When I think of live service, the game that most comes to mind is Destiny. And the reason why it worked for many is that it could still be played as a single player game. It thrived for years, even if it's latest expansion didn't fare as well. When Concord was announced, showing off a fairly impressive Gauridans of the Galaxy style cutscene -- I had hope. Then, gamers across the world learned it was a live service Over Watch type shooter. Instead of listening to customer feedback, Developer FIrewalk stuidos buried its head in the sand; deflecting any criticism because "diversity." Reviews seemed to be mixed, highlighting its bad chracter designs, and fun but ulimately generic gameplay.
On its lauch day, it only had 667 players on Stream. Recent data also confirmed that it had only sold about 25,000 copies. As of this writing, the game had only 28 players online at one point, with a 24 hour peak of 110. By comparison, the Marvel Rivals beta pulled in 50,000 players, which at the time didnt even have a confirmed release date. To add insult to injury, a Firewalk Studios dev took to Twitter to call gamers who criticise the game "talentless freaks."
Now it seems the game has been shut down by Playstation. On September 6th, all sales of the game will cease and all players who bought the game will recieve a full refund. I think the lesson here is two fold. When releasing a 5 v 5 shooter, charging $40 for such a game is a bold move. Second, if you are going to charge $40 for said shooter, you had better make sure your gameplay and story can compete in an over saturated market.
For every success like Destiny, gaming is littered the coarpses of cancelled games that chased the money, without the gameplay to make it a lasting experience. Concord is being shut down less than a month after its release. Knockout City shut down after two years. Law Breakers -- 1 year. Cross Fire X -- Less than 2 years. Suicde Squad Kill the Justice League was a huge loss for Warner Brothers. So as developers chase the money tree -- its often not worth the effort, sacrificing the paitence and consumer confidence in the process.
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