What makes a successful living games franchise?

System

What makes a successful living games franchise?

Successful games have often stood the test of time by creating a shared universe, a rich base onto which game makers can add layers of detail and complexity over time with new releases - something for which many forms of entertainment media, from books to games to films and TV shows, strive. But what else is in the magical formula to success?

Read the full story here

Aeander

Release time is the most important thing. Unseating the incumbent is nigh impossible. You don't just need to be better. You need to be drastically better and/or so unique that comparisons don't hold. In fact, it pretty much only happens if the incumbent is crap (caugh PubG caugh).

Then there's advertising (and basing your game on a major IP really helps with this).

Then there is player retention, which is of course where the game's quality and business model come into play.

Wizardry

Aeander said:

Release time is the most important thing. Unseating the incumbent is nigh impossible. You don't just need to be better. You need to be drastically better and/or so unique that comparisons don't hold. In fact, it pretty much only happens if the incumbent is crap (caugh PubG caugh).

Then there's advertising (and basing your game on a major IP really helps with this).

Then there is player retention, which is of course where the game's quality and business model come into play.

I would say you pretty much nailed it as far as business goes.Each criteria you mentioned hits a different consumer.
I remember hearing about the game for a long time but never liked what i saw to even try it.I want to say it was about 7 years ago when i finally tried it and left the game abruptly.

Camera=instantly leaves game
graphics are too sub par to the point it almost looks like a 2D game.
Browser based gaming for a mmorpg=not a chance

Even if i did like Runescape for it's time/era it would have only lasted about 1 1/2 years until FFXi came out and blows it away.So the window for this game to be good was short but luckily it had no competition EQ and Ultima ,Asherons call,perhaps Tibia.

Now that i remember my cheap ass IP at the time was going broke and eventually sold out so i was still playing on 56k and even those liens were terrible.So mmorpg gaming was right out the door.
I think it wasn't until about 2001/2 ,just before i got FFXi that i finally received upgraded lines and got DSL.So this game and EQ1 never had a chance to win me over until i tried th games later when it didn't matter anymore.

cameltosis

I really liked this article, thanks very much for writing it Matt Casey (also, a /wave from a local boy down the road in Suffolk)

I would say that most of the article focused on retention tactics above and beyond the normal gameplay. Whilst that's great, and I agree with pretty much all of them, I'd have loved to hear more about how to attract customers in the first place and how the core game can keep them in game.

For example, it has been my experience that the best way to retain players, create a community and turn the game into a living franchise, is to have loads of depth in the gameplay, give players long-term goals outside of their character (e.g. building businesses, player cities etc) and design your game, from day 1, to foster a community spirit.

these features create a loyal core of players, who then increase word of mouth, bring in more players etc, allowing the game to grow naturally, becoming that living franchise.

(as opposed to games that are shallow and flashy, they may be able to make money and stay online for years, but the churn rate prevents them from becoming living worlds)

Vorthanion

Wizardry said:

Aeander said:

Release time is the most important thing. Unseating the incumbent is nigh impossible. You don't just need to be better. You need to be drastically better and/or so unique that comparisons don't hold. In fact, it pretty much only happens if the incumbent is crap (caugh PubG caugh).

Then there's advertising (and basing your game on a major IP really helps with this).

Then there is player retention, which is of course where the game's quality and business model come into play.

I would say you pretty much nailed it as far as business goes.Each criteria you mentioned hits a different consumer.

I remember hearing about the game for a long time but never liked what i saw to even try it.I want to say it was about 7 years ago when i finally tried it and left the game abruptly.



Camera=instantly leaves game

graphics are too sub par to the point it almost looks like a 2D game.

Browser based gaming for a mmorpg=not a chance



Even if i did like Runescape for it's time/era it would have only lasted about 1 1/2 years until FFXi came out and blows it away.So the window for this game to be good was short but luckily it had no competition EQ and Ultima ,Asherons call,perhaps Tibia.



Now that i remember my cheap ass IP at the time was going broke and eventually sold out so i was still playing on 56k and even those liens were terrible.So mmorpg gaming was right out the door.

I think it wasn't until about 2001/2 ,just before i got FFXi that i finally received upgraded lines and got DSL.So this game and EQ1 never had a chance to win me over until i tried th games later when it didn't matter anymore.

Agreed, I tried this game a few months ago due to boredom and I didn't last more than 30 minutes. The camera, UI and inability to map the keyboard completely to what I like, turned me off immediately.

Astropuyo

Ah rune scape in my early 20's i used to sell scripts and rebinds to people.

Honestly runescape netted me a decent amount when i was a kid. Fucking hated the game though.

It basically filled a void that UO left when folks stopped buying castles for 200 bucks rl.

At times I miss the wild days of mmorpg's but for the most part I'm glad they are a near dead genre for growth. Gives these old ass grandpa games a chance to thrive still...


Regardless Runescape is terrible. It's mostly full of folks my age trying to double down on their lost youth with a bunch of kids all worshiping them for the 40 minutes they'll play before uninstalling for something fun.

IsilithTehroth

Runescape had its time, but its too outdated and stale these days(osrs). The changes they did try to make ruined the game, trade and wilderness removal and later Evolution of combat. Osrs while fun for those that played it as kids will slowly die because the community refuses to add new skills and pvp content trying to retain some kind of 2007 image despite being so far from that with overpowered gear/items that its surpassed dungeoneering broken items that those same people complain about.

DDot

Once upon a time this game attracted scores of people, but now its merely a shell of its past self with a dwindling playerbase and barren severs. They have cut down on the number of servers multiple times to make the game look populated, most of them other than a select few are nearly empty. Current game heavily focused on solo content, the game distinctively lacks in the multiplayer and team vs team experience, especially multiplayer PvP is unattractive and non existent. You often read comments from their players feeling milked with lootbox like mechanics that's commonly seen in mobile games. Simply put, the game has lost its charm.

Monzell

Mod Warden is trash, don't even bother reading this.

Wizardry

The money factor is not only ruining games,it is ruining the industry.All the people with money are only investing if the games have cash shops.They only care about maximizing profits and not maximizing the game.
I mean my god,just look at Rockstar and it's pathetic marketing,all they care about is selling GTA$$.
When the industry complained of loot boxes all devs did was try and circumvent any new law changes or change how the exact same idea works.

The Runescape devs are not to blame for the state of the industry but they are helping to make it worse.