Good day everyone! After taking a writing break over the past weeks and dedicating myself entirely to research … – well, let’s be honest: I’ve been gaming like there’s no tomorrow, just as one should during semester break.
Today I want to talk to you about a topic that has come up repeatedly over the last few years: World of Warcraft has been sitting on the MMO throne for years and no other game can compete.
Even though voices often arise claiming that WoW is “dead” or has become “too casual,” one cannot deny that the game is still extremely successful today with its 7-8 million subscribers, and every other MMO must bow to it.
It seems completely irrelevant how good a new game is, how beautiful the graphics are, or how innovative the gameplay is; after a few weeks, most players return to Azeroth.
But are all these games really unsuccessful?
In my opinion, they are not, as hardly any game developer tries to climb the throne anymore; instead, they focus on specific aspects and aim to excel in those. The goal is to excite as many players as possible at launch, and then one usually concentrates on a very specific target group: this marks the birth of a so-called “niche game”; tailored for an exclusive group of people who yearn for a very specific type of content.
As an example, I take TERA, which tried to engage players with extremely good graphics and a significantly more action-oriented combat system. A “Guild Wars 2” tried something similar by abandoning the familiar “quests” system and replacing it with dynamic events, while also providing a very fair PvP where all players have the same equipment level. “Star Wars: The Old Republic” impressed with fully voiced quests and a captivating story. Other games like “Scarlet Blade” use more superficial methods and try to attract players through the obvious use of sexual appeal.
[pull_quote_center]Each of these games was quickly declared “dead.” But are they?
In my eyes, they are successful! All of these MMOs have managed to maintain a (admittedly smaller) core group of players and keep them engaged long-term. From a financial perspective, an MMO with a constant 100,000 subscribers is very successful. And as long as developers continue to offer patches and content expansions, there’s really no other conclusion to draw – because hardly any company would continue to support a failed product (except for FFXIV).
In the coming months, the battle for the niches will continue. “WildStar” and “The Elder Scrolls Online” are prime examples of this. Neither game will reinvent the MMO genre, as that likely isn’t possible. Yet, each will find a group of players who have been waiting specifically for the core features of these two hopefuls – presumably I am among them. I am waiting for a game that meets the niche requirements of “housing, fresh role-playing world, and lots of endgame” – and that niche will be served by WildStar.
What do you think about this? What niches do you think still need to be filled? When do you consider a game to be “dead”?
Let me know in the comments, as well as any topic requests. Anyone who visits the page and does not comment will get Aurin bunny ears stuck on them. With superglue. You have been warned.
