For years, players in Europe and North America have been waiting for great, new PvE MMORPGs that bring back the allure of the past. Thus, the hype is huge when a new online role-playing game is released. We take a look at 3 MMORPGs from recent years that many were looking forward to but that have brutally failed.
Hardly any fanbase is currently longing for a “new game” as much as fans of classic theme park MMORPGs. Well, maybe fans of Diablo.
Today we want to look at three online role-playing games that players were incredibly excited about at the time, but that ultimately failed miserably.
What do the games have in common?
- All three MMORPGs are characterized by being developed with a “high budget” over a long period and by large teams, thus they were considered AAA titles – however, the exact development costs are rarely known
- all three games were eagerly anticipated and generated high expectations
- all games are considered to have failed dramatically – not “it was actually going quite well and then slowly declined”, but rather games that had a loud and hard crash
WildStar
What WildStar wanted to be: The SF MMORPG WildStar wanted to be the better World of Warcraft, a WoW like it used to be before Blizzard “caved in to the casuals” and made everything so easy.
The clear statement from Carbine president, Jeremy Gaffney, in May 2014 was: We want the former World of Warcraft players.
Thus, the studio Carbine made it their mission to be a “hardcore MMORPG.” It was supposed to be developed closely with the fanbase and provide a fascinating gaming experience at launch.
Why was the hype so big? The team said all the right things in advance. The videos were humorous, well-produced, and just wonderfully made.
The plans sounded fantastic:
- The team wanted to work on multiple content patches simultaneously to ensure that new content was always coming. This was intended to compensate for the major weakness of WoW.
- The Housing system of WildStar was also really good – WoW still doesn’t offer housing to this day
- the combat system active and interesting – unlike the usual tab-targeting in the genre
- the world of WildStar displayed a quirky and bizarre SF look – not in the classic fantasy guise
All features that were supposed to clearly distinguish WildStar from WoW and similar games to bring fresh wind into the stagnant MMORPG genre.
Additionally, there was an extensive beta for WildStar, during which players could test and play everything for months.
The plans paid off – the hype at launch was tremendous. In Germany alone, two major fan sites had emerged to accompany “the next big thing” from the very beginning.
This is how the launch went: WildStar had a relatively good and smooth launch. The game sold very well.
The atmosphere in the first weeks was positive – although many players already knew the game up to the endgame due to the beta. But more would be coming soon.
However, it quickly became apparent that the “hardcore” aspect was too strenuous for many, as one had to qualify laboriously for the raid.
What went wrong? The good mood faded after a few weeks. WildStar relied on a subscription model, and many evidently did not renew their subscriptions.
The promised constant content updates did not materialize. Difficulties arose:
- Suddenly, the loot didn’t feel that interesting
- the PvP was hardly used
- there were construction sites and bugs that were not repaired.
Disappointment quickly set in: Carbine gradually retracted its promises.
What ultimately caused WildStar’s failure? The lofty plans of WildStar collapsed after the launch. Carbine apparently never managed to transition from a team developing an MMORPG to a team supporting a live MMORPG.
The charismatic developers like Stephen Forst, with whom players had formed a connection before the release, quickly disappeared after the launch.
Later, it was rumored: The plan to work on multiple patches simultaneously turned out to be a catastrophic mistake for Carbine. It significantly blocked the further development of WildStar.
In hindsight, much dirty laundry was aired publicly, the management was blamed, it was said by supposed former developers who anonymously posted their complaints.
WildStar never really had a chance, it was alleged, that it had been doomed from the start, said one who claimed to be a former developer.
Anyway: WildStar never managed to find its footing. After the good start, the MMORPG ran out of steam. A switch to free-to-play a year after the launch couldn’t bring a resurgence, and ultimately, NCSoft pulled the plug in 2018 after many years.
But actually, the end of WildStar and Carbine had already become apparent back in March 2016, when almost half the studio was laid off and a planned China release was canceled.
Where does WildStar stand now? The MMORPG ended in November 2018. The Carbine studio was also closed after new projects were canceled.
Many memories remain, and some truly loved the world of WildStar.
On page 2, we continue with an MMORPG, that was released the same year as ArcheAge.
