Remedy hints that 'Control' could be their first foray into games-as-a-service

'Control' is both a departure and a return for the Finnish game studio.

[darthv72]

Isn't this a SP game though... how would GaaS work in a SP game aside from lootboxes and MT's?

[-Foxtrot]

It might have multiplayer...I completely forget about this to be honest.

https://www.pcgamesn.com/qu...

Now it's more worrying.

[darthv72]

their next game is going to be called Jumpin' Jack Flash.

you know, cause it's a gas gas GaaS

okay that was lame.

[gangsta_red]

GaaS isn't limited to just MP.

It could work in a SP game by supporting episodic gameplay, time trials or any other SP type feature that keeps a user coming back to play some more.

[darthv72]

episodic, you mean like the telltale games? i guess i had not thought about that part.

[Jinger]

I think people get GaaS confused with it only being a digital or MP thing. GaaS can mean many different things for all types of games. It's essentially a model for any game to try and get consumers to come back to their game by periodically adding new content. Thus keeping users in their universe longer.

[EDKICK]

@gansta_red
You may be right, I don't necessarily get traditional GAAS from reading any of his quotes.

It almost sounds like it has roguelike elements, with how they explain "the house" they said it "keeps shifting its shape" and "seems to infinitely expanding". Maybe a survival mode or something like that? Similar to Prey's Mooncrash DLC or Desolation of Mordor from Shadow of War.

[RainbowBrite]

"any other SP type feature that keeps a user coming back to play some more"
Yeah, or like features that make users to completely avoid the game

[BeOpenMinded]

Shadow of war says hi

[MasterCornholio]

Launch the games in episodes?

[ziggurcat]

constant content packs, too.

[ziggurcat]

They did it in AC: Origins, so it's possible to sneak it into other SP games.

[lelo2play]

"games-as-a-service"

I don't like the sound of that...

[darthv72]

it sounds scarier than it is. Like i said below, we could basically look at any game series where there are multiple releases (sequels) as a form of GaaS because their intention is to provide an ongoing story for the player to return to at some point.

The trend now is to do that all in the same release. Like back to the future and how you can get the episodes separately or you can get the whole thing in one swoop.

[RainbowBrite]

all this acronyms, GaaS and me like: GTFO

[gamer7804]

losing a bit of interest in this , really hoping for an Alan wake2

[monkey602]

I've wanted an Alan Wake 2 for so long. I still hope some day they come arou d to it but maybe they just don't have any ideas where to take the plot.

I lost interest myself in Control the moment I saw it. It looked like Quantum Break and when I read about it being part of that universe I gave up entirely

[gamer7804]

his wife would be a good start. I finished quantum break it was good, but this looks like more of the same, but stuck in one big puzzle house which isn't too interesting.

[RainbowBrite]

Now I was thinking that it was Microsoft the ones that f**ed up Quantum Break, with the whole watch soap opera episodes TV thing. But with this news? I'm looking at you now Remedy.
Maybe you were the ones that had that fantastic "business" idea for Quantum Break.

[UltraNova]

No, the tv stuff probably wasn't QB's fault or their decision entirely since MS was pushing Xbox related TV content hard back then. Remember Halo TV series? Probably not(me neither btw).

[Jinger]

FUUUTTTTUUUUUURRRREEEE

[UCForce]

But it will never be a perfect future.

[Jinger]

There is never a perfect future.

[UCForce]

But when you put your statement like that, it’s sound like you think Gaas is perfect future for you. Even like I said, less risk, less new ip, less Single Player focus and more lazy than ever. Even worse is that the game will be unfinished and lack of content at launch.

[Jinger]

When did I ever say it's the perfect future for me? I just observe the trend, I also don't get bent out of shape about it. I play the games I'm interested in and don't get wrapped up in the politics of it all.

[jznrpg]

Oh man , I was really excited for this game way to kill it Remedy

[phoenixwing]

there goes my hype for the game.

[Inzo]

That sucks as I was interested in this game but now its a straight-up pass.

[gangsta_red]

Why? If the game is good then it will get supported with more content to keep you engaged longer instead of one and done.

[Kokyu]

Cause Gass is trash and only benefits the pub and dev.

[gangsta_red]

@kokyu
So it doesn't benefit a gamer who enjoys the game and is constantly getting updates, new modes, new features or other ways to play and keep them engaged with their purchase?

Seems like it's a benefit all around.

