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Anepisodic video game is avideo game of a shorter length that is commercially released as an installment to a continuous and larger series. Episodic games differ from conventional video games in that they often contain less content but are developed on a more frequent basis.
Such a series may or may not havecontinuity, but will always share settings, characters, and/or themes. Episodic production in this manner has become increasingly popular among video game developers since the advent of low-costdigital distribution systems, which can immensely reduce their distribution overhead and make episodes financially viable. Alternatively, it can be used to describe the narrative of the game. Examples of episodic video games include mostTelltale games,Alan Wake,BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea,Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City,Life Is Strange,Resident Evil: Revelations (andRevelations 2),Half-Life 2: Episode One (andTwo),Star Trek Online andDeltarune.
To consumers, episodic games are very similar in nature toexpansion packs. An expansion is an add-on to an original, non-episodic product however; something of a lower order. In an episodic series there is no dominant '"first" game': each installment, although perhaps of the same length and price point as an expansion, is a main event that drives the core experience forward. This particular aspect of this type of game underpins the developer focus on the game's story.[1]
In terms of the narrative framework, episodic games tend to end in cliffhangers because it serves as a tool to deploy a seamless transition.[2] These scenes are also dramatic, drawing the interest of the players so that they anxiously await for the next installment.
The first episodic game appeared in 1979.Automated Simulations'Dunjonquest series started withTemple of Apshai, and in the same year several mini-episodes using the same game system and world were released. The sequelHellfire Warrior and several full-sized add-on packs for both main games followed 1980–1982.[3]Wizardry was likewise appended with additional scenarios that allowed importing of the first games' save data.
FollowingNihon Falcom's 1986expansion packXanadu Scenario II for the 1985action role-playing gameDragon Slayer II: Xanadu,[4] the fifthDragon Slayer titleSorcerian in 1987 introduced a scenario system where the player can play through fifteen scenarios in theirorder of choice. Soon after, additionalexpansion packs were released containing a number of new scenarios. The game introduced an aging system, where one or more years pass by and the characters age during each scenario, with the additional scenario packs in mind.[5] That same year saw the beginning of theKroz series, a seven-part series of games featuring similar text-based graphics and gameplay, with renewed levels. These were not released on a regular schedule, but were sold in packages, with the first episode being available freely asshareware. During 1993-1994, the Italian publisher Simulmondo published several games in bite-sized episodes, among them the comic book adaptionDiabolik (11 Episodes) and the original seriesTime Runners (30 Episodes).
Adventure gamesShin Onigashima,Yūyūki, andFamicom Tantei Club series for theFamily Computer Disk System were released in two disks, with both disks being separate releases but forming a single game.
Single-player games, particularlyreal-time strategy games andfirst-person shooters, have in the past experimented with a limited form of episodic gaming, by adding new stages, levels, weapons, enemies or missions with expansion packs. Early examples includeWing Commander: Secret Ops, which was released episodically over the internet in 1998. However, this series was a failure and was discontinued after it failed to attract significant player numbers. One of the contributing factors was its 120 MB download size, which may have been prohibitively large in an age in which 56k internet access was the norm. Limitations in bandwidth have also been cited as one of the reasons for the failure of the episodicalternate reality gameMajestic, as it required an initial download of an hour or more on a dial-up connection.
Another example of a more casual episodic game isGoodnight Mister Snoozleberg!, an online game created by Sarbakan that was released in 1999 on TF1's website, later on CBC and now available for download on Trygames.El Dorado's Gate was a Japan-only episodic game released by Capcom in 2001.
Kuma Reality Games has developed first-person shooter episodic games since its inception in 2003. Some of the "game-isodes" that the company has developed includeThe DinoHunters, which documents a group of off-key time travelers hunting dinosaurs and other prehistoric beasts, and the controversialKuma\War, which focuses on recent military action in the world, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan. Recently, Kuma Games produced a series mirroringThe History Channel's Shootout! series. The games created were modeled on the battles featured in the TV show, adding another level of media depth to episodic gaming in general.
From 1994 (1994) to 2000 (2000), the world's first digitalsatellite radio broadcaster,St.GIGA, transmitted episodic video games with voice acted overdubs (a technique calledSoundLink), to be played in Japan on partnerNintendo'sSuper Famicom video game console with itsSatellaview peripheral.[6][7][8] The first SoundLink title,BS Zelda no Densetsu, was released in four discrete broadcast episodes starting in August 1995. Nintendo has said it to be the world's first integrated radio-game.[9]
Shining Force III is a three-part RPG released by Sega for the Sega Saturn between 1997 and 1999. The narrative of the game was distributed through three distinct "scenarios", each showing a part of the complete story.
Other games have contemplated going the route of episodic development and distribution, only to decide against it. Examples of this includeQuantic Dream'sFahrenheit,Ubisoft'sRayman Origins, and a planned series of episodes starringDuke Nukem byARUSH Entertainment.
