The Flock: the game that dies when you do.
Online multiplayer games go stale. This is a sad and inevitable truth to our industry. It is also a truth that one Dutch development studio not only took notice of, they built their game around it.
The Flock is an asynchronous multiplayer horror game that will only be available for a limited time. The developer, Vogelsap, previously announced that the game will last for a certain number of player deaths, after which it will be withdrawn from sale. On Wednesday, Vogelsap revealed that after The Flock‘s servers register 215,358,979 in-game deaths, the game will be removed from sale and players that already have the game in their library will take part in the next phase, which will have a “climactic finale.”
After completion, the game will permanently shutdown with no refunds.
In a Q and A blog post Wednesday the developers explained the decision to design The Flock in this way.
The developers were motivated by the desire to “convey the extinction story” in a way that players will fully experience it, as well as the desire to not see their game go stale.
“Most indie multiplayer games lose their player base within a year,” the post reads. “Even heavy hitters such as Titanfall and Evolve have a fast dwindling player base. The most popular games such as League of Legends and Counter-Strike still have a somewhat anticlimactic ending of their players’ experience. Because in the end at some point – and this can be after five years or two months – you’ll stop playing because you either got bored of it, you’ve seen it all or you, or your friends have no longer time to play.”
The post continues by expressing the desire to provide a “climactic finale” to the game’s players.
“We want to tackle that problem, and make sure The Flock ends with a climax after which the game will be fondly remembered. Much like a lot of single player experiences where you have a huge battle or a boss fight.”
