Todd Howard’s Gaming Prediction Came True — But There’s Still Time to Catch Up
Years ago, Todd Howard warned studios were pigeonholing themselves. Today, as safe formulas crowd the biggest games, his call looks less like opinion and more like a prediction fulfilled.
Every few years someone insists gaming is either kiddie stuff or grimdark bloodsport. Then I remember Todd Howard got up on a stage in 2009 and basically called that shot. The wild part: he was mostly right, and also not entirely.
Back to 2009: Todd calls his shot
Todd Howard, the Bethesda legend behind The Elder Scrolls and Fallout, spoke at the Design Innovate Communicate Entertain (D.I.C.E.) Summit in 2009 and worried the business would narrow itself into tidy little boxes. It was a pretty nerdy industry conference moment that aged a little too well.
"That it will pigeon-hole itself. I'm worried the Wii is getting stuck with quick-buck games aimed at children who don't know any better, and the 360 and PS3 are all about M-rated killfests. As an industry, we have to make sure the world knows that gaming is for everyone, and not just kids or thirtysomethings who never grew up."
Flash-forward: the split-screen we live in
- Nintendo Switch picked up where Wii left off: the brand is built on bright, approachable, family-friendly fun. And yeah, it has absolute bangers like Mario, Zelda, and Animal Crossing.
- Sony and Microsoft leaned harder into prestige, high-octane, often M-rated cinematic experiences. Think Halo, God of War, The Last of Us, and Gears of War. Big scope, big feelings, not exactly for little Timmy.
But the lanes are not sealed
It is not just kid stuff on Nintendo and mature epics on the other side. Nintendo helped publish Bayonetta 2, which is about as all-caps MATURE as their exclusives get. Sony has made room for the kid-friendly Astro Bot series. Xbox still carries the all-ages Banjo-Kazooie brand in its stable. There are cracks in the wall if you look.
The indie correction
Indies basically staged a quiet counter-programming movement. Stardew Valley and Hollow Knight did not just sell well; they nudged the big players to look beyond easy cash-ins for children or permanent teens. Variety is not a niche anymore, it is a business plan.
So, was Todd right?
Mostly. The market did splinter into predictable buckets, just like he worried. But the pushback is real. Between stray first-party outliers and a booming indie scene, the industry keeps leaking out of its own boxes.
Can gaming fully shake the labels, or are we stuck with color-coded lanes forever? What are you playing right now that breaks the mold?