A recent study from Quantic Foundry has revealed a surprising trend in the gaming world: gamers are becoming less interested in games with deep strategic elements according to IGN. The study, which analyzed nine years of data from Quantic Foundry’s Gamer Motivation Profile tool, tracked various gaming motivations including Destruction, Excitement, Competition, Community, Challenge, Strategy, Completion, Power, Fantasy, Story, Discovery, and Design.

While most motivations remained relatively stable, interest in Strategy saw a significant decline. “Gamers who score high on this component enjoy games that require careful decision-making and planning,” the study states. This includes balancing resources, managing diplomacy, and devising long-term strategies in games like XCOM, Fire Emblem, Civilization, Cities: Skylines, and Europa Universalis.

However, the data, which spans 1.7 million surveys, indicates that two-thirds of strategy game fans globally (excluding China) have lost interest in strategic gameplay. “67% of gamers today care less about strategic thinking and planning when playing games than the average gamer back in June 2015,” the report highlights.

Quantic Foundry’s analysis suggests that many gaming motivations have been stable over the past nine years, with Strategy being the notable exception. This decline is more than twice the size of the next largest change observed in gaming motivations.

The study explored potential reasons for this trend, such as the impact of social media on attention spans and cognitive overload. While the exact cause is difficult to pinpoint, the increasing negativity and emotional manipulation on social media platforms might be contributing factors. “We may be too worn out by social media to think deeply about things,” Quantic Foundry speculates.

This shift in gamer preferences could influence how developers create and market new games. Despite the decline in interest for strategic complexity, there are still several strategy titles on the horizon. For example, “Capes,” a turn-based strategy RPG, is set to launch on May 29, 2024. Additionally, Firaxis Games is developing a new Civilization game, and a team of former Blizzard developers is working on “Stormgate,” a real-time strategy game due out in the third quarter of 2024.

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