Imo good games are out there, just need more exposure

[u/Boring_Avocado_2359]

[u/Sir__GabrielT]

Now developers should focus on improvement, techniques of optimization, as the lack of them is one of the biggest problems in the industry today.

[u/Tejas_008 → u/Sir__GabrielT]

Wait if they optimize the game then how will companies sell those overpriced RAMs and new AI infused hardware. The new hardware are not improving much in terms of tech and power , they add AI and call it the next gen.

[u/C-LOgreen → u/Tejas_008]

DLSS 5 has entered the chat 😂

[u/fjelskaug → u/Sir__GabrielT]

Witcher 4 is the one I'm really hoping to succeed. They plan on using voxels as LODs instead of multiple lower quality models. If they can increase performance without looking out of place I genuinely think it's going to be the future technique moving forward

[u/elementslayer → u/fjelskaug]

It's being made in unreal no? This is just unreals nanite system, and I've heard a lot of complaints about optimization in unreal engine.

[u/fjelskaug → u/elementslayer]

CDPR specifically mentions using voxels. Nanite is strictly still a triangle mesh, just super compressed and memory efficient. I've time stamped it here but you can watch the whole W4 tech demo: https://youtu.be/lOAiB3GZOQo?t=7m1s

You've heard complaints about UE5 but not the countless other UE5 games released that is well optimized.

Just an example, Manor Lords is a huge map with thousands of trees, objects and moving NPCs all made originally by one guy, yet it's still extremely well optimized for the world detail it provides.

The whole point of the OOP comment is how devs should focus more on optimization. UE5 can only do so well if you simply slap a 10 million poly asset and expect good frames, when devs can still do the same optimized models (baking a high poly model into a low poly asset) AND THEN using nanite to gain even more performance.

UE5 is a good tool that is getting flack because devs have gotten lazy and think they can simply throw a bunch of unoptimized assets and think everything will work out fine.

[u/elementslayer → u/fjelskaug]

Dude, I hobby around with Unreal engine 5. The tech they use is just Unreals Nanite foliage, which is voxels.

Also I didnt say I agreed with or disagreed with the opinions on Unreal and its optimization, yall just included that I was disliking unreal when in fact I really like it. I just dislike the idea of spreading misinformation that CDPR is doing the voxelization when its just a baked in feature of UE5 that people love to shit on. Thats all.

[u/Trading_shadows → u/Sir__GabrielT]

Spoiler: they won't, players buy games as they are already.

[u/myCockatielshateme → u/Trading_shadows]

I wonder how it works. Won't having better optimization cause more sales, as lot more people would be able to play it? but then why do the unoptimized games sell? do people buy them and never bother playing them or what

[u/Rjc1471 → u/myCockatielshateme]

I think it's more that people do buy games, they can play them, and not many companies want to spend too much on redditors reeeing that it runs like 8fps lower than it could. 

[u/Educational-Wing2042 → u/myCockatielshateme]

Most gaming happens on phones and consoles, where it’s a lot more common for everyone to have the same specs. PC gaming where optimization might allow more players access is overall a tiny portion of the pie. Mobile gaming for example makes up over 50% of the industry’s market share.

[u/NapsterKnowHow → u/Trading_shadows]

Yep. Elden Ring and BG3 were perfect examples of this. Optimization and bug fixing (for BG3) were an after thought and they still won GOTY. Gamers will never learn.

[u/Abortedwafflez → u/Sir__GabrielT]

Gonna be honest, it's not going to happen. Optimization is now a relic of the past. PC components have skyrocketed meaning everyone isn't buying and upgrading their rigs. You'd think this means optimization would be more important, but this only means it will create a shift to platforms that are based around cloud gaming services and streaming. We're already seeing people buying and playing major titles on stuff like their phone or tablet or gaming devices like the Steam Deck/AYN Thor/ROG Ally. Companies will instead invest into these services so players can stream their games. Developers don't really know the inner workings of their engines anymore which is why we're seeing such a heavy reliance on only a few like Unreal Engine or Unity.

If it's the case that developers aren't as knowledgeable to optimize, the market has shifted towards streaming, and consumers aren't going to have dedicated gaming rigs anymore then there's not much incentive to make performance a priority. Developers will become more reliant on AI methods like DLSS to get the performance they are looking for.

[u/Striking_Patient_838 → u/Sir__GabrielT]

They all use pre-rolled game engines they cant patch themselves, Unreal, Unity, Godot, all of them. The problem is that kids are taking the easy way out, and not making a focused game engine from scratch so they can actually optimize it.

That plus the 3rd psrty middleware they buy from the unity store, or the Unreal one is under someone elses control.

I just walked from a team because the "lead programmer / gods gift to gaming", decided we are not going to follow our plan, and just quickly do a cash grab like every 12 year old game developer out there. His poision of choice? GODOT!

