I made a thread over at r/forza about post-release support in Forza games. I’d be interested to hear your guys opinion on this. Also wasn’t sure if this was the right place to post this. Either way, here goes.
Games as a Service.
It’s been a trend amongst AAA games for a few years now. We’ve seen how successful it can be, just look at GTA 5, Destiny, Overwatch etc etc. Recently Microsoft has been experimenting with there tent-pole franchises using this model, with Halo 5 & Gears of War 4. Forza has yet to make this transition, so this got me thinking about an interesting discussion point; What would you prefer? The post-launch model we currently have or a GaaS based model? And why? Also do you think it’ll change?
The way I see it, Forza’s current model is…
In-Game Economy: Very-Generous
DLC: Paid Car Packs for 10 months. First 6 months is car pass, last 4 aren’t.
Expansions: At least 2. Tracks would be a part of the expansions in Forza Motorsport (like FM6)
Microtransactions: Not in at launch, added in a couple months later. (Like FH2,Fh3,FM6)
Content Updates: A few medium sized updates in October-December period post launch with a couple of small features and a few bug fixes. Past this, support in terms of new features & bug fixes is almost non-existent (bar FM6’s Replay updates)
Length of Support: Support ends a month or two before the next game is ready to come out
With Forza as a GaaS, it could be like this…(rough approximation)
In-Game Economy: Stingy
DLC: “Free” Cars! (have to purchased with in-game currency like GTA’s expansions)
Expansions: Three or more (as the game is being supported for longer) . Tracks would be free in Forza Motorsport games.
Microtransactions: In at Launch
Content Updates: More frequent content updates with bigger features, more content and a more fixes (as a larger team is working on post-release content)
Length of Support: Support continues on past the usual 10 month mark, cars and expansions still release even after a new title has come out.
I made a poll about it too. Link: http://www.strawpoll.me/12541514/r
Also, I’m not saying one model is objectively better than the other because this is a matter of subjectivity. I think both have there merits and both have there pitfalls (depends on the game, too), I was just interested to see what the community like would think about this topic.
Anyway please discuss, I’m interested to hear your opinions on this