Patch 5.4 patch notes
Virtual Realms feature revealed
The Proving Grounds are coming
The latest patch 5.4 newsDeveloper resolution for 2009: Beat Warcraft
by Mike Schramm 
Jan 6th 2009 at 4:00PM
Our friends at GameDaily have a nice set of resolutions for game developers next year, and it's definitely worth a read if you're interested in seeing where they think the game industry might improve in 2009. But number three is the most interesting one for us: they suggest that game developers (and MMO devs in specific, we'd imagine) should make this the year that something else beats World of Warcraft.It seems much more unlikely than last year: last year, we were looking down the barrel of Age of Conan and Warhammer Online, and wondering if either one of those might cause a road bump in WoW's traffic. Age of Conan was called the steak to our game's McDonald's, but in the end, WoW players didn't do much more than give it a cursory glance. And while Warhammer seemed like a good contender to the throne, it hasn't come close to taking a bite out of Azeroth. This year, it doesn't even seem like there will be any MMO contenders. GameDaily cites Bioware's Star Wars MMO, but that's not coming out in 2009, and while The Agency and DC Universe Online might be getting close to finished, it's unlikely we'll see them on the shelves this year either.
This might be a year of recuperation, for both Blizzard and their competitors. Lord of the Rings Online is doing well, so their big task is just to keep the content moving, and unlike last year, Blizzard has no real impetus this year to really push their playerbase to stick with the game. As with everything, we'll have to see what happens, but I'd expect a much more subdued year this go-around for the MMO market. When the MMOs in progress now come to fruition in 2010, then things will likely get more interesting.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends, Blizzard, Making money
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 3)
supersaint Jan 6th 2009 10:13PM
Personally, i'm waiting for Star Trek: Online with alot of anticipation. The space mmo has yet to be done well. Eve is an exercise in spreadsheet envy.
Amaxe Jan 6th 2009 10:33PM
Well, one problem I see with something "beating WoW" is where it can come from. The Warcraft games preceding WoW were certainly something that people wanted even more depth to, and I think that helped make it successful even when people had to deal with lagfests and other problems.
Is there a game series or a movie series or something out there that people would love to see as a MMO? (Games based on entirely new content seem to be less successful)
If so, does the company developing it have a good vision? (SWG failed because of this for example)
Will that vision be properly executed? (I understand AoC and WAR fell short here)
Do they have the resources to make it work? Or will they have to cut back on what they promised (like WAR did)?
And finally, will the content make them want to come back when the trial subscription period is over?
This is what I see is needed to "defeat" WoW
zingar Jan 6th 2009 11:03PM
itll definately take a few years till wow gets down to at least 1 mill players.
im a hardcore D2 player, i still play it both online and single player (D2 fans MUST try Median XL mod, makes d2 way better & harder than ever btw :p), but D3 jus doenst seem right, i dunno stuff falling that kills monsters? im normally with the idea that those monsters are really powerful and wont die cuz some stone fell on em... it also seems a very slow paced game. from what ive seen of D3, itll be way too dif from wow to compete with it. same with SC2 which is a really diff style game. and about their new MMO.. thatll surely come out onces wow's dieing, since it wouldnt make sense to compete with urself (unless its a really dif style MMO)
other MMO's (unless theyre incredibly great) wont hurt wow much, wow its too popular already and well done
Sylvok Jan 7th 2009 11:27AM
If I can remember correctly Aion has around 500k subscribers in just Korea alone so far. Thats basicly 1 month after its release, I dont think it will over come WoW but if NCsoft can stop being...well NCsoft then it might have a shot at becoming a couple million players strong.
azunomi Jan 10th 2009 7:45PM
well lets see the basic problems with each and every single argument that each of you present about other mmorpgs,
1 it has 500k users in (insert country here)
Okay, that is a fine argument for that country, it does not have any such relevance to possible international figures. That being said it might not appeal to players out side of that country.
2 An mmo just has to emulate wow as it is now not at launch.
Here's the deal with that, most companies that put mmos out into the world dont give a damn about finishing the game. Nor making it balanced, let me clarify that any free mmo and some pay to play have cash shops, and if you think that the balance in wow is broken try playing a f2p mmo that has a cash shop and try partisipating in pvp just try it go on i dare you to.
Also most companies just dont care. Blizzard have a company policy of never releasing a game untill it's ground work is finished, or in wow's case acceptable. IE things that can be updated of fixed in patches.