It's safe to say that plenty of gamers aren't fans of episodic releases. Apart from Telltale Games – and even then it took until The Walking Dead to get people on board – developers always seem to get a hard time whenever they opt for a less conventional release system. Sure, you could say that Life is Strange or King's Quest are both episodic, but they're essentially Telltale games, too; story-driven adventures that replace actual combat or action with quick-time events, boasting dialogue trees and puzzles aplenty.
I'm talking about different genres experimenting with episodic releases, primarily Hitman. I understand that it's early days for the game so far, but when it was delayed back in December last year, IO Interactive must've felt that its project wouldn't work as a full $60 release, and opted for a different approach, making Agent 47's latest adventure more of a "platform" for new levels than a game, similar to Harmonix and Activision's ideas for Rock Band 4 and Guitar Hero Live respectively.
And it's working. Seeing how gloriously good Sapienza turned out to be – ahem – shows that making a game episodic, and not having to rush out all of the content by a certain time, gives developers plenty of breathing room to innovate and craft the game that they truly envisaged in the beginning. Hitman's vague release schedule – no set dates, no deadlines – means that, though content may be infrequent, it'll always be of a good quality. The aforementioned Sapienza has a map larger than most PS2 open world games, and has plenty of content to tide players over until the next pack, with player-created Contracts and challenging Live Targets.
(I'll try to stop talking about Hitman now.)
This approach also worked for Life Is Strange: episodes for that game were months apart, yet it turned out excellently with its constant twists and constant blaring of acoustic, niche indie songs that would make even a 18 year old feel ancient. Resident Evil: Revelations 2, a big hit with many fans, also tried out an episodic format and ultimately benefited from it. Episodic releases don't just represent a new style of marketing and selling a game – they're a feature, a way for developers to innovate and take their time.
"I think that we can all afford to be just a little more open to new ideas in an industry that can often seem so stagnant"
Think about how many exhausted franchises could benefit from this. Assassin's Creed – and Chronicles doesn't count here because it isn't a mainline game (and it's also more boring than Coldplay) – would be a lot more interesting were it to have a new release schedule. Doing away with the yearly games, and instead making one big episodic title would be beneficial, I feel. Imagine an Assassin's Creed game where each episode was a different time period, with different locations, different weapons, and different Assassins at your disposal. One mission could be set in feudal Japan, while another during a World War 2 spy mission. Again, developing and releasing products this way gives studios space to breathe, because everything doesn't need to be connected – just add in a loose, overarching story and innovate to your heart's content.
Releasing games this way also allows fans and players to have more input. Think about how many titles have made bad decisions halfway through, or games that fumble with unnecessarily long, unpleasant sections of gameplay. Releasing in increments means that developers can test the waters, making sure that the next content pack scraps the stuff that people aren't happy with, and improves upon what came before. While this may be a little too close for comfort to a practice like Early Access – something that I'm really not a fan of – I think that community feedback is something that developers should be more open to, and an episodic format could help further that. Add that to the financial incentive of releasing a game this way – a constant stream of money coming in, rather than a huge burst coming in around launch – and you can see why episodic games can be a win-win for both developers and consumers.
Now, I get that some people want to wait for their games to release in full, and that's okay – a fully finished episodic game and a $60 title are often one and the same – but I feel like we, as gamers, should be more open to new concepts in general. Many of us complain about games not innovating enough – myself included – but so many of us are so resistant to change that we deter companies from trying new things. I'm not asking people to throw their money at all new concepts, but I think that we can all afford to be just a little more open to new ideas in an industry that can often seem so stagnant.
Do we need to be more open to industry experimentation? Could episodic be the way forward for some of gaming's biggest brands? Spread your opinion across a series of posts in the comments section below.
Comments 35
Oh sure, episodic must be the way to go, that's why people stopped watching TV 1 episode per week and started watching every episode in 2 day marathons on Netflix. Except for Game Thrones, the most pirated TV show in history.
Moral of the story - release your game episodically if you want it to be the most pirated game in history.
And Lego Hobbit. End of discussion.
@rjejr Did you read any of the points in the article?
Definitely a good read, and a lot of good points.
My personal issue with an episodic release, is that by the time the next episode rolls out, I've moved on to the next thing. Just the thought of trying to remember what the story was, who is everyone and re-acclimatising myself with the control scheme, puts me off diving back in. The controls are not much of an issue with telltale style games, but with something like hitman, assassin's creed, or anything with slightly deeper systems, I just don't know if I'd bother. And that is the main reason I haven't gotten the new Hitman, even though I thought the beta was really good.
I get that not everyone is like me though, and if companies want to release games like that, I'm all for it, it doesn't affect me in the least. Most of the time though, I will wait for the full game to be released.
