When you think about it though the game got a couple years of support, giving it 3 and a half seasons of content. It got some huge “Save the World from Gargos” mode and they also added that Shadow AI thing. In one of the seasons I remember the game getting a lighting change, and the online also has really solid netplay. This was all done in a time where Xbox didn’t have a huge budget.
They probably would have pulled the plug on it earlier than intended like they did with Project Spark if they thought it wasn’t worth it.
I think its a lazy argument in saying to drop KI due to established fighters on xbox like mortal Kombat and SF6. Multiple fighting games can coexist at the same time, and KI had a pretty decent size in competitive scene. I think now is a perfect time to launch another KI due to negativity of being associated with early launch XB1. Also gamepass does open doors for many to try series
common theme is influencers and journalist throw crap at the wall when talking about Microsoft. Then they’re the same ones crying about xbox library lacks diversity but want devs to drop their games to support larger games. Anyways, it’s always a dumb topic and you never hear anybody tell other publishers to do that
I believe XGS, Bethesda and ABK combined currently have 17+ active Live-Service games (counting the multiple King games as one).
This is likely that going forward and for the future projects (a lot are coming), teams are going to communicate and help each other more and more and see what worked through the internal datas and what’s not working (Live-Service is very hard and having so many experienced and well-oiled Live-Service teams is certainly going to be a great thing for Xbox in the long run).
What devs do you think mastered the science of Live-Service ? (if you played any)
XGS (9):
Sea of Thieves (Rare)
Minecraft (Mojang)
Forza Horizon 5 (Playground Games)
Halo Infinite (343 Industries)
Age of Empires IV (Relic Entertainment / World’s Edge)
Grounded (Obsidian)
Microsoft Flight Simulator (Asobo Studio / XGSP)
Minecraft Dungeons (Mojang)
State of Decay 2 (Undead Labs)
Bethesda (2):
Fallout 76 (Bethesda Game Studios)
The Elder Scrolls Online (ZeniMax Online)
ABK (6+++):
Warzone x Call of Duty Vanguard (Raven / Sledgehammer / Toys for Bob / High Moon / Treyarch / Beenox / Infinity Ward / Demonware)
I think games media oftens skews heavily towards a particular type of genre preference, and several of Xbox’s biggest titles at the moment fall outside of those boundaries - for the longest time, many didn’t really give Forza Horizon the credit it deserved. Sea of Thieves is another such example.
Ultimately, its stuff like this which drives some on ResetEra and on XboxEra, and elsewhere in the Xbox online community, to clamor for the types of games that Playstation makes - because they are validated by the games media they gravitate towards.
Great post as always my friend! as for what devs I think mastered the live service POWER!..
XGS:
Rare definitely did with Sea of thieves, wonder how they will translate that to Ever Wild. I think there is a massive potential for xbox to have it’s own animal crossing-like game but, wel…that’s what I would like Everwild turn into
Playground are masters of it, curious how the will handle Fable post content (like Ubisoft and their current AC games? or big expansions like CD project and The witcher 3)
Obsidian has done ha fantastic job giving life to grounded so I have no doubts in my mind about them sustaining their projects.
Undead Labs has introduce a lot of things to SOD 2 since launch and have created a community for the game. I also trust them about managing a game as a service.
Mojang is the king of this though
Bethesda:
They are doing a fantastic job supporting Fallout 76 and I believe this game has the potential to be very big in the future. Hope gamers give it a chance to, what is basically to me, fallout 5.
Zenimax online is obviously doing a fantastic job, so doubt in my mind the will be a pillar of xbox’s future GAAS projects judging by the work the have done with TESO
ABK:
Well, obviously the have one of the biggest GAAS in the entire market with warzone and it is printing a lot of money from…but sadly you have to “sacrifice” like 10 different studios to sustain that.
WOW will always have an enormous community and probably still one of the biggest MMO market despite the online discourse wants to make you believe the contrary. My hope is for a team to port it to xbox an expand it even more.
Candy crush is like the mojang of activision :v always ALWAYS printing money.
Diablo inmortal has the potential to be massive. I’m playing and enjoying it a lot and so far I haven’t had the “need” to spend a dime on it but I hope they listen to the feedback they are getting to those complaining.
Agree completely. There’s a lot of franchises from the past that I never played so if I get a new installment or a remake (like Dead Space), then im much more likely to try them out.
As for Killer Instinct, I had my fill of fighting games last generation with MK 10 and 11 but Microsoft should hire an external studio to develop Killer Instinct 2. Add a story campaign like NetherRealm did for MK with all the stages/fighters from the first game with brand new stages/characters and they can just build on it for the rest of the generation.
The only game I have played from that list is Halo Infinite and even then, it’s not applicable simply because I only played the story campaign and have no interest in the online multi-player so basically, none. lmao.
The first Microsoft live service game that I play on a somewhat consistent basis will be Redfall and Diablo IV. Maybe Contraband depending on if im into it.
Granted they are in the better quality though.
