2024 Golden Lance Award for Live Service Game of the Year

Live service games are perhaps the most challenging spheres of gaming in which to work. Studios have to fight against gamer fatigue, new releases, and the realities of how long game development takes. It is a war against constant attrition where the feedback loops take months to learn from and incorporate. Every year, we examine the landscape of multiplayer/live service games, and every year new entries come to life.

However, their staying power is always under scrutiny. A multiplayer game with a million players today may have ten thousand in six months. Through no fault of its own, solely because attention spans are shorter than ever. This year is a celebration of some of the longest-running live games in existence. It is a testament to the skill of the developers and the passion of the fanbases. With that said, here are the winners of Lords of Gaming’s 2024 Golden Lance Award for Live Service Game of the Year.

Winner – Destiny 2: The Final Shape

Destiny 2: The Final Shape is hailed as the best live service game of 2024, marking an epic conclusion to the decade-long Light and Darkness Saga. This content-rich expansion introduced a compelling new campaign, a haunting new location, engaging activities, a challenging raid, and a fresh Prismatic subclass. Players experienced an emotional journey, especially following the underwhelming Lightfall expansion. The delay from February to June 2024 allowed Bungie to deliver one of the franchise’s most memorable expansions, providing a nostalgic yet thrilling experience for long-time fans.

The Final Shape brought the long-awaited showdown with The Witness, introduced the eerie Pale Heart area inside The Traveler, and unveiled Destiny’s first new enemy faction in years, the Dread. The Prismatic subclass was a game-changer, allowing for dynamic builds with combined Light and Dark abilities. The return of the beloved character Cayde-6 added emotional depth to the story. Amid internal challenges at Bungie, The Final Shape stands as a heartfelt finale, celebrating the community and ensuring its legacy as the premier live service game of 2024.

Runner Up – Helldivers 2

The live service segment is quite crowded and difficult to crack. Heavy hitters like Fortnite, Counter-Strike 2, and Genshin Impact have millions of devoted players and it is tough for games to find and cultivate their own community. Yet, Arrowhead Game Studios managed to do that with  Helldivers 2. 

Though the road was often bumpy and contentious. Issues with excessive nerfs, ragdoll physics and mandatory PSN logins hurt the game, but the developers listened to feedback and buffed pretty much every weapon to create one of the most standout co-op experiences in 2024. Helldivers 2 features war bonds aka battle pass system which is fair and is relatively easy to earn in-game currency. Also, the game has one of the most unique ways to expand its lore through its Major Orders. 

Helldivers 2 still has a lot of gas left in its tank, players are hankering for a new enemy faction, weapons, strategems, and locations out on the horizon. The future of Super Earth is in good hands thanks to all the citizens protecting democracy.