If it can nail that, fans will view Warner Bros. is serious about trying that approach out, it needs to have a flexible plan, be ready to swiftly react to community feedback, and, above all else, deliver a game that’s fans actually want to play. Many major studios simply end up feeling underprepared when their games launch and Marvel’s Avengers stands as an unfortunate cautionary tale. The reality is that live service games sound like an easy way to monetize, but they’re an incredibly complex beast to tackle. If the user base plummets, who cares if your broom lights up? Special gear is only worth buying when players feel like they’ll have plenty of chances to show it off. It seems like an easy way to fish for whales, but it’s far from a surefire bet. Live service games tend to go heavy on cosmetics players can purchase with real money, hoping to lure dedicated fans into a buying cycle. That idea is especially true when it comes to microtransactions. Hogwarts Legacy can include tons of fun wizard abilities, but it won’t matter much if people don’t actually want to play the game once they unlock them. That means a focus on fun, replayable activities that fans will play regardless of the long-term benefit. needs to focus on making content that’s satisfying on day one and setting up a realistic roadmap that takes the unforeseen quality-of-life fixes into account. Rather than using live service as a carrot on a stick for hungry players, Warner Bros. If fans are always expecting something new, it doesn’t leave a lot of flexibility to tweak the experience based on community feedback. ![]() As Avengers showed us, there just isn’t always enough time or resources to balance both new content and necessary bug fixes. The promise of continued support is always going to be one that’s too difficult to deliver. The reality is that developers will never be able to keep up with dedicated fans who plow through content at light speed. A marketing selling point quickly became a liability. That set the stage for disappointment when players ran out of things to do within a few months. During the hype tour for the original Destiny, Bungie painted the looter shooter as something fans would be playing for 10 years. Live service game creators tend to serve up lofty promises prior to launch that they can’t keep. will need to set realistic expectations upfront to win players over.Ĭrucible multiplayer in Destiny 2 at launch. It’s entirely possible that it could succeed where many others have failed, but Warner Bros. is making it clear that it thinks there’s still some gas left in that tank. Following a few rocky years of releases like that, it seemed like game studios might change course and figure out more consistent ways to hook players instead of chasing a risky dream. ![]() Fallout 76 and Anthemsuffered similarly disappointing launches that turned a hopeful gamble into an uphill struggle to retain players. It isn’t just Avengers that’s fallen victim to the live service carrot either. By that point, the player base had fallen off significantly and the game failed to recoup its development costs. The game launched in September and didn’t get its first major update until December. It didn’t help that the game launched with several bugs, forcing the developers to kick their plans for free updates down the road. Marvel punches an enemy in Marvel's Avengers. Even during the game’s beta, fans were already wary of how light the endgame potential felt. And there wasn't enough variety to keep things fresh. There was plenty of gear to chase (and cosmetic items to buy), but few activities felt worth repeating over a long period of time. While buzz was positive for the game’s short story campaign, its long-term vision left many underwhelmed by repetitive gameplay. Square Enix’s attempt to capitalize on the success of Marvel’s universe of superheroes didn’t quite go as planned. They can just as easily be lead balloons that launch with a resounding thud. Games like that can be a slam dunk, giving studios the kind of sustained player engagement that they can only dream of. Unlike traditional titles that offer the bulk of their content upfront, live service games are built to have a longer lifespan by bringing frequent updates over the course of years. That means learning from one of 2020's biggest bombs: Marvel’s Avengers.įor the uninitiated, here’s a quick refresh on gaming’s live service model. is going to successfully enter the live service arena, it's going to need to take some lessons from some major games that failed at doing the same. ![]() ![]() That at least seems to be the case judging by a recent internship listing that went up on the company’s website, which emphasizes the interactive division has a “heavy focus on live service.” That means that games like Hogwarts Legacycould take a Destiny 2 approach to ongoing content that keeps people hooked over a long period of time with daily, weekly, and even seasonal tasks.
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