There is a lot of complaints about the state of the gaming industry these days. About how there are too many sequels dominating the AAA market, how poorly developers are treated by publishing groups... the list of grievances goes on as what started as a small subculture has turned into a way of life for many people across the world. However, there is perhaps one complaint that is being heard above the rest recently: too many games are being released unfinished. How games like Assassin's Creed: Unity are being released with plagues of bugs, or how the Master Chief Collection came out.
There's an upside though, that isn't always talked about to this new phenomenon: the fact that many companies realize that their games are never quite truly finished, that they can continue to go back and rebuild, retool, and keep creating. Thanks to the easy way to digitally patch games, some developers are realizing that their games can become living works of art, ideas that can continually be modified, adapted, and kept fresh.
The jaded would say this is a money making ploy, a scheme to keep players purchasing more content. In some cases, this is very much true, the real reason behind constant patches and new paid DLC. For others however, it really is about the universes they've created, and making them better. One of the best examples of this is the most recent: Amplitude studios, and the advent of an event they call the Endless Day.
I remember very clearly the arguments that were happening six, seven years ago in gaming, as DLC, or Downloadable Content, was starting to mainstream, becoming the normal way to put out game information, not the exception. It was a frustrating thing for a lot of people; revelations of additional content already on core game discs, but being sold as additional content, seemed to be happening every month, a practice that does occur at times today. People were worried about the growing price of games due to this phenomenon.
Fast forward to 2015, and we can't get enough of the stuff. In fact, for heavily multiplayer games like Call of Duty, having 'seasons' of DLC is pretty much a requirement to get players interested. It's a way to extend the live of a game past the initial wow factor of its original release. Now that many gamers love posting streams of their games for speed runs, or comparing how long it takes to get through a basic game, this is a way to extend the life of a particular game's popularity, to keep interest high in the series. DLC, or outright game expansions, are typically a way to still get money out of a fanbase for the original game production, but its much more shrewd, carefully calculated instead of being a cash grab, measured and doled out over time.
It doesn't account for the truly great benefits that can be reaped with online updating for games: how developers can continuously update and add content, reacting and augmenting the online community they started in the first place. I mean, just look at League of Legends. Here is a picture of them early into release, set at about 2010:
Now here is at the end of 2014:
Remember, while League of Legends has million dollar tournaments, it is still a free to play game, and that the above graphics adjustments were entirely free. Their money is made off of purchasing champions instead of unlocking through gameplay, and by purchasing cosmetic 'skins' for said champions. In addition, much of 2014 was dedicated to revamping the vast selection of champions that were already out. I have played enough games to know when constant releases equates to power creep, where the newer and more expensive characters/cards are what you need to survive. League of Legends, for all its weight, avoids that.
For me, it proves that DLC does not always have to be a money grab by developers. One reason why LoL has a following like it does is because of this wonderful attention to detail, this community support and their constant videos explaining their ideas behind patching and balancing an army of 100+ characters.
There are more great examples of this throughout the industry, but there is one happening right now which is simply perfect: Amplitude Studios, the organization behind Endless Space, Endless Legend, and Dungeon of the Endless, are celebrating their 4th anniversary as a company not through internal bonuses and patting themselves on the back, but by releasing new content. It's not just for their two new shiny games, but even for their flagship, Endless Space.
This article is just an excuse to show off some of the great artfor Endless Legend, too.
It's a beautiful execution, and you can see it all on the website they created to publish the information. Since all of their games take place within the same universe, Amplitude studios was able to insert the mysterious figure of an archivist, a historian that catalogs and tries to understand the larger-than-life figures of the Endless, the species that possibly gave rise to all other life and technology throughout the galaxy. Each game has its own way of including the figure, whether as a quest line in Endless Legend, or as a character in Dungeon of the Endless which comes with a new tool-set of features not typically mixed together in the characters already in the game.
It goes beyond that: to celebrate their company's birthday, they have taken previous DLC for Endless Space and made it free for all players, helping bring it up to speed with their more recent games. Free copies of their games are being given away on their twitter for as long as the celebration lasts, a schedule of live streams with the game creators, and hell, there's even an open invitation to have beer in France with them. Suddenly, I am very frustrated being stuck here in New York this week.
Amplitude studios is becoming one of my favorite developers very very quickly, and its easy to see why: a relatively small organization in comparison to EA or Ubisoft, and they are still putting out fan support in new and interesting ways, able to keep up with their fans through the Games2gether forums, as well as reward them for loyalty with additional free content. Sure, it is true that the free DLC is no longer available after January 25th, but if you play through it before then, it's unlocked permanently. My excitement for their games has been rekindled, and all without spending any more money.
Maybe its my optimism, but I'm hoping that events like Endless day are heralding more creative outreaches in this same vein; personal and fun events and content that surprise and excite fans rather than overblown hype machines for just another sequel or full-MSRP game price expansion. Things like this remind me why I enjoy games: not just because that they are something to do besides work, but because it allows people to come together as a community, and celebrate.
Happy Endless Day! Enjoy it while you can until January 25th.
