There was a time when the purchase of a video game was a simple transaction. $60 and it was yours. However, more and more AAA companies making the shift to a “games as a service” business model.
This shift means that more of the companies many gamers know and love are going to be vying for more of your time with a single game, through constant updates and DLC designed to keep people playing for longer periods of time. This is not a new concept, World of Warcraft, one of the most expansive and popular MMORPG’s ever made has thrived off a subscription service for years, constantly releasing expansions, DLC and changes to the game which keep gamers coming back. However perhaps one of the most critical examples of the industry shift in recent years is the success of Ubisoft’s Rainbow 6: Siege. The modern, competitive multiplayer shooter has a relatively simple premise. Two teams of operators fight for control over an objective, the winner is the team which gains control of said objective or eliminates all enemy operators. Ubisoft released the game in 2015, at that time the game had 10 maps and 21 operators available to players, now, through the constant updates that were made available to players with the season pass, which cost $29.99 per year, the game boasts more than 40 operators and 18 different maps.
The constant updates and changes to the meta of the game have led to a significant increase in player base since launch, and the overall success of the game long term marked a significant change in attitude and direction from Ubisoft and many others.
“We are transforming our games from standalone offline products into service-based platforms where we can continually interact with and entertain our players,” said Yvess Guillmont, CEO of Ubisoft, during a financial call in May.
Games such as Rockstar’s GTA V and Blizzard’s Overwatch are other extremely successful games which provide players reasons to spend year in and year out, so it’s clear that the big developers aren’t shying away from encouraging people to spend more on digital content after they’ve purchased the game, in exchange for constant updates and long-term support.
So what does that mean for gamers?
Well, for those who want some longevity out of their games, and are okay with spending a little extra on the same game, instead of forking over $60 just to complete a game only to put it on the shelf. Because for those people, this business model certainly increases replay ability and longevity within games.
For those less concerned about this, it could mean seeing more microtransactions and season passes in big titles, and it’s not just multiplayer games that are being affected. Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, Ubisoft’s latest entry into the Assassin’s Creed Franchise, a franchise that has been almost completely single player focus, came under some fire from certain players who claim that the games difficulty seems to ramp up to encourage the purchase of Helix Credits the games digital currency.
“we did not ask to have microtransactions in odyssey, we did not ask to have items such as armors, weapons, horses, ship skins, ship statues, boosters and drachmae boosts locked behind a paywall. Microtransactions should not have to be in singleplayer games, ESPECIALLY rpgs.” Wrote reddit user zaherking in a thread on the Assassin’s Creed subreddit.
Even in September of 2017 Middle Earth: Shadow of War faced so much backlash from the implementation of microtransactions that they eventually removed them from the game completely.
So where does all this mean? Should gamers be excited or nervous about the growing popularity of games as a service? It’s clear that the jury is still out on this. Different games have shown different levels of success and competence when it comes to implementing and maintaining long term-success. When done well, it means games with immense replay ability, that in some cases do give you good value for money. When done poorly, it can mean pushy microtransactions that seem to illustrate to players how big companies value money over the product.
At the end of the day does this push towards games as a service benefit the gamer? It can. When enough care and effort has been put in by the developer, people will pay for it. And in business, if people pay for it, companies will keep producing it. So like it or hate it, games as a service, is here to stay.