For years now, studios have been chasing the unimaginable dream. Quite than giving video games one or two nice expansions, we’ve seen an increase in live-service video games trying to replicate the titanic success of video games like Fortnite. Although that continued in 2023 (particularly in Fortnite itself), this yr has seen a return to a extra conventional strategy to DLC and expansions — and that’s led to some unforgettable outcomes that show the facility of a centered replace.
The yr began sturdy with Useless Cells: Return to Castlevania and that momentum saved going sturdy via the tip of the yr with Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet: The Hidden Treasure of Space Zero, and God of Battle Ragnarok: Valhalla. Finally, this speaks to a future the place each can coexist. Not each recreation must relegate post-launch help to seasons upon seasons of road-mapped content material; generally, a meaty enlargement will be simply as compelling.
Contemplating that we’ve seen legacy studios like Naughty Canine and Rocksteady Video games battle to pivot to live-service gaming, it’s good to have a yr the place many extra conventional expansions got here out and have been well-received. Typically, I don’t need to play the identical recreation day-after-day for a complete month, however will return to it for a large enlargement that shakes the basics up drastically. Useless Cells: Return to Castlevania recontextualized the roguelike’s mechanics into the parameters of a collection the sport already took numerous inspiration from, whereas God of Battle Ragnarok: Valhalla adjustments the bottom recreation’s construction fully from linear single-player journey to roguelite.
These expansions may add large new areas to discover after an extended wait, like Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores bringing gamers to California, Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty including Dogtown, or each elements of The Hidden Treasure of Space Zero including Kitakami and Blueberry Academy. Then there’s the DLC that serves as and epilogue to the principle story. This yr, probably the most notable expansions that took that strategy have been Xenoblade Chronicle 3: Future Redeemed and, as soon as once more, God of Battle Ragnarok: Valhalla.
Whereas each of those might seem to be pleasant bonus continuations of the principle story for probably the most hardcore of followers, they’re truly epilogues of their respective franchises. They each exhibit that even story-driven video games are well-suited for expansions and DLC, whereas narrative-focused video games which have tried extra live-service-adjacent approaches, like Silent Hill: Ascension, have fallen flat this yr.
Whereas conventional expansions and DLC have by no means fully disappeared, they’d a robust resurgence in 2023. Cyberpunk 2077 even gained Finest Ongoing at The Sport Awards 2023 regardless of going up in opposition to titles like Fortnite and Genshin Impression. This revitalization is refreshing for these like myself who’re uninterested in an onslaught of seasonal updates and battle passes flooding most of the video games we play. Particularly for single-player video games, I like having a compelling motive to come back again and sink hours into the sport once more, even when I had deserted it for the months in-between.
I don’t suppose it’s a one-or-the-other scenario. Within the age of stay service, there’s a stability to be struck between ceaselessly updating video games and releasing complete expansions intermittently. Builders can discover methods to launch content-filled expansions constantly, as Movement Twin has with Useless Cells. Alternatively, titles like Future 2 and Diablo IV have proven that there are methods to combine in seasonal updates with greater expansions.
Builders can now replace video games every time they need. Phantom Liberty seems like such a revelation partially due to all of the work that went into fixing the bottom recreation with virtually three years of patches and smaller-scale updates. CD Projekt Crimson turned its recreation round as a result of it had the chance to supply constant updates and large game-changing expansions to gamers.
Builders are sticking round and supporting video games post-launch greater than they ever have earlier than, and 2023 signified that there are numerous methods builders can do that. As tasks like The Final of Us On-line get canceled as a result of their studios struggled to pursue the Fortnite-like live-service route too intently, this yr ought to function a reminder that each one sorts of post-launch help will be partaking in their very own methods and that the trendiest types of help aren’t the one methods to maintain followers taking part in after launch.