Game As A Service
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In the
video game industry The video game industry encompasses the development, marketing, and monetization of video games. The industry encompasses dozens of job disciplines and thousands of jobs worldwide. The video game industry has grown from niches to mainstream. , ...
, games as a service (GaaS) represents providing video games or game content on a continuing revenue model, similar to
software as a service Software as a service (SaaS ) is a software licensing and delivery model in which software is licensed on a subscription basis and is centrally hosted. SaaS is also known as "on-demand software" and Web-based/Web-hosted software. SaaS is con ...
. Games as a service are ways to monetize video games either after their initial sale, or to support a
free-to-play Free-to-play (F2P or FtP) video games are games that give players access to a significant portion of their content without paying or do not require paying to continue playing. Free-to-play is distinct from traditional commercial software, which ...
model. Games released under the GaaS model typically receive a long or indefinite stream of monetized new content over time to encourage players to continue paying to support the game. This often leads to games that work under a GaaS model to be called "living games", "live games", or "live service games" since they continually change with these updates.


History and forms

The idea of games as a service began with the introduction of
massively multiplayer online game A massively multiplayer online game (MMOG or more commonly MMO) is an online video game with a large number of players, often hundreds or thousands, on the same server. MMOs usually feature a huge, persistent world, persistent open world, alt ...
s (MMOs) like ''
World of Warcraft ''World of Warcraft'' (''WoW'') is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) released in 2004 by Blizzard Entertainment. Set in the ''Warcraft'' fantasy universe, ''World of Warcraft'' takes place within the world of Azeroth ...
'', where the game's subscription model approach assured continued revenues to the developer and publisher to create new content. Over time, new forms of offering continued GaaS revenues have come about. A significant impact on the use of GaaS was the expansion of
mobile gaming A mobile game, or smartphone game, is a video game that is typically played on a mobile phone. The term also refers to all games that are played on any portable device, including from mobile phone (feature phone or smartphone), tablet, PDA to h ...
which often include a social element, such as playing or competing with friends, and with players wanting to buy into GaaS to continue to play with friends. Chinese publisher
Tencent Tencent Holdings Ltd. () is a Chinese multinational technology and entertainment conglomerate and holding company headquartered in Shenzhen. It is one of the highest grossing multimedia companies in the world based on revenue. It is also the w ...
was one of the first companies to jump onto this around 2007 and 2008, establishing several different ways to monetize their products as a service to Chinese players which typically play on phone or at
internet café An Internet café, also known as a cybercafé, is a café (or a convenience store or a fully dedicated Internet access business) that provides the use of computers with high bandwidth Internet access on the payment of a fee. Usage is generally ...
s rather than on consoles or computers, and since has become the world's largest video game publisher in terms of revenue. Another influential game establishing games as a service was ''
Team Fortress 2 ''Team Fortress 2'' is a 2007 multiplayer first-person shooter, first-person shooter game developed and published by Valve Corporation. It is the sequel to the 1996 ''Team Fortress'' Mod (video gaming), mod for ''Quake (video game), Quake'' and ...
''. To fight against a shrinking player-base,
Valve A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically fittings ...
released the first of several free updates in 2008, the "Gold Rush Update" which featured new weapons and cosmetic skins that could be unlocked through in-game achievements. Further updates added similar weapons which starting include monetization options, such as buying virtual keys to open in-game loot boxes. Valve began earning enough from these revenues to transition ''Team Fortress 2'' to a free-to-play title. Valve carried this principle over to '' Counter-Strike: Global Offensive'' and to ''
Dota 2 ''Dota 2'' is a 2013 multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) video game by Valve. The game is a sequel to ''Defense of the Ancients'' (''DotA''), a community-created mod for Blizzard Entertainment's '' Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos.'' ''Dota 2' ...
'', the latter which was in competition with ''
League of Legends ''League of Legends'' (''LoL''), commonly referred to as ''League'', is a 2009 multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Riot Games. Inspired by ''Defense of the Ancients'', a Mod (video games), custom map for War ...
'' by
Riot Games Riot Games, Inc. is an American video game developer, publisher and esports tournament organizer based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in September 2006 by Brandon Beck and Marc Merrill to develop ''League of Legends'' and went on t ...
