This is a guest post by Mika Patiala, Co-Founder & VP of Business Development of Metaplay:

There are few topics that divide opinion as much as ‘LiveOps’; a catch-all term for active management of and updates to a game that don’t require a new version to be released. Commercially-minded developers might set out to build a forever game, but others want to create a discrete piece of art. Many players like the constant flow of new content and season pass grind, while others find it antithetical to a casual pick-up-and-play experience. Regardless of how you feel about LiveOps, it’s here to stay. A recent survey from Griffin Gaming Partners showed that 95% of studios are working on or aim to release a live service game. 

The LiveOps we know today is a relatively recent phenomenon that has powered free-to-play mobile gaming to a 50% share of global games industry revenues. However, it’s also very visible in popular cross-platform (but PC/console-first) titles such as Fortnite and Apex Legends and is increasingly commonplace in many present-day releases. So, is there anything left for PC games to learn from how mobile games approach LiveOps? I’d argue there is. 

PC and mobile charts

Successful LiveOps delivery has been key to the success of both mobile and PC titles. Both the top 10 downloaded mobile games in July 2024 and Steam’s most played titles for the week of 22nd July see classic titles that continue to receive regular updates through LiveOps (and UGC) firmly embedded in the charts. Just three titles out of 10 on each list were released within the last year. 

While releasing new mobile games is uniquely difficult at present, 2024 has been a year of smash hits on PC. Where are they now? 

Palworld, though released in ‘early access’, was clearly not set up to capture the level of interest it initially achieved (an astonishing 2.1m concurrent players on Steam). With players starved of new content, interest rapidly dwindled. But the ‘Sakurajima’ update at the end of June instantly saw peak players jump nearly 5x, showing players’ enduring interest in the game. A month later, peak player counts continue to be double those before the update. 

While Palworld wasn’t set up to be a live service product, Helldivers 2 certainly was. Writing in PC Gamer, Fraser Brown admitted that “sometimes a game like Helldivers 2 comes along, and I'm forced to remember that, actually, there's absolutely nothing wrong with live service games”. This didn’t turn out to be strictly true for Helldivers 2, which has struggled with weapon balancing and the quality of its content updates, resulting in Arrowhead Studios’ CEO stepping down from the business side of things to focus on content. 

Both Palworld and Helldivers 2 were ridiculously successful, Palworld totally unexpectedly so. Yet, given that success, there may be lingering disappointment that they haven’t been able to service players with enough of what they crave. 

Mobile lessons

So, what can PC games actually learn from how mobile titles approach LiveOps? 

Figure out the elder game

Game consultant Tadhg Kelly uses the terms ‘novice game’ and ‘elder game’ - two parts of a single game that need to be reconciled. Players must graduate from novice to elder game as depth is added to the fun. This is reminiscent of Nintendo’s “easy to learn, hard to master” credo. Mobile games do this well, tempting players in with engaging ad creatives and simple mechanics before carefully adding layers of absorption through economy management and social features. 

Don’t forget single player

I can’t stress this one enough. Mobile games know it already, but in the “always online” era of gaming, single-player PC titles can benefit from LiveOps, too, increasing monetisation and retention massively. 

Understand your player base

Though the privacy changes on mobile have made this more challenging, mobile games are incredible at understanding their players. This enables IAPs and even in-game events to be personalised to the nth degree.

Get the cadence right

Palworld was too slow. Helldivers 2 is arguably too fast. In the same Griffin Gaming Partners survey mentioned above, live service teams reported their ideal production schedules as weekly to biweekly for live ops cadences and biweekly to monthly for game content updates.

Listen and inform

Listen to feedback using in-game surveys and social channels such as Discord and X. Use these mechanisms to A/B test content, balance weapons and respond to your community. Much of LiveOps also involves keeping a community updated about the changes a game faces. While mobile games have a natural advantage through mobile push notifications, PC players need to feel constantly informed too.

Consider LiveOps from day one

Because the overwhelming majority of mobile titles are free-to-play, LiveOps is non-negotiable. While PC titles can be hugely successful without earning a single dollar from in-game purchases, by having a LiveOps strategy from the very beginning, they can set up to capture any level of success.

Use scalable tech

Going hand-in-hand with the above, PC games can learn from mobile’s use of scalable backend tech. This enables LiveOps to be ‘turned on’ at any point and updates streamed over the air rather than through patches that require downtime.

LiveOps vs. Gross Revenue (Ratic / Sensor Tower Data)

Live service gaming will continue to divide opinion, but it’s here to stay. As the mobile free-to-play business model becomes ever more prevalent on other platforms too, it’s time for PC games to explore the strategies that have seen mobile gaming generate 50% of global video games revenues.

Thanks to today's guest author, Mika Patiala, Co-Founder and VP of Business Development of Metaplay. You can read more about the business of mobile games on our partner site, PocketGamer.biz.