The Paradox of Choice in Video Games

The video game industry is experiencing an era of abundance in terms of available games. With several promotions making games cheap on Steam, Epic Games distributing weekly free games and several options of subscription services such as Xbox Game Pass, PlayStation Plus, Nintendo Switch Online, EA Play, among others, to choose from... players have access to thousands of titles for a relatively low monthly cost. However, this apparent advantage hides behind it a deep psychological challenge: choice overload, a phenomenon described by psychologist Barry Schwartz in his theory The Paradox of Choice.

In this article, we’ll explore how the excessive variety of games and subscription services can generate anxiety, decision paralysis, and dissatisfaction among players, in addition to proposing strategies to balance freedom and well-being.

If Steam democratized access to games, subscription services such as Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus radically redefined players' relationship with games. For a set monthly fee, users now have instant access to hundreds of titles, including new releases from partner studios.

Barry Schwartz, in his book The Paradox of Choice, argues that while freedom of choice is valued, an excess of options can paralyze people and reduce their satisfaction.

How does this manifest itself in the context of video games?

- Subscription services offer libraries with hundreds of games, from classics to new releases.

- Digital platforms such as Steam and Epic Games Store expand even further the available catalog.

According to Schwartz, this abundance raises users' expectations, and they begin to fear choosing the "wrong" game, thus wasting their time and missing out on better experiences.

A study on video streaming (analog to games) reported that 70% of users don’t know what to consume when opening an app, while 40% have difficulty deciding due to the number of options.

If we apply this to the gaming universe, this dynamic shows itself again: players spend a lot of time navigating menus, deciding what to play, and can often spend more time choosing than actually playing.

Services like PSN Plus and Xbox Game Pass promote unlimited access, but can also intensify The Paradox of Choice. A user who has 300 games available may feel less motivated to dedicate themselves to a single title, thus reducing the relevance and depth of gameplay in the games. On the other hand, these services provide opportunities to experience not only AAA games, but also wonderful indie games that would otherwise go unnoticed.

How often have you wanted to play something new, but weren't sure what you wanted and stood staring at the game catalog, trying to find one that you liked, just to end up not playing anything, going for a generic game or giving up?

Schwartz's theory highlights four main consequences of too many choices:

- Decision Paralysis: The difficulty in choosing between so many options leads to procrastination.

- Increased Regret: After making a choice, the player questions whether another option would’ve been better and often doesn’t enjoy the game they chose, ending up dropping it.

- Opportunity Costs: The conscience that each choice implies giving up other experiences. Here we have a costly example of when we choose a game and then spend the entire play time thinking about other choices that we think might be better.

- Self-blame: The frustration of not being able to enjoy all the possibilities. The most common example is when we play a game we really don't like and end up thinking that, because of our “bad” decision, we wasted time and the next game could be a bad choice again.

- F.O.M.O. (Fear of Missing Out) anxiety, where the player feels pressured to try out all the new releases so that they’re not “out of the loop”, and we end up not finishing any of the games or playing them too quickly and missing out on the experience that they really offer.

How can companies and players take steps to reduce overload?

Platforms

- Smart Selection: Personalized recommendations based on game history, avoiding generic lists.

- Limiting Options Per Session: Show fewer games at a time, as proposed in a UX study for streaming.

- Clear Filters and Categories: Allow players to search by genre, average length, or community rating.

Players

- Hybrid Models: Combining subscriptions with individual games can be a great thing, giving the player control. How about exploring your library and starting that one game you've been promising yourself you’d play for a while?

- Free Trials: Short periods to try out games before deciding if you’ll play or buy them. Two or even a few hours of gameplay can help you decide if it's the right game to play at that moment.

- Short Games: Games lasting up to four or six hours help maintain a balance between ones with longer gameplays. In addition to having the experience of another game under our belt, it guides us to new horizons to be explored.

- Set Clear Goals: Prioritize games aligned with personal preferences, avoiding the temptation to follow trends like Battle Royale and get stuck in the same game forever.

- Explore Alternative Genres: Rediscover narrative adventures, puzzles or simulations, which offer more immersive and less frenetic experiences.

- Adopt a "Good Enough" Mentality: Value complete experiences, instead of collecting titles or accumulating games on sale.

The industry can learn from sectors such as streaming, where platforms such as Xcloud and Geforce Now are already testing simplified interfaces to reduce choice paralysis.

Barry Schwartz remarks that autonomy is not about the quantity of options, but about the quality of the experience. For gamers, this means prioritizing the journey, not the collection. For companies, it means designing services that value discovery over indiscriminate accumulation.

The abundance of games and subscription services is a reflection of the success of the video game industry, but also a psychological challenge. By applying the lessons learned from The Paradox of Choice, both developers and players can turn the overload of options into a more satisfying and meaningful experience. As Schwartz argues, less can be more, as long as we know what really matters.

Do you identify with any of the issues in The Paradox of Choice? Let us know your opinion in the comments!