A recent study conducted by Griffin Gaming Partners has revealed that a significant 95% of game developers are either actively engaged in the development or maintenance of live service games. This finding is part of the comprehensive 2023 Game Development Report, a collaborative effort with Rendered VC, which gathered insights from 537 studios worldwide.
A noteworthy discovery from the survey is that 66% of the respondents believe that integrating live services is crucial for achieving sustained success with their titles over the long term. The report defines live services as a consistent and planned update cadence for a game.
Drawing a distinction between traditional game development and live production, the report highlights that while conventional game development typically spans two to three years, live service production extends beyond five years.
The survey emphasizes that multi-year game development follows a structured process with planned milestones, akin to a waterfall approach. In contrast, live services entail an ongoing cycle of planning and adjusting game parameters to enhance the player experience. Simultaneously, these teams continuously design and deploy new features to provide added value to players.
Moreover, the report underscores the demand for increased speed in content releases by live service teams. Industry-wide, these teams expressed their preference for ideal production schedules, advocating for weekly to biweekly cadences for live operations and biweekly to monthly schedules for game content updates.
This rapid pace of live service production, occurring within the broader context of game development that spans multiple years, is described as moving at a breakneck speed, signifying the dynamic nature of the live service landscape in the gaming industry.
