Episodic games
Encyclopedia
An episodic video game is a video game of a shorter length that is commercially released as an installment to a continuous and larger series. Episodic games differ from conventional video games in that they often contain less content but are developed on a more frequent basis.
Such a series may or may not have continuity
, but will always share settings, characters, and/or themes. Episodic production in this manner has become increasingly popular among video game developers since the advent of low-cost digital distribution
systems, which can immensely reduce their distribution overhead and make episodes financially viable. Alternatively, it can be used to describe the narrative of the game. Examples of episodic video games include Alan Wake
, Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City
, and Star Trek Online
.
s. An expansion is an add-on to an original, non-episodic product however; something of a lower order. In an episodic series there is no dominant '"first" game': each installment, although perhaps of the same length and price point as an expansion, is a main event that drives the core experience forward.
Xanado Scenario II for the 1985 action role-playing game
Dragon Slayer II: Xanadu
, the fifth Dragon Slayer title Sorcerian
in 1987 introduced a scenario system where the player can play through fifteen scenarios in their order of choice. Soon after, additional expansion pack
s were released containing a number of new scenarios. The game introduced an aging system, where one or more years pass by and the characters age during each scenario, with the additional scenario packs in mind. That same year saw the beginning of the Kroz series, a seven-part series of games featuring similar text-based graphics and gameplay, with renewed levels. These were not released on a regular schedule, but were sold in packages, with the first episode being available freely as shareware
.
Single-player games, particularly real-time strategy
games and first-person shooter
s, have in the past experimented with a limited form of episodic gaming, by adding new stages, levels, weapons, enemies or missions with expansion packs. Early examples include Wing Commander: Secret Ops, which was released episodically over the internet in 1998. However, this series was a failure and was discontinued after it failed to attract significant player numbers. One of the contributing factors was its 120MB download size, which may have been prohibitively large in an age in which 56k internet access was the norm. Limitations in bandwidth have also been cited as one of the reasons for the failure of the episodic alternate reality game
Majestic, as it required an initial download of an hour or more on a dial-up connection.
Another example of a more casual episodic game is Goodnight Mister Snoozleberg!, an online game created by Sarbakan that was released in 1999 on TF1's web site, later on CBC and now available for download on Trygames. El Dorado's Gate was a Japan-only episodic game released by Capcom in 2001.
Kuma Reality Games has developed first-person shooter episodic games since its inception in 2003. Some of the "game-isodes" that the company has developed include The DinoHunters, which documents a group of off-key time travelers hunting dinosaurs and other prehistoric beasts, and the controversial Kuma\War, which focuses on recent military action in the world, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan. Recently, Kuma Games produced a series mirroring The History Channel's Shootout! series. The games created were modeled on the battles featured in the TV show, adding another level of media depth to episodic gaming in general.
The first episodic console game was .hack
, a four-part RPG released between 2002 and 2003. Upon clearing each game, the player's data is loaded onto the memory card as a "data flag" file, readable by the next game in the series. With this, the player can continue on from the previous game with the same stats, items, and player name.
Other games have contemplated going the route of episodic development and distribution, only to decide against it. Examples of this include Quantic Dream
's Fahrenheit
and a planned series of episodes starring Duke Nukem
by ARUSH Entertainment
.
Valve Corporation
's Steam platform is being used as a content delivery platform for several episodic games including Half-Life 2 Episodes developed by Valve themselves.
Telltale Games
is one of the heaviest supporters of episodic gaming thus far. Their game Bone
is an adventure title that literally adapts chapters from Jeff Smith
's Bone comic book saga into game episodes on a periodic basis, with two episodes having been released. Telltale's Sam & Max Save the World
was their first fully completed episodic series, followed by Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space and Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse
. Other series based on various other franchises include Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People
, Wallace and Gromit's Grand Adventures, Tales of Monkey Island
and, most recently, Back to the Future: The Game
.
MINERVA is a single-player modification that has adopted an episodic development structure. It is one of the first mods to do so for Valve's Half-Life 2
.
