With all the commotion going on at Bungie, the studio has been somewhat in disarray, with the Destiny maker’s future plans being influx. That said, according to a new report, the team’s upcoming extraction shooter Marathon might be a premium-priced game – costing the same as the ill-fated Concord. In …
Read More »‘Internal chatter’ surrounding Fairgame$ reportedly “very positive”
Following the announcement that the live-service PlayStation Studios title ‘Concord’ is being removed from stores due to its immediate financial failure, many have wondered what this means for PlayStation’s other previously-announced live-service games. According to one industry insider, the Haven Studios-developed PvP heist shooter Fairgame$ has had “very positive” internal …
Read More »Concord reveals launch details and post-release roadmap
Concord is the next major gamble from PlayStation Studios. Set to arrive later this month, the multiplayer-focused live service hero shooter has not had the warmest of receptions during its beta period. That said, the team at Firewalk Studios appear to be committed for the long term – announcing their …
Read More »Warframe boss explains why other live-services fail
While the adoption of live service as a model for gaming only began to gain heavy traction a few years ago, there have for over a decade been plenty of examples of fruitful live-service experiences. One such success story is Digital Extremes’ Warframe. More than 11 years on from the …
Read More »UK government officially responds to ‘Stop Killing Games’ petition
The UK government has officially responded to a popular petition that has been doing the rounds recently. After Ubisoft shut down The Crew and actively removed the game from customer’s digital libraries, the Stop Killing Games campaign kicked off, asking the government to prevent games companies from making their games …
Read More »Making Suicide Squad a live-service game was Rocksteady’s idea, not WB
One of the biggest financial flops of the year so far has been Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. Developed by Rocksteady, the game was criticised for its live-service elements – costing publisher Warner Bros. over $200 million in losses so far. Interestingly, unlike most live-service flops, the idea to …
Read More »Days Gone studio appears to be working on a live service multiplayer game
Sony has been working on a number of ‘live service' projects at its studios for a while now. Some of these have been cancelled, like Naughty Dog's TLOU Factions 2, or Insomniac's promising-looking Spider-Man: The Great Web. Others have lived on, like the upcoming Horizon Zero Dawn multiplayer game. It …
Read More »Exoprimal’s 4th Season includes Mega Man crossover
Exoprimal is one of Capcom’s weirder franchises, with the dino mech shooter offering a fast-paced co-op environment in which players must work together to take down an onslaught of highly aggressive dinosaurs. Since its release back in July last year, the game has had multiple crossovers with various Capcom franchises …
Read More »WB wants its gaming business to be ‘always on’ as it steps into the live service market
Warner Bros has already made its intentions for future game projects pretty clear, with plans to lean heavily into the live service model for future projects. The company is reiterating those plans now, with ideas of pushing more “always on” games using franchises like DC and Game of Thrones. In …
Read More »Naughty Dog officially scraps plans for The Last of Us multiplayer game
Since the release of The Last of Us Part II, Naughty Dog has been working away on an expanded multiplayer game to follow up on The Last of Us: Factions. Unfortunately, after several years of development, the studio has now decided to pull the plug. In a statement published last …
Read More »Job listings hint at live-service gameplay for Monolith’s Wonder Woman game
Warner Bros. leadership made it clear recently that it wants to transform its games division into a live-service powerhouse, stepping away from the single-player action titles like the Batman: Arkham series or even the more recent Middle-Earth games. This will all kick off with Rocksteady's Suicide Squad game next year …
Read More »Sony has delayed half of its upcoming live-service games
We've heard a lot about Sony's plans to make a big push into live-service games, seeking larger, recurring revenues than their single-player hits can provide. Originally, Sony had planned to ship around 12 live-service games by 2026 but that number has now been cut in half. During Sony's latest earnings …
Read More »Sony may scale back its live service game development efforts
In recent years, Sony has been ramping up its development of ‘live service' games, in hopes of generating more recurring revenue through multiplayer hits, rather than consistently relying on single-player blockbusters. Sony reportedly has as many as ten live service games in development right now, but sources now claim that …
Read More »Rocksteady’s Suicide Squad delayed to 2024
Shortly after the poorly received gameplay reveal for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, we heard rumours that the game was due to be delayed. Now, just six weeks ahead of the game's planned release date, Rocksteady has officially confirmed that the game has been pushed back. While it was …
Read More »KitGuru Games: Rocksteady is making a huge mistake with Suicide Squad
While Destiny managed to find success and usher in the age of 'live service' games, many other publishers have tried and failed to replicate that formula. While it seemed that Marvel's Avengers might have had a good shot, content exclusivity controversies, a lacking end-game and an empty post-launch roadmap meant that the game never found its feet. Now, I fear that Rocksteady is heading in the same direction with Suicide Squad.
Read More »Epic Games’ Rumbleverse reportedly shutting down after just 6 months
The overwhelming success of Fortnite saw developers and publishers far and wide rush to create their own live service experiences – hoping to carve out their own slice of the pie, Unfortunately, live services are hard to maintain, especially in a saturated market – and so even big-business-backed battle royales …
Read More »Xbox Games Studios boss addresses Halo Infinite’s live-service failings
Halo Infinite has had an interesting yet unfortunate life so far. After a year’s delay, the game launched to mostly positive reviews, with both campaign and multiplayer fans alike enjoying Infinite’s combat, mechanics, and launch content. Unfortunately, the team has somewhat dropped the ball since, with a decided lack of …
Read More »Less than a year after launch, Square Enix is shutting down Final Fantasy 7: The First Soldier
After less than a year on the market, Square Enix has announced plans to shut down Final Fantasy 7: The First Soldier. The live service mobile game attempt will go offline in early January. In a notice posted this morning, Square Enix announced that Final Fantasy 7: The First Soldier …
Read More »Babylon’s Fall is shutting down after failing to bounce back from rough launch
While Babylon's Fall was supposed to represent PlatinumGames' big step towards a ‘live service' future, the game ultimately fell flat at launch. The team had originally planned for multiple years of content updates, but due to dwindling sales, the game is shutting down less than one year after release. Babylon's …
Read More »Marvel’s Avengers is dropping all roadmaps
Square Enix has struggled to maintain an active playerbase for their costly and long-developed live service title ‘Marvel’s Avengers’. In the wake of the announcement that Jane Foster is the next Avenger coming to the game, it was revealed that development on future content for the game is being scaled …
Read More »PlatinumGames hints at future live service games
PlatinumGames has talked about branching out into live service games for a while now, starting with Babylon's Fall, an MMO set to be published by Square Enix. Moving forward, we could see Platinum placing a greater focus on games as a service, as well as larger/riskier games. During a new …
Read More »Sony plans to launch 10 ‘Live Service’ games by 2026
PlayStation has typically been known for being the home of single-player story-focused third person games. While this continues to be the case, the recent Bungie acquisition indicates their move towards live service titles. They have now doubled down on this, wanting to release almost a dozen such titles within the …
Read More »Ubisoft building live service ‘Assassin’s Creed Infinity’
Assassin's Creed was reinvented a few years back with Assassin's Creed Origins, kicking off a new RPG era for the series. As it turns out, Ubisoft is already working on the next major change to the franchise, known as Assassin's Creed Infinity. According to sources familiar with the matter speaking …
Read More »Gotham Knights producer says the game won’t be a ‘live service’
There have been plenty of rumours around WB Montreal's Gotham Knights, some dating back to well over a year ago. What most of these leaks had in common is that Gotham Knights would be a co-op game with live-service elements. As it turns out though, only half of that is …
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