[darthv72]

@kokyu, I am starting to see how GaaS is just simply the new buzz word for episodic. As in games where their story is told over several entries. Think chapters or even releases. Like Uncharted 1-4 or Gears 1-5 only on a much smaller scale and closer release between episodes.

[Goldby]

@gangsta

History shows us GaaS start their life with ne t to no real content in their "full game" and release content that can be beaten in a weekend for free ans sometimes for $$$(see destiny ans destiny 2)

While there are exceptions (diablo 3 and warframe) they are far and few between

[gangsta_red]

@Goldby
There has been more than just those two games that have had GaaS and have been good, Overwatch, Final Fantasy 15, Dying Light, Rainbow Six Siege and other games have had continued support, adding new content, new modes and keeping the game fresh and players coming back that could be considered GaaS.

The problem is this negative stigma attached to the word GaaS, that when it is brought up people automatically thinks it's going to be the worse thing ever.

Has there been exceptions, of course, but there's exceptions to everything even without GaaS attached to it.

We have been experiencing all sorts of GaaS throughout this gen just now it's a trendy buzzword and a word that is popular to hate.

[MorpheusX]

@gangsta_red

Are you " really " that naive about the mentality of the business minded?

You dont foresee The Gaming Industry taking even more advantage of game consumers if practices like GAAS become a standard?

Gangsta_red, as much as I disagree with you, I've never once taken you as a naive, or a dumb person.

And , it makes me wonder, ...who do u work for?, ..are u a shill(agent)?

You mostly, imo take the position/ stance of some corporate business minded person, trying to alleviate the fears of game consumers.

It's a bad idea, because the people who run the industry cannot be trusted, thats not hard to understand.

[gangsta_red]

@morpheus

It has nothing to do with being naive. Your comment comes off as extreme paranoia and propaganda, and I'm wondering what is even the point?

If you can't trust the people who are running this business then why even game? If there is some type of agenda then simply leave. It's a pretty well known fact by all that these companies are trying to make money. That's their agenda.

This is video games we are discussing not the illimunati. I've already explained different types of GaaS and how they could benefit games when done right.

[RainbowBrite]

Nope. I don't want GaaS. I won't support it. It's OK if they sell you DLC later as long as it's something extra the way FromSoft and others do it, as long as the main game is something contained in itself: complete.
GaaS is just BS and "episodic nature" and similar phrases like that are just euphemism for "we gonna f you all the way up".
So maybe it is the future and unavoidable, because my fellow """gamers" "" are sometimes morons, but no, I won't support it with my money.

[rainslacker]

GaaS doesn't have to be bad. It's just that some models for GaaS aren't all that well accepted, and the whole MT/DLC thing is also included with it.

Sometimes you have to take the good with the bad, and complain about the bad. Until more GaaS games are made under that moniker that aren't things we don't like, people will frown on the name. On the downside, once people realize that the term is more all encompassing, it could mean that people just accept the things they don't because when they complain, others will point that it isn't always bad.

[Godmars290]

@rainslacker:
"GaaS doesn't have to be bad."

Games as Services isn't DLC or MTs. Its more like cable TV: pay regular fees for access. And like a cable box, you don't own a game you've bought, and once you stop paying, there's nothing you can do with it until you start paying again. GaaS gives, devs, studios and publishers absolute control while leaving consumers at their mercy. Literally.

There is nothing good about it, except and up until the time a sucker realizes he's been suckered.

@gangsta_red"
" If the game is good then it will get supported with more content to keep you engaged longer instead of one and done."

That's been the issue for some time.

Things like DLC and MT have been effecting game, story and narrative structure for some time. The Prothean DLC and Dead Space 3 are the worst examples. As someone into SP gaming I've only seen the erosion of their quality and outright elimination because MP became a thing. Now its GaaS, which may as well be Mobile gaming.

[dumahim]

For me, when I buy a game I want a finished product. Not half ass it expecting me to shell out more money for the rest of it. I get the game, I finish it pretty quickly and I don't go back.

[gangsta_red]

@godmars

You're looking at only part of the definition of GaaS and not the fact that there are different forms of it.

You and others are only talking hypothetically about the worse possible outcomes and not any positives that can be associated with GaaS. (When done right)

Again, with your entire example of DLC and MTs you and others pick the worse possible examples to prove your own point but then forget about DLC and MTs that were actually good like The Witcher, Dying Light, GTA, Fortnite, not to mention GaaS games that are still popular today like, World of Warcraft , Warframe and League of Legends

"GaaS gives, devs, studios and publishers absolute control while leaving consumers at their mercy."

