Over the past few weeks, episodic gaming has re-entered my consciousness, having slipped into the distance for lack of attention back in the late 1990s. However, three pieces of news, one from Half Life creators Valve (via Wonderland), one from Electronic Arts and one from the creators of the forthcoming episodic version of Sam and Max (both via Joystiq), plus discussion with some of The Guardian's other gaming bods has re-kindled my interest in the pay-as-you-play downloadable content model. What is it? What does it mean for the gamer? Who's already signed up?
Episodic gaming is a distribution model which gives the consumer dribs and drabs of new content over an extended period of time. Think of it like the television shows Lost or 24; these programmes pull you in by introducing general information early, and then keep you hooked by unravelling new characters and plot devices in each episode. NESTA has a good definition of episodic gaming here, but to snip,
The accepted model is that an opening episode, or chapter as it is sometimes called, is distributed free as an internet download. A month or so later, the next chapter is introduced over the web for a subscription fee, and so on until the game's narrative is complete.
What this means for the gamer is that you'll get continuously updated content, hopefully which reflects feedback given to the development company. Like with Massively Multiplayer Online Games which are updated by the designers with new land, ownership rights, objects and quests, content can be tailor made in response to the needs and desires of the consuming public. Of course, it also means that in the long run the publishers will pull more cash out of your pockets than with a one-off game. I could be wrong, of course, particularly as overheads will be reduced by removing the packaging, but it is business.
It also means that games will be strung out as long as possible, reducing the number of sequels clogging up the shelves. Most titles which have annual updates will simply offer them as downloads, and sequels will only be released when there's a new technology or other hard-wiring that is completely different from the original.
Unfortunately, if you're the type of gamer who completes a title in one sitting, this means that you'll have to wait for a critical mass of people to demand the next episode before you get your mitts on it. This may bore the power-gamer elite, who might find other products to pass their time.
Game-wise, this should ensure the quality of releases. If you pay cash for something which is poor, it's unlikely that you'll fork over your next month's subscription for a less-than-adequate instalment. Constant user-creator interaction like that anticipated with the episodic model should benefit the games playing community, and will challenge the designer to make ever-entertaining products for an increasingly-demanding audience.
So EA foresees this kind of thing happening within 10 years, Valve are already on the mark, and Telltale's episodic products are both here and on the cards. The Xbox 360 is another platform which has been fine-tuned for episodic content; expect that your community dashboard will light up soon with news of new products available for download.
Episodic gaming could have a real impact on the retail sector, which is currently at loggerheads with publishers about the appropriate high street price for current software. The shop owners are on our sides, kids - they want to keep the costs down at the pay point. However, if publishers like EA move to an episodic model and all new content is distributed digitally, the reduced business may destroy them.
Of course, they'll come up with a way around this, like mobile phone content companies have. They rely upon the idea that consumers want to pick something up with their hands and take it away; most of the mobile phone content you get can be done without packaging whatsoever. It's just there to placate the final generation of touchy-feelies before the next, digitally-reared ones move to abstract ownership.
Episodic gaming is intriguing; it moves traditional videogaming towards the MMOG model, in which gamers have more control over what the next course of events will be. Now that the current generation of consoles can connect and high-speed connectivity has reached near saturation in the UK, mega downloads aren't a huge problem. Yes, it seems time to revisit episodic gaming again. It may just shake things up.