. ''League of Legends'', which had already had a microtransaction model in place, established a constant push of new content on a more frequent basis (in this case, the release of a new hero each week for several years straight) to compete, creating the concept of lifestyle games such as ''
Destiny Destiny, sometimes referred to as fate (from Latin ''fatum'' "decree, prediction, destiny, fate"), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. Fate Although often ...
'' and ''
Tom Clancy's The Division ''Tom Clancy's The Division'' is an online-only action role-playing video game developed by Massive Entertainment and published in 2016 by Ubisoft, for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. It is set in a near future New York City in ...
''. Some examples include: ;Game subscriptions :Many
massively multiplayer online game A massively multiplayer online game (MMOG or more commonly MMO) is an online video game with a large number of players, often hundreds or thousands, on the same server. MMOs usually feature a huge, persistent world, persistent open world, alt ...
s (MMOs) use monthly subscription models. Revenue from these subscriptions pay for the computer servers used to run the game, the people that manage and oversee the game on a daily basis, and the introduction of new content into the game. Several MMOs offer an initial trial period that allow players to try the game for a limited amount of time, or until their character reaches an
experience level An experience point (often abbreviated as exp or XP) is a unit of measurement used in some tabletop role-playing games (RPGs) and role-playing video games to quantify a player character's life experience and progression through the game. Experien ...
cap, after which they are required to pay to continue to play. ;Game subscription services :
Subscription services The subscription business model is a business model in which a customer must pay a recurring price at regular intervals for access to a product or service. The model was pioneered by publishers of books and periodicals in the 17th century, and ...
like
EA Play EA Play (formerly EA Access and Origin Access) is a subscription-based video game service from Electronic Arts for the Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and Microsoft Windows platforms, offering access to selected games pu ...
and
Xbox Game Pass Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass are video game subscription services from Microsoft. Both services grant users access to a rotating catalog of games from a range of publishers and other premium services, including Xbox Live Gold and EA Play, for ...
grant subscribers complete access to a large library of games offered digitally with no limitations. User need to download these games to their local computer or console to play. However, users must remain subscribed to play these games; the games are protected by
digital rights management Digital rights management (DRM) is the management of legal access to digital content. Various tools or technological protection measures (TPM) such as access control technologies can restrict the use of proprietary hardware and copyrighted works. ...
that requires an active account to play. New games are typically added to the service, and in some cases, games may leave the service, after which subscribers will be unable to play that title. Such services may offer the ability to purchase these titles to own and allow them to play outside of the subscription service. ;
Cloud gaming Cloud gaming, sometimes called gaming on demand or gaming-as-a-service or game streaming, is a type of online gaming that runs video games on remote servers and streams them directly to a user's device, or more colloquially, playing a game rem ...
/ gaming on demand :Services like
PlayStation Now PlayStation Now (PS Now) was a standalone video game subscription service the first on consoles developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The service offered cloud gaming for PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable a ...
,
Stadia Stadia may refer to: * One of the plurals of stadium, along with "stadiums" * The plural of stadion, an ancient Greek unit of distance, which equals to 600 Greek feet (''podes''). * Stadia (Caria), a town of ancient Caria, now in Turkey * Stadi ...
or GameFly allow players to play games that are run on remote servers on local devices, eliminating the need for specialized console hardware or powerful personal computers, outside of the necessary bandwidth for Internet connectivity. These otherwise operate similar to game services, in that the library of available titles may be added to or removed from over time, depending on the service. ;
Microtransaction Microtransactions, often abbreviated as mtx, are a business model where users can purchase virtual goods with micropayments. Microtransactions are often used in free-to-play games to provide a revenue source for the developers. While microtransact ...
s :Microtransactions represent low-cost purchases, compared to the cost of a full game or a large
expansion pack An expansion pack, expansion set, supplement, or simply expansion is an addition to an existing role-playing game, tabletop game, video game or collectible card game. These add-ons usually add new game areas, weapons, objects, characters, or an ...
