Video game as a service

The format of the pc games has been changed. Like the field of media, it includes a variety of game portals. Therefore, huge forums and thousand articles are written on the change of sites-mastodons by the video-blogs and streamers.

Variant of work keeps coming; the old one did but doesn’t work now. The viewer wants not only a quality support and the relevance, but also the personal relations. At the same time players are ready to pay for it, including the direct payments to the authors alike them.

Dinosaurs die out

Computer games increasingly require a continuous support throughout their extended life cycle. It's not just about the technical patches that are designed to fix technical problems. Instead, today a video game needs to be self-supported by content(?) that constantly develops even if it has no connection to multiplayer.

Yes, there are still options when the game is released according to the old scheme, but in this case there is no pure correspondence. Even the sensational Witcher 3: Wild Hunt from the famous CD Projekt RED has two paid content expansions (the initial cost of 2 expansions was near to the cost of game). The years passed since the release date, the game has been significantly improved in technical terms.

Next, the CD Projekt RED developed a successful idea of card game in the form of Gwent, an attempt to squeeze the legendary Hearthstone. A unique series of Dark Souls games from Japanese developers can also be attributed to this category of projects. But these examples are the result of the inertia of typical thinking of any industry. In the case of From Software games, it also makes sense to note the successful conquest of the PC platform, although the franchise itself began with From PS3 (Demon Souls).

Causes

As in any sufficiently rapid and powerful process of change, talking about a sole reason to cause these changes is not wise, since the complex process often involves a multiply of independent reasons. It is obvious that the old-time gamers had also advanced their consumption power. They are not longer the schoolboys or students who cannot actually manage the money on their own.

Yesterday gamer grew up and began to make money, and he is willing to spend money not only on games, but also on hardware and relevant merchandise. For example, the purchase of a gaming laptop for two thousand dollars can hardly be called an optimal acquisition in most cases, but sales of this class of devices are steadily growing year by year. However, this process is somewhat delayed in Russia, due to a number of economic factors and the late widespread use of personal computers.

In parallel, there is a reduction in piracy of computer games. Players agree to pay not just for a good product, but even more for a good idea. True, not all projects for which funds were collected through collective financing systems, eventually justified the expectations of players.

Comprehensive approach: AAA projects and indie too

Separately, it is worthy to note the complex approach, when even small games from independent developers acquire some features of the franchise. New projects of the same series are produced or within the game universe, already having an audience of those who are ready to support the further development financially. It was the increased opportunities of the gaming community that gave him a lot of computer masterpieces using crowdfunding (Pillars of Eternity, Divinity Original Sin 1 and 2, Darkest Dungeon and many other games).

As the main advantage of indie games, I'll call the small amount of money to run the project. With a successful development of events, the gaming community will continue to fund the development of the game. Increasingly, games go to early access (Divinity Original Sin 2, Battle Brothers, PUBG), receiving funding from the beta stage already. Yes, this creates a fertile ground for abuse too, because of early access, many projects turn out not meeting the expectations of players, giving them only a phantom hope and empty promises.

DLC

It all began with paid DLC, which were actually part of the original game, but were deliberately allocated to a separate product, spreading for a fee. So in some cases for successful games, such as the strategic games from Paradox or the games of the Total War series, the gaming community on the DLC stack looks friendly or at least neutral, you do not need to go too far. An example with Civilization 6 is the most recent confirmation when the sale of DLC is perceived with sharp criticism.

Further experiment with monetization in the form of loot boxes even for a single component of the gameplay (Star Wars: Battlefront 2) caused a storm of criticism, so it's too early to implement this system in current format. But after all paid DLC initially the game community did not meet with open arms, just need to see the face when the player agrees to pay, and when he/she feels cheated.

But in general, the paid DLC with a new approach to the development and the distribution of games allow the venders to diversify the game process, reduce the development costs, reduce the risks of developing computer games, and significantly extend the life-time of successful projects, the same among the large AAA projects, and among small games from independent developers.

A multi platform, when the games are released immediately on all popular platforms (PC, PS4, XBOX, Nintendo), becomes a de facto format. In addition, it is increasingly expanding, especially in Asian countries, the direction of the merchandise when players buy things related to the beloved universe: from trite t-shirts to costly figures of favorite characters.

VR

If the augmented reality in the presence of already ready infrastructure and in the form of a large number of modern smart phones prospecting for commercialization comes today, the virtual reality is still living in the promises of a bright future that never comes (14 millions VR devices are sold out in 2017).

The need to purchase expensive equipment is hindered by a narrow sales market (which is unpopular for game developers) and technical problems ranging from the frank weakness of the virtual reality glasses themselves to the increased requirements for the hardware. In addition, some players are frankly rocking in newfangled devices, and the heap of wires and the difficulty of connecting and adjusting do not please anyone.

As a result, the entire virtual reality sector is considered promising, but these prospects are not realized in the first generation of devices. Slightly better positions are only in the PlayStation VR, due to a single unity game space, attractive price and relative ease of connection (more than 70 millions consoles was sold out).

The most powerful reptiles evolve into birds

However, there are not so many good ideas that have found a talented implementation in any creative work, and computer games are no exception. So, not everything can be launched in the form of a long-lived project where players will happily spend their money for several years. The point of profitability can quickly be above the sales curve. It is not surprising in this case that the mastodons of past years are successfully transferred to new rails.

Good computer games that have not lost their popularity in the past years, and even decades (StarCraft Remastered, for example) a little were put in order and transferred to service mode too. Moreover, it is not so difficult to do this, at least in the format of additional DLC. Here you can safely refer to Total War: Rome 2, the recent DLC and a price increase for the Emperor Edition is a good confirmation of this tendency.

One of the best RPG Skyrim easily moved into the Special Edition, having mastered new gaming platforms, and decided to make a profitable generator out of the popular system of game modifications. Fallout 4 tested the VR direction for the future expanding process. Also one of the common sides of all strong games of past years is good community support. Community has tools to create their own modification to the games, which prolong time of live the projects.

Conclusion

However, diversity, among other things, leads to the aggravation of competition when various companies intend to attract the attention of players, and hence the financing is more difficult. On the other hand, a new approach to further development leads to the fact that the initial costs for the game project are reduced and its life-span increases, which ultimately leads to a significant reduction in risks.

Today, developers and publishers, regardless of the project budget, understand the importance of working with the community, that is why they try to influence not only large game magazines and websites, but also actively collaborate with bloggers and streamers, sponsoring them or buying advertisements, and create comfortable environment for players. In the same way, producers who are oriented towards gamers are beginning to go. That is not surprising, because against the fact of the falling 12 quarters in a row of the PC market, some segments of expensive gaming PCs and laptops are growing steadily.

Well, do not forget about the theory of black and white swans, when the original combination of ordinary ideas and completely mediocre realization leads to a huge, stunning success. PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS today does not scold only the lazy. The Reviews on Steam do not exceed 50% approval, but the game beats all conceivable and unthinkable records, both in terms of sales and online (more than 13 millions sold, more than 2 millions online in peak).

Author: Evgenii Golygin
Editor: Grace Lin
Date: 16 December 2018, Sunday