The stay-service gaming industry finds itself navigating a challenging period of transformation. Although the industry devours tens of millions of volunteer hours annually, the arrival of lucrative new projects is rare and far between, while the pace of project closures continues to accelerate. As the gaming landscape continues to shift, franchises like Future and Overwatch have opted for free-to-play models in an attempt to sustain player engagement, while premium live-service games – those with upfront costs and subsequent monetization strategies – appear to be fading from the scene.
In 2024, a pair of striking, prominent instances of premium dwell service failure came to light. Sony’s ambitious project ultimately failed to resonate with gamers, resulting in its premature shutdown just a few weeks into operation, despite the significant investment made by the company. Meanwhile, Rocksteady’s misstep led to a staggering $200 million loss for Warner Bros. Video games. Although Sony had success with live-service games in the past, it appears that the company’s executives were taken aback by the unexpected popularity of.
Blizzard’s 2023 launch has been a resounding success, boasting massive gross sales, a remarkable surge in growth projected for 2024, and garnering enthusiastic viewer engagement. What obstacles did it encounter during its growth? Rod Fergusson, renowned producer of Gears of War and now overseer of the Diablo franchise, attributes his move to Blizzard’s decision not to develop a live-service game. Rather than simply recreating Diablo, the studio ought to have committed to developing a live-service action RPG like Diablo demands.
A core aspect of an action RPG (ARPG) lies in its dwelling experience. What are your plans for addressing this issue?
— Rod Fergusson
Fergusson cautioned that he was returning to his original style in a November interview with game feeds. Throughout history, certain discussions have repeatedly emerged. Should we roll credits and call it? The inherent nature of action RPGs has led many players to mistakenly assume they’re forced to continually engage with these games, even when they no longer enjoy the experience. What action do you take about it?
For Ferguson, dwell service offers an opportunity to continually refine and rebuild a game’s economy, as long as players’ desire for continued engagement naturally flows from the game’s design. To me, while you’re akin to Diablo, people will initially be drawn in by your marketing campaign, only to realize that you’re actually a game of depth, requiring hundreds or even thousands of hours to fully appreciate. To sustain a thriving development ecosystem, creators require the capacity to reimagine and revitalize their imagination, repeatedly exploring and refining innovative ideas. This propensity fosters an environment where developers can consistently introduce fresh concepts, keeping the overall project vibrant and relevant. Fergusson noted that it was just one of several pleasant aspects in the situation. As a professional editor, I would improve the text in a different style as follows:
“It’s not just another place where we’re saying, ‘We’re right on target.’ We’ll have the capability to elevate Helltide.” “We’re poised to conquer the Pit, empowered to take on the Gauntlet.”
Don’t force perfection; sometimes less is more. Gamers reacted swiftly to the game’s preview, observing that its multiplayer component seemed incongruous with a live-service format; it failed to organically flow from the game’s narrative or aesthetic, leaving players perplexed. Despite belonging to an applicable genre – that of a hero shooter – the game seemed to be crafted primarily to satisfy a writer’s requirement for a live-service title, rather than responding to players’ desires for an alternative to Overwatch? The concept of a new sport didn’t emerge initially.
In contrast, Blizzard was motivated by gamers’ enthusiasm for a fresh Diablo installment, driving their desire to spend hundreds of hours playing the game. The quote, then, is a clever play on the famous words “If you build it, they will come,” which were famously uttered in the movie Field of Dreams. The revised version is: They’ll come so that you’d better build it.
