Entry #6: A short history of Major Video Game Business Models

 

 Hello everyone Jose SG here👋,

This is a quick 5 phase history of transactions in the video game industry

Phase 0- The start

Early video games had no grasp on post purchase transactions. It was simple you pick up a disk you plop into your preferred console and finished. A complete and full gaming experience near instantly.

Phase 2- Subscriptions

With the advent of the internet, online games were the new trend. You would still buy a disk but now you could play with other people. It was almost exclusively found in PC (Personal computer) games and although they were full experiences it was locked behind 2 purchases.

 

Key Games: World of Warcraft, Wizard 101, Altima Online

 

Phase 3 – DLC/Expansions

Purchases online became just as common as physical transaction. As such developers/publishers realized they could get more money from the consumer by adding content to the games. At this point in time the games were still full of experiences but debatably less polished.

Key games: Call of Duty, Destiny, Witcher GTA

 

Phase 4- Loot boxes

Although the previous model was still commonplace the scope of DLC (Downloadable content) and expansions was greatly diminished but prices did not change. But a thing known as loot boxes which are equivalent to gambling became common place. In essence it was a glorified slot machine which anyone could partake in. Games are now significantly less content rich but still functional.

Key games: Call of Duty, Overwatch

 

Phase 5- Live Service

As of right now we are in the worst state of the games industry as we are in an era of games as a service. Rather than releasing complete games developers/publishers release unfinished products and fix them as time progresses. Although fixing issues and bugs post release was something that happened before it was a last resort. Right now, games are released unfinished, buggy, and without meaningful content. These games are meant to keep players addicted and coming back day by day and are more like jobs than a fun past time.

Key games: Destiny 2, Overwatch 2, Genshin impact, Helldivers

Although the games industry is not in the best spot right now good games are still releasing and players are levying against this games as service ideology. 

So go try out new games or don't

That’s all folks.

-Jose SG-