Will Core Games Adopt The Apple/Android Model

The Games as a Service Movement, a collection of powerful (they count Sony, Microsoft, Ubisoft, Capcom, EA among their members) loosely organized game companies and corporations would like to take ownership away from players and have players instead pay for games continuously (a lot of us first heard this term in Cliff Bleszinski’s famous blog in which he defends pay to win games, which you can read here). Their existence, the fact of the name they’ve chosen for themselves is worrisome in-and-of-itself, but, make no mistake, they plan on turning video games into services, thus if they got their way, it would mean an end to game ownership.

[Alex_Boro]

Nope

[guitarded77]

Me neither...

[MajorLazer]

While I do enjoy a bout of 'Clash of Clans' on my Android, it will never replace true gaming experiences found of PC/PS4/X1. Games such as Uncharted or Halo cannot be replicated on mobile phones because of many issues, and not just graphics. Controls and battery life are the two biggest concerns in my eyes as something like Uncharted would be impossible to play with on-screen buttons and battery life would drain in an instant

[nirwanda]

Yes please I love choice as long as they don't take away big budget paid for game.

I personally would love more games like war frame, war thunder, DC universe and planetside.

Just because it makes the game easier if you give devs money it doesn't mean you have too.

[Number-Nine]

Nope

[WeAreLegion]

Noooooooooope.

[F4sterTh4nFTL]

If they adopt that model completely they will not be considered core games will they. Big Powerful Publishers are smart, they will keep offering separate high profile core games for us as well as casual games for a more casual mainstream audience. Keeping the money coming from all types of customers.

[hellzsupernova]

Hopefully as gamers we will not have that model pushed on us!

I am happy to buy a full game pay once and thats it! I do not want a limited amount of turns or matches before having to pay to unlock more. That kind of future is terrifying!

I refuse to support any game like that! although some MMO's that are free to play are very borderline

[LamerTamer]

Well if they "push" it on us we don't have to buy into it. They won't hold a gun to our heads making us accept this. If enough refuse to buy into it then they lose sales, which means money. Money talks you know what walks. Microsoft tried to push always online DRM with X1. Because there was so much push back they dropped that policy. The real power is with the consumer, the only question is will they be smart enough to know the scam and reject it.

[kingdip90]

Subscriptions to game related services make more revenue than the traditional model we know and love. If the industry decides it can make more money with less of us it will. Those of us who do not buy in run the risk of the industry evolving without us, if it does and we do want to game then yes we will be forced to bite the bullet or play older games on formats past... which is not a market that will last forever.

[kingdip90]

The industry may adopt it but I wont

[Xof]

Actually, seems to me that a lot of mobile games are adopting the "core" model. Games like BGEE and SRR have demonstrated that it's completely viable to sell big, higher-priced games with expansion packs as DLC, without resorting to any of the anti-consumer shenanigans that infest the rest of the market.

[Inception]

No. Keep those garbage on apple/android.

[HardcoreDroid]

While there are some core games on Android (I run a site dedicated to just that),games like Xcom, Dead Trigger, San Andreas are the exception. If you look at the numbers all the money--and a lot of it too--is being made by the crap.

The other point is that pay to win games are utter trash, and that for the first time we are seeing a number of these games on PC and consoles and industry leaders, analysts, even ad copy, are suggesting a lot more is to follow. We created the boycott because those of all of us who write about and play in mobile, play on other platforms, grew up with other platforms, and since we have over and again seen what pay to win does to games, we are concerned to say the least that core gaming is implementing this type of marketing and design. Thus we are trying to gather a boat load of names and hold that up to the industry so as to say: Be very careful how you do this.

For myself I cannot stand still while someone tries to walk over me--never been able to do it. The boycott is a way to fight back, and if all it ever accomplished (and we are doing well so far, thank you) was to prompt someone else to fight back somewhere else than we have done our job. For now, however, we are fighting back and that is so much better than standing still while someone tries to get over on you. What's more, every name we gain makes our message to pay to win developers that much stonger, that message being: if you cross the line we will be there to make sure that you lose money.
The above essay is an introduction to another piece so I did not include the petition, but there are a number of links to it. If you are on the fence, my message to you is: hardcore gamers can only gain by coming together to fight back.

[HardcoreDroid]

The other salient point is that on mobile an analysis of IAP buyers showed that the whole IAP aspect of mobile (really that which drives AAA mobile gaming) is held up by 1.5% of consumers(the study's referenced and linked in the article if you're interested), and they are spending enough to hold up a multi-billion dollar industry thus the average mobile gamer a good portion no doubt of the other 98.5% has almost no say at all.

Which is why IAPs unchecked are so potentially dangerous. Which is why we are boycotting the worst of the lot--to check them.

[KinjoTakemura]

Why on earth would console gaming want to emulate smartphone gaming? If anything, smartphone gaming will emulate console gaming. Ridiculous article.

[ajaxmoroni]

Read the article.

[ajaxmoroni]

Its about the fact that games with IAPs are slated for consoles and the PC. Since this has already happened some and and is expected to happen more. It's hard to imagine what you are responding to.