Valve'sSteam platform is being used as a content delivery platform for several episodic games includingHalf-Life 2 Episodes developed by Valve themselves.
Telltale Games is one of the heaviest supporters of episodic gaming thus far, as well as its successor,AdHoc Studio, after its closure. Their gameBone is an adventure title that literally adapts chapters fromJeff Smith'sBone comic book saga into game episodes on a periodic basis, with two episodes having been released. Telltale'sSam & Max Save the World was their first fully completed episodic series, followed bySam & Max Beyond Time and Space andSam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse. Other series based on various other franchises includeStrong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People,Wallace and Gromit's Grand Adventures,Tales of Monkey Island,Back to the Future: The Game andThe Walking Dead.
Minerva is a single-player modification that has adopted an episodic development structure. It is one of the first mods to do so for Valve'sHalf-Life 2.
Turner Broadcasting'sGameTap has made large investments in episodic game development. The online game service's first episodic game,Sam & Max, was co-published withTelltale Games. Each episode premiered on GameTap 14 days before becoming available on the Telltale Games web site. GameTap's second foray into episodic games was monthly content deliveries forMyst Online: Uru Live an online massive multiplayer game byCyan Worlds. In February, GameTap announced a third episodic game,Galactic Command: Echo Squad, developed in conjunction with3000AD. Their most recently announced game, the 24 episodeAmerican McGee's Grimm, was announced in May 2007 for an early 2008 launch. GameTap's VP of content, Ricardo Sanchez, has written for sites likeGamasutra andGameDaily and presented at theD.I.C.E. Summit on the subject. His "Three Laws of Episodics" lay out rules by which GameTap determines whether a title is episodic or not, and rules outBone andHalf-Life 2 Episodes due to the unknown duration of time between episodes.
Dimps andSonic Team created the episodic video game,Sonic the Hedgehog 4 for various formats, thefirst episode of which was released in October 2010, withEpisode 2 released in May 2012. A third episode was planned, but was canceled.
Joey Drew Studios Inc. released Chapter 1 of the horror game ‘’Bendy and the Ink Machine‘’ for free onGame Jolt anditch.io in February 2017. There were four additional paid chapters. Chapter 2 released onGame Joltitch.io and Steam (alongside Chapter 1 on Steam) in April 2017, Chapter 3 released in September 2017, Chapter 4 released in April 2018, and Chapter 5 was released as part of the complete edition in October 2018.
Glowstick Entertainment created their first horror game ‘’Dark Deception‘’, releasing on Steam with Chapter 1 releasing in September 2018, Chapter 2 in January 2019, Chapter 3 in June 2019, Chapter 4 in September 2021, and Chapter 5 is scheduled to be released in 2026.
Mob Entertainment created their first horror game, ‘’Poppy Playtime‘’ releasing on Steam with Chapter 1 in October 2021, Chapter 2 in May 2022, Chapter 3 in January 2024, Chapter 4 in January 2025, And Chapter 5 being scheduled for 2026.
Telltale's episodic adventure games inspired Roy and Ronen Gluzman to revive their popular Israeli video game franchisePiposh witha four-part 2019 entry.[10]
Deltarune is being released in an episodic format. The first two chapters of the game are available together as afree demo and were released in 2018 and 2021 respectively. The third and fourth chapters released in a paid format in 2025. The game's menu implies there will be seven chapters,[11] howeverToby Fox has only officially confirmed the first six.[12]
Since episodic gaming is mostly driven through linear storytelling, outside of story-drivensingle player games, it is mostly found inMMOGs. Much as they worked for offline games, expansion packs have often been sold to increase available content to MMOG players by adding additional worlds to explore and additional gameplay features, such as new weapons and characters.
As the term relates to this genre, episodes are typically contrasted to the traditional expansion pack, as in theAsheron's Call franchise, where episodic content was downloaded without an additional fee (to the standing subscription price). This included new expansive story arcs comparable to those found in offline RPGs and were updated on a bi-monthly basis. Retail expansion packs were still created for theAsheron's Call games.
Another MMOG featuring an episodic design is theGuild Wars series developed byArenaNet. The company's business model involves releasing new, independentchapters for the game on a six-month basis. SinceGuild Wars does not charge a monthly fee, and there is no requirement to own the newer chapters, it is one of the few games entirely reliant on the episodic games model to continue its service. To this end,Guild Wars Factions was released on April 28, 2006, which was subsequently followed byGuild Wars Nightfall, released worldwide on October 27, 2006, and finallyGuild Wars Eye of the North on August 31, 2007.
Kabe shinbunsha: ８月６日（日）のスタート以来、全国を興奮と感動の渦に巻き込んでいる、世界初のラジオ／ゲーム連動プログラム「ＢＳゼルダの伝説」が大好評につき９月の再放送がついに決定した。
