Do Baldur’s Gate 3 and Tears of the Kingdom Spell Doom for Live Service Games?

All it takes is one good idea to rewrite how video games are made and played. In 1996, Super Mario 64 dropped the blueprint that every 3D platformer then followed. In 2001, Grand Theft Auto III gave us the first modern open-world game, and its DNA still exists in every genre release. Although 2017’s Fortnite wasn’t the first battle royale or live service game, its constantly changing battleground, endless stream of crossover events, recognizable characters, and seasonal battle passes have proven that gamers are more than willing to pay a microtransaction or two for cool stuff.

Now, more than halfway through 2023, we can track another sea change within the game industry. As many live service games struggle to hold attentions, single-player games have enjoyed a renaissance. Dead Space Remake, Final Fantasy XVI, Hi-Fi Rush, Metroid Prime Remastered, Pikmin 4, and Resident Evil 4 Remake are just a few examples of single-player games released this year that have found critical and commercial success. However, none hit the highs of Baldur’s Gate 3 or The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

Why do these two titles stand out among their single-player peers? Both releases, as different as they appear on the surface, share a similar gameplay philosophy: They celebrate player autonomy and creativity in a way that few other games have.

Explore These Epic Adventures

The Live Service Bubble

Whether you call them live service games, games as a service, or always online, the trend of ongoing games has changed the way people play. On paper, they sound great—at least from a business point of view. A company releases a title (for free or cheap), lures players in with an addicting gameplay loop, and keeps them playing by drip-feeding them content, often behind a paywall. Once upon a time, this type of practice was limited to mobile gaming, but since transitioning to console and PC, live service titles are among some of the most popular games available.

Baldur’s Gate 3 (Credit: Larian Studios)

Although Apex Legends, Call of Duty: Warzone, and Fortnite remain popular, 2023 saw many live service games fall to the wayside. Babylon’s Fall shut down less than a year after its release. Rumbleverse didn’t even last more than six months. CrossFireX launched in February of this year to dismal reviews, only to be quietly shut down in May. Gundam Evolution, which launched 11 months ago, is preparing to shut down servers in November. Even high-profile releases like Apex Legends Mobile, Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier, and Marvel’s Avengers folded.

When a live service game dies, it’s as if it never existed. Your achievements, playtime, and money spent are gone forever. While it’s a nightmare for game preservation and certainly disheartening for the developers involved, you lose worst of all.

This hasn’t stopped developers from putting out live service games, but it has certainly begun to draw the ire of players. For example, the reveal of Rocksteady’s Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League was met with ardent criticism, largely because of its live service features. As more live service games flood the market, more developers compete for players’ time. Couple that uncertainty with a real-world economic downturn, and you may no longer be able to afford to invest in ongoing experiences, especially if there’s no guarantee that they’ll be supported over the long haul. And thus, a live service bubble begins to form…and burst.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Credit: Nintendo)

A Breath of Fresh Air

The industry shift began with the juggernaut known as Elden Ring, a 2022 title that enticed players by showing them what’s possible when you’re free to your own devices. Elden Ring took the uncompromising difficulty that makes Soulsborne games so addicting and placed it within a vast open world.

Like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Elden Ring’s fun comes from exploring lands, immersing (or ignoring!) its dark fantasy narrative, and experimenting with its in-depth combat system. Using the Ashes of War system, you can apply weapon affinities and weapon skills to equipment. This frees you from class limitations and lets you create character builds for just about any situation.

Elden Ring (Credit: FromSoftware)

Similarly, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (a game built atop the bones of its previous installment) introduced new mechanics that further enhance the game’s emphasis on exploration while giving the overarching plot just enough connective tissue to keep you from feeling totally lost. The beauty of Zelda’s design comes in part from its immaculate gameplay systems—whether you’re exploring Hyrule or solving one of the game’s many puzzles, there’s often never a bad idea, and no approach is ever truly the wrong one.

Its biggest gameplay gimmick, the Ultrahand (a nod to a toy from Nintendo’s pre-video game days), lets you fuse any two items together. It’s a simple addition that impacts every gameplay aspect. In essence, it’s as though Nintendo dropped a box of Legos in your lap and asked you to figure out how to get from point A to point B.

It didn’t take long for the internet to set ablaze with ridiculous contraptions built to reunite Koroks, defeat enemies, and traverse the skies and depths. As cliche as it may sound, your imagination is often the limit.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Credit: Nintendo)

Although the recently released Baldur’s Gate 3 isn’t an open-world game like Elden Ring or Tears of the Kingdom, its gameplay philosophy is the same. Many RPGs present the illusion of choice, but they’re often just that: illusions. They’re smoke and mirrors that often lead you to the same results. Baldur’s Gate 3 spins a complex web of narrative options that bend and break character relationships, story beats, and the world around you, ensuring that no two playthroughs are the same.

The freedom is deeper than dialogue options; it’s the moment-to-moment gameplay, as well. Dungeons & Dragons’ high fantasy world is rife with magic—and it doesn’t take long to realize that magic can be applied to everything. Why gather mushrooms for a lifesaving salve for an NPC when you can cast Lesser Restoration, a spell that cures poison? Why fight when you can cast Invisibility, sneak around your enemy, and push them off a cliff? Can’t see ahead of you? Cast Dancing Lights and illuminate the room in lieu of a torch. With a handful of ways to approach every interaction and every battle, the gameplay remains endlessly exciting and replayable.

Players often misconstrue immersion for realism, but in truth, real immersion comes from gameplay richness. That’s why Baldur’s Gate 3 and Tears of the Kingdom, two fantasy games about magic, elves, and demons, are also two of the most immersive games of the year.

Why You Should Game on a PC

The Trend Is Your Friend

In the same way that moviegoers are shaking their heads clear of the decade-long fog of superhero movies, gamers are turning their backs on live service games and rediscovering single-player ones. Need proof? Check the sales numbers. Elden Ring ended 2022 as the second-best-selling game of the year. Nintendo’s latest quarterly report revealed that The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom sold 18.5 million copies in two months, roughly 60% of Breath of the Wild’s lifetime sales. Meanwhile, Baldur’s Gate 3 is one of the biggest Steam releases ever, with more than 800,000 concurrent players. It’s also the number one pre-order on the NA PSN ahead of its console release on September 6.

Of course, this doesn’t mean live service games are a thing of the past; it just feels like gamers have hit a breaking point. They’re interested in releases that encourage freedom, not just in gameplay, but narrative. And with Bethesda’s galaxy-sized Starfield on the horizon, we might just be standing at the precipice of real change in the video game industry. Instead of a market oversaturated with live service games, maybe we’ll be overrun with immersive single-player games rich with creative replayability. We can only hope.

For in-depth video game talk, visit PCMag’s Pop-Off YouTube channel.