what about the future?

[Tim Brooks]

I'm curious as to the demographics of the TBS market and whether it's an aging audience that was exposed to turn based games when they started playing computer games and maintained an interest in them over time. Do the vast majority of young players today (if they have an interest in strategy games at all) prefer the fast pace of RTS games (something that didn't exist when many older players began with strategy games)?

Yes, the TBS market reached its peak in the mid-1990s. Since then it has been shrinking as those who grew up with no other strategy gaming form are dying off. Don't get me wrong, there are new converts, but not at a rate that replaces the aging market.

And of course, there are always exceptions, though few and far between. A game comes along every once in a while, that the non-TBS market falls in love with. But because you buy one TBS game in 10 years doesn't make you a TBS gamer. And it doesn't change the TBS market into mainstream gaming.

I also wonder about the overlap between players interested in military simulations and 4X games. The Squad Leader players I've known wouldn't have had any interest in fantasy games...

I think that more and more, TBS gamers are willing to cross into other genres, just because there are so few good TBS games. But you are also right, there are those that will only play one genre.