Why Have Many of the Online Multiplayer Games of the Past Five Years Failed?

Here's a look at why so many online-multiplayer games from the past five years have struggled to retain players and their attention.

[ChasterMies]

Or put another way, why don’t people want to invest in an on-line storefront?

[sparky77]

It's simply FOMO.

Gamers always go back to their staples like COD or Fortnite. Those games have constant content and leaving them for another game means getting left behind. Why start a new game and be behind when you can stay with a game you already excel at.

[Number1TailzFan]

COD is replaced every year or almost every year, it has no time to hold a player base. 3-4 years is a good timeline for a sequel IMO if the game has enough content to begin with, maybe add a couple of free content updates a bit later after release if needed, and job done until the next game.

Soldier of Fortune 2 was one of my first few online FPS games apart from RTCW and a couple of others, and that had a couple of free patches which added in new weapons, maps and a new game mode in just a year or so. I hope the series makes a comeback, I heard MS owns it now and it has been dormant for a while.

The only sequel that came fast (just 1 year later) that impressed me with extra content over the original was L4D2, makes me wonder what happened with Valve. If they can do that in one year then what have they been doing since..

[-Foxtrot]

Because it's not about putting out a fully completed game packed with content and something that actually works

It's about putting something out broken and barebones, slowly drip feed content with a roadmap and offering tons of MTs which they hope people will buy.

I miss when you'd just get games like Killzone or Halo and they'd get a couple of DLC packs then the developers would move onto the next game. Problem is they started to be influenced by COD where future games had to have gimmicks, weapon mods, loadouts, killstreaks and other shit which just become about what you had unlocked rather than skill.

The last multiplayer game I really enjoyed was Uncharted 2s, it was literally just two boosters and everyone started with the same weapons. It was great and felt like it was more about skill but then we got Uncharted 3 and 4 where the COD influence creeped in thinking that everything had to be bigger rather than sticking to the fanbase they had.

[Nitrowolf2]

i agree. i used to love MP games for these titles, and be excited about the map packs and such. now it's we will release one mode and one map, and see how people take to the game. Flops? cool move on.

[isarai]

Even before the PS3 generation ended, I was already longing for a return to simplistic MP without all the XP, booster, perks, and ridiculous custom loadouts full of op exploitation. Like there's definitely a huge audience for that, but there's NO classic style simple MP modes anymore, I'm just asking for some

[ZeekQuattro]

Most people don't have the time to invest into playing multiple GAAS and stick to just one. It also doesn't help that so many games in that field only have a roadmap laid out for the first month or so. Hard to keep people invested when you don't give them a reason to stick around after the initial launch month.

[excaliburps]

Yep. I know what you mean. I can't play more than 1-2 live service games at a time (this includes shooters) since it's just so overwhelming.

[shinoff2183]

My theory , well online gaming just sucks, so many online games recently that if done the right way could've been dope ass single player games. One that comes to mind evil dead. What a waste of the title

[isarai]

Turns out building a game around monetization first rather than fun isn't...well....fun

Not to mention the market Is severely oversaturated

[jackbbach]

SEVERELY. I get that it's easy for companies to look at outliers like Fortnite and Warzone and DBD and think "that's where the money is," but the problem is that gamers just don't have the time to play every live service game at once. People have to pick and choose, and if you want your game to be chosen, it REALLY has to bring something to the table that other games can't or don't. Most games just don't do that. I hope that game companies pick up on this lesson soon.

[gold_drake]

people just dont have the time anymore.

and the newer generation of people are busy trying to make it on shit tiktok haha

[anast]

They are not games, they are monetization schemes. Once people spend their money, there is nothing else to do.

[Redgrave]

Battle passes, always online, predatory microtransaction practices, focus on cosmetics and in some cases pay to win features over game balance and playable content, low effort and low output... pick from a hat, really.

[Fluke_Skywalker]

The games are designed to make money first and be fun second. Gamers have finally figured that out and don't want to play that crap any more.