Every gamer knows at least one game that was hyped up at the beginning stages but then shortly after it just lost its entire fanbase. What might be the reason that some games just lose their player base in such a short time, especially some that gamers couldn’t wait to be launched? In the following, some mistakes that usually some game developers do that cause the game to fail will be mentioned so that new game developers avoid making. For a clearer understanding please watch the video below, but if you are a more of a reading type person read below: https://youtu.be/qJk6Rf09Sd0
1. Software Problems
– Bad Gameplay it’s for sure one of the main reasons why new games fail, it’s all due to the fact of how the game was developed. Usually, companies that have low resources try to push themselves to create a good game, but one thing is for sure low resources = can never produce a complex game successfully.
– Bugs related to bad gameplay but a bit different. It’s when the game even though it might look great produces some laggy features. Some parts of the game might respond more slowly and that might not be that much of a big deal when playing single-player such as story mode, but when it comes to competitive matchmaking the game to run smoothly is a must.
– Matchmaking problems, nowadays nearly every game is developed to be played online and that the most remarkable game feature a company can develop. As so if the matchmaking trait is not working properly, you are looking at losing your player base in a matter of 24h not even longer.
– Cheating loopholes, this problem is usually more visible at shooting games and it’s something ridiculous to happen right now with the advancement of tech. Usually, top tier shooting games when developing the game they also develop an anti-cheating engine in order do block any kind of cheating. Cheats just ruin a game and they trigger gamers like nothing else, so not allowing them to enter the game it’s a must.
– Peer to peer feature to put it simply, is the practice of players connecting to and relying on one another to maintain an online network, which makes it possible for game developers to not buy dedicated servers for the game. Likewise, even when explaining it you can hear how bad it sounds for nowadays gaming, so in 99% of the cases it causes the game to be an absolute failure.
– Wild Tech Requirements, I am not so much a programmer to know about algorithms or how a video game is built but I can say that whoever built Crysis its mad, the game still to this day burns GPU-s (just kidding everyone loves Crysis). But what I want to point out is to be careful with what graphical details you develop your video game, in order to reach a higher number of gamers its better to make it possible that your game can be played by also mid-range PCs.
2. Marketing Inefficiency
– Creating very high expectations through marketing campaigns before the launch of the game for the game to not be as advertised when its launched will put you through massive problems. There are many games out there that their marketing campaigns especially their trailers of the video game make the game look incredible before its launch. Though if the video game doesn’t look the same as in the trailer or ads it was promoted it will cause a havoc to the games reviews and sales.
– No fun updates to keep the players entertained. Updates are a sort of marketing campaign inside the video game, to make players keep playing. The best example can be Fortnite updates, they have listened to some weird ideas of their fans to include in the game some interesting skins, weapons, features. The reason why they listened to their fans its because the game has been launched in 2017, usually video games are playable on average for maximum 2 years so continuous fun improvements must be done to keep the fans entertained.
– Low interaction with players. Interacting with players throughout social media its key, usually through Twitter, listening to your fans problems or ideas to further improve the game does no harm. But the main thing is for your fans to feel like they are really part of the community, even if you become a big gaming conglomerate answering fans question it’s never a mistake. Always be humble and more importantly funny in the social media while interacting with your player base.
3. Costly Extra Features
– Expensive DLC packages. They can range from unnecessary skins to actual game modes that are exclusive unless you pay for them. There is not a single game that has succeeded in the long run when it required its gamers to pay huge amounts of money for some random features. Overall it’s safe to say that making the game as simple as possible to play its necessary even if there is a chance that you can literally get the game for free and play all its features for free, that’s only a big positive note.
– Extra required subscriptions in order to play online, all console gamers know this feeling and hate it. You have PlayStation who requires its gamers to pay around $60 on yearly basis just to have access to games online matchmaking, which is totally wrong personally that’s why I left the console. It is not that it is a huge amount but again it feels like you are paying an electricity bill it just catches onto your nerves, and you don’t benefit anything from it expect for some video games that not even their owners remember when they launched them.
4. Low Creativity on Game Modes
Not enough number of game features. Sometimes some game developers might simplify their game to an extreme level, such as offering only one game mode and that badly affects the player base. In some cases, only the Multiplayer mode is offered but this in most cases its what gamers want, but if you are offering only the online mode you have to really be creative and offer some creative features to it. In FIFA games for example you have a variety of online features, as a gamer you can play Ultimate Team, Seasons, Co-op career modes which are a lot. On top of that there are also different single play modes, so a mix between the too its highly recommended.
