My feelings on live service games are well known. And while there are some that are absolutely crushing it like Fortnite, there are some games that have fallen short because they never should have been made with that in mind. Roller Champions is one of those games.
I wanted roller champions to be more sega soccer slam
Ubisoft had a classic arcade sports game in their hands the entire time. And still does if they ever wanted to pivot. One of my favorite Gamecube era games was Sega Soccer Slam. If Ubisoft just decided to create an actual world around Roller Champions, teams, a true season, even some level of slight plot around a fictional league in the game, they’d have something pretty good on their hands. There was no need to force live service on it.
I even think formatting it differently would have done a lot towards the criticisms of the game being a bit repetitive. Having different teams and giving players a personality outside of cosmetics makes it a completely different game. Hell, the multiplayer aspect would have probably blown up even more doing it this way. When you decide the game is live service, you’re telling people they have to commit to your game.
Give people a self-contained game and I bet they come back over and over. Make it something that exists within itself, not to keep funneling in money. We’ve seen this over and over, when games drop that are strictly about the experience, they tend to do well. That isn’t just reserved for the indies, anyone can do it. You just think there’s only two ways for a game to be successful, it’s got to be a well-known AAA banger, or it’s got to be something that people play continuously for 10 or more years. That’s not the case. I know my plea is going to fall on deaf ears but Ubisoft, if you’re watching, give it another shot. Change what Roller Champions is and watch the movement around it change.
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