Saving Hitman by going episodic

Saving Hitman by going episodic could Square Enix last throw of the dice or arrogance towards gamers. Square Enix change of heart behind Hitman sign of confidence or arrogance.  Square Enix publisher behind newest hitman game delayed the game, changed business model full release to episodic format.  Could be taken as sign of confidence or arrogance for Hitman episodic title.  Confidence studio can finish the title, with players sticking around for the final version. Arrogance hitman brand can make up cost of investment releasing piecemeal content.  With no plans on releasing the title fully. Lack of information on content within prologue length gameplay on offer and is worrying. Paying $30 for 2 missions which last less than 2 hours does not sound like very good deal. Company could have high amount of confidence towards the quality of this latest title.

Confidence on quality or arrogance towards customers

Square Enix removing risk away from it own investment towards the customer with no real roadmap or even information on total content planned.  Game delayed could be taken as sign publisher recovered some of it investment.  Publisher could be fully behind the game with content produced so far.  No problem with episodic games once the project is finished, moves like this ring alarm bells.  Early access games remain incomplete even when using the episodic model. Square Enix could be taken as wanting to release what little content it has to recover costs so far.  Feature creep can often make creating games nothing short of a project management nightmare. Lack of trust could come from being burnt in the past over promises on quality never reached.

Suspect move to suddenly change your business plan just months away from launch.  Given how this is first episodic game from the publisher we don’t have much to go on.  Even veterans of the model suffer from player retention issues.  Telltale games for example suffers from massive drop offs when comes player retention, studio suffers often from content delays.   Worth saying that Telltale games have focus on story over gameplay mechanics, hitman series is known for it gameplay mechanics over story focus.

Free pass for Square enix bold move?

Free pass when it plans to release $10 episodes with unknown content or roadmap of release. Hitman was planned to be sort of episodic but that just strikes me as downloadable content plans over truly episodic.  Ditching the conventional model release a game make most of your profit in short term could save the series. Could see some truly unique content due to the episodic structure. Hitman pushing certain gameplay mechanics out of the window and flipping others around. Questions about why could the company not release the full title release this content at a later date. All-important Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) figure is going to be lower compare to conventional releases with downloadable content added later. Reduction on barrier to entry due to the lower price point could yield it benefits.  Open secret that most customers unwilling to buy into product at $60 within knowing something about the title.  Rast majority of gamers these days wait until sales to appear before sinking money into unknown titles.   Reason why gamers throw money at call of duty is knowing what is coming.  Unwilling to spend $60 on unknown indie game.

Bite size AAA games

Breaking up the Hitman series into smaller sized games with AAA production quality.  Company could tap into parts of the market unlikely to buy into the series.  Average Revenue Per User could become much higher as a result.  Push requires the game to be good enough that players are willing to invest into the rest.   Strategy could help the Hitman franchise which after the lackluster last game finds it many customers thinking the same “interested but wait for the price drop”. Hugely damaging to the commercial performance of any game when enough players think that. Square Enix has replied with pricing the game at bargain bin price letting players judge. Square Enix could use this model in the future for any franchises suffering rebuilding trust.  Used to make people jump into games they would normally avoid potential is massive but so the risk to do more damage.

Solution to decline

Experiment could pay off various other gaming franchises in limbo suffering from poor reviews and sales.  Don’t have much confidence when it comes to these sort of promises publishers want get highest return they can on any investment.  Consumers often end up getting screwed over having information withheld.   Could see far more interesting games appear if this model becomes successful, leading developers to take more risks on creative ideas.

Closing thoughts

Square enix is doing major vote of confidence on taking this risk or arrogance towards it own customers.  Saving Hitman by going episodic who knows may just work.