Rebellion has no plans to develop games as a service.

The developer’s next game, Strange Brigade, holds all the hallmarks of a potential live game. Akin to games like Vermintide, Strange Brigade meshes Left 4 Dead style horde-filled levels with collectable items and stats to push up. There existed a strong possibility, perhaps, of the game becoming a service, constantly dropping new content.

But speaking to VG247, CEO Jason Kingsley expressed a disinterest in continued development over longer, post-launch periods.

“We don’t have any interest or expertise in games as a service,” Kingsley said. “I’m a strong believer in the traditional style of game – here’s a game, you pay the price, you get the game. There’s DLC, expansion content – that kind of stuff – but that’s it”

Kingsley explained that multiplayer wasn’t a vital concern given during the game’s development - a surprise, given the horde format the studio’s chosen. But the executive strongly believes in releasing a content-complete game at launch, which will be just as compelling for solo players as it is for squads.

“Strange Brigade, you can play it with four of your mates against the computer, but the single-player is very important. Our game has a beginning, middle, and end. You can play it on easy, get through it, and get a sense of achievement and be like, ‘I’ve played Strange Brigade’. It’s fine. Move onto the next thing.”

But this isn’t just a preference concern of Kingsley’s. As an independent firm, Rebellion would be taking a bigger risk supporting games as a service. Providing all it’s own marketing and assets, the studio exists within a self-sufficient ecosystem that the interview claims allows them to buck trends.

“I think there’s always a challenge with the big studios who are making games as a service – how many of those can they run at once, and won’t they be cannibalising their own work?”

“I think that’s a pretty big change in business and we don’t need it. We’re privately owned, we don’t have any venture capitalists behind us, we don’t have any public shareholders who want to see a return on their investment – basically, my brother and I funded Strange Brigade.”