The developers of Ashes of Creation announced the release of their PvP offshoot last week. This will be free-to-play for everyone and will start with Battle Royale. Similar to the success story surrounding Fortnite. Should we therefore be worried about the game’s PvE?
The game Fortnite launched in Early Access in July 2017. At that time, there was only “Save the World” and thus all focus was on this mode:
During the day, players explore the world and collect items, while at night they are attacked by zombies. Together with other players, one can build a fortress to survive the zombie attack.
- The great success of Fortnite, however, came with the Battle Royale mode. Epic wanted to react spontaneously and early to a trend, but Save the World remained the focus.
- Battle Royale was released as a standalone, free-to-play game in September 2017, but then more or less surprisingly exploded in popularity.
- And what has happened to Save the World? The survival mode, which is still in Early Access, will not be released in 2018.
Could the MMORPG Ashes of Creation face a similar fate? Are the developers shifting their priorities in favor of the PvP standalone, Apocalypse, thus delaying the release further?
What is Ashes of Creation?
The highly anticipated Ashes of Creation promises to be a great success. It aims to return to the roots of all MMORPGs and specifically target players who enjoy the social component and like to play in a community.
At the same time, Ashes of Creation will also have a modern touch: something that the newly released old-school MMOs lack.
The focus will also be on role players, who will be able to design their own homes as they wish through the special housing system. There will also be the possibility to own a tavern or stables. In addition, one can elevate oneself to the leader of a city and determine its direction.
And there are also PvE content such as crafting, dungeons, and raids planned.
Through the Node system, there will be joint expansions, as well as PvP battles. Other factions can attack and destroy cities. However, all this will take place in an open world and in a clear and planned scenario.
Furthermore, Ashes of Creation relies on a subscription model. The game itself will not cost anything, however, a monthly fee will be required to access the game world.
Why is Apocalypse a threat?
On December 17, the free-to-play version of Ashes of Creation is set to launch. However, some players see this as problematic. On one hand, resources are being diverted from the development of the actual MMORPG in order to release Apocalypse:
- The game needs a lot of attention, especially in the early phase, so that the servers run stably and there are no major balancing issues.
- Additionally, other game modes such as a fortress battle and cooperative horde mode are planned.
On the other hand, it could also happen that in the event of a corresponding success of Apocalypse, work on Ashes of Creation will not continue as intensely.
What about the PvE in Ashes of Creation?
It still seems that the PvE of Ashes of Creation is not in danger. The developers from Intrepid Studios are only calling Apocalypse a beta to thoroughly test the servers and the combat system.
A release of the MMORPG is planned for 2019. The PvE content should therefore be sufficiently advanced so that a delay in the actual development is no longer worthwhile.
Also, finances are not a problem for Ashes of Creation. Founder Steven Sharif is himself a millionaire, has found a financially strong publisher in my.com and plans to have 200 employees by the end of the year.
Much will also depend on whether the standalone game becomes successful at all. Fortnite is a good example of how quickly the focus can shift and how far the release of the actual game can take a backseat.
