Is the MMO dying?

El Mahdi · Aug 11, 2012

By Chris Morris | Plugged In

Just a few short years ago, massively-multiplayer online games (MMOs) were considered the future of gaming.

Virtually every publisher was running one, building one, or contemplating one. A lot of those failed. A few struggled along with small but loyal audiences. And all of them acknowledged that they lived under the shadow of perennial champ World of Warcraft.

These days, though, massively-multiplayer online worlds are beset by bad news. World of Warcraft lost 1.1 million customers in the last three months. It's lost 2 million in the past year. Meanwhile, EA's highly anticipated entry in the field -- Star Wars: The Old Republic -- failed to take off, with subscriptions dropping to under 1 million last quarter. It was an incredibly rapid drop from the 2 million subscriber peak of earlier this year.

With these two behemoths having serious issues, is the entire genre on the outs? Not necessarily, but it's definitely changing -- and that could be great news for consumers who have grown sick and tired of forking over monthly fees for online games.

...rest of article here: Is the MMO dying? | Games Blog - Yahoo! Games

Dannyalcatraz · Aug 12, 2012

I don't think they're going to die off, but I'm expecting a serious metamorphosis in this sector.

1) number of active (pay per month) MMOs may have an upper limit...perhaps as few as 1-2 per genre.

2) new pricing structures may come to dominate the market, perhaps pay per time used in game, or paying for in-game services/upgrades.

3) certain (modern, RW-type) MMOs may be free but with product placement or even RW style advertising.

Janx · Aug 12, 2012

meanwhile, how many people play MineCraft?

The xbox version broke records on Arcade game sales.

while MC isn't an MMO, it can have large numbers of users in the same space.

What keeps people coming back is the ability to make new stuff.

lack of new stuff is likely why people are leaving the MMO's. They are plowing through the content, then signing off.

imagine an MMO that is expanding daily, instead. With content made by users, perhaps.

That would provide a lot more variety of content which would keep people's interests up.

StreamOfTheSky · Aug 12, 2012

If only MMO's would die off! People are poorer now, so maybe they won't *dominate* like they have been, but they'll never go away, much to my dismay.

I'm betting that the next big thing in RPGs will be a stupid downloadable content model, where you have to pay to extend the plot and gain new areas to explore / fight in.
Which may or may not be even worse than an MMO. *sigh*

I realize it must look really greedy nowadays, to still want good old fashioned single player only (or with an option to play w/ friends actually physically there with you like Tales of Symphonia) game that takes many (enjoyable) hours to play through, with a rich story and fun battles / exciting boss battles, and a nice big world to explore... without monthly subsciptions, extra pay-for content, etc... just a one-time buy for the whole, big thing. I know compared to the money train an MMO or FPS w/ downloadable content is, that's just a really moronic route for a game publisher to go, looking strictly at cost to produce vs. income per game, nevermind that sadly solo RPGs are a niche market, so you're also moving much less numbers...
But...I miss it, so much. Please, game developers! Sacrifice graphics to make it economically feasible! I *LOVED* SNES sprite graphics! All I care about is story and game play! Please bring good RPGs back! Please!

Krug · Aug 12, 2012

Well the number of people who play tabletop RPGs is much smaller than that of MMORPGs, but the former isn't dead yet, right?

Agamon · Aug 12, 2012

If any help is needed, I have a shotgun here...

Chairman7w · Aug 12, 2012

I don't understand the hate.

I'm not an MMO guy myself, but it doesn't bother me that they exist. I respect your right not to like it, we all have different tastes.

But just cause *you* don't like to play something, why would you wish the entire genre was gone? If you don't like it, don't play it.

You guys crack me up. "Gee, I hate eggs! I wish no restaurants would ever serve them!!!"

El Mahdi · Aug 12, 2012

Chairman7w said:
I don't understand the hate.

I'm not an MMO guy myself, but it doesn't bother me that they exist. I respect your right not to like it, we all have different tastes.

But just cause *you* don't like to play something, why would you wish the entire genre was gone? If you don't like it, don't play it.

You guys crack me up. "Gee, I hate eggs! I wish no restaurants would ever serve them!!!"

I couldn't agree more!

The existence of MMO's has no effect whatsoever on those that don't like them. They can still participate in the mediums they do like, or play the type of games they do like, with no change whatsoever. :erm:

I would, however, certainly appreciate if those posting in this thread would stick to the subject of the thread/article (as Danny, Janx, and Krug did) - which is: are MMO's dying, and if so why might this be the case - rather than using the thread as an opportunity to re-declare themselves members of the "I Hate MMO's" club. :-S

Umbran · Aug 12, 2012

El Mahdi said:
The existence of MMO's has no effect whatsoever on those that don't like them.

That isn't entirely true. Those who get highly involved in them tend to drop out of their other social circles, so those social circles are also affected.

This is no different than when a person gets highly involved in *any* hobby, though. MMOs just happen to have drawn millions into them pretty much all at once.