Welcome to the FPS vibe shift: At the end of 2025, it's clear that casual shooters are back in a big way.

Submitted ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨alyaza@beehaw.org⁩ to ⁨gaming@beehaw.org⁩

https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/welcome-to-the-fps-vibe-shift/

The FPS is once again in transition. It’s a change that’s been percolating for a while, but 2025 was the year a number of developing trends in PC gaming’s favorite genre finally boiled over.

The time of extreme skill ceilings and the pursuit of metallic ranks defining every new multiplayer FPS is behind us. The escalation of gaudy, overpriced cosmetics created a distaste so palpable that Call of Duty had to desperately change its game plan. The two biggest shooters this year cost money, and there were no major free-to-play releases. The theme of this new era, as I see it developing so far, is remembering that shooters can be both casual and thrilling. High fun, low emotional investment.

An old guard of life-consuming live-service games remains a vibrant and popular part of this genre, but they’re once again sharing the space with—and even adopting the attributes of—a more casual breed. Games that don’t mind if you only play them once in a while. Games that let you make your own fun, encourage cooperation, or earn our respect by not bombarding us with ads.

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Comments

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Kolanaki@pawb.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Casual shooters never went away… Unless whoever wrote this thinks Fortnite isn’t casual.

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- t3rmit3@beehaw.org ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  Do you have to play it all the time in order to not miss out on tons of content (i.e. events)? Because that doesn’t feel ‘casual’ to me. My trough between games I cycle through is years, not months, so hearing that in the time I was gone there’s been n missed major events or ‘storylines’ definitely seems pretty hostile to a casual engagement.
  
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  - Kolanaki@pawb.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    That doesn’t even have anything to do with what casual game even means.
    
    The game is casual; your obsession over cosmetic bullshit isn’t. Do you even think the cosmetics look cool? Or do you just want them because everyone else has them?
    
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stoy@lemmy.zip ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
I recently discovered Turbo Overkill, it has some brilliant arcade shooter feel, a great 80s style, and some unique quirks.

I highly enjoyed it.

My favorite FPS is however Unreal Tournament 2004, which I heard will be handed off from Epic Games to a fan community, so the fan community maintains it. I don’t know if that means it will be open source, but it sounds good.

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- azimir@lemmy.ml ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  Those early days (Quake, UT, CS). Grab a gun and go. No real levels, buying hats, or special equipment on the richest can afford.
  
  Yeah, I’d get thrashes by good players, but not because they have different equipment or loyalty/grind/pay-to-play items. A level playing field where getting murdered was just. Those were good days.
  
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- LuigiMaoFrance@lemmy.ml ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  Turbo Overkill is so extremely underrated. I hope we’ll see that sequel they teased at the end of the game some day. Not sure how well it sold.
  
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etchinghillside@reddthat.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
I don’t play FPS these days - what’s considered a casual FPS today? I’m guessing ARC raiders? Presumably because it’s not all reflex based?

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- Walk_blesseD@piefed.blahaj.zone ⁨18⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  Killing Floor, I guess would fit the bill. Too bad KF3, the one that released this year, is broadly considered to be completely mediocre.
  
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- t3rmit3@beehaw.org ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  ARC Raiders is definitely of the “life-consuming live-service” multiplayer games in my view, same as Helldivers 2. Basically anything that is live-service, since it demands you play continually or otherwise miss out on timed events.
  
  I hope multiplayer non-live service games are the sort of casual FPS that is making a comeback, a la Space Marine 2.
  
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  - Deyis@beehaw.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
    I feel almost the exact opposite; I can jump into Helldivers 2 as if I’d never left and keep on playing but trying to play Space Marine 2 now feels like I’m constantly behind everyone else and trying to catch up.
    
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- Deyis@beehaw.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  Any game is casual if you’re employed enough.
  
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- fascicle@leminal.space ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  I think that depends on the way you play. You can lose everything pretty quickly by getting swarmed from a few low level bots or someone shooting you in the back. Which at least for me makes it feel not that casual.
  
  The game does try and match you based on aggressiveness so if you chill and don’t shoot other players you’ll filter into the nicer lobbies although you still never know if the person next to you will choose that day to decide and PvP. Its famous for people to send the ‘don’t shoot’ emote then as soon as you turn to walk away they shoot you
  
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Banzai51@midwest.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Because dev studios have proven the last few years they can’t handle anything more complex.

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HappyHappyJoyJoy@beehaw.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
All I want is a new BF1942 and the Vietnam one. I missed those large scale, silly matches where you could die 50 times and have fun.

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eleijeep@piefed.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Overwatch heralded the death of the genre, after which (almost) every FPS release has been a casual shooter.

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NewNewAugustEast@lemmy.zip ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
FPS same as always.

Multiplayer FPS is what they are talking about?

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