game longevity Archives

AppWizard

July 21, 2025

Ubisoft’s Guillemot: “Support for all games cannot last forever”

Yves Guillemot, CEO of Ubisoft, discussed the challenges of service-based games during an investor meeting, stating that "nothing is eternal" in the gaming industry. He addressed concerns from shareholders about the Stop Killing Games petition, which calls for the continued availability of purchased games. Guillemot mentioned that Ubisoft is working on solutions to lessen the impact of game deprecation on players, citing The Crew's availability for offline play as an example. He also noted a promotional event in September 2024 for The Crew 2. Guillemot acknowledged that the issue of game longevity is not unique to Ubisoft and that all video game publishers face similar challenges. He explained that as technology evolves, software can become obsolete, leading to the discontinuation of services. He emphasized Ubisoft's commitment to ensuring a positive experience for players amid these industry changes.

AppWizard

March 19, 2025

Report: There are 908 Million PC Gamers

Ben Porter, Director at NewZoo, reported that the number of PC gamers increased from 873.5 million in 2023 to 907.5 million in 2024, surpassing the console market's estimated 653.1 million players. The majority of player hours in 2024 were spent on older live service games, with 67 percent dedicated to titles six years or older, 25 percent to games aged two to five years, and only eight percent to newer games under two years old. The most played titles included Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Counter-Strike 2 at 7.1 percent of total hours, League of Legends at 6.4 percent, Roblox at 6.2 percent, Dota 2 at 5.8 percent, and Fortnite at 5.4 percent.

AppWizard

August 1, 2024

Palworld’s community manager says our ‘dead game’ fixation is ruining gaming: ‘I don’t think it really serves anyone to push gamers to play the same game, day in and day out’

John "Bucky" Buckley, the community manager for Pocketpair's Palworld, discussed the concept of "dead games" in a conversation with the YouTube channel Going Indie. He challenged the idea that a game's success is solely based on maintaining a high player count, suggesting that players should feel free to take breaks from games without judgment. Buckley noted that Palworld's player base had decreased from millions to tens of thousands, which he still considers a strong figure. He criticized the "dead game" discourse as "lazy" and emphasized that it's unhealthy for both gamers and developers to feel pressured to continuously engage with the same game. Buckley warned that this pressure could lead to the creation of "soulless live service games" that fail shortly after launch. He pointed out a shift in the gaming industry's narrative due to the rise of games-as-services, which impose unrealistic expectations on games to sustain player engagement indefinitely. Buckley advocates for supporting indie games, regardless of their player counts, to help reshape industry conversations.