Why don't games ever come to the front page?

There's a game on the front page currently: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36138304

The new Zelda was just on here

This isn't exactly true, it's relatively common to see HN-user created games on the front-page. I think you're engaging in typical-mind; while this community is a space for nerds, not everyone here is interested in video games. The shared interest here is for "hacking", computer science, and computer software. I wouldn't even say the forum is necessarily business oriented, despite the association with Y-Combinator. It's simply that, because of the incentives, there is a lot of interesting software and research that comes from the private sector.

> but I guess we are also nerds

I think this old correlation is no longer valid. Computer nerds and gamers used to be almost interchangeable a long time ago, but I feel like there is tons of seperation now... Heck, I see game devs that aren't really gamers, and don't even know what GPU their computer has. On the flip side, tons of harcore gamers are basically computer illiterate.

Game dev seems to be outside of HN's palette too. I have no explanation for that.

Another possible factor: HN users are playing (and developing?) indie/AA games that are not front page worthy. This is the case with me. With some very rare exceptions (like CP2077, now that it is fixed up and modded), I have skipped most AAA games.

Not entirely true, but sadly very close.

Way too many posts of getting Doom running on toasters and pregnancy tests make the front page, but not much else.

For example, there's a game called System Shock (a remake of a seminal game) that came out yesterday after being 7 years in development, where you play as a hacker against an out of control AI.

I'm a fan, so obviously I'm biased, but I find it quite intriguing there is not one single mention of this anywhere on a site that calls itself Hacker News and is obsessed with AI (particularly the GPT kind).

Well, I'm slightly disappointed, but I guess I should just "expect the unexpected".

Games sometimes do come to the front page of HN, especially if they do something new or deeply-nerdy. Wordle and 2048 come to mind as past front-pagers. Why those? They're superficially simple, but it's quite challenging (i.e. fun) to analyze them and figure out "optimal" strategies.

I wouldn't say HN is primarily a business-oriented community; its interests are eclectic.

Factorio: 5,067 results (and many with hundreds of votes)

Minecraft: 2,189 results

Doom: 33,401 results (not all are the game)

Dwarf Fortress: 192 results

You just need to know the right kind of games. ;)