I will always prefer to the whole game in one big chunk. If the developers want to release a game episodically and it works, fine, but I'll always sit out until the full content is available. Especially if it's a $60 purchase. I'm not giving these people a big wad of cash upfront and then waiting for an unspecified amount of time, hell no. No developer, not even Naughty Dog or Nintendo, has earned my trust to that degree.
"shows that making a game episodic, and not having to rush out all of the content by a certain time, gives developers plenty of breathing room to innovate and craft the game that they truly envisaged in the beginning"
i agree, i would rather have a game split over multiple parts and be fun engaging games that live up to the full potential of the game than getting a game that had stuff cut out or bugs because it was rushed to meet a release date
I think I threw up a bit in my mouth.
I will always wait for a full content release, anything else and your giving companies incentives to pull a Capcom, etc.
Looks like Hitman didn't do so hot on the sales chart, so hopefully they will think twice in the future.
@get2sammyb Yes, while I was playing the 3rd Hobbit movie DLC.
Wait and read all the posts, we'll see.
The only game I have bought episodic is RErevelation's, I never completed that game because of this as by the time the next episode's were ready I was fed up with the game. I doubt i'll ever buy a game episodic again and will alway's wait for the full product, Revelation's totaly put me off I have the whole game in my library but I don't think I even bothered finishing episode 2
Episodic certainly has its place!
I reckon MGS5 would have been a lot better episodic. I hammered Ground Zeros and made the most of the limited space available to get the maximum fun. Phantom Pain was just too big to get the most out of it.
More incentive for bigger companies to leech every penny out of us. If the episodic releases are combined $60, it's fine. Often they are not. It's $15 for Hitman and $10 for the other episodes. There's no cap, sure you can buy the upgrade pack for $50, but you're essentially buying a game that doesn't exist then. No thanks, still not a big fan of this method.
@DrClayman Thanks! That's a good point, and that's why many Telltale games has "Previously on..." moments whenever you started a new episode. Alternatively, there's the Hitman route, where the levels are so loosely connected that story isn't a problem. I prefer the latter.
@rjejr I get why you're sour about the topic - the LEGO Hobbit thing was a bad move, and there are definitely bad ways to go about episodic games. But I'm not suggesting that these become a widespread thing - hell, the tagline says "experimental games" I'm just saying that this a very interesting concept that should be tested on more games
@Gamer83 That's a fair point too, it's always best to be sceptical when your money's at stake. Still, I think that it could work in some situations, as my above Assassin's Creed example explains.
@sub12 @xMEADx That's fair. Still, I think it's a concept that should be used at some point by bigger studios.
@JoeBlogs Thanks!
@kyleforrester87 I think so too - episodic games always make me want to find every secret and search every area because they're in digestible sizes and don't take too long to fully complete.
@Octane I agree too - prices should be capped at $60, otherwise it just becomes a bad investment
Great read. I think it takes a game to do it right like Hitman to won games over to new concepts. Hitman has opened my mind to the positives concepts of episodic releases.
If you look at the way MCU has started slow and built up taking its time, found its winning formula and is now dropping bombs like Civil War. We could get the gaming version of that (maybe telltale is the gaming version of that).
I am fine with episodic games some of my favourite games have been in that format. The Wolf Among Us, The Walking Dead, Life is Strange. The smaller segments of games makes it easier to pick up knowing that you do not have to spend 20 hours to complete it in one go.
As for TV shows I still enjoy watching weekly shows. In fact its more important to watch a show weekly than bing watch. If TV shows do not get the viewing figures then they get cancelled.
Great article - the hardcore gamer in me wants to disagree.
But actually some of my favourite games have been episodic.
I don't play episodic games until they're complete & usually have a retail form.
Well I'm busy downloading episode two can't wait, I'm defiantly into this series thang....
@Dreamcaster-X Yeah, me too. I find it hard waiting for the next episode. I haven't played Hitman yet, but I will once it's all released. I don't really care about having a physical copy, but I do want the whole thing in one go. I absolutely hate getting to the end of a TV series (like House of Cards recently) and having to wait for the next part. It's excruciating, and by the time it comes around I always feel like I need to rewatch/replay that which came before in order to "catch up." I don't have a problem with the idea of episodic games, as such, but I personally want to play the whole thing in one go.
@Draythedestroyer Thanks! That's a pretty good example actually, didn't think of that.
@dryrain I definitely agree, I don't have too much time for gaming right now so it's nice to have content in bite size chunks. I do enjoy a big experience though
@themcnoisy Thanks!