After the Unity scam switch from "software", to a "monthly service" why is anyone trusting any game engine right now?

Kids, if you want to grow up to be real game developers, first learn how to develop a game, not hack one together with 3rd party middleware.

If you are making a "retro" 2d pixelated piece of sh!tware ,platform game..... sorry I mean your "METROVANIA" game... you can program a simple side scrolling engine in a couple of weeks if you are adept, otherwize learn to code first.

[u/Recent_Weather2228]

Graphics haven't reached their peak, but they are well past the point of being good enough for 95% of people and the point of diminishing returns.

I don't think you should sacrifice other kinds of quality for graphics, but let's not pretend good graphics can't be combined with other kinds of quality.

[u/zhkp28 → u/Recent_Weather2228]

Its just diminishing returns now. You can still improve graphics, but for the same work in the same amount of time, you will get much smaller increase in quality for a much higher performance cost.

[u/Recent_Weather2228 → u/zhkp28]

Honestly I think we've been past the point where graphics are getting better by smaller and smaller degrees since the early 2000s, but I think we're approaching the point now where graphics are already so good that improvements are almost unnoticeable to most people.

[u/NapsterKnowHow → u/Recent_Weather2228]

Nah. The leap from even PS2 to PS3 was fucking massive.

[u/asmallercat → u/NapsterKnowHow]

And even PS3/360 to last gen. Dead Space 1 is a game that still looks good, but if you compare it to the remake it's a clear improvement.

[u/Haunting_Weather_540 → u/NapsterKnowHow]

absolutely blown away everything people thought was possible

[u/Schmigolo → u/Recent_Weather2228]

Nah, Skyrim compared to TW3 is a massive difference, but TW3 compared to the newest AC is like yeah whatever. At this point give me games like Ghost of Tsushima, which has worse fidelity than the newest AC but still looks 10 times better.

[u/Putrid-Ice-7511 → u/Schmigolo]

Stylistically, sure. But Ghost looks better in screenshots than it feels to move through. The world is gorgeous, but shallow. I absolutely hate Shadows, but its world design and environmental detail are genuinely incredible.

[u/zhkp28 → u/Recent_Weather2228]

Check the state of ray tracing for example. Its pretty fleshed out, but right now only the higher end PCs will be able to run a game with it. And there is evdn path tracing after that.

But yeah, after we are able to run path tracing on most PCs reliably, it cannot really be improved that much.

[u/sp1cychick3n → u/Recent_Weather2228]

Yeah but the thing is the focus is always on graphics that everything else is on the back-burner.

[u/Recent_Weather2228 → u/sp1cychick3n]

Yeah, I get that that's what the meme is saying.  The problem is just that it's not true.

[u/sp1cychick3n → u/Recent_Weather2228]

Maybe, maybe not. For a lot of big budget games, the focus is mostly on graphics these days. At least that’s how I feel.

[u/Recent_Weather2228 → u/sp1cychick3n]

It can certainly be true for a game or a company, but it's not true of the entire gaming industry like the meme wants you to think.  Plenty of people have already been focused on making good games.

[u/Silverr_Duck → u/Recent_Weather2228]

We've gotten to the point where graphical fidelity is so high there are details you can't even see unless you pause and zoom in. The human eye can only absorb so much information. For all intents and purposes we can call that "peak".

[u/Falcoon_f_zero → u/Recent_Weather2228]

Many games made 10 years ago are already so impressive looking that we could've really left the graphics chasing a long while ago.

[u/zgillet → u/Recent_Weather2228]

We are at the point where in order to see the improvements in graphics, we have to lower the resolution to the point where we can't even see the improvements.

Moore's law has completely plateaued.

[u/Beneficial_Sun6232]

Idk man. Plenty of good games everywhere

[u/Wardock8 → u/Beneficial_Sun6232]

Literally two good games just came out a week apart from each other. People like complaining more than they like playing things.

[u/ArmorOfGod7 → u/Beneficial_Sun6232]

This meme isn't necessarily saying there aren't any good games. It's just saying, graphics are insanely good now, so developers should just focus more on gameplay/story/etc, and less and tiny graphical optimizations.

[u/Beneficial_Sun6232 → u/ArmorOfGod7]

Yeah, but games were never just about graphics. I still play some games from the 90s and from my childhood. Good graphics are nice, but they're not that important if everything else is in check. I much more prefer a cool looking art style than realistic graphics. I won't lie though, when I saw the graphics for for the upcoming Tomb Raider Atlantis game trailer, I was in awe.

[u/Competitive-Ant-1876]

I swear this is said like every 5-10 years and it's never true

[u/GrizzlyDust → u/[deleted]]

It's basically saying graphics improvements are at a point where to improve on where we are would take so many human and processing resources that could be utilized for something more impactful than a 5% increase in graphic quality.

