Aggressive Microtransactions & "Macrotransactions": Expect backlash over games, especially full-priced ones, locking essential content or progression behind increasingly expensive paywalls.
AI-Generated Content Ethics: Debates will intensify over studios using AI for game assets (art, voice acting), raising concerns about plagiarism, job displacement, and creative integrity.
Unfinished or Buggy Releases: Another wave of high-profile games launching in an unpolished state, requiring significant post-launch patching, will frustrate players.
Always-Online Requirements & Game Ownership: Increased prevalence of games demanding constant internet connection, even for single-player, will spark outrage over true game "ownership."
Studio Closures & Layoffs Amidst Record Profits: The disparity between rising industry revenue and continued mass layoffs/studio shutdowns will fuel criticism of corporate practices.