Sims 4 may be here for quite awhile.
“In a recent article by gamesindustry.biz, Maxis VP/GM Catharina Mallet states that Maxis is committed to a “long term” nurture of The Sims 4 community. How long is “long term? Well according to Catha...
Forum Discussion
This is one of my favorite trends in gaming, where companies walk a line between a live-service game (ew) and a "rush out a new franchise title every year" (ew.)
The sweet spot's right in the middle. It's the "model trains at the hobby shop" business model, where you sell the basic kit for dirt cheap (Paradox even took this to its logical conclusion when it made Crusader Kings 2's basegame free-to-play) and then put out a wide variety of add-ons to suit your customer base's playstyles.
Some people complain that this is a fine way to get $600 out of someone when you used to get $40 out of them (valid), others complain that the DLC is all stuff they don't care about (also valid), others just complain because anything that costs money sets off their sense of entitlement (not valid.)
But personally, I love this trend, and I have a couple of games—though not too many, I can only afford so many lifestyle games!—that work on this principle, from Sims 4 to the Truck Simulator games to Crusader Kings 2 (and now 3.)
The sweet spot's right in the middle. It's the "model trains at the hobby shop" business model, where you sell the basic kit for dirt cheap (Paradox even took this to its logical conclusion when it made Crusader Kings 2's basegame free-to-play) and then put out a wide variety of add-ons to suit your customer base's playstyles.
Some people complain that this is a fine way to get $600 out of someone when you used to get $40 out of them (valid), others complain that the DLC is all stuff they don't care about (also valid), others just complain because anything that costs money sets off their sense of entitlement (not valid.)
But personally, I love this trend, and I have a couple of games—though not too many, I can only afford so many lifestyle games!—that work on this principle, from Sims 4 to the Truck Simulator games to Crusader Kings 2 (and now 3.)
