I actually missed the first part of this story since I was travelling: fan favourite pinata Jack Emmert has become Cryptic’s new CEO after John Needham chose “to depart the company to pursue other opportunities within the games industry”. Said opportunities are becoming the CEO of Gazillion. An interesting move, and one that leaves Gazillion … Continue reading
Filed under F2P …
Great Moments in Online Game Advertising, Part 1
When it comes to the female form, I can safely say that I’m a fan. Not a face-painted, stripped-to-the-waist, half-drunk fan screaming “BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOBS!!!” because they just scored a goal, but more the quietly appreciative kind of fan. But there is a time and a place for T&A, with that time apparently being “any time we … Continue reading
The Trials of UnSub: Realm of the Mad God
Browser-based MMOs don’t get that much respect, often seen as the poorer, weaker, simpler cousins of client-based MMOs. In many cases they are, but with that simplicity comes the ability to experiment more because mistakes might only cost a few thousand dollars compared to the hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars required to … Continue reading
DCUO: Countdown to Crisis
I’m going to start 2011 the way I ended 2010: publicly wondering what is going on at Sony Online Entertainment with DC Universe Online. SOE looked to be in a pretty good place to develop DCUO – they had a larger IP than its competitors in City of Heroes / Villains and Champions Online, it … Continue reading
Five Reasons Why SWOR Is A High Risk MMO: #3 The Subscription Fee Model Is Falling From Grace
Star Wars: The Old Republic is a high risk title because it is being developed for some good and bad reasons, and will cost too much… and because its core way of collecting revenue is currently on the downhill slide. Although BioWare has been coy about its revenue model, EA management is talking subscription fees. … Continue reading
Champions Online Goes F2P; Surprises Few
Funnily enough, Champions Online announces it is going fully free-to-play (F2P) just days after I post a comment that it probably isn’t going to see any growth under a subscription model. Such is my power. I’ve had a quick scan around and not seen anyone else connect up that ChampO is going F2P the week … Continue reading
Battle Royale: CoH/V vs ChampO vs DCUO vs SHSO vs Marvel MMO
Back in 2008 (sheeh, that long ago?) I wrote a piece on City of Heroes / Villains versus Champions Online versus DC Universe Online. It’s time for a review of how these direct competitors are travelling, plus the new challengers in this space. City of Heroes / Villains (Paragon Studios / NCsoft) The self-proclaimed “world’s … Continue reading
Final Fantasy XIV: As Clear As Crysta
I don’t care about the Final Fantasy series. It’s an important franchise, sure, but not one that speaks to me in any way. With Final Fantasy XIV about to launch there’s something of a build up, but all descriptions make the title appear as dull as dishwater to me. … but then there is the … Continue reading
Another Two For the Chopping Block: Earth Eternal and Chronicles of Spellborn
Following up the announcements of Exteel’s cancellation comes the separate announcements that Earth Eternal is up for sale (and will close if it can’t find a buyer) while Chronicles of Spellborn is finishing up in the near future. Again, there is too much competition in the MMO market for stragglers to be able to turn … Continue reading
Exteel Shutting Down Worldwide
I’m late to the party, but I’ve been on holiday… so now a bunch of posts about things I missed. NCsoft is shutting down Exteel – it was developed in Korea, then translated and adapted to the Western market – worldwide. I beta tested this title, and even at launch its graphics were a bit … Continue reading
World Class Villains 