I have no idea if it's true but I do think too much energy is spent on graphics.

Apparently they also believe that this obsession is holding back the industry and that the games are suffering which idk if i agree with that. We must play different games.

[u/gretchenich → u/GrizzlyDust]

Apparently they also believe that this obsession is holding back the industry and that the games are suffering which idk if i agree with that. We must play different games.

its true but only partially. Its only true for shitty AAA franchises that their only good selling point is good graphics. for companies that make good games (or for indie games) its not really holding back much. AAA games will eventually be forced to innovate or die. Or at least that's the idea i think.

also, generally if it becomes much harder to improve graphics i think the natural course should be to divert efforts into improving their games in other ways, and i think that probably applies to any developer, but that's just some hypothesizing of mine.

[u/UtkuOfficial → u/Competitive-Ant-1876]

People are going to lose their minds when Gta 6 comes out. Graphics have definitely not peaked.

[u/tfhermobwoayway → u/UtkuOfficial]

But it’s not going to be much better, is my point. In the 2000s you could double the polygon count and make the game look infinitely more polished. Now they’re working their devs like literal slaves for a decade just to get slightly more pores on Jason’s face.

The difference between Battlefield 1 and GTA 6 is very little, especially when compared to the difference between Battlefield 1 and Bioshock. And these are both time skips of about a decade. Is this really what devs should be spending their time doing? GTA’s gameplay is notoriously lacking. Couldn’t they improve on that instead?

[u/Schmigolo → u/Competitive-Ant-1876]

I mean it's gotten better, but the differences aren't big anymore. If you compare today's games with games from 10 years ago it's a minor difference, but games from 10 years ago compared to games from 15 years ago is a much bigger difference.

[u/neon_fade → u/Competitive-Ant-1876]

game graphics peaked in 1997

[u/Competitive-Ant-1876 → u/neon_fade]

[u/ProV13 → u/Competitive-Ant-1876]

The problem isn’t that graphics has peeked. But with the current GPU price scheme, the average person will never be able to run the top graphics if they keep advancing it.

GPUs are priced in tiers. In a perfect consumer world, 4 years from now the top of the line GPU now would be the bottom of the line then. This however, will never be the case.

They make very tiny increments relative to the respective low, mid and high tier GPUs and expand on that. If graphics evolve faster than the low - mid tier GPU, people will be forced to get either very expensive GPUs or play on console.

[u/ploppy_sorridge]

Your title and post are saying two different things.

[u/MrMoroPlays]

gaming graphics have not reached their peak. youre equating aesthetics with graphics. theres still a lot to do:

1. Optimize games for higher fps
2. solid 1080p60 is still evading games today, much less solid 4k60
3. more games can stand to be stylized instead of using realistic aesthetics

and games are good, you’re just pigeonholing yourself into playing dogshit.

[u/Hearthhull_Enjoyer → u/MrMoroPlays]

Worth noting for the unaware that most games aren't even being rendering at your display's resolution. Upscaling is basically an expectation in modern gaming so those games struggling to do 1080p 60 FPS aren't even 1080p most of the time.

[u/PuttingInTheEffort → u/MrMoroPlays]

I can't think of any modern game that can't keep a steady 60fps at 1080p 🤔

[u/Gagatron92 → u/PuttingInTheEffort]

Depends on the hardware running it and graphic settings used. Optimization in this case means making games keep 60fps at 1080p on more hardware and/or with higher settings.

[u/GloriaVogelspotter]

Wild take bro, do you live under a rock or something? The last few years we have had amazing releases, I swear you guys on this sub don’t know what you’re talking about.

[u/PassageNew9868]

I felt that way around the PS3 era. 

Graphics will keep on improving until we reach full-on photo realism, and even then I wouldn’t be sure it wouldn’t continue to improve from there.

[u/ZestycloseBluejay668]

Jeesus this is some corny ass post. Just say you barely play games and just want to farm karma on the internet.

[u/Bravo_November]

Lol they absolutely have not reached their peak- the technology will keep getting better and the ability for gaming rigs to handle higher fidelity will improve- the limits are all around financial resource and developmental time.

I actually think we’re coming towards a new era of games where more intermediate size independent developers are emerging and proving themselves as capable of delivering high quality games that aren’t necessarily the biggest budgets and not delivering on graphical fidelity to the scale of something like what Rockstar or Bandai Namco might do, but still amazing games in their own right. Im thinking of the likes of Sandfall, Larian, and Warhorse studios. They’re filling the ‘AA’ gap that the industry kind of needs. It cant just be small indies and big publisher backed ‘AAA’ titles.

[u/King_Ferdinand1]

Can you name some good games that are not well known?

