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[Guilty_AI]

Griffin Gaming Partners and Rendered VC Release The 2023 Game Development Report

Griffin Gaming Partners, one of the world’s largest venture capital firms focused on the global gaming market, has partnered with Rendered VC, a speci

www.businesswire.com

>65% of studios actively work on and 30% plan to release regular update cadences for their games, highlighting the industry's shift towards a live service era.

So yeah, the study is treating the release of regular updates as "live service". Btw, another interesting key point that adds up on why live service isn't sustainable

>68% of producers believe their production pipelines are not suitable for live services, and 53% of large studios expect to struggle with managing technical debt

Maintaning a game isn't free, not to mention the risk of sales running dry is very real.

 

[Hudo]

I don't think that is relevant to the quote though. There is an extreme conservatism in online gaming communities where people generally only want slightly better versions of games they love. The history of gaming is filled with creative leaps that do wonders.

That's all the quote was addressing.


Josh Sawyer has lost relevance in the industry over the last 20+ years. His non competitive games are now buoyed by a giant mommy corporation. He knows, whether subconsciously or not, that Live Service games and the public, have passed him by. Resentment, in Tweet form.

There is no meaningful innovation to be had in GAAS. Because the problems are not the games themselves but the GAAS business model and its impact on game design itself. Unless you re-design GAAS in a way that's not aimed at extracting the maximum amount of money from people, no matter what type of game you utilize for GAAS, it will always be negatively affected. And the business people love GAAS because it is so consumer hostile.

Good, fun and player-respecting (in terms of time investment) game design is the antithesis to what GAAS is about. I dunno if there is a far less aggressive business model that is far more profitable.

 

[StueyDuck]

The tech industry loves it some jargon, some acronyms and to be seemingly cutting edge.

Like most things, GaaS is a thing that had existed for years already which came from SaaS which in of itself was already something that had existed for years already and then some arsehole creates a buzzword and now it's industry standard.

It's honestly the thing I hate most about being in development.

My overall point is that everyone's fear and hate is most likely overblown. Most games are GaaS/SaaS we regularly get updates now and fixes. Many sp games get dlc or expansion updates, sometimes free sometimes paid. The point is that it being sold as a product that will continue to be supported.

Hearing live service to me doesn't instantly mean fortnite, and if it does then those developers don't understand the terminology they are using.

Live does say to me we are talking multiplayer titles, but technically WoW is a live service, I bet none of you hated it during the burning crusade days. Dota 2,CS, LoL are all live service games

The dirty words should he microtransactions and battle passes, cosmetics etc. But something being a live service or a GaaS shouldn't really be conceived as the worst thing on earth. For those who played GoW:R Valhalla were you seething because they supported the game

 

[Guilty_AI]

There is no meaningful innovation to be had in GAAS. Because the problems are not the games themselves but the GAAS business model and its impact on game design itself. Unless you re-design GAAS in a way that's not aimed at extracting the maximum amount of money from people, no matter what type of game you utilize for GAAS, it will always be negatively affected. And the business people love GAAS because it is so consumer hostile.

Good, fun and player-respecting (in terms of time investment) game design is the antithesis to what GAAS is about. I dunno if there is a far less aggressive business model that is far more profitable.

Just a heads up. It is very much pointless discuss GAAS with Men_in_Boxes because he recently decided to call any game that does updates/new content GAAS now.

Games that would be GAAS under his definition:
Baldurs Gate 3
Elden Ring
Palworld
Lethal Company
Monster Hunter
Ultrakill
Grim Dawn
Factorio
Stardew Valley
Terraria
etc.

You get the idea.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

There is no meaningful innovation to be had in GAAS. Because the problems are not the games themselves but the GAAS business model and its impact on game design itself.

The GAAS model allows developers to make bigger, more ambitious games. It's the superior model if you want gaming to advance.

Unless you re-design GAAS in a way that's not aimed at extracting the maximum amount of money from people, no matter what type of game you utilize for GAAS, it will always be negatively affected. And the business people love GAAS because it is so consumer hostile.

Or do gamers prefer GAAS because it's so gamer friendly?

Allowing gamers to play the full experience for free, and only selling cosmetics to them if they want, is the most pro consumer model in existence. The only thing it's hostile to is the old model.

 

[K2D]

Just a heads up. It is very much pointless discuss GAAS with Men_in_Boxes because he recently decided to call any game that does updates/new content GAAS now.

Games that would be GAAS under his definition:
Baldurs Gate 3
Elden Ring
Palworld
Lethal Company
Monster Hunter
Ultrakill
Grim Dawn
Factorio
Stardew Valley
Terraria
etc.

You get the idea.

My only criteria for live service/GaaS is that progress is tied to an online server. Instant pass for me in this case.

Men_in_Boxes is mudding the waters in that case.

Edit: Call me a hypocrite, but I do play GT7.. Would prefer if it was not live service though.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Makes you think a little... what does GaaS even mean anymore?

 

[Lunarorbit]

I 100% don't believe this article at all. There's no way 95% of studios are developing gaas. This was a survey and they don't provide any details or give sample questions. Click bait bullshit