Turner Broadcasting's GameTap
has made large investments in episodic game development. The online game service's first episodic game, Sam & Max
, was co-published with Telltale Games
. Each episode premiered on GameTap 14 days before becoming available on the Telltale Games web site. GameTap's second foray into episodic games was monthly content deliveries for Myst Online: Uru Live
an online massive multiplayer game by Cyan Worlds
. In February, GameTap announced a third episodic game, Galactic Command: Echo Squad, developed in conjunction with 3000AD. Their most recently announced game, the 24 episode American McGee's Grimm
, was announced in May 2007 for an early 2008 launch. GameTap's VP of content, Ricardo Sanchez
, has written for sites like Gamasutra
and GameDaily
and presented at the D.I.C.E. Summit
on the subject. His "Three Laws of Episodics" lay out rules by which GameTap determines whether a title is episodic or not, and rules out Bone and Half-Life 2 Episodes
due to the unknown duration of time between episodes.
Dimps
and Sonic Team
are creating the episodic video game, Sonic the Hedgehog 4
for various formats, the first episode of which was released in October 2010. Ubisoft
's upcoming Rayman Origins
is also being developed as an episodic title for various formats.
games, it is mostly found in MMOG
s. Much as they worked for offline games, expansion packs have often been sold to increase available content to MMOG players by adding additional worlds to explore and additional gameplay features, such as new weapons and characters.
As the term relates to this genre, episodes are typically contrasted to the traditional expansion pack, as in the Asheron's Call
franchise, where episodic content was downloaded without an additional fee (to the standing subscription price). This included new expansive story arcs comparable to those found in offline RPGs and were updated on a bi-monthly basis. It should be noted that retail expansion packs were still created for the Asheron's Call games.
Another MMOG featuring an episodic design is the Guild Wars
series developed by ArenaNet
. The company's business model involves releasing new, independent chapters for the game on a six month basis. Since Guild Wars does not charge a monthly fee, and there is no requirement to own the newer chapters, it is one the few games entirely reliant on the episodic games model to continue its service. To this end, Guild Wars Factions
was released on April 28, 2006, which was subsequently followed by Guild Wars Nightfall
, released worldwide on October 27, 2006, and finally Guild Wars Eye of the North on August 31, 2007.
Such a series may or may not have continuity
Continuity (fiction)
In fiction, continuity is consistency of the characteristics of persons, plot, objects, places and events seen by the reader or viewer over some period of time...
, but will always share settings, characters, and/or themes. Episodic production in this manner has become increasingly popular among video game developers since the advent of low-cost digital distribution
Digital distribution
Online distribution, digital distribution, or electronic software distribution is the practice of delivering content without the use of physical media, typically by downloading via the internet directly to a consumer's device. Online distribution bypasses conventional physical distribution media,...
systems, which can immensely reduce their distribution overhead and make episodes financially viable. Alternatively, it can be used to describe the narrative of the game. Examples of episodic video games include Alan Wake
Alan Wake
Alan Wake is a story-driven action game in the psychological thriller genre, developed by Remedy Entertainment and published by Microsoft Game Studios, released for the Xbox 360 video game console in 2010...
, Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City
Grand Theft Auto: Episodes From Liberty City
Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City is a standalone compilation of the downloadable content episodes for the 2008 video game Grand Theft Auto IV. Created by Rockstar North in the United Kingdom, it contains both The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony on one disc...
, and Star Trek Online
Star Trek Online
Star Trek Online, often abbreviated as STO, is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed by Cryptic Studios based on the popular Star Trek series created by Gene Roddenberry. The game is set in the 25th century, 30 years after the events of Star Trek Nemesis...
.
Definition
To consumers, episodic games are very similar in nature to expansion packExpansion pack
An expansion pack, expansion set, or supplement is an addition to an existing role-playing game, tabletop game or video game. These add-ons usually add new game areas, weapons, objects, and/or an extended storyline to a complete and already released game...
s. An expansion is an add-on to an original, non-episodic product however; something of a lower order. In an episodic series there is no dominant '"first" game': each installment, although perhaps of the same length and price point as an expansion, is a main event that drives the core experience forward.
Advantages
- A way to make the games cost less for developers, therefore making the game cheaper for consumers.