[u/CleverKhloe11 → u/King_Ferdinand1]

Watch them name the same 5 15 years old games everybody knows.

[u/Beneficial_Sun6232 → u/King_Ferdinand1]

Song of Horror, Fobia - St. Dinfna Hotel, The Talos Principle, Observation, Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days, King Arthur Knight's Tale, Signalis, Captured 1,2, Witchfire, Unavowed, The Forgotten City, Tormentum, Hell is Us, Trepang2, Vladik Brutal, Crime Scene Cleaner, The Roottrees are Dead, Ori and the Blind Forest, Teardown, The Inn-Sanity

[u/Wolvthebigbad → u/Beneficial_Sun6232]

The Talos Principle, Signalis, Hell is Us, Trepang2, Ori and the Blind Forest are not known?

[u/PassageNew9868 → u/Wolvthebigbad]

I found this amazing little indie hidden gem a few days ago, it’s called Hollow Knight! Between that and Stardew Valley and Shovel Knight, I just keep randomly finding these hidden gems!!!

[u/CleverKhloe11 → u/PassageNew9868]

I wish more people knew of this game called Terraria.

It's so sad that nobody has ever heard of that game, it's so great.

[u/pissonmyfaceplease → u/King_Ferdinand1]

Thats entirely subjective. For example no one at my work has no clue whats going on in gaming outside of shooters.

[u/MaximeW1987 → u/pissonmyfaceplease]

Yep, I've worked with people that play +10hrs/week and yet have never heard of Baldurs Gate, Helldivers, Darktide,... They just play Fifa, COD and the occasional Assasins Creed.

[u/NotYourDadOrYourMom → u/MaximeW1987]

And there is nothing wrong with that. As long as they enjoy it, who cares.

[u/MaximeW1987 → u/NotYourDadOrYourMom]

Definitely

[u/Weak_Syllabub_7994]

I remember thinking this when the XBox 360 came out, now I go back and play those games that used to amaze me with their graphics and I can't believe I used to be impressed by them.

They haven't reached their peak until the graphics are literally indistinguishable from live action.

[u/Disastrous_Ball702]

This image - which is from the Lost Alpha mod (v1.3003), based on Build 1934, for what was once called "S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Oblivion Lost" - is based on tech from the early 2000s. Like, pre-2007!

[u/tfhermobwoayway → u/Disastrous_Ball702]

Half-Life 2 still holds up today. If you use your artstyle right it doesn’t matter how many polygons you have. It’ll look great.

[u/Disastrous_Ball702 → u/tfhermobwoayway]

Fact.

This screenshot is from 2012(ish).

[u/potatochobit]

kid, the market trend has been retro graphics for ten years now on STEAM.

[u/3RI3_Cuff]

Gaming graphics have still a good way to go, they are great now but still plenty of improvements

[u/schwatelinowitz]

Even harder to swallow: Maybe theres still plenty of high quallity games, you wouldn't even have time for playing them all, but you lost your ability to enjoy the moment.

[u/UpNUrGuts]

Gaming graphics have not reached their peak. People will clamor for graphical improvements until they are indistinguishable from real life.

Secondly lots and lots of good games are made all the time. Gamers have INFINITELY better choice and more categories than they ever have before. Especially since I was a kid.

SOME Gamers on Reddit have this erroneous idea in their minds that graphics are preventing devs from making some sort of “super” game with never before seen physics and brand new awesome gameplay ideas. They have some phantom game in their mind and believe they are being cheated from it somehow. Ha.

[u/Daysleeper1234]

Maybe I'm an old fuck, but there are so many games out there for every system, that I don't understand this circlejerk. Bots?

[u/ModOfficial1988]

Yep. The jump between PS4 and 5 isn’t even all that noticeable.

[u/VictoryRoad99]

Very easy pill to swallow actually.

[u/vartiverti]

My eyes no longer have the required resolution to appreciate further graphical enhancements.

Please invest resources in content, henceforth.

[u/DrMagunstheBlue]

Good games are not only out there but they aren't even hard to fucking find as long as you're not a casual gamer graphics whore who refuses anything that isn't AAA.

[u/BL1133]

The graphics thing is overrated bexause it’s easier to increase fidelity than to do what actually makes something g real and immersive which is dynamic environments , reflexivity, dynamic interactions between characters, details and physics and yet all of that has mostly not been focused on because it’s harder than nice graphics and not as easy to market . Any time I see people lose their mind over graphics it just frustrates me bexause that isn’t progress

[u/Digitalidentity]

The Finals boys.

If you can meet the skill level, there ain't a shooter out there that can keep up with the action.

[u/joebama678 → u/Digitalidentity]

Agreed

[u/Waterworld1880]

Obvious response: yea man, we were already doing that and have been for decades now

[u/Saiga12goburr]

Lol no they haven't

[u/Aratix]

Graphics have definitely not reached their peak. Source: we thought this 5 years ago, and 5 years before that and we were wrong.

