The Flock, a multiplayer horror game, will be playable only for a limited time before it is taken down forever.
Vogelsap, the game's developer, said that upon the launch of the game on Steam in the third quarter, the game will feature a certain population of the Flock, which are the monsters that each player of the game will spend most of their time playing as. Each player that dies in the game will also lead to the permanent death of one member of the Flock, and this will continue until the population of the monsters goes down to zero.
"After the ending, the game will go offline permanently and no longer be playable," said Vogelsap.
Before the game goes offline for good, Vogelsap will launch a grand finale for gamers that have The Flock in their Steam Library, which is an event that will be announced once the game's end is near.
The developer added that the population of the members of the Flock will be included in the menus of the game, on the page of the game on Steam, on the sub-reddit of The Flock and on the game's official website to keep the community updated on how many players are left.
In an interview with video games website Eurogamer on how many lives there will be at the start of the game, Jeroen van Hasselt, The Flock's creative director, said that the exact number is still being calculated from the closed beta that is ongoing. The population will be announced before the title's launch, but van Hasselt did say that the number would be "substantial."
When asked on why end the game completely instead of launching a second season, van Hasselt explained that The Flock was designed to be an immersive, scary, tense and unconventional gaming experience, which are things that do not last. In addition, there is a theme of the Flock being a race that is nearing extinction.
In addition, van Hasselt said that they want a climatic ending to The Flock so that gamers will remember it, as opposed to having interest in the game to slowly wither away.
Regarding the possible issue that players might not want to pay for a game that they will not be able to play in the future, van Hasselt said that Vogelsap is of course worried that sales can be lost. However, he added that taking risks is a part of Vogelsap's corporate culture, and that the company is only looking to make a unique gaming experience first and foremost compared to making a money-earning business venture for itself.
According to van Hasselt, Vogelsap will also have a system in place that will prevent players from simply killing themselves over and over to hasten the extinction of the Flock.
As members of the Flock, each player's goal is to become the Carrier, which all members of the Flock are hunting. The Carrier holds the Artifact, which is used to shine light on objectives placed around the world.
To become the Carrier, a member of the Flock will have to pounce upon the Carrier without being hit with the Artifact's light. The members of the Flock are vulnerable to the light of the Artifact, and in order to survive, they will have to stand completely still when the Artifact's light is on them.