- A cheaper purchase price per episode leads to lower immediate risk for consumers and increased uptake.
- The lack of the 'safety net' for disengaging periods provided by longer, less focused games coupled with the need to keep consumers on board for multiple release produces greater motivation for the production of quality and innovative titles.
- Exposure and experience from early episodes can benefit the production quality of future releases.
- Lower risk investment for the developers, as the games cost less to develop and to sell and are quicker onto the market.
- Higher quality of life for developers, with more manageable, focused projects.
- Faster games to market, as many high production titles often take anywhere from 2–5 years to complete - with episodic gaming, the wait time is often reduced to an annual or bi-annual basis.
- Developing in smaller chunks means developers can better adapt to community feedback in between releases.
- The developer gets several chances to hit the market with a lower level of risk each time, as opposed to a single chance to make good a lone product that has far more investment riding on it.
- New advancements can be added to the next release.
Disadvantages
- After buying all episodes, the total cost for consumers may be more than that of the typical game.
- Some developers choose the episodic model because they lack the resources to complete a full-length game, and hope the sales of episodes will fund further development. If earlier episodes fail to sell, then funding for future episodes may suffer or disappear, forcing developers to renege on promises of future episodes and cut storylines short. Notable episodic series that have been aborted early include Sin EpisodesSiN EpisodesSiN Episodes is the title of a series of episodic games for the PC that would have expanded upon the 1998 computer game SiN. A total of nine episodes were planned with only the first one released...
, BoneBone: Out from BonevilleBone: Out from Boneville is the second video game endeavor by Telltale Games, and the first episode of the Bone adventure game series. It was released in September 2005 after around seven months in production...
, and InsecticideInsecticide (video game)Insecticide is a story-driven action-adventure game by Crackpot Entertainment and published by Gamecock Media Group for Nintendo DS, and Windows...
. - Certain game designs would find it counter-productive to use this method as opposed to plainly producing a full-fledged sequel or series of titles, simply because the nature of the game is difficult or impossible to split into episodes. Examples include sandbox titles such as the GTAGrand Theft Auto (series)Grand Theft Auto is a multi-award-winning British video game series created in the United Kingdom by Dave Jones, then later by brothers Dan Houser and Sam Houser, and game designer Zachary Clarke. It is primarily developed by Edinburgh based Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games...
and SimsThe Sims (series)The Sims is a video game series developed by Maxis and later by The Sims Studio, and published by Electronic Arts. It is one of the most successful video games series of all time...
series. - Most episodic content is distributed primarily or exclusively over the internet, to offset the potential extra costs of distributing more physical copies to retail (e.g. 5 hard copies for 5 chapters over 4 years as opposed to shipping a single item once). This is a disadvantage to consumers with limited or slow internet access, who might have to wait for a physically published collection of episodes or never get anything at all. It is particularly onerous if the game's chapters are all available only through online systems (e.g. Sonic the Hedgehog 4Sonic the Hedgehog 4is an episodic platform video game and a sequel in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. The game was developed by Dimps alongside members of Sonic Team and is intended to be inspired by and similar to the original Sonic the Hedgehog titles on the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis.Episode I was released in October...
for WiiwareWiiWareWiiWare is a service that allows Wii users to download games and applications specifically designed and developed for the Wii video game console made by Nintendo. These games and applications can only be purchased and downloaded from the Wii Shop Channel under the WiiWare section...
/PSN/XBox Live ArcadeXbox Live ArcadeXbox Live Arcade is a type of video game download distribution available primarily in a section of the Xbox Live Marketplace, Microsoft's digital distribution network for the Xbox 360, that focuses on smaller downloadable games from both major publishers and independent game developers...
). - Some content will always need to be created up-front, for example rendering technology. This makes bespoke engineGame engineA game engine is a system designed for the creation and development of video games. There are many game engines that are designed to work on video game consoles and personal computers...
software unsuitable in its complex modern form. - A player trying to progress through a series of episodes may find the technological advances over time distracting; in extreme cases, they may even be put off by the primitive techniques used in episodes produced years before.