How? These games are still available physically. And the ones that aren't are still going. If any have failed it's because the game itself failed not because the devs are jerks and decided they wanted to pull the plug early.

"...erosion of their quality and outright elimination because MP became a thing"

Your over exaggerating and trying to place blame on MP because of your own personal preference. There's no proof that a SP game would have been better if MP wasn't a thing.

[Godmars290]

@@gangsta_red:
Not enough that I mention them, but have to describe how ME3 took a character of a race at the core of the game's lore, along with the story around them, and sliced that off into day-one - DAY ONE! - DLC under the excuse it was done to entice for new people to play the game? Spell out how formerly SP Dead Space 3 went co-op and added MTs which not only killed the very concept of that game, but the entire franchise? The SP campaign in the likes of Battlefield and COD have become so much crap, that when it was taken out of the latest, not much of a fuss was raised.

Or, maybe there was. I don't know. Don't play those kind of games.

Do know that White Knight Chronicles had been something I was looking forward to back the day, until i played it. The SP portion was a dull stock anime script that missed the obvious hook of throwing the silent protagonist trope onto your custom character - which was used for the online part of the game. Nevermind the original combo combat system that got scrapped.

No, there is no evidence that MP has negatively impacted SP - because SP is dying. Game publishers say so.

[MorpheusX]

@gangsta_red

You comprehend & agree the " agenda "is to make as much $$$ as possible, @the game consumers expense..

So then why do you promote & agree with things these Greedy Devious business minded market that you know(ledge) are going to be "anti-consumer", not in the game consumers best interest?

You want to be like them? Probably smh

And no surprise why u mostly receive "down votes", & like a glutton for punishment you come back day after day, as if someone is being enlightened by your opinion, ...maybe YOU are the 1 who needs to leave, lol....don't think anyone wld notice if u did honestly.

didn't mention any "Illuminati", & "to conspire" or a conspiracy, is simply a "secret plan" or facts that are typically unknown to the general public.

hello?, smh, ..... guess I have to take back your not "dumb" comment, u proved you are.

Not trusting something or someone means I use "Wisdom" when dealing with them or it.

I don't by into GAAS, Loot Boxes, always online, DLC, Microtransactions, etc, ...because I don't trust the greedy business minded. they've proven they can't be trusted.

I don't get on N4g.com like you do everyday & promote, try an convince my fellow game consumers to buy into & trust the greedy business devil's of the Game Industry & the schemes they come up with to get "more $$" from us game consumers.

Your a virus.

[MorpheusX]

@gangsta_red

Give me "1" example of GAAS being used in a fair consumer friendly fashion?

Just 1.

If you could, I could give you 20 examples where it was used in a anti-consumer/greedy fashion...that's just off the top of my mind.

You said it yourself, the "agenda" is to make the most $$$, yet hypocritically you promote the very thing being used to take advantage of YOUR fellow game consumer?

You have a problem, creditably is your 1st problem, u don't have any.....why should anyone even consider your opinion when you typically promote the very things that game consumer are upset about as a whole.

Greed.

Greed comes from your GAAS, your Always Online, your Multiplayer focus, your DLC's etc etc ....yet you spend your time on N4G "promoting" these Greedy gaming initiative's.

like I said, who do you work for again?

And your not being paid for it?

😂😂

[EDKICK]

@Inzo @Kokyu
I absolutely hate GAAS but read the interview and see what the game is like before you decide to pass. Please do not completely abandon one of the better singleplayer developers of the past decade plus simply because we may get some additional content after the game is out. Not supporting interesting SP games is what got us to GAAS in the first place.

[monkey602]

I loved Remedy growing up and Alan Wake is one of my all time favourites but we can't say anything close to them being one the best single player developers out there.
They've made 1 good game in the last decade and it was Alan Wake. 8 years ago!

[EDKICK]

@monkey602
Wow I forgot Alan Wake was that long ago. I'll adjust my time then lol from Max Payne 1 to now. Also Quantum Break was a good game imo.

[monkey602]

Yeah I know! It's scary to think of it being so long ago.
Unfortunately I can think of few games in recent years to disappoint me as much as Quantum Break did though. I really didn't like it

[RainbowBrite]

So the way to avoid GAAS is to support GAAS?

[EDKICK]

@RainbowBrite
No, that's not what I'm saying, the only one to say GAAS was the author not the dev. Remedy has consistently provided great narrative SP experiences we have no reason (right now) to expect any different with Control. I mentioned on another thread that it sounds like they could so something like Prey did with Mooncrash and have a roguelike survival style mode. I'm not at all one to defend GAAS style games but let's see what Control is before we dismiss the entire game just for them saying they'll add stuff post launch.

