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One of the major goals of a game is to become a "classic". To be recognized and played for years to come and celebrated for what they brought to the community. Games like DOOM and Mario have stayed relevant for well over 2 decades now but, how do they do that? Today I will attempt to point out some of factors that could contribute to this longevity and why they help. And to do this I will use Team Fortress 2 (Abbreviated to TF2) as an example. Just as a disclamer, this is an analysis for one game, every game is different and some games (like mario) may include none of what is talked about here.
To begin, I should probably explain what TF2 is. TF2 is a game that was published by Valve in 2007 for the computer for 60$, the game was later made free to play in 2011. The game is a cooperative first person shooter in which teams of up to 16 players choose from a cast of 9 different colorful characters (such as a fench spy, or a bad mouthing scout) and competed to complete some objective such as holding a point, or pushing a cart. The game has an active community with 20 million players having bought or downloaded the game, and an average of 55,000 players across the globe playing daily. Due to its in app payments, the game still produces revenue for Valve with 2017 being its highest grossing year so far, with an income of 4.3 billion dollars.
From the series of promotional videos outlining TF2 and it characters. This video introduces the scout, a fast moving and faster talking mercenary from Boston
Community Support:
One of the major things that made TF2 so long lasting was its community support. The publisher Valve has constantly been making changes to the game since its start. These changes have not been minor either, adding new ways to play, new cosmetics, new items and quality of life changes that are more suited to the modern players preferences. By doing this, not only is TF2 staying up to date on what the community wants. It also attracts both old and new players to start again.
More importantly, TF2 is a huge supporter of the community in both their mods, and market places. Essentially, TF2 allows every player to create and host private servers where they can use objects created by other players. This can range from anything from new items, to new play areas and entirely new game modes. Like updates this helps to keep the game fresh and with the expansive community players can find most anything they want through the community that is made easily accessible by Valve.
The TF2 market place is more complicated. Essentially there are in game items which are either rare (most items are received through randomized boxes) or worth money and can be difficult to acquire. However TF2 has created a market place in which players can trade things between other players for either other objects or actual money. Some people actually make a living off of these trades and valve benefits as a whole as it takes a percentile tax of every transaction. This open market place is something that negates the downsides of randomized toolboxes, which are often times bemoaned by the community and allow players to spend more time in a game exploring its many facets. All this can help to develop a substantial community which can keep a game going throughout the ages directly by providing free publicity and introducing new people to the experience.
What greets you upon opening the community market. A list of object put up for sale by their owners.
The free to play system:
The free to play system is the life blood of TF2, without it the game would have died years ago (the number of active players would have decreased to the point where it takes to long to wait for a game to play). The free to play system as well as the cross platform support (allowing players to play together even if on different devices) has provided TF2 with an almost never ending stream of active players. These players would never have stayed however if the free system wasn't implemented properly. First and most importantly, all items that changed how you played could be collected without spending money. And any new game modes or maps created were completely free. This allowed more of the community to interact with each other in a more fair manor and decrease frustration with newer players allowing them to play longer. The only thing you have to pay for is cosmetics that don't affect the gameplay, but Valve also did these right. Essentially these cosmetics can come indifferent rarities and can be modified to become even rarer, so players are always looking for new items that keep them going.
Throughout this analysis is have forgone discussing one thing. TF2's actually game play. This is because this is what really matters, and no two classics can mimic each other exactly. Classics are often founded on their detailed and unique game play. Often starting entire genres or movements surrounding them. Medal of honor defined the modern realistic shooter genre and got the market interested in WWII era games. Mario outlined the basic rules for a side scroller and started a series spanning decades. And TF2 solidified the class based shooter and held the public's interest with its unique art style and characters. But more then that it provided endless depth for skills that take years to master. I could tell you about the benefit of including all of the smaller ends of perfected rocket jumping however that wouldn't help you. To truly create a classic game, you cant copy the successes of others, you have to make your own and create something that can truly shake up the community, and I wont lie, that requires a lot of luck. But you can always take inspiration and learn lessons from those who came before you. We stand on the shoulders of giants, and always will.