Single-player episodic gaming
The first episodic games appeared in the 1980s. Following Nihon Falcom's 1986 expansion packExpansion pack
An expansion pack, expansion set, or supplement is an addition to an existing role-playing game, tabletop game or video game. These add-ons usually add new game areas, weapons, objects, and/or an extended storyline to a complete and already released game...
Xanado Scenario II for the 1985 action role-playing game
Action role-playing game
Action role-playing games form a loosely defined sub-genre of role-playing video games that incorporate elements of action or action-adventure games, emphasizing real-time action where the player has direct control over characters, instead of turn-based or menu-based combat...
Dragon Slayer II: Xanadu
Dragon Slayer II: Xanadu
is an action RPG developed by Nihon Falcom in 1985 for the PC-8801, PC-9801, FM-7, MSX and X1 computers. Enhanced remakes were released for the Sega Saturn, PC-9801 and Windows systems...
, the fifth Dragon Slayer title Sorcerian
Sorcerian
is an action role-playing game developed by Nihon Falcom, and the fifth in the Dragon Slayer line of games. It was originally released for the NEC PC-8801 in 1987, and was later ported to other PC platforms such as the NEC PC-9801, the NEC PC-88VA, the Sharp X1 Turbo, and the MSX 2, for which it...
in 1987 introduced a scenario system where the player can play through fifteen scenarios in their order of choice. Soon after, additional expansion pack
Expansion pack
An expansion pack, expansion set, or supplement is an addition to an existing role-playing game, tabletop game or video game. These add-ons usually add new game areas, weapons, objects, and/or an extended storyline to a complete and already released game...
s were released containing a number of new scenarios. The game introduced an aging system, where one or more years pass by and the characters age during each scenario, with the additional scenario packs in mind. That same year saw the beginning of the Kroz series, a seven-part series of games featuring similar text-based graphics and gameplay, with renewed levels. These were not released on a regular schedule, but were sold in packages, with the first episode being available freely as shareware
Shareware
The term shareware is a proprietary software that is provided to users without payment on a trial basis and is often limited by any combination of functionality, availability, or convenience. Shareware is often offered as a download from an Internet website or as a compact disc included with a...
.
Single-player games, particularly real-time strategy
Real-time strategy
Real-time strategy is a sub-genre of strategy video game which does not progress incrementally in turns. Brett Sperry is credited with coining the term to market Dune II....
games and first-person shooter
First-person shooter
First-person shooter is a video game genre that centers the gameplay on gun and projectile weapon-based combat through first-person perspective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist. Generally speaking, the first-person shooter shares common traits with other...
s, have in the past experimented with a limited form of episodic gaming, by adding new stages, levels, weapons, enemies or missions with expansion packs. Early examples include Wing Commander: Secret Ops, which was released episodically over the internet in 1998. However, this series was a failure and was discontinued after it failed to attract significant player numbers. One of the contributing factors was its 120MB download size, which may have been prohibitively large in an age in which 56k internet access was the norm. Limitations in bandwidth have also been cited as one of the reasons for the failure of the episodic alternate reality game
Alternate reality game
An alternate reality game is an interactive narrative that uses the real world as a platform, often involving multiple media and game elements, to tell a story that may be affected by participants' ideas or actions....
Majestic, as it required an initial download of an hour or more on a dial-up connection.
Another example of a more casual episodic game is Goodnight Mister Snoozleberg!, an online game created by Sarbakan that was released in 1999 on TF1's web site, later on CBC and now available for download on Trygames. El Dorado's Gate was a Japan-only episodic game released by Capcom in 2001.
Kuma Reality Games has developed first-person shooter episodic games since its inception in 2003. Some of the "game-isodes" that the company has developed include The DinoHunters, which documents a group of off-key time travelers hunting dinosaurs and other prehistoric beasts, and the controversial Kuma\War, which focuses on recent military action in the world, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan. Recently, Kuma Games produced a series mirroring The History Channel's Shootout! series. The games created were modeled on the battles featured in the TV show, adding another level of media depth to episodic gaming in general.
