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Lootboxes were the beginning of the end for the gaming industry. All the visionaries have moved on from triple A games and now its just by the numbers cookie cutter formula games with different underhanded tactics to extract as much money as possible from victims.

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I'd argue this was only the end of the AAA industry, as they all shifted towards monetization, but has catalyzed the growth of indie games — which are more expressive and artistic than ever before.

Games like Outer Wilds removed any notion for what a game could look and feel and play like, for me

Either you have a very narrow definition of triple A or you're somewhat overstating the problem.

I'm not saying the problem isn't bad but "all AAA games are cookie cutter money extractors" seems somewhat of an exaggeration.

The most convincing way to refute is a counterexample.

Maybe.

But I suspect it would probably descend into goal-post moving or quibbling about definitions.

It's doesn't feel worth the amount of legalistic laying down of rules that it would require to be a fruitful debate.

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