There have been a ton of live service games that have announced they are shutting down servers or ending support. From the outside looking in, it seems like many of the games have thriving communities. So why aren’t they fiscally successful? There is a lot more that goes into making a game profitable that many consumers don’t think about (and shouldn’t have to).
Games are becoming more and more expensive to make and maintain. When you have a multiplayer title, those costs increase dramatically. Now, you have to factor in server costs, additional salaries, localization fees, etc. When a studio is paying these costs but doesn’t have a lot of players spending in their stores or investing in battle passes, they tend to hemorrhage money.
Check out the video below and let’s have a discussion about this. What can a studio do to better engage its audience or encourage spending?