The first episodic console game was .hack
.hack (video game series)
.hack is a series of single-player action role-playing games for the , developed by CyberConnect2 and published by Bandai. The four games are titled .hack//Infection, .hack//Mutation, .hack//Outbreak, and .hack//Quarantine...
, a four-part RPG released between 2002 and 2003. Upon clearing each game, the player's data is loaded onto the memory card as a "data flag" file, readable by the next game in the series. With this, the player can continue on from the previous game with the same stats, items, and player name.
Other games have contemplated going the route of episodic development and distribution, only to decide against it. Examples of this include Quantic Dream
Quantic Dream
Quantic Dream is a French video game developer based in Paris, France, founded in 1997. The company also supplies motion capture services to the film and video game industries.-History:...
's Fahrenheit
Fahrenheit (video game)
Fahrenheit, also known as Indigo Prophecy in North America, is a cinematic adventure video game developed by Quantic Dream and manufactured and marketed by Atari Europe SAS...
and a planned series of episodes starring Duke Nukem
Duke Nukem (character)
Duke Nukem is a fictional character and action hero who has been the protagonist in over a dozen video games.The character first appeared in the 1991 video game Duke Nukem developed by Apogee Software...
by ARUSH Entertainment
ARUSH Entertainment
Arush Entertainment was a video game publisher and developer based in Scottsdale, Arizona, United States. It published interactive entertainment software for personal computers and advanced entertainment consoles...
.
Valve Corporation
Valve Corporation
Valve Corporation is an American video game development and digital distribution company based in Bellevue, Washington, United States...
's Steam platform is being used as a content delivery platform for several episodic games including Half-Life 2 Episodes developed by Valve themselves.
Telltale Games
Telltale Games
Telltale Games is a leading independent digital first publisher and game developer founded in June 2004 as Telltale, Incorporated. Based in San Rafael, California, the studio includes designers formerly employed by LucasArts...
is one of the heaviest supporters of episodic gaming thus far. Their game Bone
Bone: Out from Boneville
Bone: Out from Boneville is the second video game endeavor by Telltale Games, and the first episode of the Bone adventure game series. It was released in September 2005 after around seven months in production...
is an adventure title that literally adapts chapters from Jeff Smith
Jeff Smith (cartoonist)
Jeff Smith is an American cartoonist, best known as the creator of the self-published comic book series Bone. His current series, RASL, focuses on an art thief who hops through dimensional barriers, hiding out on various parallel worlds.-Early life and education:Jeff Smith was born in McKees...
's Bone comic book saga into game episodes on a periodic basis, with two episodes having been released. Telltale's Sam & Max Save the World
Sam & Max Save the World
Sam & Max Save the World is a graphic adventure video game developed by Telltale Games. The game was originally released as Sam & Max: Season One before being renamed in early 2009. Save the World was developed in episodic fashion, comprising six episodes that were released for Microsoft Windows...
was their first fully completed episodic series, followed by Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space and Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse
Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse
Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse is a graphic adventure video game developed by Telltale Games. It is the third "season" of the Sam & Max episodic series created by Telltale Games, following Sam & Max Save the World and Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space...
. Other series based on various other franchises include Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People
Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People
Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People is an episodic point-and-click adventure game developed by Telltale Games based on the Homestar Runner web cartoon, with Strong Bad as the lead character. A total of five episodes were released for WiiWare and Windows between August 11, 2008 and...
, Wallace and Gromit's Grand Adventures, Tales of Monkey Island
Tales of Monkey Island
Tales of Monkey Island is a 2009 graphic adventure video game developed by Telltale Games and LucasArts. It is the fifth game in the Monkey Island series, released nearly a decade after the previous installment, Escape from Monkey Island. Developed for Windows and the Wii console, the game was...
and, most recently, Back to the Future: The Game
Back to the Future: The Game
Back to the Future: The Game is a graphic adventure video game based on the Back to the Future film franchise. The game was developed by Telltale Games as part of a licensing deal with Universal Pictures. Bob Gale, co-creator, co-writer and co-producer of the film trilogy, assisted Telltale in...
.
