When introducing ArcheAge Chronicles, something was missing: the genre designation “MMORPG”. Instead, the developers referred to it as an online action RPG, following an unusual trend.
What was announced about ArcheAge Chronicles? The successor to the sandbox MMORPG ArcheAge from January 2013 (which was released in September 2014 for us) received a new title, a first gameplay trailer, and initial details about key features during Sony’s State of Play.
What stands out: On almost all official channels, the responsible parties from Kakao Games and XLGAMES use the genre designation “online action RPG”. This surprises many fans of the genre, as illustrated by this Reddit discussion.
Only on the external product pages of Steam or epicgames.com are there still MMO designations and concrete references to the MMORPG genre.
You can check out the first gameplay of ArcheAge Chronicles here:
What does it say on Steam and Co.? It states, for example: “ArcheAge Chronicles goes beyond traditional MMORPG mechanics with its seamless and detailed battles.” And: “Embark on an adventure in ArcheAge Chronicles and experience the next evolutionary level of the MMORPG genre.”
We are not talking about “you know what”
Does this sound familiar to me? There are definitely more developers avoiding the MMORPG term for quite some time, as if Lord Voldemort himself were the creator of the genre. The two most prominent examples:
- With Aeternum, Amazon Games wants to make the MMORPG New World an online action RPG as well. However, the previous player experience has shown that it is still an MMORPG, just with more options for different types of players.
- Crimson Desert from the Black Desert developers was long referred to as an MMORPG but then evolved into an action-adventure with RPG elements and optional multiplayer.
Why are developers avoiding the MMO term lately? Jeonghee Jin, CEP of Pearl Abyss NA, even expressed this last year: With projects like Crimson Desert and DokeV, they want to demonstrate that communities can form and connect outside of traditional MMORPGs.
Already two years earlier, the developers had already explained that they are moving away from a pure MMO gaming experience to create a unique single-player and multiplayer experience reminiscent of GTA V and GTA Online or Red Dead Redemption and Red Dead Online. Whether this is still the current state is unclear. Recent presentations were purely single-player focused.
50 minutes of gameplay from Crimson Desert:
What about New World Aeternum and ArcheAge Chronicles? Similar to the new version of New World, we can expect a real MMORPG with ArcheAge Chronicles. In November 2023, the developers stated that there will be dungeons, battles for caravans, and guild wars over strongholds. Housing and a player-driven economy are also firmly planned.
The two games have even more in common:
- The respective developers emphasize a significantly larger story focus than before in New World and the first ArcheAge. Many contents of both games are also specifically aimed at solo players and small groups.
- With Aeternum, New World will debut on consoles. ArcheAge Chronicles is also set to launch from the start for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series.
That the latter is an important factor was acknowledged by Game Director Scot Lane after the Aeternum announcement. In a Q&A session, he explained (via YouTube):
Well, you can still play Aeternum the way you always have, but due to all the changes we have made to the story, the way we tell the story, the way our camera and combat navigation works, we feel that we traverse so many genres, but this firmly pushes us into the ARPG realm, which is a bit more recognized on consoles.
As MMORPGs like Final Fantasy XIV, The Elder Scrolls Online, Neverwinter, or Black Desert have been available on consoles for years, this assessment seems to be somewhat incomprehensible at first glance.
How does MeinMMO editor Karsten Scholz assess this? Large developers and publishers like XLGAMES, Kakao Games, or Amazon Games usually make essential, strategic decisions based on their analyses and statistics. It seems quite certain that such data indicate: With online action RPGs, you address a larger target audience nowadays.
Moreover, the MMORPG term now carries a lot of baggage.
- In the past nearly 20 years, most MMORPGs have failed or at least fallen short of original expectations.
- As a new MMORPG, you automatically expose yourself to comparisons with WoW, FFXIV, ESO, Guild Wars 2, and others. Sooner or later, the question “What do you get for your money?” means that newly released titles inevitably come up short.
- With the MMORPG term come expectations regarding content, but also concerns about time requirements, onboarding efforts, or a compulsion to multiplayer.
All of this is supported by the fact that the genre has been in an identity crisis for years. At what point can one actually call themselves an MMO based on the number of players in an area? How large must the areas of the world be? And then there are also the inherent problems of the genre: Will there ever be a really good MMORPG again? A whole genre grapples with problems for which there are no solutions
As MMORPGs like Final Fantasy XIV, The Elder Scrolls Online, Neverwinter, or Black Desert have been available on consoles for years, this assessment seems to be somewhat incomprehensible at first glance.
How does MeinMMO editor Karsten Scholz assess this? Large developers and publishers like XLGAMES, Kakao Games, or Amazon Games usually make essential, strategic decisions based on their analyses and statistics. It seems quite certain that such data indicate: With online action RPGs, you address a larger target audience nowadays.
Moreover, the MMORPG term now carries a lot of baggage.
- In the past nearly 20 years, most MMORPGs have failed or at least fallen short of original expectations.
- As a new MMORPG, you automatically expose yourself to comparisons with WoW, FFXIV, ESO, Guild Wars 2, and others. Sooner or later, the question “What do you get for your money?” means that newly released titles inevitably come up short.
- With the MMORPG term come expectations regarding content, but also concerns about time requirements, onboarding efforts, or a compulsion to multiplayer.
All of this is supported by the fact that the genre has been in an identity crisis for years. At what point can one actually call themselves an MMO based on the number of players in an area? How large must the areas of the world be? And then there are also the inherent problems of the genre: Will there ever be a really good MMORPG again? A whole genre grapples with problems for which there are no solutions
