Predicting what is going to happen to the Western MMO market in 2013 seems a lot harder than doing the same for 2012. But when it comes to random guessing about stuff I only half understand, I’m going to give it my best shot. Continue reading
Tagged with Warhammer Online …
Star Wars: The Old Republic – The Splinter of the Mind’s Eye for EA
Going back to October 2010 (and through to March 2011) I detailed five reasons why Star Wars: The Old Republic (SWOR) was a high risk MMO. Those reasons where: EA was funding SWOR for the wrong reasons – they weren’t looking to develop a profitable title, but instead create a WoW-level success with a financial … Continue reading
Great MMO Company Collapses of Our Time – Mythic Entertainment
If you selected this option, congratulations – you decided to back Mythic Entertainment! Mythic Entertainment Game That Destroyed Them: Warhammer Online (WAR) Studio Launch Date: 1997 (when it took the Mythic name) Studio Closure Date: 24 June 2009, when it became BioWare Mythic Invested In By: EA Estimated Money Blown: “south of US$100m” on WAR Cause … Continue reading
Star Wars: The Old Republic – SWTOR vs. WAR!
… and Age of Conan, for that matter. EA announced during their earnings call that Star Wars: The Old Republic had sold over 2 million boxes and had 1.7 million subscribed players, beating EA’s internal projections. A lot of sources took that at face value as a great result, but was it? Let’s look at … Continue reading
Reviewing My 2011 MMO Predictions
Time to see how right I was back when I wrote the following predictions about how things would turn MMO-wise in 2011. F2P titles continue to enter the market and other existing MMOs are likely to join them. Warhammer Online is a distinct possibility, as are titles in the position of Vanguard and Fallen Earth: … Continue reading
The Very, Very Late 2010 MMO Recap: Here Comes the New Stuff, Same As the Old Stuff
(All you have is my word that I haven’t made any substantive revisions to this document since January 30, 2011. Trust me. I’m a blogger. For a point-by-point recap of 2010, see either the January to June or the July to December articles.) 2010 was an interesting year for the MMO industry in that it … Continue reading
Bitter Pills, Regardless of Colour: The Fall of The Matrix Online
The use of intellectual properties for MMO titles is an interesting and conflicted area. Ultima Online was the first major MMO to attract player attention, having been built on the long-standing Ultima IP, while World of Warcraft’s strength is partly built off its association with the Warcraft real time strategy franchise. However, just having an … Continue reading
Black Eyes Before Debut for Warhammer 40K
With the Warhammer 40K MMO from Vigil Games debuting at E3 this year, I’m sure that publisher THQ wanted a nice clear run at building some heat for this title. Warhammer Online from Mythic is dying a slow death – WAR is shutting down in parts of Asia and there is plenty of consolidation on … Continue reading
The Mythic Store Is Closed; Please Shop Elsewhere
Due to a business decision, the Mythic Store is now closed. For those who never went (and I didn’t), the Mythic Store sold shirts, hats and other apparel labelled with their games – Warhammer Online, Ultima Online and Dark Age of Camelot. It’s just another piece of evidence that Mythic is slowly being wound back … Continue reading
Champions Online and the Second System Effect
Having played Champions Online to a middish-level point and based off my 6 odd years of experience in playing City of Heroes / Villains, I’m starting to get a very clear idea of how much the second systems effect burdens ChampO. It’s obvious that when Cryptic tried to improve on CoH/V and add in numerous … Continue reading
World Class Villains 