MINERVA is a single-player modification that has adopted an episodic development structure. It is one of the first mods to do so for Valve's Half-Life 2
Half-Life 2
Half-Life 2 , the sequel to Half-Life, is a first-person shooter video game and a signature title in the Half-Life series. It is singleplayer, story-driven, science fiction, and linear...
.
Turner Broadcasting's GameTap
GameTap
GameTap is an American online video game service established by Turner Broadcasting System . Dubbed by TBS as a "first of its kind broadband gaming network", the service provides users with classic arcade video games and game-related video content...
has made large investments in episodic game development. The online game service's first episodic game, Sam & Max
Sam & Max
Sam & Max is a media franchise focusing on the fictional characters of Sam and Max, the Freelance Police. The characters, who occupy a universe that parodies American popular culture, were created by Steve Purcell in his youth, and later debuted in a 1987 comic book series...
, was co-published with Telltale Games
Telltale Games
Telltale Games is a leading independent digital first publisher and game developer founded in June 2004 as Telltale, Incorporated. Based in San Rafael, California, the studio includes designers formerly employed by LucasArts...
. Each episode premiered on GameTap 14 days before becoming available on the Telltale Games web site. GameTap's second foray into episodic games was monthly content deliveries for Myst Online: Uru Live
Myst Online: Uru Live
Myst Online: Uru Live is an open source massively multiplayer online adventure game developed by Cyan Worlds. The game is the multiplayer component to the 2003 video game Uru: Ages Beyond Myst. Like Uru, Myst Online takes place in 2000's New Mexico, where an ancient civilization known as the D'ni...
an online massive multiplayer game by Cyan Worlds
Cyan Worlds
Cyan Worlds, Inc. is a video game development company, founded by brothers Rand and Robyn Miller in 1987, and best known as the creators of the Myst series. After Myst and its sequel Riven sold several million copies each, Cyan went on to create the massively multiplayer online adventure, Uru,...
. In February, GameTap announced a third episodic game, Galactic Command: Echo Squad, developed in conjunction with 3000AD. Their most recently announced game, the 24 episode American McGee's Grimm
American McGee's Grimm
American McGee's Grimm is a 23-part episodic video game series based upon Grimm's Fairy Tales, designed by American McGee, developed by Spicy Horse and distributed online initially by GameTap starting July 31, 2008...
, was announced in May 2007 for an early 2008 launch. GameTap's VP of content, Ricardo Sanchez
Ricardo Sanchez (video games)
Ricardo Sanchez is a writer, producer and game industry executive.Sanchez is currently writing the Resident Evil comic book series for Wildstorm and wrote a promotional comic book for NCSoft's Aion MMO.-Career:...
, has written for sites like Gamasutra
Gamasutra
Gamasutra is a website founded in 1997 for video game developers. It is owned and operated by UBM TechWeb , a division of United Business Media, and acts as the online sister publication to the print magazine Game Developer...
and GameDaily
GameDaily
GameDaily was a video game journalism website based in the United States. Launched in 1995 by entrepreneur Mark Friedler under the name Gigex and focused on free game demo downloads, The site changed its business model from a flat fee per download CDN distributed service network to an...
and presented at the D.I.C.E. Summit
D.I.C.E. Summit
D.I.C.E. Summit is an annual multi-day gathering of video game executives held in Las Vegas, Nevada. Established in 2002 by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, the conference is host to the annual Entertainment Software Association's Interactive Achievement Awards...
on the subject. His "Three Laws of Episodics" lay out rules by which GameTap determines whether a title is episodic or not, and rules out Bone and Half-Life 2 Episodes
Half-Life 2: Episode One
Half-Life 2: Episode One is the first in a series of episodes that serve as the sequel for the 2004 first-person shooter video game Half-Life 2. It was developed by Valve Corporation and released on June 1, 2006. Originally called Half-Life 2: Aftermath, the game was later renamed to Episode One...
due to the unknown duration of time between episodes.