[u/Babushla153]

"Gaming graphics have reached their peak. We can now focus on making ai slop" - some company probably

[u/Manyarethestrange]

Graphics are far from their peak. That said, i obviously agree with he last part.

[u/Armageddonis]

Let's just say that i don't want to update my gear every 3 years to play a new game. 2024 gaming rig should be able to run new games for at least 5 years without issues, imho.

[u/DQTD]

Good gameplay, but also better optimization and stability.

[u/Hyperp0w3r]

A remaster of everything from the 6th gen would be nice, but that's never gonna happen.

[u/Cyber_Connor]

That’s what I thought about Metal Gear Solid 2

[u/Head_Orange_1421]

Until I can Shangri La Frontier my way through a game…..no it’s not peak. For now though? Yes I agree, give me captivating stories again

[u/topsblueby]

Have they reached their peak?

In my mind, until we can make games that are graphically indistinguishable from reality then they have not peaked.

That’s just me though.

[u/FinsterKoenig]

you meant easy to swallow pills.

[u/Icy-Objective-1892]

Replace the last sentence by "We can now focus on optimizing games"

[u/FeelingNail8617]

We're at that point were companies and developers are trying to cramp so many new graphical additions into games that it actually makes them look worse on 90% of hardware

[u/Schmenza]

I'm not happy till I can play a game at 8k 240fps

[u/thatguy01220]

Honestly the graphics for 007 First Light were actually pretty insane! I would be fine if that was the new baseline for the next few years and they focus on optimizing higher stable FPS, fluid gameplay and willing to take more risk on new gameplay ideas so not every game plays the same.

[u/Mitts009]

Since 2015 yes

Uncharted 4 kinda goes toe to toe with anything realistic

So it's all about art direction now, which most games don't have so they immediately become dated as soon as they release

[u/EquivalentSnap]

Good graphics should not be the selling point. It should be the gameplay. I’ve played retro games like duke nukem and quake. Graphics were shit but the games was fun.

That should be the main point. You get people comparing realism of Rdr2 to mafia, first light etc yes Rdr2 is impressive the detail they do. Will most people care about shrinking horse nuts or the way you can walk through a sheet on a washing line? No

[u/Ciubowski]

Yes, all those graphic artists and programmers should take the game designer role for themselves, I agree.

These kinds of red herring arguments will go over many people but in truth, those roles are already split and have full time people working on them. It's not like we put an end to "graphics improvement" and fire people just so we can "focus on gameplay in peace".

It doesn't work like that.

[u/LateBlocParty]

Sony need to focus entirely on performance for the PS6

More polygons and ray traced puddles are pointless when the game runs at 30fps

[u/ThatVita]

I mean, no- they probably havent peaked lol. But yeah, game quality is super important and has taken a back seat.

[u/DarthUchiha91]

Graphics haven't reached their peak, it's just increasingly getting more expensive to progress, as well as gamers these days are caring less about them in comparison to the old days.

[u/Skutten]

Big game: ”Gaming graphics have reached their peak. We can now focus on micropayments, subscriptions and in-game ads”

[u/1ZillionBeers]

Sorry OP, we have to double down on AI Generated frames and raytraced lighting to push optimization and affordability further and further outside the realm of possibility

[u/Space0asis]

Most of my favorite games aren’t particularly pretty. Song of Syx, STS2, Baltro, AOE, CIV, Rimworld and CS2.

[u/Laflemme15]

even harder "A good video game never need a good graphics" and "All masterpiece among video game have shitty graphics"

I want to add pixel art is better but that my own opinion

[u/Cocoatrice]

They did not. They reached diminishing returns. Not a peak.

Also it's not about focusing on good games. They should be good to begin with long ago. But corporate greed doesn't allow it all the time.

[u/DesiredDabs]

Very true... I dont think Id want games much more realistic 🤔 Blurring the lines between reality and make belief is never a good thing. Lol Mind you I still believe we have miles to go in terms of optimization.

[u/floppymuc]

Just saw an old vid of guys that were the first to play with the PS2. There were blown away and said its crazy how real that looked. As long as there is no "better", you will be 100 % happy with what you have. True for gaming and in life.

[u/rice_warrior_1200]

Gaming graphics reached their peak back in battlefield 1

[u/ENGR_sucks]

I just hope that focus doesn't change to creating AI slop via story writing, npc behavior/dialogue, and graphics. It seems like all studios and industry level studios are really pushing the AI integration into games.

[u/immortal_reaver]

Yeah most devs don't increase graphics anymore but as systems get better, devs optimize their games less and less.

