All articles tagged with #live services
Veteran analyst Michael Pachter criticizes Sony's management, claiming they have lost their way due to poor leadership decisions, including the bungling of acquisitions like Bungie and a shift towards live service games, and suggests bringing back experienced executives to steer the company back on track.
Analyst Michael Pachter criticizes Sony's shift towards live service games under CEO Jim Ryan, blaming poor management and strategic missteps, including the costly acquisition of Bungie and the failure of projects like Concord, while highlighting Sony's strengths in traditional console gaming.
Warner Bros. expresses disappointment in the sales performance of "Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League," signaling a challenging year in gaming compared to the success of "Hogwarts Legacy." Despite CEO David Zaslav's interest in live services, the failure of Suicide Squad highlights the disconnect between the company's focus on monetization and player preferences for dedicated single-player experiences. The article questions whether Warner Bros. will shift its strategy towards creating more player-friendly games following the underwhelming reception of Suicide Squad.
Blizzard has confirmed that a seasonal character is required to progress the game's Season 1 battle pass in Diablo 4, which features free seasons and paid battle passes as part of its live services. The battle pass will give access to additional cosmetics and other features. Players will need to create a new seasonal character to take part in the seasonal questline, mechanics, season journey, and battle pass. Some players are unhappy with this requirement as certain cosmetics and gameplay benefits will not be accessible without a seasonal character. Diablo 4 is available globally for PC and consoles.
Ubisoft has lost its identity and is now selling live-service games, mobile ports with microtransactions, and unreliable release dates. The company has been focusing on building its library of free-to-play and mobile games, and developing live-service iterations of its franchises. The most recent Assassin’s Creed games have suffered from open-world bloat, offering too-big worlds with too little variety or innovation. Ubisoft needs to focus on quality design rather than accounting goals to regain its soul.