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and if you think that live service is bad, then boy you are not ready to witness what will 2030 and later years bring, trust me, the line hasn't been pushed nowhere as far as it could be, think about every AAA game being split into 5 separate parts that can be bought, each with their own microtransactions and there's time limit that if you won't buy fast enough 1 part, it's gonna disappear from the store, of course it's live service so if you have bad Internet you get banned for 30 days to teach you to play while having stable connection with the possibility to lift the ban with a price of 5$ and with every ban the price goes 5$ up.
Wait, did I mention ads? Oh, that's right, the game is gonna be filled with ads like free mobile games, to add to that, every AAA game will be subscription with additional seasons for which you also have to pay additionally in advance, and if you don't then that means you don't want to play the game and you are permamently banned, unless you buy a permament ban lift for the twice price of the game. Did I mention updates as a time-limited microtransactions, that's right, add one to that.
While that's quite within the realm of possibilities, remember that you can always watch any game you want on youtube, for me that's good enough, well, unless, they make it illegal to upload videos of gameplay as a sort of copyright protection, that's also possible.
The push for more is a publisher thing because the ones that do take off make a lot of money
https://adguard-dns.io/kb/general/dns-providers/
Also, Sim City reboot failed in part because they tried to shoehorn in always online D.R.M. into what is effectively a single player game with superficial at best multiplayer elements, and in part because if you were into city builders, then you probably already had a prior iteration of Sim City that was, truth be told, probably better.
Games with more genuine multiplayer elements can succeed. Games as a live service is essentially an extension of the M.M.O.R.P.G. model, and we know how successful games like Phantasy Star Online, Ragnarock Online, Runescape and World of Warcraft were.
Well yes, but when games on PC will have ads, there will be "Benuvo" that will treat a software that blocks ads as a virus and just like anti-cheat software it will ban you because game is live service.
First, I'll address the guy highlighted in that article:
https://www.pcmag.com/news/unity-says-goodbye-to-company-ceo-after-backlash-over-game-install-fees
He's the guy that suggested Battlefield players should be charged real money for reloading their weapons...
He's the douchenozzle that decided he was going to revitalize Unity by charging per-install fees and by singlehandedly turning its devoted fanbase into a torches and pitchforks mob that overwhelmingly empowered Unity's competitors by flocking to alternate engines, some of them free.
This guy appears to be straight out of the central casting space for a "Monopoly" movie. Why? Well, I share a secret with you - Here's how to win while playing the "Monopoly" game: Buy everything you get an opportunity to buy. That's it. If you do that, you're in the best possible position for winning the game. So what if some purchases don't return much? All the rest will. It's about accumulating enough assets that have a chance of making money that no matter if individual ones do not, the rest surely will.
Of course, in Monopoly, there's no maintenance fees... In real-life, even when spending other people's money prodigiously, one has to pay things like... wages to keep those acquired assets alive and producing opportunities to make money. There is a solution there, though, too - Lay off employees, problem solved. Anyone know of any employees being laid off in the gaming/tech industry? Gosh, it's such a great strategy for "owning everything and paying for nothing" that it must have happened at least once or twice.
So, on to the next bit: "Why are live service games trendy"
Because that is what is being served at the buffet table, that's why.
"AAA" games have some good reputations for some things. Despite "Day 1" headaches, they are generally seen as being of good quality, with good quality of life features, while still managing to "look great." All memery aside, AAA titles get a lot of attention and gamers love to take shots at them, but those players are in the minority... "Most" AAA tittles really have to end up aggressively humping a football in order to not at least make back their investment.
https://www.gamingbible.com/news/platform/steam/starfield-lost-97-steam-players-in-6-months-676996-20240212
But...
https://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/starfield-2023-reflection-success-and-failures/
It's pretty likely even with it's big fail, Starfield made money. Given that Bethesda/Zenimax is a Microsoft property and Starfield came out of the gate on Gamepass, it's still a success as far as Microsoft is concerned.
And...
https://www.ign.com/articles/todd-howard-bethesda-starfield-space-shatter-space-creators-kit-2024
See? No?
Bethesda made money getting gamers to buy a game that most of them don't like... AND, now it's in their "Library." What does that mean? That means it's even more inducement for that large "owner base" to spend money even if they didn't like the game - They got married for some reason, so they may as well pay for counseling to see if they can fix and find more value in their marriage investment...
Ever wonder why "Free To Play" games exist? Look up. That's why.
So, why is it "Trendy?
Because that is what stands to make the developers/publishers the most return on their investment, so that is what is being produced..
These sorts of big AAA companies, and even some indies and smaller studios, know that all they have to do is get a customer to commit an investment into gameplay for some reason, even if that customer discovers they're unsatisfied. It doesn't matter if they feel they threw away their time and engagement, follow-up purchases now have a non-zero probability of occurring.
Monopoly ™
See? No?
IF a devpublisher can get access to the chance to make money, they increase their chances of making money. If they get a product installed on tons of devices AND can still present the owners of those devices with opportunities to spend money, they have a chance to make more money with every single install they obtain.
What is the best possible format for doing that? Well, it's not "single-player offline gaming" is it?
Zenimax is Bethesda's "multiplayer" arm. (Elder Scrolls Online, Zenimax owns Bethesda) Expect a "Starfield Online" quasi-MMO one day if Starfield stays alive after this DLC and ESO stops coughing up money...
Why, tho... have players been screaming for online multiplayer gaming, despite knowing that way lies terrible gru's lying in wait in the dark to eat their wallets?
The "online life" is maturing at a pace faster than human psychology and social theory can keep up with it. Today, people consider "Friends Lists" as actually being... their real-life "Friends." It says so on the label, right? And, despite the tragic implications of unsocialized children... this is where they think they're getting their socialization needs met. "Met" in an environment that was purposefully designed only to be monetized and can not possibly provide full social interactions everyone truly needs.
See? No? OK, then, here ya go -
Ducks eat bread. Bread is not good for ducks as it gives them a sense of being full, but provides little in the way of appropriate nutrition that a growing duck needs. Eventually, happily feeding on bread crumbs thrown at it by ignorant park visitors, the duck will begin to suffer from malnutrition. As the duck's feathery body signals malnutrition by inducing hunger, the duck seeks out more bread in a futile attempt to respond to its needs.
In the Star Trek TOS episode "The Trouble with the Tribbles" the tribbles were poisoned and could not digest the grain that they had infested. They starved to death, surrounded by food...