Summary
Once in a while, a trend will come along that will do something almost unheard of, uniting pretty much every gamer. Unfortunately, these trends tend to unite gamers against them. In recent years, that trend has been shoehorning live-service elements into games, even if it doesn’t seem to make any sense to do so. Of course, the most recent, and painful, example of this isSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.
In fact,Suicide Squad’sepic failure has some gamers hoping we might finally see the end of the live-service plague. Not likely. However much some might hate the term, the fact is that there are plenty ofgreat live-service gamesthat prove the model can work.We’ve picked some of the best examples across several different genres. Hopefully, developers (and the publishers who pull their strings) can learn from these examples to make games that use live service elements to enrich their gaming experiences, and not to make gamers feel like they’re being ripped off.
“Real” gamers might like to dunk onFortnite, but it’s not going anywhere. It may not have started the Battle Royale craze, but seven years after its release, it’s still one of the most played games around. Part of its success, and the thing that has made Epic Games very rich, is the developer’s clever use of live-service elements.
It all began with offering an addictive battle pass (another hated term) that got players hooked and kept them playing. Then the developers brought in chapters and seasons, some of which changed up the game in massive ways. Sometimes, Epic removed popular weapons, sometimes they made huge changes to the map. Whatever they did, it drew huge press attention and made sure gamers kept returning. More recently, Epic has usedFortniteto launch spin-offs — like a LEGO survival tie-in — and even hold live events. Not everyone loves whatFortnitehas done to the gaming landscape, but it remains one ofthe best Battle Royale games, and has avoided becoming stagnant.
No one was expectingHelldivers 2to blow up the way it did. A squad-based third-person shooter where players blow up giant bugs and angry robots might not seem very original, butHelldivers 2redefined the live-service model. Sure, there are battle passes (called Warbonds) and premium currency, but Arrowhead Game Studios made some important changes. The Warbonds aren’t time-gated, allowing fans to progress at their own pace and enjoy other games, and premium currency is earned in reasonable amounts via actually playing the game.
This approach means players never feel ripped off, because they can get things likethe best stratagemsjust by playing. The Warbonds feel like a natural part of the gameplay rather than a mechanic tacked on to milk gamers' wallets. The other thing the studio has done exceptionally well is community engagement.Helldivers 2has a Game Master (a dev named Joel) whose job it is to give the community tasks to complete, like killing a certain number of enemies or clearing a certain planet. If they manage to do so, the community as a whole is rewarded. If they fail, they get nothing. Live-service games live and die on the goodwill of their fans, and that’s something Arrowhead Studios clearly knows well.
Apex Legendsis proof that sometimes all the live-service model needs to survive is excellent gameplay and an original idea. Respawn took the Battle Royale formula ofFortniteandPUBG, added a hero class system inspired by games likeOverwatch,and sprinkled in their own FPS pedigree to create something special.
Most fans ofApex Legendsdon’t keep coming back for the battle pass rewards or other live-service trappings. They come back because they enjoy playing the game, and Respawn has done an excellent job of keeping the experience feeling fresh. Each season, new weapons and characters are brought in that veteran players can experiment with. They’ve also avoided alienating players by dodging the kind of tacky tie-ins thatCall of Dutyhas become infamous for and staying true to their original vision for the game.
Gamers hate the live-service model for lots of reasons, but one of the biggest is the way many of them constantly push us to spend our hard-earned money. There’s nothing worse than paying $60 or $70 for a game only to be bombarded with ads while playing it. The genius behindPath of Exile’smodel is that it offers ridiculous value for money. Not only is it 100% free-to-play, but the only things locked behind a (reasonable) paywall are cosmetics.
It’s also just a very good game. Heavily inspired byDiablo 2,Path of Exileis one ofthe best isometric RPGs aroundand never pushes players to engage with its live-service elements if they don’t want to. Over the past 11 years, it has received countless updates, seasonal events, and content drops that have kept old players hooked and brought in new ones. Basically, its developers have done everything right that Blizzard got wrong withDiablo 4.
For a long time, free-to-play live-service gacha games had a bad reputation for ripping off players. That began to change with the release ofGenshin Impact. YoYoverse gave us a triple-AZelda-like experience with tons of free content and seasonal updates. Sure, it still has gacha elements, but it’s possible to play through the main story without spending a dime.
It’s been so successful that it basically spawned a whole new genre, with games likeWuthering WavesandHonaki: Star Railfollowing in its footsteps. There are so many quality gacha games around now that it’s difficult to pickthe gacha games with the best combat, and that’s largely down toGenshin Impact. The game proves that if a live-service game is fun and has good gameplay, it doesn’t have to be heavily monetized to succeed.
Normally, if a game goes from paid to free-to-play, it’s a sign that something has gone horribly wrong. That’s not the case withRocket League, a game where gamers play soccer with cute little cars. Instead,Rocket Leaguestarted as a very popular paid game with a huge player base that was crying out for more content.
The solution was to transform it into a free-to-play game with live-service elements. This monetization strategy allowed the developers to keep releasing content drops, car packs, and things like a battle pass to reward loyal players who kept coming back for more. Some original fans may have been skeptical initially, but these days,Rocket Leaguehas some ofthe best seasonal eventsand is proof that it’s possible to transform a game into a live-service one without alienating an entire player base. Devs just need a good base game and then ensure they offer value for money.
Warframedoesn’t get everything right. Despite being over ten years old, it still has many of the same problems it did at release and features many of the things players hate about live-service games. Namely, it’s incredibly grindy, has a silly amount of currencies, and it seems like it’s constantly pushing the player to spend money. That being said, it also gets a lot right.
For a start, it’s a really cool game about space ninjas. Its movement mechanics are some of the best around, its gunplay is excellent, and there’s a ton of content to unlock. The game’s developers have kept adding huge updates like new locations, story missions, ships to fly, and warframes that have kept things interesting. It’s a highly addictive looter-shooter that shows gamers are willing to overlook some of the worst downsides of the live-service model if they’re having fun.
It feels a little strange to callDestiny 2a success. The first game was super popular, and there was a lot of hype around the sequel before it was released. After the game came out, most of that hype disappeared, and, for many fans,Destiny 2was a bit of a disappointment. It was such a disappointment that Bungie ended up making the game free-to-play, which is rarely a good sign.
However, that decision has turned out to be a success. Compared to live-service games likeFortnite,Destiny 2has a relatively small player base, but it’s a base that is very loyal and willing to spend money. Much ofDestiny 2’ssuccess relies on getting people to play the base game and then, once they’re hooked, charging them for the expansions. Despite the fact thatthe quality of Destiny 2’s expansions varies, Bungie’s loyal fans still seem happy to keep paying. Many studios would probably have given up on the game long ago, butDestiny 2shows that sometimes all you need is perseverance and fans with deep pockets to succeed.
Rockstar and Epic Games long ago came to the same conclusion. Children might not have a lot of money, but all the money they do have is disposable. Get them hooked, and it’s basically like printing money. Sure, adults play the game too, but let’s be honest, a lot of the $8 billion thatGrand Theft Auto 5has made has come straight out of the pockets of parents.
Rockstar has kept the game’s players hooked through constant content drops like vehicles, weapons, missions, and heists, all of which are completely free. The money comes from charging massive sums of in-game cash for things and then allowing players to purchase in-game currency. It’s a very old-school monetization method for a modern live-service game, but it works. Even massive problems with hackers and the fact that bugs from a decade ago still haven’t been fixed haven’t slowed downGTA Online’ssuccess. So, what’s the lesson studios can learn fromGTA Online? That it rarely matters how much some gamers complain about something like live-service games, because someone else is often willing to pay.
