On r/gaming today, the community wrestled with what makes games feel human, what makes them affordable, and why old-school spirit still sets the tone. The day’s top threads spanned award-season integrity, AI boundaries, and the evergreen joy of puzzles and mod-powered creativity.
Where we draw the lines: indie integrity, human creativity, and consolidation jitters
A candid act of self-policing set the tone as the developer of Megabonk asked to step aside from a coveted category in The Game Awards, a move laid out in the widely shared post about withdrawing from Best Debut Indie. In parallel, a different line was drawn by developers resisting automation creep, with a discussion of AdHoc’s philosophy in the thread on Dispatch’s firm stance against AI underlining a community appetite for human-first craft.
"I'm withdrawing from The Game Awards. It's an honor and a dream for Megabonk to be nominated for TGA, but unfortunately I don't think it qualifies for the category 'Debut Indie Game.' I've made games in the past under different studio names, so Megabonk is not my debut game." - u/radiating_phoenix (4770 points)
Threaded through those value debates was a fresh round of consolidation chatter, with gamers zeroing in on what a mega-deal might mean for beloved studios as they parsed speculation around a potential Paramount bid for Warner Bros. Discovery. Whether it’s awards categories, creative tools, or corporate ownership, the community’s read was consistent: definitions matter because they ripple into the games players actually get.
"AI feels like a production solution, not a creative one. Maybe it's a creative one if you aren't creative." - u/UseWhatever (2447 points)
Spending power and perception: deals, GPUs, and the value question
As holiday sales roll in, price moves drew sharp scrutiny, with players dissecting Sony’s seasonal cuts in the PlayStation Black Friday deals thread. The deal math, memories of earlier MSRP shifts, and the ever-present specter of the “Pro” tier fueled a larger conversation about how platform pricing shapes when and how people upgrade.
"They increased the price back in September I think and now it’s about the regular price. You can’t make this up — I bought mine for $399 in 2020." - u/sirferrell (433 points)
Zooming out to the silicon that drives it all, the community weighed the long arc of PC hardware with a discussion of lifetime sales in the post noting 2.3 billion GPUs sold since 2000. Nostalgia for Riva TNT days mixed with today’s market realities, and some wondered whether gaming’s value calculus is now competing directly with AI-era demand.
"Which is less than they sold in AI cards this year... math isn’t mathing." - u/tek-know (91 points)
Nostalgia, challenge, and playful craft keep the pulse strong
The day’s lighter side spotlighted how classic tone and modern memes still spark joy. Players relished a blast of attitude in a Twisted Metal II throwback, traded wry groans over environmental brainteasers in a Metroid Prime puzzle tease, and celebrated DIY storytelling with a wonderfully specific slice-of-life scene in a Far Cry 5 recreation of a B&Q car park deal gone wrong.
Discovery threads amplified what to play next and what to revisit, from community curation in a roundup of the top-rated roguelikes of 2025 to a legacy refresh that has veterans and newcomers circling back via the announcement of Guild Wars Reforged. The throughline: whether by leaderboard, remaster, or a good old-fashioned puzzle, r/gaming’s enthusiasm thrives on challenge, iteration, and a shared wink at history.