Dimps
Dimps
is an Osaka, Japan-based video game development studio with an additional office in Tokyo, Japan. Employing a staff of 218 people, it is known for developing such games as the Dragon Ball Z: Budokai trilogy for the PlayStation 2, and the Sonic the Hedgehog games specific to the Game Boy Advance and...
and Sonic Team
Sonic Team
is a Japanese computer and video game developer established in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan in 1990, originally known as Sega AM8. The Japan-based division is also known as G.E. Department Global Entertainment. The studio has collaborated with several in-house Japanese studios as well as other American-based...
are creating the episodic video game, Sonic the Hedgehog 4
Sonic the Hedgehog 4
is an episodic platform video game and a sequel in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. The game was developed by Dimps alongside members of Sonic Team and is intended to be inspired by and similar to the original Sonic the Hedgehog titles on the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis.Episode I was released in October...
for various formats, the first episode of which was released in October 2010. Ubisoft
Ubisoft
Ubisoft Entertainment S.A. is a major French video game publisher and developer, with headquarters in Montreuil, France. The company has a worldwide presence with 25 studios in 17 countries and subsidiaries in 26 countries....
's upcoming Rayman Origins
Rayman Origins
Rayman Origins is a platform game developed and published by Ubisoft for PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360, Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita. The game was released on November 15, 2011 in North America, November 24, 2011 in Australia and November 25, 2011 in Europe for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii....
is also being developed as an episodic title for various formats.
Massively multiplayer online gaming
Since episodic gaming is mostly driven through linear storytelling, outside of story-driven single playerSingle player
A Single-player video game is a video game where input from only one player is expected throughout the course of the gaming session. "Single-player game" usually implies a game that can only be played by one person, while "single-player mode" usually refers to a game mode for a single player, where...
games, it is mostly found in MMOG
Massively multiplayer online game
A massively multiplayer online game is a multiplayer video game which is capable of supporting hundreds or thousands of players simultaneously. By necessity, they are played on the Internet, and usually feature at least one persistent world. They are, however, not necessarily games played on...
s. Much as they worked for offline games, expansion packs have often been sold to increase available content to MMOG players by adding additional worlds to explore and additional gameplay features, such as new weapons and characters.
As the term relates to this genre, episodes are typically contrasted to the traditional expansion pack, as in the Asheron's Call
Asheron's Call
Asheron's Call is a fantasy MMORPG for Microsoft Windows-based PCs developed and published by Turbine Entertainment. It was published by Microsoft until 2004. Asheron's Call is set on the continent of Dereth and its surrounding islands on the fictional planet of Auberean...
franchise, where episodic content was downloaded without an additional fee (to the standing subscription price). This included new expansive story arcs comparable to those found in offline RPGs and were updated on a bi-monthly basis. It should be noted that retail expansion packs were still created for the Asheron's Call games.
Another MMOG featuring an episodic design is the Guild Wars
Guild Wars
Guild Wars is an episodic series of online 3D fantasy role-playing games developed by ArenaNet and published by NCsoft. Although often defined as an MMORPG the developers define it as a CORPG due to significant differences from the MMORPG genre. It provides two main modes of gameplay—a cooperative...
series developed by ArenaNet
ArenaNet
ArenaNet is a computer game developer and part of NCsoft Corporation, founded in 2000 by Mike O'Brien, Patrick Wyatt and Jeff Strain and located in Bellevue, Washington...
. The company's business model involves releasing new, independent chapters for the game on a six month basis. Since Guild Wars does not charge a monthly fee, and there is no requirement to own the newer chapters, it is one the few games entirely reliant on the episodic games model to continue its service. To this end, Guild Wars Factions
Guild Wars Factions
Guild Wars Factions is an Action RPG released in 2006 by ArenaNet, the second in the Guild Wars series. Factions introduces the continent of Cantha where two warring factions, the Luxons and the Kurzicks, are locked in a global persistent war...
was released on April 28, 2006, which was subsequently followed by Guild Wars Nightfall
Guild Wars Nightfall
Guild Wars Nightfall is a fantasy Action RPG and the third stand-alone campaign in the Guild Wars computer game series developed by Seattle-based game developer studio ArenaNet, a subsidiary of NCSoft corporation...
, released worldwide on October 27, 2006, and finally Guild Wars Eye of the North on August 31, 2007.