- Game Developers conducted a survey where the majority of developers were concerned about this genre’s sustainability.
- The two major reasons for the concerns were players losing interest and market competition.
- Developers also expressed concern about monetization practices.
Live-service gaming is just as popular as single-player gaming today. For investors and publishers, the former is more lucrative, motivating the likes of Warner Bros, EA, and PlayStation to pursue the model.
However, it is no surprise that breaking into live-service is difficult today. According to a new survey, a large number of developers are also concerned about the sustainability of this genre.
Why it matters: Players are comfortable with the already existing live service games, so developers struggle to attract audiences for new projects.
A survey conducted by GDC asked 600 developers about different aspects of the genre, including business models and monetization.
In this survey, it was found that 39% of the developers were concerned about sustainability, while 31% were very concerned. In total, only 30% of the developers did not have any concerns about live service.
The survey suggests that two big reasons behind their perspective include gamers losing interest and the competition. This makes it increasingly challenging to keep a live-service game going after initial success.
A game like Palworld, while not primarily live service, serves as a great example. Despite its record-breaking start, it has lost most of the initial audience that tagged along after the buzz.
While teams behind games like Hogwarts Legacy and Days Gone may pivot to live service, they could find it difficult to stand out.
Therefore, survival in the market would require innovations from the developers’ end. Perhaps new ways to keep gamers engaged or pocket-friendly monetization could be potential solutions.
A game like Helldivers 2 is a great example in this regard, highlighting that a basic approach is often the best one. However, developers are right to worry since failures like Suicide Squad show how one misstep can be the end of all live-service ambitions.
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