Chris Winters

Stop griping about your backlog

· Chris Winters

In thinking about all the needless things that I've committed myself to, one of the worst I've shackled myself with is my entertainment "backlog".

Watching TV is work now?

I've spent a long time trying to "crack" my vidogame backlog in particular. It doesn't help that it keeps growing.

Some eye-watering stats for you:

  • I have about 60 Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 games
  • my PS5 and PS4 library is only a smidge smaller
  • I've got about 20 games on Xbox
  • my Steam library is over 2,000 games, and I have about 200 in my "backlog"
My Steam library of 2,334 games

I'm not even going to get into the retro collection I've amassed.

And I expect myself to play all these someday?

To manage it, I've tried all sorts of things, ranging from:

  • keeping a list in my to do app
  • subscribing to a media manager tool to help me catalogue it
  • I even vibecoded something to run on my home server to help me

None of them worked.

In fact, I've likely spent more time cataloguing games than actually playing them.

A few weeks ago I decided this had to stop.

The games industry, its press, and the community around it are very good at promoting the flavour of the month. The latest games, the newest hotness, all games you absolutely must play.

"Don't miss out - enjoying something is secondary to the zeitgeist! Gotta keep the fluid that is attention flowing!"

I'm done.

When a new game comes out I probably don't have time to play it anyway. The fear of missing out (FOMO) is not one that makes me happy, and frankly it means I'm not enjoying the game I'm currently playing because I'm trying to rush through it to play the next one.

Enthusiasts have too many games, and not enough time to enjoy them. Add a dollop of FOMO on top and you can see why people start to hate their hobbies. It's why I burn out on games too.

The problem, of course, is capitalism. We're all victims of it, many of us not even realising it.

Nowadays, buying and enjoying something isn't enough - you must buy something else. And something else. And something else. You must keep feeding the machine.

Even stories of developers losing their job contributes to this. "Gotta support the devs!"

Algorithms and trends and marketing all push you around, get you to drop what you're doing and buy the next big thing. Don't even think about it - just enjoy the idea of playing that game you're about to buy. Maybe you'll actually play it. Perhaps. Someday.

It's really not that different from any other predatory marketing like cosmetics, junk food and gambling.

And then you're paralysed because your backlog has 200 games and more stuff keeps releasing.

But there are ways of beating this. With my clinically proven* 10 point plan, for only £99 you can... okay, no, let's not go there.

But in all seriousness, I am going to try a few things.

I'll start by deleting my media backlogs. I don't need them.

I'll play games as soon as I buy them. Otherwise, I'll scour my libraries and pick whatever vibes with me.

I'm not going to worry about "the conversation". My games will be waiting for me when I'm in the right space to enjoy them. It doesn't matter if no one's talking about them anymore.

This applies just as much to the hundreds of shows and movies I have to stream, or my partner's seemingly unending collection of novels.

And at the end of the day, we all need to be at peace with the fact that we'll never play, watch or read everything that vaguely interests us.

This is fine.

I'm also going to stop myself from:

  • reading lots of entertainment and gaming news sites
  • posting on forums and social media
  • reviweing charts and concurrent users (CCU) information
  • keeping a massive wish list and "waiting for a sale" behaviour

All of these things feed my FOMO. And ultimately, when I infinitely scroll, looking for that panacea to boredom and FOMO - "the next perfect thing I play" - I feel incredibly hollow.

I'm addicted to the idea of playing something rather than actually playing it.

That doesn't mean I won't enjoy conversations online, or read news about the hobby. But instead of going to a "general games forum" (like ResetEra or general gaming sub-Reddits), I need to curate what I consume.

So, I'll:

  • limit my consumption of news and social media to specific topics
  • join communities for shows and games I already love, rather than general ones
  • avoid the charts like the plague - what other people are playing does not matter one iota
  • aggressively clear my wish list

I'll probably slip back into old behaviours. Advertisers, after all, don't seek consent and relentlessly try to insert the thing they're selling into our lives. This won't stop just because I'm aware that they're ruining my enjoyment them.

But being aware of how it harms my enjoyment is a good way of keeping on top of it.

And you never know, I may find I have more time to play that game.

* not actually clinically proven