The recent Sony State of Play event has left me feeling deflated, and not in the way I had hoped. I was expecting a thrilling showcase of pure, heart-pumping gameplay, but instead, I witnessed a parade of interactive movies, with the two blockbusters I was most excited for, Marvel's Wolverine and God of War: Laufey, falling flat on their faces. These games, which should have been the highlight of the event, instead exposed an industry-wide decline in genuine action-game designs, leaving me feeling like I was watching a movie, not playing a game.
What makes this particularly fascinating is the contrast between the potential and the reality. Marvel's Wolverine, with its legendary berserker rage, should have been the perfect canvas for a visceral, high-speed action game. Instead, we got automated sequences and canned combat animations, which felt like a step back from the classic Ninja Gaiden titles. The game's reveal was a masterclass in disappointment, and it left me wondering what could have been.
From my perspective, the issue is not a lack of imagination on the part of developers, but rather a symptom of ballooning AAA budgets. When a project requires sales of over 7 million copies just to break even, creative risk becomes a financial liability. This risk aversion has led to a systematic hollowing out of gameplay mechanics, with low-skill, over-the-shoulder slop taking the place of expressive, high-skill combat freedom. I'm no longer asked to master an action game; I'm told to politely spectate with a controller in hand.
One thing that immediately stands out is the contrast between the potential and the reality. The State of Play event highlighted the financial success of leaner, more engaging action experiences, such as Phantom Blade Zero and Stellar Blade. These games, developed with modest budgets, have proven to be financial titans, comfortably surpassing 3 million copies sold. In fact, the reveal of Stellar Blade: Blood Rain during the Summer Games Fest blew both Wolverine and God of War out of the water with its stylized presentation and pure, over-the-top boxing action.
What many people don't realize is that the AAA industry is currently trapped in a financial prison of its own making. Spending hundreds of millions of dollars to build beautiful, lifeless interactive movies is not the way to save the action genre. Video games are not movies; they exist to be played and mastered. If modern studios want to save the action genre, they need to strip away the Simon Says-style gameplay and look to the financial success of Stellar Blade as a blueprint.
Personally, I hope that Marvel's Wolverine and God of War: Laufey will turn out great, but as it stands, I'm not impressed. The AAA industry needs to wake up and realize that the future of gaming lies in leaner, more engaging action experiences, not in the over-produced, over-the-shoulder slop that has become the norm. It's time for a return to the roots of the action genre, and I'm hoping that the industry will take note and make the necessary changes.
