Family Guy is one of the most watched series according to IMDb and has a rating of 8.2 out of 10 possible stars there. In 2011, 20th Century Fox announced its own MMORPG for the series. It could be tested by anyone in 2012, but it never achieved its full release.
What kind of game was it? Family Guy Online was a free 3D browser MMORPG developed in the Unity engine. You could create your own character based on the four protagonists from the series – in stature and traits, for example. These represented the typical classes melee fighter (Chris and Meg), ranged fighter (Stewie), tank (Peter), or healer (Lois).
With your character, you then explored the city of Quahog, which is also known from the series. There you could take on quests from various NPCs, beat up enemies, and level up. There were also well-known places, such as the Drunken Clam or the Griffin house, and other players were walking around everywhere, with whom you could chat and interact.
The focus was on the visuals and humor of the series. Accordingly, the NPCs such as Stewie, Peter, but also side characters like Quagmire or Herbert were voiced by the original actors (in English).
When was the game released? On April 17, 2012, the game started in open beta. However, it didn’t stay on the market for long.
You can check out gameplay from the colleagues at MMOHuts here:
Family Guy MMORPG was too amateurish, got shut down while still in beta
What did the MMORPG fail at? Family Guy Online was developed directly by 20th Century Fox, in collaboration with two other development studios. It was meant to appeal to both casual players and hardcore gamers.
Even before its release, there was concern that a film production company was not the ideal developer of an MMORPG. However, the developers took this concern with humor and labeled their game as the first MMOLOL (Massively Multiplayer Laugh Out Loud).
However, Family Guy Online did not receive positive feedback:
- The game in general, and the combat system in particular, were said to have little depth
- The game world was very small
- Due to the same characters, there was a lack of identification
- The sounds were said to have sounded amateurish
- The graphics were decent, but offered only low resolution, and many elements were not even modeled in 3D, such as bushes or vehicles.
Additionally, there was criticism of the shop – which was said to have heavily played on the fear of missing out – and the fact that episodes of the series were promoted within quests that players were then encouraged to purchase on iTunes.
When was it discontinued? In December 2012, the end of the game was announced, and on January 18, 2013, the servers were shut down, even before it had officially left beta.
Some players actually hope for a return of the MMORPG, mainly because they love the series so much.
Another MMORPG looked very promising in 2004, but also could not establish itself:
An MMORPG excited players and testers – How good was City of Heroes actually?
