Manor Lords publisher says ‘not every game’ needs to be a live service and developers should never be ‘forced to spin until their mental or physical health deteriorates’

Hoody Horse CEO Tim Bender, who leads publishing duties on several strategy-focused games including Manor Lords, has spoken out against the idea that every game needs to keep players perpetually hooked with post-launch plans in the manner of a live service.

In response to a LinkedIn post that claims that “Manor Lords is a pretty interesting case study in the pitfalls of Early Access development when a game with a small team (and heavily marketed as such) meets the reality of a hungry audience” – pointing to the game’s declining concurrent player count – Tim Bender argues that “this is exactly the kind of warped perspective of endless growth/burden of expectations/line must rise that causes so many problems in the games industry.” (Good point, Eurogamer.)

“Manor Lords just sold 250,000 copies last month, after selling over 2 million copies in its first 3 weeks, and has a very positive 88% rating with an average playtime of 8 hours and 48 minutes per player (very long for any game, especially one that’s recently released),” Bender continues. “The players are happy, the developer is happy, and we as a publisher are thrilled beyond belief.”

Bender then points out that one of Manor Lords’ early patch notes was over 3,000 words long, and that regardless of post-launch support or lack thereof, there’s nothing wrong with people “enjoying their purchase of a premium single-player title” before jumping into another. “(The horror! The horror!)” Bender jokes.

“If this industry is to find a more sustainable path, we need to move away from the approaches below. Success should not create an ever-higher bar in terms of new growth expectations. Not every game should be aimed at becoming a live service boom or bust. And a release should not be the start of an ever-faster treadmill on which developers are forced to run until their mental or physical health deteriorates,” Bender notes.

The Hood Horse boss recently said that publishers shouldn’t be judged on their biggest hits, but on how they respond to mistakes. At a time when major publishers are chasing endless growth and “high-impact titles” while cutting studios and employees, Bender’s comments are more than welcome.

Manor Lords publisher touts the benefits of letting developers cook as its insect-themed RTS and Soviet city-builder launch to rave reviews after up to 8 years in Early Access.