To evolve MMOs, you must look at the genre “honestly and without prejudice”
MeinMMO: Many failed large-scale projects in recent years show that copying old success formulas no longer works. What single, fundamental element must change in the MMORPG genre in the coming years so that we can experience a real, lasting phenomenon again in the future?
Benjamin Zuckerer: MMORPGs need to focus more on building worlds rather than content. Many games today try to keep players busy with an endless list of activities. The problem is: Such content eventually gets consumed. What remains are worlds where players write their own stories.
When we launched Persist Online, we deliberately wanted to create something inspired by the spirit of early MMORPGs. Not out of nostalgia, but because we believe meaningful decisions, real risks, and social dynamics are timeless. The initial design ideas stemmed from the desire to create a world where players can truly experience something and not just check off content.
It should matter whether and where I am in the world. If the genre wants to produce a major, lasting phenomenon again, I believe it will not happen through more quests or better graphics. It will happen when players feel again that their decisions have consequences and that their stories are unique. That is what makes MMORPGs special.
The big Kickstarter hype may be over, but crowdfunding campaigns or direct financing from fans can still work quite well today. If you are thinking of Star Citizen now: The SciFi MMO is a historically unique example with its billion, which cannot serve as a blueprint.
The norm is rather that you get a nice, small sum that can help but does not fund a complete MMO. Often, crowdfunding is also used as a barometer to show potential investors: People are excited about my game. For Stars Reach, a successful Kickstarter campaign, for example, provided an additional cash injection from a new investor.
Greg Street: The one thing the MMO genre offers that no other genre can provide is the presence of many other players. I see too many current MMOs trying to make the game playable like a single-player game (which they cannot compete against real single-player games).
Others focus on just providing a completely open sandbox in the hope that players will find the fun on their own. While this type of sandbox offers freedom, it neither drives nor guarantees social interactions. At the same time, the lack of orientation – “What should I do now?” – can be discouraging.
By the way, when I say “social,” I don’t mean that you have to make new friends to experience the content. It’s great when that happens, but it’s a rare event, and you can’t build every mechanic around that. Social can also mean that some stranger helps you kill a quest boss (even entirely without communication), or just that you see another player in a field and feel not alone.
I once worked on a game (that was never released) where there were canyons or rivers that required bridges to cross. You could build the bridge yourself, or you were lucky and someone else had already built it, or you teamed up with other players (asking friends or just finding strangers on site) to help you build. In such interactions and mechanics, you feel that other players play a role – which I believe should be the ultimate goal for any MMO.
I think the right model is not in the extremes of theme park or sandbox, but is more like a playground: There is a certain structure and direction players can go, but also a lot of freedom.
The core pillars of the MMO from Greg Street were the blue and red zones:
– The blue zones were procedurally generated and were supposed to invite exploration (sandbox) and use survival and roguelike elements. They were to remain private for each player or group. Ghostcrawler explained in October 2024 that the blue zones would be randomly generated but should feel hand-crafted.
– The hand-designed red zones should be public and offer a lot of content that you would expect from theme park MMORPGs like WoW.
It was always important to the team that cooperation and competition were the focus of the player experience and that players’ time should always be valued.
In a theme park, everyone experiences the attractions in exactly the same way – you stand in line, get in the ride, see the animatronic pirates doing exactly the same thing, etc. In a sandbox, everyone gets a blank canvas and is supposed to create something: “Here is sand! Do something with it!”
But a playground gives you a certain structure, but not too much. You don’t have to climb the jungle gym in a specific way. You can slide down the slide, or climb up the slide, or pretend the slide is a dragon. (Other jungle gyms or slides might even have a real sandbox underneath).
That was the direction we wanted to take with our MMO Ghost, and I hope someone else tries it.
Before Crytic dives into a new MMO project, the established MMOs need to be made fit for the future – including Neverwinter, which throws you into the popular universe of Dungeons & Dragons:
Jack Emmert: The most important thing is: A game simply cannot cost several tens of millions of dollars. Regardless of the genre, very few publishers and investors still believe in this model. Even teams with an impeccable track record represent a risk – and we have seen some very spectacular failures in recent years. Every developer should understand the costs of this business so that they keep financial realities in mind when making their decisions.
Secondly, I believe that MMOs must commit to a path and stick to it. Too often I have seen MMOs being too ambitious and wanting to cover too many different game systems. It’s a natural urge to pack all kinds of things into a game once the expenses exceeded the 100 million dollar mark; at that point, everyone wants to appeal to the largest market possible. And that means creating a game system for every possible consumer.
BUT that means no single system – no content – gets the attention and polish it needs. An MMO – or really any game – has to decide what it wants to be and be outstanding at it. Players value dedication and authenticity; if a game doesn’t offer everything at launch, that’s okay, because a live game can always catch up with that eventually.
Raph Koster: I’m not a big fan of looking back and simply making “Classic versions” or similar. I understand that many people want that and have fun with it, but ultimately I always try to move forward.
When people say that Stars Reach brings back old-school ideas, I say: Yes, but we are not just turning back the clock – we are taking those old ideas and pushing them forward into the future to see what they can look like when we are innovative and take new paths.
The crucial step for MMORPGs is to look at the genre honestly and without prejudice and to ask: “What are the things that make MMOs so special that no other game offers or can offer?”
Rich Lambert has been with Zenimax since 2007 and as the lead content designer, he has been able to accompany the development of Elder Scrolls Online from the beginning. Shortly after the launch, the MMO enthusiast then became the creative director.
As of June 2023, he was the game director of the MMORPG.
When it came to introducing new chapters or answering the questions from MeinMMO editors (such as in June 2024), it was often Rich Lambert who took on this job in recent years. Due to the reorganization of Zenimax in August 2025, Rich Lambert rose to studio game director.
Rich Lambert: The next big MMO is likely to be successful not because it offers the most content or the best systems, but rather because it creates a deep sense of belonging and identity. Content and systems are absolutely important, but they are not the whole answer.
I believe it will be a game that allows players to easily play with their friends – whenever they want and on whatever device they want to play. The easier it is for people to spend time together, the more chances the game has to create real memories.
But it’s not just about the social component. MMOs also allow players to build a long-term identity in a shared world. This is my character. These are the decisions I’ve made. These are the things I’ve done. This is the version of myself that I have become in this world.
When you connect this personal identity with a sense of togetherness and belonging, MMOs really stand out from other genres. Players remember who they played with, what they did together, and the stories that emerged from being in the same world at the same time.
Our major special on the status quo of online role-playing games is just one of many articles that have been published during our Grindfest themed week 2026. We have also introduced various upcoming MMORPGs, shared personal anecdotes, and analyzed the future of the genre. You can find all articles here: Grindfest 2026 has started! Here’s the program for MeinMMO’s big MMORPG themed week
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