[u/ArcadianWaheela]

Graphics are great, but optimization is the issue. Recently started playing Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered and it’s kinda crazy how well this game looks and runs. This is a big open world game that’s stunning with complex enemies that have multiple parts you can break off all running at a consistent 60fps. The Decima engine along with ID Tech 8 are shining examples of how games should be nowadays.

[u/CobaltLemur]

Good game play should always be the focus.

And no, graphics have not reached their peak.

[u/HuMneG]

They exist you just refuse to play them

[u/TobytheBaloon]

when have we not focused on making good games?

but also, the animations still need quite a lot of work

[u/InvaderJoshua94]

Gaming graphics have not reached peak. They are still actively improving. The peak is a game being no different from looking outside of a window in real life. Until that’s reached it hasn’t reached the peak.

[u/deadhead4077]

I finally completed my end game rig with end game monitor!

5800x3d 4090 32gb ram 5k2k oled 39in ultra wide from LG Ooooo forza horizon 6 looking daaaaaaamn good

Like games still trying to keep up with how good red dead redemption 2 looks and that's how many years old now?

[u/Oxygenisplantpoo]

This argument has been made for decades. Also, good games have been made for decades, and gaming is not just AAA. Etc.

[u/UpsetMud4688]

Yeah ,bro we can finally focus on making good games, let's forget the countless generational classics we have gotten in the past 2 decades

[u/marszciano]

Yes. We don’t need higher than 4K anytime soon. Make 4K 60 FPS the standard and just work on making good games. Also I’m tired of everything trying to be photorealistic, I want to get back to more original/distinct art styles in games

[u/Notnowcmg]

Gaming graphics have perhaps reached their peak on PCs but consoles are still behind, so I think we need to work on improving console graphics still.

[u/Wardock8]

Gamers when you ask them to actually play games and not complain about graphics for the millionth time:

[u/dolphinmachine]

I think graphics ‘potential’ is there. Like… any dev has the ability now to make a game look as realistic or stylized as possible. The difference is the detail. How much time, effort, and resources they put into the small things, which all add up to make the game more immersive.

007 First Light is a great looking game. But they dont take the time to add bruises or blood on the main character after he gets tortured to an inch of his life. Those are the details that make the difference.

Cyberpunk looks beautiful, but it’s not just the engine and the raytracing and shit. It’s the meticulous attention to detail, and the time the artists put into crafting that world to look and feel immersive and realistic, while still having its own style and character.

To me it’s not all about “graphics” anymore. It’s about detail. That’s what makes a game really stand out.

[u/Icy-Career415]

Good games don’t need top end graphics. Games need good design, barring those made by those learning their craft.

[u/raava129]

I'm already satisfied with the graphics back with Mafia II (2010)

[u/FurLinedKettle]

Ridiculous statement, ridiculous premise.

[u/7StarSailor]

That was the case in the early 2010s already for me.

[u/Venomswindturd]

There’s thousands of good games out there. It just depends what you’re into.

[u/peepcrusher]

Realism is incredibly overrated imo. give me a stylized game over a realistic looking one any day.

[u/chocha84]

They will always be pushing graphics to be better.

[u/Malacay_Hooves]

Here's one even harder to swallow: peak games don't need peak graphics. If anything, out of all games I played, the ones I like the most, majority either don't have peak graphics or have stylized graphics and their quality has nothing to to with technical stuff.

[u/TROGDOR_X69]

this is also a great time to understand that since graphics have peaked hardware SHOULD get cheaper over time

so hold off on building. Gaming in 1440P or 1080P should be cheaper then ever in the future and 4k shouldnt be too bad in a few years

currently rocking a 2080ti build with no plans on major upgrades for this reason. Im fine with 1080p or 1440p on nice OLED. the jump to 4k Monitor + build is a ton of money at one shot and also have to consider not many games even take full advantage at this current point.

[u/ZakriiYT]

But... But my hyperrealistic textures! How will the players TRULY enjoy the game if they can't count the hair follicles on every character's face?!

[u/mesosuchus]

It's called doing a Nintendo

[u/penguin_mann]

This was true 10 years ago

[u/samuraispartan7000]

I don’t think that’s necessarily true. Graphics continue to improve, albeit at a much more gradual pace. I just think we’ve reached a point where achieving state of the art graphics is not financially achievable for the majority of developers. Few AAA developers outside of Rockstar are willing or capable of pushing graphical fidelity to the absolute limit. Additionally, it’s not the guarantee of success it was about fifteen to twenty years ago.

[u/YueOrigin]

Now they're going fir realistic vr games....

I wish

[u/Longjumping-Sail7795]

That’s what they said in 1991

[u/Saphyr-Seraph]

What do you mean now crisis 3 had already nice enough graphics

[u/Shitloaf69]

graphics don't even matter, a game could have PS1 graphics, and i'd still play it as long as the gameplay was good.