, that provide some form of additional content to the purchaser. The type of content can vary from additional
downloadable content Downloadable content (DLC) is additional content created for an already released video game, distributed through the Internet by the game's publisher. It can either be added for no extra cost or it can be a form of video game monetization, enablin ...
; new maps and levels for multiplayer games; new items, weapons, vehicles, clothing, or other gear for the player's character;
power-up In video games, a power-up is an object that adds temporary benefits or extra abilities to the player character as a game mechanic. This is in contrast to an item, which may or may not have a permanent benefit that can be used at any time chosen ...
s and temporary buffs; in-game currency, and elements like
loot box In video games, a loot box (also called a loot crate or prize crate) is a consumable virtual item which can be redeemed to receive a randomised selection of further virtual items, or Loot (video gaming), loot, ranging from simple customization ...
es that provide a random assortment of items and rewards. Players do not necessarily need to purchase these items with real-world funds to acquire them. However, a game's design and financial approach that aims to provide ongoing service is aimed to assure that a small fraction of players will purchase this content immediately rather than grinding through the game for a long time to obtain it. These select "whales" providing sufficient revenue to support further development of new content. This approach is generally how free-to-play games like ''
Puzzle & Dragons is a puzzle video game with role-playing and strategy elements, developed and published by GungHo Online Entertainment for the iOS, Android, and Amazon Fire platforms. ''Puzzle & Dragons'' is a match-three puzzle game, requiring players t ...
'', '' Candy Crush Saga'', and ''
League of Legends ''League of Legends'' (''LoL''), commonly referred to as ''League'', is a 2009 multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Riot Games. Inspired by ''Defense of the Ancients'', a Mod (video games), custom map for War ...
'' support their ongoing development, as well as used atop full-priced games like ''
Grand Theft Auto Online ''Grand Theft Auto Online'' is an online multiplayer action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It was released on 1 October 2013 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, 18 November 2014 for PlayStation 4 and Xbo ...
''. ; Season passes :Games with season passes provide one or more large content updates over the course of about a year, or a "season" in these terms. Players must buy into a season pass to access this new content; the game remains playable if players do not purchase the season pass and do gain benefit of core improvements to the game, but they are unable to access new maps, weapons, quests, game modes, or other gameplay elements without this content. Games like ''
Destiny Destiny, sometimes referred to as fate (from Latin ''fatum'' "decree, prediction, destiny, fate"), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. Fate Although often ...
'' and its sequel and ''
Anno 1800 ''Anno 1800'' is a city-building real-time strategy video game, developed by Blue Byte and published by Ubisoft, and launched on April 16, 2019. It is the seventh game in the '' Anno'' series, and returns to the use of a historical setting fo ...
'' use this season pass approach. A related concept is the
battle pass In the video game industry, a battle pass is a type of monetization approach that provides additional content for a game usually through a tiered system, rewarding the player with in-game items for playing the game and completing specific chal ...
which provides new customization options that a player can earn by completing challenges in a game, but only if they have bought into the battle pass; content on a battle pass is typically only obtainable during a limited time. Battle passes can be seen in games such as ''
Dota 2 ''Dota 2'' is a 2013 multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) video game by Valve. The game is a sequel to ''Defense of the Ancients'' (''DotA''), a community-created mod for Blizzard Entertainment's '' Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos.'' ''Dota 2' ...
'', ''
Rocket League ''Rocket League'' is a vehicular soccer video game developed and published by Psyonix. The game was first released for Windows and PlayStation 4 in July 2015, with ports for Xbox One and Nintendo Switch being released later on. In June 2016, ...
'', ''
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege ''Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege'' is an online tactical shooter video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It was released worldwide for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on December 1, 2015; the game was ...
'' and ''
Fortnite Battle Royale ''Fortnite Battle Royale'' is a free-to-play battle royale video game developed and published by Epic Games. It is a companion game to '' Fortnite: Save the World'', a cooperative survival game with construction elements. It was initially re ...
''. ;
Blockchain game Video games that include elements that use blockchain technologies, including cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), allow players to buy, sell, or trade in-game items with other players. The game publisher takes a fee from each trans ...
