The setup was more reasonable in “Battle Royale”. I wish this series would go away and die quickly because I really don’t want to see the knockoff versions. Here I thought the Ansty Vampire Romance novels were the worst but.... “Hunger Games” is written in first person present tense. If THAT gets popular, literature as we know it is over.
It is called “character-driven fiction” and it is already here. See Stephanie Meyers’ “The Host”. It is reported to be the first in a trilogy, w/the 2nd book to be called “The Soul” and the last one, “The Seeker”.
However, I do not think this is something new and I do not see why it is apocalyptic.
First person present writing will never get popular with the writers, it’s too difficult and counter intuitive. Series that use it have been popular with readers before, but because so few writers are comfortable with it it never takes off.