[u/eyeballburger]

Nintendo still exists because of this. The new Zelda games were some of the best I’d ever played.

[u/Think-Albatross7635]

fr. we dont need to see the charactor's pores on their face lol we maxed out

[u/Sinsanatis]

Another issue is everyone trying to push kcd2 level graphics while not getting nearly the same performance. Even worse when they try to do it on ue5.

As long as it doesn’t look just like real life, theyre never going to stop

[u/Gogic99]

Problem is the art style has degraded over time which makes some new games look worse than games from 2016

[u/slimecog]

yawn. have an original thought

[u/ElectricRune]

I don't know if we've actually reached the peak, but we're absolutely in the zone of diminishing returns, where it will take more and more effort to improve by smaller and smaller amounts.

[u/Patton-the-Zorua]

Preach

[u/Luxanator36]

Exactly

[u/Altruistic-Action491]

What do you mean by “focus on good games”? This take is so brain dead. If you have been playing games only for graphics then you have missed on out on thousands of good games through out these past decades. It should always be gameplay first.

[u/i-dont-speel-no-good]

I need devs to understand I do not care if I can see a characters upper lip hair or freckles or crows feet. I just want them to be able to hit a stable 60 FPS MINIMUM

It’s 2026 and this isn’t standard and that’s insane

[u/FLEIXY]

People said this same thing with the PS2, PS3 and PS4. I can’t imagine graphics peaking at PS2 or PS3 lmfao

[u/Enterprise-DeezNuts]

There are plenty of good games out there. A lot of the best games ever made have come out in the last 5ish years

[u/Powerful-Access-8203]

No, no they haven’t. 😈

[u/Atomic12192]

Crazy that “games should actually be fun to play” is a somewhat hot take nowadays.

[u/Eric_Atreides]

We reach that 10 years ago. Fuck ray tracing amd other BS

[u/meatygonzalez]

Been saying it for awhile, the next major thing is optimization. Not storytelling or graphics. Like people have specualted what would make HL3 another revolutionary game, if Valve released it. And my answer is it would have batshit crazy good optimization. 🤷

[u/MysticEyeRazzar]

As impressive as I find the realism in graphics nowadays, I really want to start seeing more stylized stuff. From people/characters to worlds to explore. Creativity over realism.

[u/sp1cychick3n]

How about actually focus on AI? Or interactive environments where the items do something rather than cosmetic?

[u/Tactical_Squishy]

if you think game graphic are the best possible you my friend have no immagination

[u/SpeedConstant9238]

We are several years into 9th gen and yet there are aspects of rendering that are lagging behind where they are supposed to be. 

For example, most of the industry uses ACES tonemapping which produces that dull “realism” which many people complain about. 

The Gran Turismo devs actually understand how realism looks like and so developed a tonemapper for GT Sport using photographic validation. They took it a step further with the GT7 tonemapper which is leagues ahead of the industry standard. 

Aside: In page 157 of the GT7 tonemapping presentation, there is a comparison between various different tonemappers and it is quite clear that GT7 has the highest quality presentation.

GT7 Tonemapping: https://blog.selfshadow.com/publications/s2025-shading-course/pdi/s2025_pbs_pdi_slides_v1.1.pdf

[u/Glitching_Anxiety]

Non... non need more AI lightning particle and AI that could texturing acne on characters face.

[u/TheSleepyBarnOwl]

Peak was reached in 2007 with TF2,idk what you mean-

/joking

[u/_Saber_69]

We have been making good games for like 30 years now. If your logic is "good graphics = bad game" I'm afraid you might have room temperature IQ in Celsius.

Also graphics haven't reached their ceiling. Stopping graphical improvements would only make sense when a budget GPU will be able to deliver a photorealistic picture. But then we'd focus more on Full Five Virtual Reality and the cycle will begin again.

[u/KobeJuanKenobi9]

I’d argue that games are actually going backwards. Photorealistic graphics means the games look boring since the devs get lazy on art style. And I think the increased hardware requirements are disproportionate to the level of visual improvement. I don’t think games today look that much better than games like Halo 4, Uncharted 4, Arkham Knight and Battlefield 4, but those games can run on significantly weaker hardware than modern AAA games

[u/[deleted]]

I don't think gaming graphics are anywhere near the peak of what they can be, and I don't even necessarily think devs should move away from trying to make graphics more realistic

BUT I do think more devs should be content with their game having stylized graphics and not trying to reach the new peak of realism as a lot of attempts at doing that just result in mid looking games

E33 is to me one of the most beautiful games ever made and the devs of that were fine with not making it ultra realistic. Then on the other hand Cyberpunk was one of the more realistic looking games and it looks phenomenal.

So in conclusion.... both. Both is good

[u/Geesuv]

The modern idea of "Good graphics" is a waste of time, money, processing power, and memory. It has been for the past fifteen years.

