The state of the video game industry has been constantly changing ever since gamers were allowed to play Pong at home. Decades later, the industry has seen the growth and death of certain trends and has continuously worked to adapt to a changing market.
With many AAA titles like Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and PlayStation’s Concord, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney thinks it’s time to acknowledge that the video game industry is changing.
The State of Video Games Today
During an appearance at Unreal Fest (via PC Gamer), Sweeney talks about a ‘generational change’ affecting the industry. Sweeney explained:
"One of the manifestations [of that change] we're seeing right now is that a lot of games are released with high budgets, and they're not selling nearly as well as expected… Whereas other games are going incredibly strong. What we're seeing is a real trend where players are gravitating toward the really big games where they can play with more of their friends."
For context, Epic Games is the studio behind Fortnite, and despite having launched seven years ago, the game is still going strong, reporting more than a hundred million users during the previous holiday season.
For Sweeney, a game's perceived value is said to depend on ‘the number of your friends that you can connect to' and the different things players can do in a certain space, whether it be watching virtual concerts or just chatting with each other.
Looks Like Live Service is Here to Stay
Admittedly, a lot of games have tried to pursue the live service model and failed to produce results. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League was said to have been delayed because it was being retooled for live service, and now the game looks like it may not be able to shake off its underwhelming launch.
On the other hand, Sweeney attributes the success of live service titles to their ability to partner with brands temporarily. He continues, "all the world's brands participating and dropping in: Musicians reaching users, Disney and Star Wars and others all coming together to create a world-class entertainment experience that's ever-evolving and live. That's really what we think the future of gaming is about."
Besides Fortnite, titles like Overwatch 2 and Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout have also managed to get regular income thanks to tie-ins with brands like My Hero Academia and other video game titles like Sonic the Hedgehog.
But What About…
Admittedly, Sweeney’s “live service is the future” doesn’t apply to every title. There are still some live-service attempts that don’t stick, and some tie-in brands haven’t managed to draw in an audience as expected—just look at Star Wars Outlaws.
For now, it seems like there isn’t one solution that fits all, but as long as a game is great, players will be willing to check it out if it generates enough buzz.
Audiences will just have to wait and see how the video game landscape evolves through the next few years to see how right Sweeney is about live service.