As gimmicks go, the one from Vogelsap’s horror game The Flock is a doozy – the game will launch with a fixed number of 215,358,979 lives, and once players have used up all those precious chances it will close down for good.
The idea is that you play a predatory alien race called the Flock, who are on the verge of extinction. Either you survive long enough to find yourself a Light Artefact and evolve into a new species called the Carrier, or you die from light exposure. Or you survive, and find that you’re now the prey, and your fellow Flock are considering the best way to prepare and consume your raw flesh.
“Most indie multiplayer games lose their player base within a year,” explains the developer. “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.”
You can find some more concrete details over on the game’s official blog. Vogelsap apparently has a plan in mind for those who buy the game late, but they are keen to point out that it “won’t be for everybody.”
Certainly an interesting concept, though. How long it will be available I’ve no idea, but the game launches on August 21.
