Warner Bros. There will be an emphasis on a live service model for its future games. During its latest Q3 earnings call, the CEO david zaslav Confirmed that the company is planning to turn its biggest video game franchises into long-term products on the strength of regular content drops and heavy monetization. In recent years, gamers have developed a distaste for such money-hungry practices, often locking content behind some type of paywall or battle pass rather than providing the full game at launch. The idea is to keep players playing WB-published games for months, rather than having AAA developers introduce a new game every three to four years – which is the usual cycle.
“Ultimately we want to drive engagement and monetization over longer cycles and at higher levels,” Zaslav said. during call, “We are currently looking to scale and see significant opportunities to generate more revenue following the purchase.” Given the reaction this is a sarcastic statement Rocksteady Studio when it was received started Gameplay Trailer for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice LeagueAfter which the game was delayed. while the studio Claimed It needs more time to ensure polish at launch, many reports It was suggested that it be moved to next year due to the inclusion of live-service elements. The developer was known for creating standalone, single-player batman experience through its Arkham series of games, but its latest title has undergone a complete overhaul, featuring heavy grinding for purchasable cosmetic items as well as loot and gear.
What’s worse is that while its entire lead cast suicide squad game – Captain Boomerang, Deadshot, Harley Quinn and King Shark – have unique abilities, by default, they are all equipped with firearms and appear to play similarly. The gameplay loop involves repeatedly hunting mobs and bosses while taking a typical looter-shooter approach. In fact, Turtle Rock Studios’ 4 blood behind also always followed the online games-as-a-service pattern but eventually ran out of content. gotham knights It was always marketed as a single-player/co-op story game, but take a look at its menus and run around town beating up thugs, and you’ll immediately realize that progression was originally laid out for The foundation laid was for a live-service game. It sounds like a developer wb games montreal Look how bad Square Enix is the avenger The game was not going well and decided to change the plan midway. And let’s not forget Middle-earth: Shadow of WarWhose microtransactions were completely removed following player feedback.
All of the above games were published by Warner Bros. and as such, should serve as a cautionary tale. However, CEO Zaslav is doubling down on these practices, despite how good it is Hogwarts Legacy Performance from a sales and critical perspective – 700 million collective hours played to date. During this, mortal kombat 1, which included some aggressive microtransactions, sold 3 million copies. It appears that the executive is relying on these success stories to chart a new course for its video game division rather than looking at the failures and understanding why it failed. Developers who make single-player games are not the same as developers who specialize in multiplayer/live-service experiences, and vice versa.
earlier this year, West Bengal Launched the beta version of multiversusA free-to-play crossover fighting game that brings together characters from various self-owned properties game of Thrones, batman, Superman, even more. It also included a Battle Pass for cosmetic items. The game’s servers were shut down in June due to declining player numbers. It is planned to launch in 2024, but we will have to wait and see if that materializes.