Games as a Service
This isn’t just about play anymore.
Video games are a huge passion of mine, and I was basically born and raised a gamer. One of my earliest memories is of hiding under the coffee table while skittishly watching my dad delve through the dungeons in Zelda. So I’ve seen the long evolutionary path that games have been on, but I think that recently there is something a little different stirring.
AAA studios and big publishers lost their monopoly on production and distribution with advent of digital delivery. Now technology is also taking away their monopoly on creativity.
There will always be a place for the AAA blockbuster titles, the huge scores, boundary pushing tech and widely relatable IP. Just like there will be a demand for the the “McDonald’s” experiences of the world. I’m not here to judge because hey, sometimes I just might want a little McDonald’s too.
Since the medium’s inception, if we wanted games, we had to rely on those that held the reigns of production and development talent. We’ve witnessed the destruction of the barriers of distribution so that developers could do it on their own. But even more interesting is what this is doing for creation, it’s changing what it means to be a developer. Technology is turning everyone into a maker.
With the gates of production and distribution swung open and now, the big studios no longer have a monopoly on the creative and technical talent that can create experiences that people care about, they have to adapt or watch the walls slowly crumble down around them.
I believe that publishers and major studios will shift away from content creation as their primary goal and move toward platform creation, giving birth to what will truly become Games as a Service. The IP that they create will essentially become open source, at least on their own platform. The base content is created for those that want to consume but also empower those that want to create. The power will now lie in creating content that can be used to create brand new experiences. As I mentioned earlier this isn’t particularly new, there is historical evidence that points to this shift as well.
Just look at the modding community. Individuals, mere hobbyists, have influenced and created entire genres (looking at you MOBAs). Now we see this trend continuing with Valve releasing a comprehensive tool set to mod DOTA 2, actually returning the source from which it originally came. They will have hundreds of thousands of creative, passionate makers at their disposal. The next big thing in MOBAs or RTS is just as likely to come from the community as it is from any professional. The difference is that Valve isn’t paying for their time and resources to experiment, all they needed to do was give people the freedom. Give them the tools and the space to create and be confident in the quality of their service. This is now a competition for creativity not just consumption. Valve was built on this idea.
If we are talking about MOBAs, we might as well talk League of Legends too. From their very beginning, it was known that content was not really what they are delivering. It was a platform. In this case, not a platform for creation but for competition. Only now, years and years later is Riot experimenting and investing in creating deep content, story, lore etc. The focus has always been creating a platform for intense competition, vying for the attention of those that want to showcase skills, not consume content. The service they provide is consistency, balance and evolving game play, as well as creating a public place to display those skills.
Let’s not forget about the old man in the room, Blizzard. They continue to be in the mix and maybe they have missed the opportunities to capitalize (DOTA) but none the less, they created a sophisticated platform and gave it to it’s fans. Their tradition continues with Starcraft 2 and their entrance in MOBA’s with Heroes of the Storm.
Most interestingly though and what I believe is the key piece evidence to this movement, Mario Maker. Consoles have traditionally struggled in this space, lacking the capability to mod and any platforms have been limited to distribution alone. Rarely has a console company freely given it’s IP to be used to create new experiences. I think this is a clear sign of Nintendo’s innovation. They see the writing on the wall.
People will always buy the new Mario Game and with such a comprehensive IP, why not solidify the bonds of the community? Strengthen the connections between the tribe of people who love all that is Mario, solidify the bond from the tribe to the IP and to Nintendo itself. This is a tool that will live for many years, new content always being created and shared. All Nintendo had to do was be vulnerable, comfortable with the idea of giving up just a bit of control over it’s beloved Mario. They created the platform and now they have a potentially infinite source of continuous engagement.
There are many other signs out there that who that creation is what a lot of people want. It’s going to be interesting to see who is brave enough to let go, be vulnerable and authentically engage with their fans instead of just relying on their dollars.
