The Evolution of Gaming: How Games as a Service Changed the Industry

“Gaming isn’t the same as it used to be.” That’s what gamers the world over have been saying over the last two console generations. The sixth and seventh console generations brought with them major shakeups to the way that games were not only released, but also the way they were developed with the creation of Games as a Service or Live Service gaming.

Before the release of the sixth generation consoles (Wii, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360), gaming consoles didn’t have built-in internet capability. So there was no way for developers to fix issues with games that had been released.

If a game launched with bugs or glitches, those bugs or glitches were most likely there forever, unless the developer decided to reissue copies of the game with fixes implemented. But that was unlikely because of the cost of printing and shipping new game discs.

That changed forever with the sixth generation of consoles. Internet connectivity allowed for developers to create bug fixes and patches and release them for their games so that games could be patched, updated, and have new content added as well as have underlying issues with the game fixed. Overtime developers and publishers started looking for new ways to monetize this internet connectivity and Games as a Service (GaaS) and live service games started to be put on the market.

What is Games as a Service (GaaS)?

Games as a Service is a revenue model where the game that’s being purchased is being treated as something that’s to be consistently monetized instead of a one-off purchase.  A good example of this is Grand Theft Auto 5 Online, which is consistently updated with new content, new missions, and new things to do, to keep players interested and invested in the game.

This consistent update of content leads to more revenue because that content is often locked behind paywalls, and the only way to access it is to continue to pay money, whether that be in the form of a monthly subscription fee, or some other charge. Many gamers have been in staunch opposition to this, but GaaS games continue to be extremely popular and seem to only rise in popularity with games like Genshin Impact and its Gacha system hooking millions of players.

Early Adoption:

The build up to the Games as a Service business model started with the MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role playing game) genre. Back in the early 2000s, games like Final Fantasy XI, Everquest, and World of Warcraft dominated screen time, and in order to get access to them, you had to pay a monthly subscription fee.

Gamers were initially hesitant to pay monthly to play a game when other games would have you pay one time and you’d never have to pay for them again. But the developers of MMOs created large, expansive worlds that were consistently updated with new content, which meant that players would almost never run out of things to do. And more than that, the social aspect of being able to play with your friends in instanced content like raids and dungeons was too tempting for most people to pass up. It also made gamers feel good to maintain a regular subscription because it was understood that subscription fees helped to fund the studios responsible for making the games that gamers loved.

The Evolution of the Games as a Service Model:

Over time, the concept of charging subscription fees morphed into something more. Instead of just paying once a month for a subscription to World of Warcraft, microtransactions and DLC ( downloadable content ) packs started being added to the game.

Microtransactions are typically purchases made for items in video games such as new outfits or weapons for your character. DLC packs add things like new maps in Call of Duty, or new story expansions in The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim. Once developers and publishers started to see how profitable these things were, they started to become more, and more prevalent. A great example of this is Fortnite.

Fortnite released in 2017 and has consistently added new content to the game to keep players engaged, like new weapons, outfits and game modes. But it hasn’t stopped there! Fortnite has become so popular that the game hosts events for its player base like the Travis Scott concert that are enjoyed by millions of people worldwide. So now it’s considered standard practice for games to have some kind of a live service element where content is constantly added and updated to keep things interesting and fresh for the player base.

The Dark Side of Microtransactions

For all the things that games as a service titles have done well, they often end up making plenty of mistakes at the same time. Games like Destiny 2 and its recently released expansion Lightfall, and the soon to be released Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League often end up criticized because of their live service elements.

Destiny 2 has a seasonal content model, and an expansion content model. Meaning that Destiny 2 gets a yearly expansion that adds a large amount of content to the game, but it also has seasonal content. This seasonal content lasts for about 3 months, and adds cosmetic items such as clothing and armor pieces, emblems, emotes, and special weapons that cannot be acquired if you don’t own the season pass. Many gamers find it predatory to have to continually pay for new content. Destiny’s seasons are $10 each, and its expansions vary in price between $40 or more depending on whether you buy the regular edition, or the deluxe edition that has special items that can’t be acquired elsewhere.

And if you don’t pay for that seasonal content, you don’t get to access it, you don’t get to play with those weapons, and you don’t get to experience the seasonal narrative that Destiny is known for delivering. This has come to a head with the Destiny community recently after the release of Lightfall because many questions were raised in the Lightfall campaign that weren’t answered. The lack of payoff when it comes to the story greatly upset Destiny players, who took to social media to complain about the lack of direction of the story. Which prompted Destiny’s developer, Bungie to make a statement announcing that the questions gamers had would be answered later in the year in Destiny’s seasonal content, which upset gamers even more. Because gamers feel that they shouldn’t have to continue to pay money season after season to answer questions that should have been answered in the content that they already paid for.

Gamers Against GaaS

Gamers have complained that they feel short changed by the Games as a Service model because of content being withheld unless they continually pay to get more of it.

Games also often launch with bugs and glitches that have to be patched out at a later date and time, because in many cases publishers feel that it’s acceptable to release games in unfinished states and fix them later because they know that they’ll be able to generate a profit through the live service.

Which leads many gamers to believe that if Games as a Service wasn’t a thing, that game development, and the gaming hobby would be in a much better place.

Final Thoughts on Games as a Service:

Would games be better without the Games as a Service model? I don’t know. I think it’s a toss-up, honestly. There are some serious downsides to a live service model.

You can end up having to pay much more for a game than you might think that you should when it comes to season passes, battlepasses, DLC packs and expansions. But there’s no denying that live service gaming has also created an environment where games are able to be updated much more quickly and frequently than ever before and give gamers a consistent drip feed of content that keeps them interested and coming back for more.

To some people that’s a good thing, to others that’s a bad thing. I’m not here to tell you what to think, only to inform my readers and encourage them to vote with their wallets and show publishers what they do and don’t support.