• ampersandrew@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        edit-2
        9 hours ago

        The audience has very much expanded since covid. Around that same time is when fighting games (at large) finally got the good netcode, because they finally realized they could no longer get away with the easier, cheaper, bad netcode. You might not know what the word “rollback” means, and probably most players don’t either, but I think everyone intuitively understands that it feels better to play these games online and that they’re getting better matches. This also came along with a few new ways to shed motion inputs, or at least make them optional, in many big releases, and a renewed focus on trying to invent good new single player offerings. Fighting game majors are breaking attendance records every year, and in a world where the e-sports bubble has burst, the fighting game scene is the only one growing organically from grass roots without spending money it doesn’t actually make (Fatal Fury might be the exception here, due to ties to the Saudi family).