How long do you support Bioshock after release?

[Rapture_Tourist]

It's a silly question prior to release maybe, but how long do you plan to support Bioshock after release (patches, downloads, mods, etc.)?

I think I have heard from other developers that they plan this in advance so maybe you like to share the info if you have decided already ;)

[Glottis]

It depends on how many copies of the game 2K sells.... ;)

[borgdrone89]

It depends on how many copies of the game 2K sells.... ;)

yes, a good example is the company that made bloodlines: the masquerade.
they went bankrupt from lack of sales, and the patching ended early, so the community started releasing unofficial patches

[Raveness]

I certainly hope Bioshock gets the full post-release treatment. An SDK is essential, along with any downloadable content they deem worthy of our consumption.

Patching depends on the state of the game upon its retail release. A lot of game developers/publishers nowadays like to push the product out the door as long as it is MOSTLY functional, then they patch it afterwards, relying on online medium to fix it to 100% after the fact.

This lazy attitude does not impress many of us longtime PC gamers who have watched this devolution of gaming development in that regards, and I seriously stress the need for Bioshock to provide a fully finished release candidate and not one full of gamestopping bugs or a STALKER-esque legion of fixes required.

[v.dog]

An SDK is a great way to extend a game's life. People are still making mods for Half-Life (http://mods.moddb.com/?search=true&=Search&mod=&mf=0&game=1&type=0). That game's almost 10 years old! As long as they release that, I'm not too worried about official support, the fans will generate way more content than the devs ever could.

As for patches, that's the one positive of console centered development; you've got to get it right first time. You can't count on the HDD being there and you shouldn't count on there being an internet connection either.

STALKER didn't annoy me for the sake patch, nor the file size (not compared to pulling down SiN's 32MB patch on a 56K modem) but by the sheer number of bugs it fixed. That game was clearly not finished when they pushed it out the door.