Highlights
- Live-service multiplayer games have been losing popularity besides shooters, while asymmetrical multiplayer games have been more prominent lately.
- Both Evil Dead: The Game and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre had limited plans for content updates, resulting in the former ending development and the latter likely facing a similar fate.
Live-service multiplayer games have been losing their luster for a while now and it’s plain to see that subgenre will likely be shelved for a bit outside of shooters that have already laid claim to perpetual franchise installments. Rather, asymmetrical multiplayer games in particular are incredibly niche but seem to have made a bit more ground on expanding more lately, namely through games like Evil Dead: The Game and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Both games are ironically nearly identical in terms of the content they planned to put out, and therefore the former’s recent news will likely be the latter’s as well.
It’s possible for an asymmetrical game to thrive with unending content, but to do so there needs to be a plan in place that positions it to have a constant stream of new additions. Instead, both Evil Dead: The Game and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre were developed with the intent of only including a relatively small amount of content as their franchises would afford, and because The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is taking an even more narrow approach to its adaptation it is inevitable that it will end up like Evil Dead: The Game.
Evil Dead: The Game Ending Development was Inevitable
It was unfortunate to hear that Evil Dead: The Game will be ending its development with no more content updates aside from patching bugs. However, such news also wasn’t incredibly surprising because of the asymmetrical game’s nature and scope.
Evil Dead: The Game didn’t narrow itself to a singular installment in the Evil Dead franchise, including characters and skins from the now-canceled Ash vs Evil Dead TV show and even managing to throw in content from the grisly 2013 reboot. There weren’t many other terribly iconic locations the game could’ve included and many of its most iconic characters were already there, though, so it’s definitely clear how Evil Dead: The Game might’ve hit a wall with regard to possible content updates.
This would’ve been an unstoppable inevitability in early development considerations as it was already decidedly limited to what it would adapt. It’s still too bad that Evil Dead: The Game did end up needing to shut its doors so soon, and with this asymmetrical horror game’s swan song as an omen of what’s to come, it might not be long until The Texas Chain Saw Massacre shutters, too.
The Clock is Ticking for The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’s Longevity
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre has only been out for less than a month and it’s fully possible that Sumo and Gun might have plans for it that will give it a healthy shelf life. Regardless, as is the case with any asymmetrical game that doesn’t have an incessant grip on players’ attention spans, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre could end up shuttering in the same amount of time it took Evil Dead: The Game to.
Moreover, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre truly shot itself in the foot by reducing its scope to primarily the 1974 original for its adaptation, meaning that content from other movies isn’t expected now, either. Going against that initial premise to include content from other TCSM entries would be forgiven if it meant that the game would have an extended longevity, but no current news at all about future content updates is essentially a death sentence anyhow. These asymmetrical games are often put down while new releases arrive, and if no new content is on the way The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is likely to be left behind before it eventually decides it has run through its allotted content.
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is out now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
