All articles tagged with #live service
Bungie is restoring vaulted Destiny 2 content for free but confirms no regular live-service updates will resume. The studio is shifting focus to evolving Marathon into a broader survival experience while acknowledging past failures in player retention.
Embark Studios is launching the 'Frozen Trail' update for Arc Raiders on October 8, introducing a new map, enemies, and a hybrid battle pass system. While the update is free, a new 'Reward Pass' includes a premium track costing 1,150 Raider Tokens (approx. $10) for cosmetic-only rewards. The update also features a new outpost system, weapon amplification, and a grappling hook, marking a significant shift in the game's live-service roadmap.
Bandai Namco’s Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve arrives October 2, 2026, marking the first mainline entry in seven years. The game shifts to a first-person perspective, introduces a new 'Cloudly' weather engine, and features the series' largest multiplayer mode, Ace Combat Online, which includes 100-player lobbies and co-op missions. While praised for immersive dogfighting, the title faces scrutiny over its live-service structure, including two-month seasons and a battle pass, amidst industry concerns about sustainability.
Amir Satvat of ASGC says Capcom, Konami, and Nintendo maintain 97%+ staff retention by running lean teams, paying executives far less, and avoiding the live-service trend; this contrasts with widespread layoffs and Tim Sweeney’s doom forecasts, suggesting Japan’s IP‑driven, sequels-first strategy yields stability amid global industry volatility.
Amir Satvat of ASGC explains that Japanese game studios typically run smaller, leaner teams and avoid the mega live-service projects that driven Western layoffs, while keeping executive pay at a few million rather than tens of millions. He notes staff retention of 97%+ at Nintendo, Konami, and Capcom, and that most industry job cuts in 2026 have been in North America and Europe. The piece suggests this lean, specialist-focused model could offer resilience amid the broader industry downturn, even though layoffs still occur in Japan.
Insider Gaming reports that Ananta, from Naked Rain and NetEase, will launch next year as a free-to-play open-world adventure with a live-service model, featuring at least 100 hours of content and ongoing post-launch updates (quests, characters, maps) planned for at least seven years, potentially extending to 2034 and beyond.
Bandai Namco unveils Ace Combat Online for Ace Combat 8 — a live-service companion featuring PvE and PvPvE modes, 4v4 and eight-player battles, a social hub to hang out with arcade machines and a jukebox, limited-time missions, and a two-month battle-pass that unlocks new aircraft and cosmetics to incentivize long-term play.
Former Arkane Austin leads Harvey Smith, Ben Horne, and Ricardo Bare to launch Black Pony Immersive, promising to avoid the live-service mistakes that doomed Redfall and instead pursue passion projects rooted in Deus Ex and Dishonored.
Guerrilla Games is scrapping the live-service model for Horizon Hunters Gathering and redesigning it as a traditional multiplayer game with a story mode and reduced scope; the overhaul began in June, staff are being reassigned with a December milestone, and a smaller team remains on a single-player sequel, as Sony contends with broader live-service challenges.
Bloomberg reports that Sony’s Horizon Hunters Gathering, a live-service spin-off of Horizon, is being redesigned to remove live-service elements in favor of a smaller cooperative multiplayer with a story mode after negative private playtest feedback. The game isn’t canceled yet, but most of the team is being reassigned and must convince executives by December; Sony has not publicly commented.
Guerrilla Games reportedly scales back Horizon Hunters Gathering from a live-service title to a traditional co-op game with a story mode after negative closed-test feedback, redeploying staff as the Horizon sequel remains years away. A separate Horizon multiplayer project for PC and mobile is handled by NCSoft, underscoring Sony’s ongoing, costly push into live-service games amid mixed results.
Horizon Hunters Gathering is reportedly being rebuilt from a live-service game into a smaller, story-led multiplayer co-op title by Guerrilla Games, with a December deadline to impress PlayStation, as Sony recalibrates its struggling live-service strategy.
Shigeru Miyamoto argues Nintendo stays resilient by prioritizing 'fun to play' over chasing trends, avoiding live-service games, and focusing on accessible hardware and experiences rather than specs—explaining why Nintendo stays out of the industry’s doom headlines while peers chase risky bets.
Windows Central reports Marathon’s Steam concurrent players have collapsed (roughly 6,000 at peak) compared with Destiny 2’s ~60,000, highlighting Bungie’s pivot from Destiny to Marathon, recent layoffs, and a declining valuation after Sony’s $3.6B acquisition. With Marathon’s game director Joseph Ziegler departed and a two-week limited PvE mode added to Marathon, the studio’s long-term future looks uncertain, potentially as a support studio rather than a leading live-service developer.
Ubisoft says it will reduce reliance on new game launches and instead emphasize its back catalog and live-service offerings to drive revenue, as part of a broader restructuring and cost-cutting program aimed at delivering sustainable performance in a competitive market.