It is no secret that the industry is saturated with games as a service and free-to-play titles. Despite the fact that everyone is looking for a hit like Fortnite, the reality is that few succeed and, on most occasions, fail with catastrophic results.
According to analyst Tom Wijman, of the firm Newzoo, 2024 will have a different trend, as many companies will move away from games-as-a-service and free-to-play to bet on the standard premium model. However, this does not mean that games as a service's days are numbered.
Studios will bet less on games as a service in 2024, analyst says
From Wijman's perspective, more and more studios will think twice about the idea of making a game as a service. He believes that in 2024 many companies will prefer to create titles and sell them under the standard model rather than betting on live platforms and free-to-play.
The reason? The saturation in the industry of this type of productions. The analyst assured that people's gaming time is monopolized by approximately 19 titles, which "monopolize" players' attention.
Wijman thinks that, despite the change in trend, games as a service will continue to be hugely successful and will be the most enjoyed during 2024.
"Live services will continue to be massively successful and dominate top played and grossing charts, undoubtedly, but not every studio will want to develop a live service game anymore. Developers and publishers will pivot back to premium game development.
"Oversaturation in the PC and console markets is evident, with a handful of titles monopolizing playtime; 60% of playtime is eaten up by 19 games and 75% by the top 33 by playtime," the analyst explained.
Due to the above, Wijman believes that 2024 will be a challenging year for some companies, especially for those that already have games as a service planned for the coming months. The most obvious case is PlayStation, which has already stumbled and is still entering this sector.
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