A game as a service is a game that will continue to release free live content updates throughout the life cycle of the game, they also will create weekly/monthly events to keep the players interested and coming back to the game.
An example of a game as a service is Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege,
Ubisoft release 2-3 new operators and 1 map every “season” of the game and reset all player ranks which encourages players to return to the game and try to get a higher rank than last time. The new map and operators also offer a new way to play the game as every new operator will completely reshape the meta and how the game is played. An example of this is the most recent season introducing “Clash” the first ever defender to have access to a shield which allows her to block doorways and windows and provide mobile cover for her team. So far this has completely changed how the attacking team will approach a situation when they know the other team is using this character which makes the game a lot more fun to play as there is a constant change.
A way they make money from this is their yearly pass, these are typically £25 and will give you early access to all new characters and other bonuses displayed above.
Rainbow Six Siege was essentially revived due to these updates as upon release it was very basic and got very repetitive, ubisoft then started releasing all of the new seasons and all of the free new content updates and now the game is steadily growing in popularity and hosts E-Sports events with large cash prizes.
A game as a service will always have it’s pros and cons though,
The Pros are :
- A Constant stream of FREE new content
- Creates Diversity and encourages new play-styles
- Attracts more players
The Cons are:
- All the new content may be overwhelming to new players
- Bandwidth Caps
- Cosmetics can be purchased for REAL money.
I feel that this type of video game support will be around in the future as it not only makes the game developers and publishers more money but it allows fans to have more time with the game they have grown to know and love and prevents them having to give out another forty to fifty pounds for a whole new game, like a sequel, when they can just work on improving the original.
Video game publishers such as Ubisoft and Rare have already adopted this into their recent titles and its only a matter of time until other developers will follow suit.
Sea of thieves created by Rare, includes no micro transactions in the game and releases new content updates and player events on a regular schedule. I hope that this is how all games will be in the future as I feel that including micro transactions into your game creates an uneven field and rewards players who would rather use their credit card rather than actually playing the game.
Jake Ling's Game Development Progress Blog. 