Gamers Turn to Retro Games After Frustration with AAA Games

Why Players Are Turning Their Backs on AAA Games and Loving Retro Gaming

Over the past few decades, AAA game makers—those creating the most advanced, cutting-edge games—have poured billions into crafting visually stunning experiences. But here's the catch: gamers seem to care less and less about flashy graphics. Instead, they're prioritizing social, interactive, and accessible experiences. The proof? Some of the biggest games today—Minecraft, Roblox, and Fortnite—don't lean on AAA-style graphics. Yet they're raking in millions of players and billions in revenue.

Curious about this shift, we used Infegy Starscape, our award-winning social listening tool, to investigate further. By comparing sentiment and trending topics related to AAA game developers with conversations about retro and less graphically demanding games, we found some fascinating contrasts. Gamers vented frustration over AAA business practices, anti-cheating measures, and complicated game launchers, while retro games brought on waves of nostalgia and joy.

AAA Game Developers Are Missing the Mark

To better understand where modern AAA gaming stands, we analyzed three years of online chatter. We focused on sentiment trends and the key topics linked to AAA game developers.

Negativity Is Growing Around AAA Developers

Figure 1 shows a big jump in post volume about AAA games over the last three years. At first glance, more conversation might seem like a win. But dig deeper, and you'll see that much of this chatter is overwhelmingly negative—not ideal for companies spending billions on these games.

Figure 1: AAA Game Post Volume Built With Entity Search (January 2022 through December 2024); Infegy Social Dataset.

Gamers Angered By Launchers and Cheaters

Infegy's linguistic analysis helped us pinpoint what gamers are complaining about most. Figure 3 shows a word cloud of top topics tied to EA Games, one of the biggest studios in the industry. Aside from their sports franchises, the conversation is mainly negative. A big pain point? Launchers—those mandatory programs needed to run games. Over the years, every major studio has rolled out its launcher, meaning gamers now have to juggle five or six bloated apps to play their favorite titles.

Figure 2: Top Topics Related to EA Games (January 2022 through December 2024); Infegy Social Dataset.

Activision-Blizzard isn't doing much better. As seen in Figure 3, their negative topics revolve around server reliability and cheat-detection software. Popular titles like Call of Duty have struggled with cheaters for years, ruining the social experiences many younger players come online for. It's a tough pill to swallow when your go-to game feels broken.

Figure 3: Top Topics Related to Activision (January 2022 through December 2024); Infegy Social Dataset.

Retro Games Are Crushing It

In stark contrast, retro games and less graphically intense titles are thriving. Conversations around these games paint a much more positive picture.

Retro Gaming Shows High Sentiment Score

Figure 4 shows strong growth in conversations about retro games, with positivity rates soaring to 80-90%.

Figure 4: Sentiment Associated With Retro, Non-High Fidelity Games (January 2022 through January 2025); Infegy Social Dataset.

When we dug into the language gamers use, the results were striking. Instead of griping about cheaters or server issues, retro gaming fans talked about the pure joy of playing. They also had glowing things to say about old-school consoles like the PS2, Wii, SNES, and Xbox. Even shopping—yes, shopping—got a positive spin, with gamers praising their experiences hunting for retro games (Check out our experiential marketing ebook to learn about how to make shopping fun).

Figure 5: Top Topics Associated With Retro Games (January 2022 through December 2025); Infegy Social Dataset.

Infegy’s AI Summaries Highlight the Retro Appeal

We ran Infegy's AI summarization on retro gaming conversations to get more insights. Two major themes stood out: collecting retro games and modern ways to play them.

The first theme focused on Nintendo legacy collecting. For years, Nintendo faced criticism from AAA developers for not prioritizing ultra-realistic graphics. However, gamers have always loved Nintendo for its storytelling. Unlike many modern AAA titles that feel outdated after a year or two, Nintendo games have lasting appeal—proving that a great story beats flashy graphics any day.

Figure 6: AI Summary Around Collecting Retro Games (January 2022 through December 2025); Infegy Social Dataset.

The second theme spotlighted modern emulation devices. These gadgets, like the Miyoo Mini and Anbernic handhelds, let gamers relive retro titles on updated hardware. Not only are these devices way cheaper than high-end gaming PCs, but they're also a lot easier to use. Online discourse reflects that with 80% conversational positivity.

Figure 7: AI Summary Around Playing Retro Games on Modern Emulation Devices (January 2022 through December 2025); Infegy Social Dataset.

Wrap Up

The gaming world is at a turning point. Big-name AAA studios are pouring resources into stunning visuals and complex gameplay, but most gamers don't want these features. Simpler, retro-inspired games will thrive in 2025, showing that fun and accessibility often matter more than cutting-edge graphics.

Our social listening data shows that AAA studios need to understand the market mismatch better and pivot to make less expensive games people want to play. They'll need to do this to survive (and grow) into 2025.

Key Takeaways

• AAA Game Studios Face Challenges: Negative sentiment around launchers, cheaters, and technical issues highlights a disconnect between what AAA developers deliver and what gamers want.
• Retro Games Thrive on Simplicity: Retro and independent games are celebrated for their accessible gameplay and nostalgia, fostering overwhelmingly positive sentiment.
• A Clear Shift in Player Priorities: Gamers prioritize social and interactive experiences over high-fidelity graphics, pushing the industry to reconsider what truly matters in gaming.