Just Cause 2 may seem like a weird role model for traditional, single-player games. After all, the 2010 open-world shooter is mostly known for it ridiculousness. It’s a game that let’s you tie a car to an airplane, all while encouraging you blow up anything and everything possible. Critically, Just Cause 2 has a very respectable 84 average on Metacritc. Good, but nothing remarkable.
So, how does this game, which came out back in 2010, still have half a million unique, active players every month?
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Square Enix puts that sort of long-term engagement over the recent trend for “games as service,” a phrase used to describe the industry’s move to free-to-play platforms and microtransactions. “There’s lots of talk in the industry about games becoming services — to be honest, as an expression this doesn’t always resonate with people, especially gamers,” Rogers told Games Industry International. “For us, online is a way to facilitate how we’re looking at the word service to build on a game. So we’re focusing on regular content updates, engaging gameplay mechanics, replayability, and deep community.”
So while it may seem weird for Square Enix, a company best known by many for Japanese role-playing series like Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, to highlight a quirky title from its Eidos brand (a European publisher that Square bought in 2009), Just Cause 2 actually perfectly fits Rogers’ criteria.
Just Cause 2 has found long-term success not because of money-sucking microtransactions or a competitive multiplayer mode, but simply because it’s a fun open-world game that encourages players to goof around. A community of modders have have also helped increase its lifespan with fan-made creations, including one that supports multiplayer.
Just Cause 2 has found a way to entertain players long after many other 2010 releases have become irrelevant. Sure, part of that is thanks to some pretty generous sales, but its clear that the open-world shooter has made a surprisingly large impact. If you’re talking about “long-term engagement,” than Just Cause 2 is the perfect role model.