The growing gap between devs/pubs and gaming reality

 Achieving the Platinum trophy for Returnal has given me pause to think how gaming (or gamers) have changed, while game development and production has not. 

For a relatively narrow-focused title, driven by repetition and gentle evolution, ignoring the luscious world, busy effects and the cunning game design, it took me 380 hours of play over four years to find the last bit of cipher. A feat I'm proud of, but one that creates more questions beyond the sense of satisfaction. 

I don't chase Platinum trophies casually, my last few have been Returnal, No Man's Sky and Skyrim. Each title has been enjoyed over a few years, in-and-around real life, over which time I figured they merited completion.  

Yet, most developers still build their game as if we're all going to race through it in the few days or weeks after launch, never considering we'll forget the plot, the next mission, or sometimes, even rarer control systems, mechanics or tricks. 

As we peek around the corner at the PS6 era, hopefully, OS-level guides will paper over these cracks, but across gaming, developers need to look at the longer-term future of their games, considering:

• Open-source multiplayer and modding capabilities that will take over the game when the developers have gone bust or moved onto other projects. 
• Incrementally friendly sign-posting for players that are getting lost (either geographically or contextually) within the world.
• Ways to overcome gameplay blocks or dead-ends when players get stuck in one place or battle. 
• Extending rewards, be it trophies, procedural missions or other goodies for people who fall in love with a game and don't want it to end. 

I know these wishes add complexity and cost, and require flexibility in APIs and service agreements, but if games are to live longer, can players at least be treated with a greater degree of respect and partnership.