Back 4 Blood isn’t getting new content and more studios should try it

It’s not easy for any developer to keep up with the constant demand of live-service games, let alone developers accustomed to bigger projects with longer deadlines. Big studios and AAA Games continue to explore the various models that are best suited for games such as Destiny 2 FortniteThe huge toll constant updates can have on a studio becomes more evident. Some developers opt out of updating in favour of large expansions and more precise end dates.

The following is the Thursday schedule The Back Four Blood developer Turtle Rock Studios announced that it’s no longer planning to develop new content for the game. Instead, the studio is moving to a new project, while leaving open the possibility of returning to its co-op survival shooter in the future — or at least, returning to the series. While Turtle Rock’s plans are vague at the moment, they show that studios have options when it comes to making multiplayer games, and that they don’t have to be antithetical to starting new projects.

The Back Four BloodOriginal release was October 2021. It has been expanded three times since then with the latest being December 2022. The game was free to all players who purchased it, and they also received paid extensions that included major content. A decade ago, this would have been the standard life cycle of a multiplayer game, but it’s almost an anomaly now.

Image: Turtle Rock Studios/Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment

Developers may want to pursue the idea of an endlessly updated and sustainable game that makes revenue every month. However, many projects built around this concept end up failing. The developers either don’t have enough content or aren’t good enough to keep players happy for the long-term. There are many titles in the last decade that have been included in games like Marvel’s AvengersOr Anthem that promised players endless updates and have since been shut down — just this week, Rumbleverse, Apex Legends MobileAnd Knockout CityIt was the same fate.

But an expansion model like Turtle Rock’s The Back Four BloodThe plan would allow more established studios to offer multiplayer options, provide support for them with content, and then let them go.

Due in large part due to massive video games such as “Massive Games”, expansions have been largely out of fashion over the past decade. League of Legends FortniteThey offer weekly updates and free play to all their users. But keeping a game like that going requires a massive studio, and that means a game needs to be wildly successful — often right out of the gate — to have a chance of surviving.

The Back Four Blood never needed to set the world on fire or make a billion dollars, and Turtle Rock didn’t need to vastly increase its staff to keep it running. Instead, the studio can keep itself lean and move on to its next project, all while making sure players got content for the game they loved — at least for a little while.