An analyst from market research company Newzoo believes that 2024 will mark the end of live service games‘ domination. This isn’t to say that live service titles won’t be popular, but analyst Tom Wijman thinks they’ve reached market saturation and might not be as lucrative for game companies as they used to be.
Market for live service games remains highly competitive
Game sales continue to be dominated by live service titles as players spend on the likes of EA Sports FC (formerly FIFA), Fortnite, and Call of Duty. However, there’s been an influx of games-as-a-service (GaaS) in recent years, with many high profile developers seeing their games flop in what Wijman described to GamesIndustry.biz as a “fiercely competitive market.” As a result, he reckons some studios will “pivot back to premium game development.”
Sony Interactive Entertainment had a rude awakening with its recent push towards live service. Under outgoing CEO Jim Ryan’s leadership, a number of studios were tasked with GaaS projects, some of which have already been canceled including Insomniac Games’ Spider-Man multiplayer and Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us multiplayer.
Wijman also pointed out that only a handful of live service titles are “monopolizing” playtime, as evidenced in Sony’s 2023 gaming stats for PS5 and PS4.
