It is not an exaggeration to say that the industry is saturated with live service games. From Fortnite and Call of Duty to World of Warcraft and Marvel Rivalsthese games have a variety of genres: first- and third-person shooters of the classic and hero varieties, ARPGs, MMORPGs, battle royales and, of course, gacha games. Although these games vary drastically, they all share at least one thing in common: they are incredibly addictive. As a long time MMO fan with a storied history World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy 14, Guild Wars 2and more, I am not immune to this fact.
Between seasonal updates and limited-time events, live service games are a time sink that continues to decrease. While one of these games would be enough to fill one's schedule, every additional live service game one plays compounds the problem until they end up in a daily grind that seems inevitable. With more and more games using live service models, the FOMO just keeps growing – and my free time just can't handle it.
The highest rated and multi-award winning game I couldn't help but like
Despite its many accolades and exceptional player reception, a game couldn't quite capture me as I hoped, until I finally gave up.
The inescapable whirlpool that is live service gaming
Battle Pass, Seasons and Limited Time Events, Oh My!
A live service game is a game built for continuous, indefinite engagement through the development of new content. While most games these days receive post-launch support in the form of updates, bug fixes, and even DLC, that doesn't make them live services. Unlike traditional games, which have defined lifespans, live-service games are content factories that ideally will continue and make money forever. If a game has regular updates, seasons, events, or similar content, it's probably a live service game.
Let me walk you through one of my typical game days. I start by jumping on Hearthstone to clear daily, weekly and event quests (which have been almost constant for the past few months) so they don't go to waste. Then it's time to complete my daily challenges Overwatch 2 to finish the current season's Battle Pass and go through all the events (there's almost always at least one running at any given time). After that it is AFK tripwhere I run the loop of daily activities, possibly working through whatever new season story or side quests are available.
Finally, it's time to fire up an MMORPG or two. Final Fantasy 14 recently released the 7.4 content update, but World of Warcraft: Legion Remix has had me in a strangle hold since it started last October. It finally ends on January 20th, only to be replaced by World of Warcraft: Midnight Pre-Expansion Update, which will surely consume even more of my time as well.
Then the time I have left must be divided between Dungeons and dragons campaign prep and homebrewing, single player games, and “normal” activities like chores, eating, exercising, sleeping, and spending time with my loved ones. Also, I used to have even more games in this rotation last year; I played Fate: The Great Order for several years until the beginning of 2025, and I just stopped when Warcraft Rumble went into maintenance mode.
Honestly, I don't have time to do anything else. While I still love World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy 14 and everyone else, at some point, the content mill got so busy that it completely monopolized my schedule. Maybe it's because I have less time now than when I was younger, maybe games pump out too much content, or it's both. All I know is that I've felt relieved when games hit a content drought – which is the opposite of what's supposed to happen.
A look at my Steam Replay from 2025 illustrates this problem. Ignoring Fantasy Grounds (I play D&D twice a week for five hours each session, plus prep time), you can see how comparatively little time I spend on single player games. Except for brief and failed attempts to enter Cyberpunk 2077 and Convergence: A League of Legends Storya still incomplete run of Split Fiction with my partner, and a quick dip in Hades to 100% pre-sequel achievements, these were the only single player games I completed this year:
- Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader (180 hours)
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (70 hours)
- Delta rune Chapters 3 and 4 (12 hours)
- The Pale Beyond (12 hours)
I just got back in Hades 2 again after three months, now that WoW: Legion Remix nearing its end, and Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles still waiting patiently in my Steam library. Worse, there are other live service games that I haven't caught up with either, like Diablo 4 and Guild Wars 2. I want to get to them, but these other live service games have me by the throat, and I'm not sure if it's good anymore.
FOMO: The real problem with live service gaming
The poison that drains the fun out of games
Basically, the real problem with live service games is FOMO, or “Fear of Missing Out”. Live service games run on FOMO; complete this Battle Pass or that in-game event or risk losing exclusive items, currency, progress or more – possibly forever. It's a dangerous weapon, and one that most live service games use indiscriminately.
FOMO is a predatory disease whose main symptoms are addiction and burnout. The more you expose yourself to it, the more they feel compelled to keep grinding. After all, what if they need that new thing Fortnite x Adventure Time skin in the future? It's a cycle that repeats itself until playing these games turns from a hobby to a chore.
Unfortunately, this probably won't get any better anytime soon. A look at Minecraft, Call of Dutyor Fortnite is all it takes to see how profitable live service gaming is, and every business wants a piece of the pie. Even worse, it's likely I won't be changing course anytime soon either. Besides the fact that I literally write about these games for a living, I still love them dearly. But like Sisyphus, I am bound to this hellish treadmill of live service of my own creation. I just need to remember to control the speed at which the treadmill moves.
Anyway, I better start with my dailies before I miss the chance to get some more pixels I can't live without.
- Released
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November 23, 2004
- ESRB
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T for Teen: Blood and Gore, Crude Humor, Mild Language, Suggestive Themes, Use of Alcohol, Violence (online interactions not rated)
- Engine
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Unreal engine
