Between Switch, PSN, Steam, and even XBL, the shmup genre churns out some real winners these days, even if they'll never again quite
reach mainstream success like before (Gradius, Ikaruga - those eras).
Not exact matches
The general consensus is that Red Dead Redemption 2 will be a huge
success in its own right, but will not
reach the levels of overwhelming
mainstream popularity that catapulted GTA 5 to the top of the sales charts.
Mainstream (or AAA) game development has
reached a point of skyrocketed development costs where failure — or even moderate
success — can not be allowed.
But when it
reached tipping point and became
mainstream, it spawned entirely new industries, and many of today's most valuable companies — from Apple to Google to Amazon — built their businesses on top of the internet or at least rode this wave to
success.
Thanks to Amazon's Alexa - fueled record holiday season and Google's own impressive
success with its Google Assistant - powered smart speakers, voice - controlled digital assistants haven't just
reached the
mainstream but are becoming ubiquitous.
The general consensus is that Red Dead Redemption 2 will be a huge
success in its own right, but will not
reach the levels of overwhelming
mainstream popularity that catapulted GTA 5 to the top of the sales charts.