:Games which use technology based on
blockchain A blockchain is a type of distributed ledger technology (DLT) that consists of growing lists of records, called ''blocks'', that are securely linked together using cryptography. Each block contains a cryptographic hash of the previous block, a ...
strategies, which can include
cryptocurrency A cryptocurrency, crypto-currency, or crypto is a digital currency designed to work as a medium of exchange through a computer network that is not reliant on any central authority, such as a government or bank, to uphold or maintain it. It i ...
and
non-fungible token A non-fungible token (NFT) is a unique digital identifier that cannot be copied, substituted, or subdivided, that is recorded in a blockchain, and that is used to certify authenticity and ownership. The ownership of an NFT is recorded in the b ...
s (NFTs). In contrast to microtransactions in which players can buy but not usually capable of trading items with other players, blockchain games encourage players to create value with blockchain items and trade and sell these, with the developer or publisher taking a small fee on each transaction. As blockchain items assure a singular owner, this can lead to high-selling items due to speculative buyers. As of 2021, blockchain games have yet to catch on due to the stigmas associated with cryptocurrency and NFTs but major publishers have expressed interest in exploring blockchain features. Some notable blockchain games include ''
CryptoKitties ''CryptoKitties'' is a blockchain game on Ethereum developed by Canadian studio Dapper Labs, a company spun-off from Axiom Zen, that allows players to purchase, collect, breed and sell virtual cats. It is one of the earliest attempts to deploy bloc ...
'' and ''
Axie Infinity ''Axie Infinity'' is a non-fungible token-based online video game developed by Vietnamese studio Sky Mavis, known for its in-game economy which uses Ethereum-based cryptocurrencies. Players of Axie Infinity collect and mint NFTs which represent ...
''. Games may combine one or more of these forms. A common example are lifestyle games, which provide rotating daily content, which frequently reward the player with in-game currency to buy new equipment (otherwise purchasable with real-world funds), and extended by updates to the overall game. Examples of such lifestyle games include ''
Destiny Destiny, sometimes referred to as fate (from Latin ''fatum'' "decree, prediction, destiny, fate"), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. Fate Although often ...
'', ''
Destiny 2 ''Destiny 2'' is a free-to-play Online game, online-only multiplayer first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie. It was originally released as a pay to play game in 2017 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows. It became free-to-play, ...
'', and many MMORPGs like ''
World of Warcraft ''World of Warcraft'' (''WoW'') is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) released in 2004 by Blizzard Entertainment. Set in the ''Warcraft'' fantasy universe, ''World of Warcraft'' takes place within the world of Azeroth ...
''.


Rationale

The principal reason that many developers and publishers have adopted GaaS is financial, giving them the ability to capture more revenue from the market than with a single release title (otherwise known as "games as a product"). While not all players will be willing to spend additional money to gain new content, there can be enough demand from a smaller population of players to support the service model. For example, for ''World of Warcraft'', it was estimated on the basis of
average revenue per user Average revenue per user (ARPU), sometimes known as average revenue per unit, is a measure used primarily by consumer communications, digital media, and networking companies, defined as the total revenue divided by the number of subscribers. The t ...
(ARPU), that only 5% of the game's population paid 20 times more than the baseline ARPU, sufficient to continue ongoing development of the game. GaaS further represents a means by which games can improve their reputation to critics and players by continued improvements over time, using revenues earned from GaaS monetization to support the continued development and to draw in new sales for the product. Titles like ''
Diablo III ''Diablo III'' is a hack-and-slash action role-playing game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment as the third installment in the Diablo (series), ''Diablo'' franchise. It was released for Microsoft Windows and OS X in May 2012, Play ...
'' and ''
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege ''Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege'' is an online tactical shooter video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It was released worldwide for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on December 1, 2015; the game was ...
