this post was submitted on 17 Jan 2025
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Well, no.
Deep Rock Galactic has fully optional skin packs to make money and they're doing great.
Warframe has been chugging along for over a decade now and they're doing great. Beating the pants off of Destiny 2 for average player count.
The live service trick is that live service only works if the company actually cares about the product. Those two companies stand out because they legitimately care and have great communication with their communities.
DRG and Warframe also hit the critical requirement of actually being games that are fun to play!
I haven't played a lot of WF, but I've got hundreds of hours on DRG. There is no grind. Getting holiday loot takes 5 to 8 matched total, and the Seasons are long and very relaxed. I maxed out XP for this season already and the next probably won't start until at least this summer.
The community is going strong, the game is fun, Ghost Ship seems stable and like a nice place to work. It's so stupid that more companies don't see that they could run like this instead of chasing "get rich quick" corporate schemes that always alienate the fans.
DRG doesn’t make me feel like they are taking advantage of me with their transactions because they aren’t required. It’s nice that way.
So far Warframe has been the ONLY example of a good live service game. It's the OG when it comes to the model, but it's also the exception, and not the rule.
Don't forget Path of Exile.
Id argue a bunch of early access games that get constant updates are Live Service games too.
And indie games like Terraria and Minecraft were the best examples of live service.
"Live service" is a game that has an always online requirement. Just getting updates on the regular doesn't make it a live service if the game works just fine without an Internet connection.
Single player Ubisoft games are all "live services", due to some of them needing a constant connection to Ubisoft's servers, and them having in-game shops that only work while online.
Destiny historically vasscilated between "fucking amazing" and "dumpster fire". The problem has always been that it is near impossible to maintain that level of quality and entertainment consistently while also innovating on a regular basis. It is very difficult and very expensive.
They moved into "dumpster fire" territory significantly more than "fucking amazing", sadly. Like one good expansion, three bad updates and two bad expansions, one good update.
I'd say also it depends on the franchise. Depp rock? Be a funny space dwarf yelling rock and stone? Hell yes imma do that with some friends.
God of war? No. Much more serious tone, I want to do that alone to explore the narrative