@NAZA187 I was sceptical at first of the episodic release, but Sapienza won me over to the idea
Great article, and a really interesting view. Quite a few people pan episodic release dates, so it's quite nice to read an article arguing for them. I actually agree with everything in this article, and am completely for episodic releases, under the condition that the release date of each episode is not too far apart. I generally think that a month between each episode is a good length, two months maximum, otherwise I think it gets a bit ridiculous. Telltale games released their game of thrones episodes at seemingly random times, with no structure or organisation at all. I would quite like it if the developer could just vaguely lay out the release date of each episode, just to prevent people anxiously waiting for episodes with no confirmation about when they are going to come out. However, if episodic releases are done like this (like Hitman seems to be) then they can really be used to their full potential, and I have no problem with them at all.
Continuity is my big issue. Revelations 2 was issued in 4 episodes at intervals of 1 week with a disc copy released when episode 4 released. Life is Strange however had 5 episodes released over a 9 month span and with a much deeper story and more stuff to remember between episodes.
Hitman may work in episodes as there may be little continuity needed, but if i purchase it will be the complete game and a disc copy.
Disagree about AC. People feel burned by mediocre yearly $60 games, and they wouldn't feel burned by mediocre $10 or so episodes.
Ubi$oft needs the backlash to wake up and put work in their games.
I sell almost 100% of my games so I like to smash through and move on. I loved the Witcher, did not wait for DLC, the only telltales game I bought before all episodes were released was GoT because it was on sale, I didn't play it until all episodes were released. I don't wanna hang around, episodic content is perfect for the casual gamer but I've no interest.
Please no!
Episodic video games is a terrible idea that needs to die with fire. I avoid any and all episodic games, even if its a sequel to a great franchise like Hitman.
Hitman is worrying in that its the first time that I am aware of that a big AAA game has gone this route. I sincerely hope this doesnt become a pattern.
Games should not be designed in discrete chunks that are tied together, it should be one large cohesive whole. Books tried this back in the day (Green Mile, etc..) and that died off quickly, hopefully it will here too.
I think the big issue is trust & developers & the 3 big console gang have burned to many people. I had 3 x 360 slim die on me all fixed or replaced.
The original xbox got dropped like a bomb by MS when the 360 came out. Sony ps vita let every other guy make games for it except our self (& the stupid ripp off memory cards). Nintendo N64/GC/wii/wii u. Just screw your core gamer down the pan quicker than an out of date vindaloo. Now hell we wont make a bloody wii u game but will churn out plastic figures that give you cool extras in a handfull of games. which when NX (or me screw you over again) comes out they will be wave 2 ambiios & originals will be in compatible with your new (zero 3rd party support) shinny console.
add in kick starter un patched games etc. Over priced games you can see why gamers are just getting fffffffffffff sick of it.
Then look at the power now of phones/tablets etc & cost of gaming on android etc vague promises by developers & asking $60 for a promise is pushing it.
If you want any sort of commitment from me for this style of games I need a refund system not unlike what steam currently offers, I'd be in agony right now if I was suckered into buying that minecraft story game.
@sonicmeerkat steams refund policy is really for "in case it won't run on your PC" lol
@sonicmeerkat steams refund policy is really for "in case it won't run on your PC" lol
Great article!
I totally agree that episodic could be instead called iterative, and it is a totally positive thing. Instead of tired sequels and plots that have to be self contained and fit into 10 hours, you can have seasons and longer plot lines, multiple plot lines and more developed characters in the way tv character development and storytelling has surpassed movies
@kyleforrester87 Read up on it, you must have missed the policy change.
I agree that the structure could freshen up some franchises. But, the cons outweigh the benefits in many cases.
I like my discs though. So as long as they sell it all on a disc I suppose I could be a little more flexible.
@get2sammyb I like the idea of episodic content. I have a large backlog and this would keep me from spending money on games that I became bored with after the first 20% of the game. Also, I like the looks of the second hitman installment, do you have to own the first episode to play the second?
Not finish with episode one but jus went to feel how episode two feels like now I'm rushing to finish one so I can jump into two
not even hitman always been a full game
Good article and some good points. I am all up for player preference and so on but I am one that does not have the patience for an episodic game.
Firstly, and my biggest qualm, is that I don't want to be financially or even emotionally invested in something that doesn't have a clear release pattern or even quality gate. If it were a tv show, I only have a week between episodes and if quality starts to go south, I can stop. With a game, it can be months between installments and then it could end up being poop.
The other thing is that my gaming pattern is to play and then leave it awhile. I don't want to plan my gaming between upcoming installments.
I am playing Season 1 of the Walking Dead (on vita) and just playing the chapters months apart would drive me crazy. I got the full season...
Games that are yearly releases currently I imagine there would be a benefit for episodic content, but that will never be the way I buy games I want to be able to buy a game and play it from beginning to end if I have time.
Imagine if something like uncharted 4 was in episode format that would fry my brain because I love to just play through that type of game. I see it as a format that no matter how many good points this article makes would be exploited by a lot of companies for the ca$h it would start out ok then eventually you will be getting less and less content for your cash
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