Survey: 95% Of Game Studios Have Live Service Titles Planned For The Future

A new survey conducted by Griffin Gaming Partners and Rendered VC has revealed that 95% of global game studios are currently working on a live service title or are planning to develop one. According to the 2023 Game Development Report, 537 developers were a part of this survey conducted by the firm and a massive 65% are actively working on a live service game.

On the other hand, 30% of the studios involved in the research plan to release regular update cadences for their games (which is the survey’s definition of a live service title). However, even with such dominance over the industry, 68% of the producers believe their studios are not suitable for the development of these titles and could suffer from issues like technical debt. Rendered VC partner Jiten Dajee further explained this aspect:

Games with live-service dependent go-to-market strategies require developer efficiency that today’s game tech isn’t built to deliver. Some teams fall flat. Others build new best-practices and invest in emerging tools to run circles around their competitors. Those are the companies of the future.”

Furthermore, even the larger studios struggle while developing live service games as the report states that 53% of major developers acquire debt while working on these titles. But, even with such difficulty in developing these games, 66% of the studios agreed that they are absolutely necessary for the gaming industry in the long term.

The Game Development Report also sheds some light on the production cycles of these live service games. Normally, video games take 2 to 3 years to develop while these live service titles can take up to five years. And, after release studios have to work non-stop to improve the game and keep it fresh for the players.

Production in live services is a constant state of planning & adjusting game parameters to enhance player experience while designing and deploying new features to add new player value. Live service teams reported their ideal production schedules as biweekly to monthly for game content updates. In the context of game development, which typically spans multiple years, live service production schedules are moving at breakneck speed.”

As per the report, this survey interviewed many people from respected studios like Electronic Arts, Bandai Namco, and Second Dinner, the developer of Marvel Snap. Hence, this thorough report confirms one thing, live service titles are here to stay and aren’t going anywhere for the foreseeable future.