This isn’t new to anybody who’s followed the games industry but the conversation always seems to be the same: change is needed but nobody knows how to make that happen. Essentially, the game industry needs more depth to it in regards to a greater variety of stories and some culture change.
At Gamasutra they have David Cage’s list of nine things the industry needs to change. I really like this list, with some of his suggestions standing out more than others, for example I totally agree with his take on meaning:
3: The importance of meaning. “When you think about it, you realize many games have absolutely nothing to say!” says Cage. “There’s nothing against that, but that’s a toy. Can we create games that have something to say? That have meaning?”
To do this, we need to let authors come in, he says. “Games today, most of the time — not all, but most — are written by programmers and graphic artists and the marketing team. We need to have authors really at the heart of the project.”
In addition, we should use all real-world themes. Most games take place in a world we can never enter, but Cage says we should focus more on human relationships. “We need to put games at the center of our society, the center of our life. Games can do that in a very unique way.”
I think another importance aspect of getting games to grow up is having more people to make games. This is why I think things like Ladies Learning Code, easy game making software, and every game jam out there.
Check out my page of game creation software for some tools to get you started on making your game.