Civilization VI, one of the biggest real-time-strategy games of this generation, just received a massive update this month, adding in and fixing various features for the game. Though launched in 2016, the game still sees ample support from Firaxis Games – and as we mulled through the patch notes, we couldn’t help but think about a crucial service that we offer indie developers.
Like Firaxis Games, if your game is successful, you’ll want to continue with post-launch support. While that can be something as simple as fixing a bug, it often means bringing in new content, much like with the Civilization VI update. To best understand what we’re offering, let’s look at what Firaxis patched into the five-year-old title.
Civilization 6 Gets a Massive Update
Some of the new features introduced by Firaxis Games in Civilization 6’s big April update include three new military units, four new map types, and tons of other tweaks and fixes, including balancing 44 different units and all 27 of the game’s leaders.
The three new military units added to the game include the Trebuchet, Line Infantry, and Men-at-Arms. To accommodate the newcomers, Firaxis tweaked the stats of many of the existing units, from their costs to combat strengths and more. Most of these changes found within this update appear to be for the sake of better balancing the gameplay and making it an overall smoother experience for the player.
This update marks the end of the New Frontier season, which overall saw six micro-expansions and six major free patches for players released over the course of 12 months. It’s this level of post-launch support that helps games like Civilization VI survive for the long haul. Though players would love to see a Civilization VII announcement, these patches help satiate their appetite for content.
So, where does Epoch Xperience come in?
How Epoch Xperience Can Help
Just because you’ve launched the main title doesn’t mean you’re done with researching history. For the Civilization VI update, Firaxis needed to dig a little into the history of trebuchets and men-at-arms. Our team at Epoch Xperience can help your development team with providing post-launch content. Whether it’s pulling a historical figure into the mix or adding a new weapon to the game’s arsenal, Epoch Xperience can help with post-launch updates. We can also help with historical research for any additional content with our team of historians and research experts. Through the use of our resources, Epoch Xperience is your go-to for any historical research needs.
Why Post-Launch Support Is Beneficial
Developers like Firaxis Games create post-launch content like this in order to further support their games and its many fans. By doing so, developers are able to continue to keep their audiences engaged years after their game’s launch, and as a result continue to build trust with them. This is beneficial for game companies in the long run, as the more support they provide for their titles means the more likely that fans will come back for more, whether it be paid DLC, sequels, or brand new IPs.
This practice of free post-launch updates has become somewhat of a norm for the video game industry, with more and more developers offering free updates to its players; at this point, it is more irregular for developers to not support their game past its launch.
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At Epoch Xperience, we specialize in creating compelling narratives and provide research to give your game the kind of details that engage your players and create a resonant world they want to spend time in. If you are interested in learning more about our gaming research services, you can browse Epoch Xperience’s service on our parent site, SJR Research.
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(This article is credited to Ben Price. For as long as he can remember, Ben has always loved playing, discussing, and writing about video games. Since receiving his B.A. in English, he now writes about them for a living.)