[Inzo]

I did read the article and I can promise you that I will not spend a cent on a game supporting gaas, thats how strongly I feel about the practice.

Now you will say that I will be missing out on a lot of games then, well, between my family, job and other activities I dont get the chance to play as much as I want, thats why I will be putting any free time I have for gaming into SP only games i.e. Playstation games.

[TheCommentator]

You can pass GaaS if you want to, but I'm going to hold mine in until I see more about how things are going to work!

[KwietStorm_BLM]

As long as you get what you paid for with the base game I don't see a problem with getting more.

[Goldby]

That's the issue people have, we don't get what we paid for at release, normally takes a year to get what should have been in the game from the beginning

[KwietStorm_BLM]

That's a general statement, and I know it's the cool thing to label multiplayer and games as a service as a terrible thing altogether, but there are numerous studios and pubs that don't just abuse their customers. There was a time when certain gamers looked DLC as a whole like it's poison, and adding onto a game was the worst. What "should" have been their in the beginning is subjective if we're talking about by design. If a game was blatantly cut up to make people keep dipping in their pockets while still paying full price, then that's what I mean when I said as long as you get what you paid for. There's a right way to do things and a wrong way.

[Goldby]

@Kweit

Mp games are terrible, GaaS business practive that is in use today is.
why release a game in 2 years time that is full and complete when we can release it today, make our money and work on the rest of it while the players play the game. That is a bad practice.

a better GaaS practice would be to wait the 2 years, finish the game, than begin supporting it at that point.

and DLC in most cases still is BS. charging people for things that used to be included in games is never a good things.

Expansions are a different story as they bring a whole new story to whole new story to a game tat is already complete

[RainbowBrite]

I heard the same old arguments with Loot boxes and MT's in general... it gets boring.

[KwietStorm_BLM]

Heard the same thing with blanket opinions on DLC, as I said above. I agree. it gets boring.

[gangsta_red]

I heard the same old arguments about paying to access online services....it got boring.

[killswitch80]

sounds like a sexual thing

[Kokyu]

Stop this Gass bs.

[Chaos_Order]

Damn, there goes my interest. :(

[Brave_Losers_Unite]

..l..

[MWH]

it seems like they will lose control.

[Derceto]

"games-as-a-service"

I can't help but laugh at the very concept still to this day. Take your "service", and shove it.

[KTF26]

And I was Interested

[Godmars290]

As a multiplatform game...?

....

Know what? At this point who gives a f**k. This marks an individual studio offering a likely full retail product asking for an ongoing subscription with option to revoke access at their whim.

And some are going to defend them, because as a brand, they have history.

[NotanotherReboot]

no god no please no

[Doomeduk]

Now they're not tied to MS (or Nissan) they can't bankroll or take the risk on a game like QB having low sales like MS can

[Zjet]

Cool won't be buying this if it's online only just like Anthem, Destiny, Division, For Honor.

Stop giving single player games expiry dates.

[CaptainOmega]

The thing is I don't have enough time for GaaS. I play a game for a good 20-30hrs (40+ if it's an RPG).. and I move on after beating/platinum it. Don't really have an interest of going back to a game for content updates. Either the game has solid content out of the box or i'm not buying.

[CaptainOmega]

lol at that pathetic disagree. It's my preference. Wasn't speaking for anyone else.

[RainbowBrite]

When I saw that trailer at E3 there was something fishy... but I just couldn't exactly say what.

[Nodoze]

Well...there goes my interest.

[Hardiman]

It's too early to say "another one bites the dust " but we shall see!

Also I don't care what you call it but these practices are bad end of story.

[Larrysweet]

Another suck game like qb plus try steal all ur cash nope rip remedy

[medman]

If true, count me out as a potential purchaser of this game.

[AK91]

Goddamn it

[UCForce]

I’m tired of this Gaas BS.

@Kribwalker Yes, I did bought GT Sports which is Gaas game and I did enjoyed it, but later on I didn’t play the game that much. Most of my games that I purchased and played are all Single Player game focus. I did bought Destiny and Division which are Gaas games, but just like GT Sports i’m stopped playing those games later on. Right now, i’m mostly play Sniper Elite 4 and God of War.

[staticall]

«I'll pass GaaS!»
Never noticed how ambiguous this sounds

[Sm3000]

I way prefer physical media. GaaS isn't about that, so I'm not a fan. Sadly, more GaaS news is appearing by the day