Competitive shooters are at a crucial crossroads in 2025: 'sweaty' teamplay vs. casual fun

Gaze at the mountain of multiplayer shooters and tremble. I've long maintained that we're in a multiplayer golden age—there have never been more and better shooters to choose from than we have right now, and most of them can be enjoyed entirely for free. If only anyone had the time.

If I had to describe the state of competitive shooters in 2025, it would be attention-starved. Every shooter is good, but the Faustian bargain we make for this age of plenty is that every shooter is also a lot.