At MMO studio Trion Worlds, they continue to celebrate the success of Trove. But they also have only praise for Defiance.
In an interview with “Develop,” Trion Worlds CEO Scott Hartsman talks about the success of his games: He particularly highlights Trove . This is no surprise: The “Minecraft meets World of Warcraft meets Voxel” project boasts impressive numbers, started as a mini-project, and has now surpassed the 1-million-player mark.
It is surprising how well the MMO shooter Defiance is performing according to Hartsman. Defiance is the game in the portfolio that has benefited the most from the Free2Play transition. It now has more “new organic users” than any other game in the stable – except Trove. Hartsman attributes this mainly to the console versions on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. These consoles bring some challenges with them: While on PC, you can constantly patch, there are time windows and delays on consoles.
Console players love Free2Play titles
Console players love to just hit play and start – without any payment barriers. The competition today is much larger, with offline games, online games, and mobile titles. In terms of numbers, there are now 100 times as many games as in the years from 2001 to 2004. In this context, a subscription poses an additional barrier.
While Hartsman does not reject the subscription model, he has no “religion” about it. If it is clear that a subscription model is the best for a title and he believes it can provide the game with a long, happy life, Hartsman is immediately on board.
Also in the offering from former Sony Online Entertainment, it was surprisingly noted that the Free2Play MMO DC Universe Online was a success model. As with Defiance, consoles were cited as crucial to the success.
