PC gamers in the mid-to-late 90s apparently started turning up their noses at turn-based strategy games in favour of the new hotness of the Command & Conquers and Warcrafts of the day
A review of X-Com Apocalypse from the time:
"to be honest, the new real-time combat is so good I really can't see why anyone would want to play the much slower (and often infuriating) turn-based tactical game"
:kitty-cri-screm:
spoiler
That's like preferring Diablo over Fallout
There's a :capitalist-laugh: reason for this, though. Online multiplayer greatly pads out the amount of time players spend in the game.
What if every single second they spent in the game was monetised :cap-think:
What if we eliminated quarters and hooked up their credit cards directly to the cabinets
What if we hooked up their credit card directly to the cabinet, and also continued to sell them arbitrary bits of code for a premium markup?
Also cheaper to make a game that's just an arena withough having to think about level design or story too much