Live-Service Games Seem Unsustainable to 70% of Developers

The Game Developer Collective revealed in a recent study that 70% of developers show concerns about the sustainability of live-service games. Read on to learn more about the study and what exactly the developers are concerned about.

Game Developer Collective Study Reveals Concerns About Sustainability

Declining Interest from Players and Investors, Development Cost, and User Acquisition Cost Cited as Reasons

A study made by the Game Developer Collective (GDC) published in March showed that 70% of developers have concerns about the sustainability of live-service games (LSG). In the study, out of 600 developers, 39% had mild worries regarding LSG models and 31% percent were very concerned.

For 63% of participants, the top concern was about players losing interest over time. But that was far from the only one, with other concerns like competition with other LSGs, rising user acquisition cost, rising development cost, investors losing interest and others being quite significant as well.

• [1] Image taken from Reddit

Some gamers have shared on Reddit that one of the reasons they lose interest in live-service games is because it could often be a money pit.

Competition Between Bigger and Older Games

Even though 70% of the 600 developers expressed concerns about the sustainability of LSGs, these games still remain as one of the top contenders in terms of player time, as seen on Newzoo’s PC and Console Gaming Report 2024. The challenge comes for newer games having to compete against well established giants, such as Minecraft, Roblox, League of Legends, Fortnite and GTA V.

These are games that have had, and continue to have, massive numbers for player time, and it can be daunting, sometimes downright impossible, for a new game to reliably pry away game time from them. The surge in live-service games adds to market saturation, amplifying developers’ concerns about breaking through in the industry.

Source:

Game Developer Collective 2024 Study Page
Newzoo’s Trend Report 2024
Gameshub Article
Eurogamer Article
[1]Players Losing Interest Reddit Thread

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Allisandra Reyes

Allisandra enjoys scaring herself with horror games, outside of video games, she also dabbles in TTRPG's as the designated GM.