A reader suggests that gamers are at fault for the emphasis on live service games and for favoring Helldivers 2 over Final Fantasy.
If you ask any ‘dedicated’ gamer about live service games they’re likely to sneer in disgust and say they’re the anti-Christ of gaming, whether they secretly play Fortnite and Call Of Duty: Warzone or not. But, I’m afraid we have to face the fact that we’re on the losing side of history here. Live service titles and mobile apps might not be ‘proper’ games but they’re vastly more popular than console games.
Microsoft and Sony must always have known this, so I’m not sure why they’re only suddenly now acting on the fact but, like Shawn Layden said earlier in the week, you’re never going to grow the games business by making the same old thing, not even GTA and Call Of Duty.
From a business perspective all this makes sense but it’s not the sort of thing most veteran gamers want. We want the sort of games that dominated last generation, especially from Sony, and we don’t understand why publishers have turned against them. Especially not so suddenly.
The issue is that the message publishers are getting is that they’re right. Mobile really does make tons of money and live service games do work. Helldivers 2 has done amazing despite being little more than ‘quite good’, Sea Of Thieves is the most pre-ordered PlayStation 5 title of the moment despite being five years old and barely a game, and Palworld is straight up garbage.
And on the flipside, we have Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, a fantastic single-player adventure that is a dream come true for fans of the original and exactly the sort of big budget, cinematic adventure that dedicated gamers say they want more of. So why is it selling so bad?
It is the second part of trilogy, which usually do the worst in games and films (maybe you didn’t like the original, maybe you haven’t seen it – either way you might skip it at first) but even so. If people are so desperate for blockbuster single-player games then they sure aren’t showing it.
Times are tough, obviously, and it’s not like I’m made of money either. It’s also not like there’s been a ton of new games out lately that people’s wallets are empty because of that, they just weren’t bothered enough to buy it.
And yet at the same time, how much was spent on microtransactions in live service games, even as people comforted themselves that they were saving money on not buying a full price game? How much on cosmetics in Fortnite? How much on another pack of EA Sports FC Ultimate Team packs? It all adds up incredibly quickly. Which is, of course, why publishers love it so much.
The message this is going to send to Square Enix is that it’s not worth the time and money making a big budget, critically acclaimed AAA console game when they can easily make more money on a zero effort gacha game. And from a business perspective can you blame them?
This isn’t just about Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, it’s about the idea that publishers are being ‘dumb’ or unreasonable when all they’re doing is following the money. Live service and mobile is cheaper to make, more profitable, and more people are playing them, so why wouldn’t they concentrate on that?
Blaming publishers for choices you disagree with is easy, but the truth is they make decisions based on economics, not to manipulate you, but to adapt to influence. by The clear message they receive is to continue with their current approach and prioritize multiplayer games over single-player ones.
By reader Casper
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