Is the video game industry headed for a crash?

If you look at sales numbers, the video game industry is doing better than ever. But look closer and things appear far more ominous.

A game scene.
(Image credit: Illustrated | Akrain/iStock, Wikimedia Commons, Screenshot/Telltale Games)

If you look at sales numbers, the video game industry is doing better than ever. Revenue is skyrocketing, with consumers projected to spend $137.9 billion on games before the year is out. Red Dead Redemption 2, a game with sales expectations that are no less than meteoric, is weeks away.

Yet if you look closer, things appear far more ominous. There are fissures appearing that threaten to swallow the game industry as we know it.

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Joshua Rivera is a freelance entertainment journalist and critic who has written for GQ, Vulture, and Entertainment Weekly.