As an old gamer who was around at the start of the modern era of games in the late 90s,  when every time you bought a game it was something you had never seen before, and a totally new experience, I can't even play AAA titles any more.<br>It's not just the rampant monetization, but the fact they've simply been releasing the same game again and again and again for at least the last 10 years.<br>Publishing companies now control game studios. If they give 10 million to make a game they want an absolute guarantee than they will make at least double back in sales, and the  ONLY way you can guarantee those sales is to copy the last game that sold 20 million, update the graphics, change the story, and sell it for a higher price than the last one, and then monetize the fuck out of it.<br>Bethesda Studios is a perfect example of this trend, it's Zenimax who dictate what game is going to be made, and they what a game, rather like the iPhone, that can be sold to everyone and played by everyone, and be a guaranteed best seller.<br>So Bethesda has absolutely no incentive do do anything new or interesting, just more of the same crap.<br>I can't even remember the last time I played a game that I was impressed by. Probably Portal, and that's 12 years old.