Tuesday, February 24, 2015

How long shall games be?



How long should a game be? 6 hours? 10 hours? 20 hours? 100 hours?
That question can't be answered simply, but nonetheless it is one of the most important things a customer wants to know about before purchasing a game. But why is the focus so strongly on length nowadays?

The Order for example has many problems, but it's mostly the length the people talk about. And I don't think that this is fair. By solely focusing on the length we limit ourselves to a small amount of games. Not every game can be hundreds of hours long like Xenoblade Chronicles or Skyrim.

So are the customers at fault here? Of course not. We have every right to demand a specific value for the money we spend. Critics often try to compare an evening at the cinema with a game like The Order and argue that the Order offers a better value than the movies. I don't agree with that. Firstly cinema is not an every day activity, while video games pretty much are. Also this calculations always include the prices for food and drinks with the tickets, well then we also should include the prices for the countless chips, drinks and other things you consume while playing a game. Looking at it that way makes the Order probably more expensive than three visits to the cinema. (I'm talking about solo visits of course.)

But that all doesn't matter. The time should be a non factor when talking about the quality of a game. It is however a factor when talking about if a game is worthwhile. The game can offer the best 2 hours of my life, but if it costs 70 bucks I probably won't think it has a good value. And this is the core of the problem. Not the length, but the prices.

I've talked about it when I wrote about mediocre games and Horror. The problem is the industries unwillingness to crack open the triple AAA price model. You either have indie games, which can't cost more than 20 bucks or AAA productions, which sell at 70. And this is a huge problem.

One publisher, who does things right in that regard, is Nintendo. They offer a healthy variety of different games and price models. You have smaller titles like Dr. Luigi or NES Remix and big full price releases like Mario Kart 8, Super Smash Bros. or Mario 3D World. But you also have the third variant. More moderately priced games, which fit between AAA productions and the indie stuff. Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, The Wonderful 101, Kirby and the Rainbow Curse. All these games are priced at 40 bucks. And all of these games are more than worth it.

And that price changes the perception of these games a lot. With a 60 buck price tag I would find it hard to recommend Captain Toad to others, but with it's current price I don't have a second thought about it.

The problem is not the customer, like the industry tries to make you believe. The customer may be stupid from time to time, but he's never at fault. If people don't think that a five hour game with a 70 bucks price tag is worth it, then it's not worth it. The industry has grown to immense proportions. If I'm unhappy with the offered product today, I can choose from hundreds of other possibilities, be it AAA or Indies.

Then how can such five games sell? With a smaller price tag. Your game is a short, cinematic experience with only single player? No problem, but I won't pay 70 bucks for it. Sell it for 50, 40 or hell even 30 bucks and people will be easier to satisfy. I only have money for one full price game each month, so why should I buy the order, when I can also buy Majoras Mask 3D and a good indie, which will probably entertain me for 50+ hours.

By creating this price system the industry has moved itself into a swim or sink situation. A game needs to be profitable in the first weeks, because after a month the first price cuts happen. With a more modest price at the beginning the profits in the first weeks wouldn't be so high, but in the long run they would probably increase, because you could easier justify keeping the game at this price.

The customer needs to feel that the game holds a certain value for him to purchase it. If you can't achieve this value with the game you're offering, then it's time to lower the price. Maybe your game isn't worth 70 bucks. That's not a bad thing. You just need to adjust your product to the expectations of the customer.

TL;DR: A games length isn't a factor of quality. It only comes into play with high price tags. By breaking up the stiff price system and allowing even AAA games to be sold in the 30-70 range this problem can be solved.

A five hour game for 70 bucks is hard to justify, but the same for 40 bucks isn't.

and as always
thanks for reading

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