'' are examples of games offering GaaS which initially launched with lukewarm reception but have been improved with continued service improvements. Games as a service also impacts the development process for games. When developing a game as a product, there is generally a linear flow of tasks to assure that the product shipped is free of software bugs and other problems that may exist, which can be both time consuming and costly to test for. If there are critical bugs found post-release, this can also be costly to develop, test, and distribute software updates to rectify. In developing games as a service, where consumer expectation is already set to expect continual updates to the game, the rigor on software testing in the early stages of release may be forgone as to get the title out to players faster, accepting that software bugs may be present but will be fixed when the next update is released. Further, games developed as a service are more commonly driven by player feedback, so initial iterations of a game's release may be lightweight to be used as a foundation to build upon based on the game's community. This can further shorten the initial development cycle of a game. However, games as a service also increased overall development effort as there are usually two or more concurrent tracks to support a game; one working to support the current available release, and others that are working on the future content that will be added to the game. While the games as a service model is aimed to extend revenues, the model also aimed to eliminate legal issues related to
software license A software license is a legal instrument (usually by way of contract law, with or without printed material) governing the use or redistribution of software. Under United States copyright law, all software is copyright protected, in both source ...
s, specifically the concept of software ownership versus license. Case law for video games remains unclear whether retail and physical game products qualify as goods or services. If treated as goods, the purchaser gains several rights, in particular those related to the
first-sale doctrine The first-sale doctrine (also sometimes referred to as the "right of first sale" or the "first sale rule") is an American legal concept that limits the rights of an intellectual property owner to control resale of products embodying its intellec ...
which allows them to resell or trade these games, which can subsequently affect sales revenue to publishers. The industry has generally considered that physical games are a service, enforced through
End-user license agreement An end-user license agreement or EULA () is a legal contract between a software supplier and a customer or end-user, generally made available to the customer via a retailer acting as an intermediary. A EULA specifies in detail the rights and restr ...
s (EULA)s to try to limit post-sale activities, but these have generally not been enforceable since they affect consumers' rights, leading to confusion in the area. Instead, by transitioning to games as a service, where there is a clear service being offered, publishers and developers can clearly establish their works as services rather than goods. This further gives publishers more control over the use of the software and what actions users can do through an enforceable EULA, such as preventing
class action lawsuit A class action, also known as a class-action lawsuit, class suit, or representative action, is a type of lawsuit where one of the parties is a group of people who are represented collectively by a member or members of that group. The class action ...
s. GaaS can reduce unauthorized copying. Also, certain games can be hosted in a cloud server, eliminating the need for installation in players' computers and consoles.


Impact

Industry analysis firm
Digital River Digital River is a private company that provides global e-commerce, payments and marketing services. In 2013, Digital River processed more than $30 billion in online transactions. Digital River is headquartered in Minnetonka, Minnesota. Compan ...
estimated that by 2016, 25% of the revenue of games on personal computers results from one form or another of GaaS. The firm argued that this reflects on consumers that want more out of games that are otherwise offered at full price ( at the time of the report) or will look for discounts, thus making the market ripe for post-release monetization. Several major publishers, including
Square Enix is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational holding company, production enterprise and entertainment conglomerate, best known for its ''Final Fantasy'', ''Dragon Quest'', ''Star Ocean'' and ''Kingdom Hearts'' role-playing video game ...
,
Ubisoft Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Assassin's Creed'', ''Far Cry'', '' ...
, and
Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the d ...
have identified GaaS as a significant focus of their product lines in 2017, while others like
Activision Blizzard Activision Blizzard, Inc. is an American video game holding company based in Santa Monica, California. It was founded in July 2008 through the merger of Activision, Inc. (the publicly traded parent company of Activision Publishing) and Vivendi ...
and
Take-Two Interactive Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. is an American video game holding company based in New York City and founded by Ryan Brant in September 1993. The company owns two major publishing labels, Rockstar Games and 2K, which operate internal g ...
recognize the importance of post-release support of a game to their financial bottom lines. GaaS is also seen as a developing avenue for
indie video games Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Gaming * Independent video game development, video games created without financial backing from large companies * Indie game, any game (boa ...
, which frequently have a wider potential install base (across computer, consoles, and mobile devices) that they can draw service revenues from. A study by DFC Intelligence in 2018 found Electronic Arts' value rose from to $33 billion since 2012, while Activision Blizzard saw its value rise from $20 billion to $60 billion in the same period, with both increases attributed in part to the use of the GaaS model in their games catalog. Electronic Arts had earned $2 billion from GaaS transactions in 2018.


References

{{Video game monetization Video game terminology As a service