This was published as a “local” article. But, it raises core questions about the future of gaming. So, I thought I’d put it out here for folks to see.
Online games used to be the preserve of a small number of Western computer geeks and masses of Asia’s technologically obsessed. Then, in 2004, came World of Warcraft (WoW). Immediately, tens of millions of subscribers in South Korea and China were willing to pay as much as $28 a month to team up with their friends in cyberspace and tackle hordes of virtual monsters.
Now mainstream gamers in North America and Europe have joined the revolution and, with online games on the cusp of going mass market, one Scottish company plans to ride the wave all the way to the bank.
Real Time Worlds, the Dundee-based studio founded by Grand Theft Auto creator Dave Jones, is developing a hybrid online/console game for Microsoft’s Xbox 360.
DFC Intelligence recently estimated that worldwide subscription revenue from online games was expected to rise from $2bn in 2005 to $6.8bn by 2011. North America’s market share of this growth is expected to surpass Asia’s by this time because of console online gaming revenue.
“As people get more comfortable downloading from online, the balance of power is shifting. Historically, it’s been in the hands of the retailers, who control the shelf space, and the publishers, who had the power to give the green light on whatever projects they like,” says Colin Macdonald, studio manager for Real Time Worlds.
“Going forward, much more of that power will be in the hands of these game developer/publisher entities. It will be more about who makes the best games and less about which distributor/retailer you know.”
When WoW was originally released only 250,000 people in all of Europe were said to be interested in playing these massively multiplayer games.
However, the game, developed by US-based Blizzard Entertainment, turned the video games industry on its head this past year when it was revealed that it had six million subscribers – one million in Europe – and was on track to generate $1 billion (£530m) in revenues.
The fact that this type of online game is now appealing to the West, which has been dominated by console video games, threatens to change the entire economic structure of the industry.
Is she right?
We’re going to find out in a very months when WOW’s expansion pack comes out and how many people buy it. WOW is at a turning point. It’s a mature game being almost 2 years old. The expansion pack will be the big test to see if the can keep long time players.
The other problem you have with WOW is that it’s players aren’t playing anything else. OK they may play something else but alot of their few time is used up on WOW leaving little time for other games.
revealed that it had six million subscribers
And here I thought “Ever-crack” was still the Big Daddy of time-wasters… I’m such a lAmEr
It also helps to explain all those WOW in-game movies posted on Google video – showing large groups of characters co-operating as clans, guilds, or whatever they call themselves.
I don’t know how this will affect retailers, though. Valve has tried the direct-market approach with their “Steam” online purchase & delivery system.
And I just read an article about a game reviewer’s frustration during – and abandonment of – online registration for the online-only Final Fantasy game.
I found it interesting that while he is willing to give personal info to the centralized gaming service [Xbox Live] for billing purposes – he is “fine with all that” – he is reluctant to give that same info to the game developer/host server… for billing purposes.
Story written by Doug Elfman, “Game Dork” for the Oregonian.
http://www.oregonlive.com/
Story dated May 12, 2006 [with emphasis added here, by me]
“I’m taking a personal stand against “Final Fantasy XI Online.”
“To make the most of it, you need to own the most expensive Xbox 360, the one with a hard drive. That’s $400. You have to belong to Xbox Live’s online gaming network. That’s $8 a month, or $50 a year. I’m fine with all that. Those are good, premium things to have around the house, if you can afford them.”
“Then the horror comes: You have to register for the “Final Fantasy XI” online service. I don’t know how much that costs, because I refused to capitulate.”
“Giving your money to “Final Fantasy XI” isn’ t easy, either. You type in five separate, 20-letter registration codes. You have to type in your mailing address and phone number. Two hours into the process of signing up for stuff and typing in personal info, I gave up.”
“It’s one thing to buy a game knowing it’s online-only and that you’ll have to sign up for Xbox Live, which is a fantastic pay service. But I have to tell a game company where I live? And my phone number? And, oh, by the way, here’s my credit card number to charge me more fees? Uh, no.”
I agree with the expansion pack theory you have, Jetfire. Once you release an expansion pack you are asking your already paying customers to pony up more cash. I’ve played a few MMORPGs in the past and that was when the fun started to wear out. I felt kinda left out because I didn’t want to pay more money on top of what I was paying already. Once the everybody picked up the expansion they disappeared from the original areas and the place started feeling empty. Me and a lot of my online friends stopped playing then.
Hey, lets make up a new buzz phrase. Lets call it the “tiered gameworld”.
I don’t know about all this online gaming and stuff, but if I could get into some real time, quality and mostly naked interactions with the ladies then hell, I’ll play those games. Please, no plots, and the only objective should be in how few moves to remove the most amount of clothing. And I ain’t gonna shoot nobody, not with a gun, anyways.
I’m in my seventh year of EverQuest, well now only in EverQuest 2. So many people have left for WoW that Sony has had to consolidate servers to make up for a shrinking population. It appears there will more consolidations as the current populations seem like they have diminished even further. One thing to be said for Sony though is that their games look great and are fun to play.
#4 Please, no plots, and the only objective should be in how few moves to remove the most amount of clothing.
That would be: “Leisure-Suit Larry Online”
#1 alot of their few time is used up on WOW leaving little time for other games.
#3 Once the everybody picked up the expansion they disappeared from the original areas and the place started feeling empty.
Jetfire & Dirtboy seem to have a handle on this…
Earlier today, I over-heard two co-worker’s discussing Wired’s article “World of Warcrack”, with one guy talking about how it is absorbing all his time…
I slithered into the discussion, talking about the Blizzard games I’ve enjoyed, and the handfull of WoW game-play movies I’ve seen via Google video.
When I mentioned the expansion pack, the guy playing WoW looked excited, and said: “yeah!, coming-out later this year.”. When I mentioned Dirtboy’s comment – people moving-on to the expansion areas, leaving the original feeling “empty” – he got a worried look on his face. “yeah…, I don’t know how that is going to work…”