"We were all discouraged" — Dispatch authors called the decision to release the game in episodes "crazy"
The interactive animated series Dispatch became a hit, selling over 2 million copies within a month of its debut. Although the developers from AdHoc Studio believe that the episodic content release model was a key factor in the game's success, they do not recommend other studios blindly adhere to it.
Dispatch
In an interview with Knowledge, AdHoc Studio CEO Michael Choung admitted that the decision not to release all of Dispatch at once, but to break it into episodes, was dictated by the game's narrative. However, the team discussed at length how best to proceed and often heard advice suggesting that choosing a different model would be better. Overall, Choung agrees with this advice.
“It's madness. By all accounts, from a production standpoint, no one should do this. And if you expect that simply dividing it into episodes will bring you success — well, good luck! It all hinges on the creative component of the game. If it is strong, you can slice the story any way you want, and it will work out even if it's not the best choice,” said the top manager.
Choung added that for games with a good story, an episodic model can become an added factor of success. By releasing episodes, they have a chance to attract more people than with a standard release. However, if the plot is not very strong, the head of AdHoc Studio emphasized, the episodic approach will not only fail to help the game but will harm it.