whether it is real-time, turn-based or tactical, and these games hold up relatively well since graphics typically aren't the main focus.
I don't think mobile gaming was the direct cause. I find the average mobile gacha game to be even more involved than a standard game where you basically need to read a full wiki to get the most out of the game. They are the biggest example of having shallow gameplay but needing a hardcore investment to really get anywhere.

I think Nintendo and Sony helped make games more accessible. Thank goodness because there was a lot of bs mechanics and awful QoL issues on older games.
 
I know a casual gamer that would watch the June showcases and any top down strategy game was likened to be a run of the mill mobile game. I die a little anytime he speaks.
 

kiphalfton

Member
The only game I can think of that I've played within the past year that has puzzles, is Atomic Heart. And boy does it have a shit ton of them (nearly every door) and even then they still suck.

Miss Resident Evil and God of War having puzzles that really made you think. Not the crap they currently have.
 
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Arsic

Loves his juicy stink trail scent
Depends on my mood.

Gamers crave engaging with the product. Moment to moment gameplay loop is key.

It doesn’t need to be complex. Ninja Gaiden 2 isn’t complex but it gets the brain going and requires more of the correct energy from the player to succeed than Diablo 4 for example.

D4 has far more complexity but it’s mindless.

Ninja gaiden 2 is far less complex but has depth.

Games don’t need a lot of mechanics they just need depth to them, and from there a player will be engaged and using their brain.
 
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