Over the past few years, video game developers have had to get creative with the games that they come out with. There is a world full of possibilities when it comes to developing games and staying on top and relevant in the gaming industry is no cake walk. Recently, the newest and hottest way to continue making money off of a video game that was already bought is the concept of “add ons.” Add ons are basically things such as characters, stories, settings, etc. that players buy after their initial purchase of the game itself. Last year, worldwide, spending on add ons totaled at about $4.78 billion, with a project spending of $5.21 billion in 2017. Analysts also say that add ons are the main reason that many video game company’s stock prices have more than tripled in the past five years.
However, while gaming companies are doing exceptionally well, there is a downside to the variety and amount of add ons being released. Before add ons, a game that was released was, on average, played consistently for about a month before consumers were ready and hungry for the next best thing that they could get their hands on. Now, with add ons coming anywhere from semi-annually to monthly, consumers play the same game with new add ons for a considerably longer period of time without getting bored. This means two things for the gaming companies.
The good thing about consumers continuously playing the same game with new add ons is that if the company comes out with a game that doesn’t do as well as they would’ve hoped or not well at all, they don’t have to worry about the consumers not playing their games anymore because they are still busy playing the last game. On the flip side, add ons can often be the reason that other games don’t do as well. For example, if consumers are so wrapped up in COD III (with its consistent add ons), they won’t care too much or be as excited to play COD IV when it releases because they are still attached and content with its prior. That being said, game developers have to be even more inventive and creative to not only improve on their own games and their competitors, but, in a sense, they have to compete with themselves. Their new games have to be better than the add ons that the older games have, which ties in heavily with their marketing department.
Videogame ‘Add Ons’: Billion-Dollar Business and Two-Edged Sword by Sarah E. Needleman
However, while gaming companies are doing exceptionally well, there is a downside to the variety and amount of add ons being released. Before add ons, a game that was released was, on average, played consistently for about a month before consumers were ready and hungry for the next best thing that they could get their hands on. Now, with add ons coming anywhere from semi-annually to monthly, consumers play the same game with new add ons for a considerably longer period of time without getting bored. This means two things for the gaming companies.
The good thing about consumers continuously playing the same game with new add ons is that if the company comes out with a game that doesn’t do as well as they would’ve hoped or not well at all, they don’t have to worry about the consumers not playing their games anymore because they are still busy playing the last game. On the flip side, add ons can often be the reason that other games don’t do as well. For example, if consumers are so wrapped up in COD III (with its consistent add ons), they won’t care too much or be as excited to play COD IV when it releases because they are still attached and content with its prior. That being said, game developers have to be even more inventive and creative to not only improve on their own games and their competitors, but, in a sense, they have to compete with themselves. Their new games have to be better than the add ons that the older games have, which ties in heavily with their marketing department.
Videogame ‘Add Ons’: Billion-Dollar Business and Two-Edged Sword by Sarah E. Needleman
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