The sports genre has always been one of gaming’s most popular, withPongbeing one of the very first commercially-available video games, and over the last decade or so, the hero-shooter genre has risen fast to popularity. As such, a combination of the two seems like a natural success just waiting to happen.Omega Strikersis set to launch later this year, and although it blends thehero-shooter genrewith sports, it might have a few issues blocking its path to success, all of which come from its position as a free-to-play, live-service title.
Launching July 27, 2025,Omega Strikersessentially takes thetop-down soccer gameplay ofMario Strikersand blends it withOverwatch’s class-based mechanics, leading to one unique-looking game. But it isn’t the best time for the live-service market right now, andOmega Strikersmay have failed before it’s even been given a chance to get out the door.
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Omega Strikers Is Releasing At a Rough Time for Live-Service Games
2023 is only in its second month, and already two big live-service games have announced that their servers are shutting down. Just a few weeks ago, Epic Games announced that it was shutting the online servers for its free-to-play, live-service battle royale brawlerRumbleverse, just five months after it released. Very soon after,EA announced that it was shutting down its online servers forKnockout City, another live-service, free-to-play title. Right now, the future of the live-service genre is very unclear.
While these closures probably don’t herald the end of the live-service genre on the whole, they do highlight a growing trend in the industry. The live-service model has primarily been used by large-scale MMOs, and bigger budget titles likeFortnite,Apex Legends, andCall of Duty: Warzone, and for these larger projects, the continued development is worth the investment, as they had huge followings. However, when it comes to smaller titles likeKnockout CityandRumbleversethat only manage to maintain a small group of dedicated fans, that continued long-term development just doesn’t yield the same profitable results.
Omega Strikersis set to launch in just a few months' time, and while it certainly has some buzz surrounding it, it’s extremely unlikely to gain the same following as gigantic properties likeFortniteandApex Legends. While not too much information has been given about the game,Omega Strikers' developerhas confirmed that it’ll be free-to-play and that it will continue to update the game for the foreseeable future, essentially confirming that the game will be live-service. Though this can be great for fans who might continue to receive new content like maps and modes for free, it might be a bit of a rough journey for the developers.
It’s often been seen thatsmaller dev teamspromise that they’ll continue updating the game after its release to make up for a lack of content on launch, and then they’re locked into continued development for years despite the player-base dwindling away in that time. The glaring flaws of the live-service model are starting to rear their heads, and smaller developers are the ones getting hurt by it. For smaller games likeOmega Strikers, it would be much better if the developer just released the game in its full form, and if it has little content, then the price tag just needs to reflect that. That way, developers won’t be locked into developing the same game for years just because they promised more content before it was even released.
Omega Strikersis currently available on PC, with a Switch version scheduled for release on June 17, 2025.