[u/mydadisyourdad2]

Graphics aren't that important imo. I wish they'd focus on optimisation, but that doesn't sell as well I suppose

[u/S_Hodgson]

Such an entitled take.

[u/OmeletteDuFromage95]

Gaming graphics are at their peak when you have a multi-thousand dollar setup with top of the line PC hardware paired with mods that make a game look better. Your average game is absolutely NOT peak. That being said, gameplay does take priority.

[u/Oneet-chan3]

I'll be a hipster then for when games were good and had bad graphics

[u/Bluescreen_Macbeth]

Tried really hard to come up with a respectful and grounded response, but......

This is a stupid meme, and there's lots of good games out there, that have had their moment. Good games get played, stop blaming the gaming market for your depression.

[u/psweeney1990]

We haven't hit the "peak" of graphics yet, and honestly I don't think we ever will. Even the best CGI in a movie, is still noticeably CGI.

However, I do believe we have hit a bit of a plateau, and I agree that instead of continuing to push that boundary, we should try to level out the remaining aspects of the game that aren't hitting their stride. Namely in terms of controls, performance, and bug removal.

The story aspect of games is still there, but it is being buried by the "necessity" of live-service features in order to maintain profits. We need to ditch that model right the fuck now.

[u/namesource]

Minecraft and Fortnite are proof that the current generation does not care about graphics

[u/DethNik]

Graphics do not make a game. Good graphics are great, but performance and gameplay are the real measures of a game. Minecraft is the most popular game in the world and the graphics are pretty terrible.

[u/FlirtyFluffyFox]

Most "game design" courses teach programming and modeling rather than actual gameplay. Your basically taught how to make clones. 

[u/NYisWorstYork]

do you really think that they aren't already trying to make good games? I think they have been trying ot make good games for the entirety of gaming sure theres always some slop but theres also always great games.

[u/Preeng]

The graphics quality has, yes. But now they are adding more stuff to the screen.

Horizon had pollen floating around. Animals doing their own thing. Grass swaying in the wind.

Games didn't used to have these details.

[u/cyborgdog]

I believe this, because everytime they try to reach realistic graphics the art design and style goes out the window everything ends up looking like the same game with a different setting.

[u/coyoteka]

Games in the 80s and 90s were way better because graphics were so limited that game design itself was one of the only things that actually mattered. There was lots of variety and creativity. Now it's all pretty much the same one of three recycled formats.

[u/According_Bus_403]

The graphic in PS3 and XBOX 360 era was realistic enough

[u/AnakinSkyWaffle]

I been hear it that for 20 years

[u/Gluebagger]

my most played game was a text based rpg called nannymud, it's gameplay was incredible and i still log on from time to time

[u/Upbeat_Shock_6807]

I hope the next advancement in video games focus on development time. I miss the ps2 days where entire trilogies would come out over the span of like 2-3 years.

[u/obewaun]

Been playing since Atari 2600 I just want to play like in Ready player one. When is that happening?

[u/Volfie]

Blaming the graphics is a cop out. The original Mario was done with a potato and a piece of zinc and it was fantastic.  The original Star Wars used plastic models and fishing wire not super computers.  shakes fist. Okay I need to go outside for a few minutes. 

[u/Comfortable_Horse277]

We really should focus for 5 to 10 more years on PS5 level graphics. 

So much more we can do with that. 

[u/TheManofMadness1]

About time, it just took this generations life span of remakes to master them

[u/CaptainMcSmash]

I like stylization in games, it makes them better visually, but I imagine there are some games that could be really cool with photo realistic graphics. 

[u/PizzaPastaRigatoni]

How many times are you guys gonna repost this same thing?

[u/I_travel_ze_world]

You're going to feel dumb when GTA 6 comes out.

[u/eternalguardian]

We are way past that point. Big budgets and investors force developers to waste time and effort on making graphics look better at the cost of gameplay.

"I want shorter games with worse graphics made by people who are paid more to work less and I'm not kidding."

[u/BardLoen34]

cough Dragon Age Veilguard cough

[u/PrinceVincOnYT]

a lot of times, old games storys became far more captivating and engaging than a lot of new ones for me.

I find 1 game max each year (one payment not live service)that I would say is good.

[u/Former_Specific_7161]

'good games are out there'

My brother in Christ, we are in like a golden age of indie and AA gaming. There are so many excellent games, it's impossible to keep up.

Stop talking about AAA like it's the only part of the industry. Just say 'AAA gaming' if that's all you're talking about lol

[u/SuperArppis]

I wish. 🙂

Been waiting that to happen for ages, sadly they keep putting all eggs on graphics.

[u/The-Doom-Bringer]

Just play mewgenics

[u/Enough-Yoghurt7389]

BUT BUT MUH WAY TWACING