Online Role-Playing Games 2017: Boredom? 5 Recipes for MMORPG Fans

For On-the-Go – Mobile MMORPGs are coming, but it will still take some time

The problem: Why always game indoors? You have a good smartphone and a lot of dead time on the train or elsewhere that you want to bridge. But you are not in the mood for Candy Crush. Is there no cool MMORPG for smartphones?

The situation: In South Korea and Asia, mobile MMORPGs are on the rise. Almost every known Asian MMORPG now has a mobile version. The “MMORPG” craze in Korea has almost waned, and most developers are switching to mobile. NCSoft has opened a studio in the USA, wanting to grab a big piece of the pie.

Companies like Netmarble have suddenly become global players with huge profits and budgets.

Meanwhile, Netmarble’s “Lineage 2 Revolution” is the top performer in South Korea, having raked in a tremendous amount of money. Also, ArcheAge and Black Desert have received or will receive “mobile MMORPG” spin-offs – with some complex gameplay systems.

The port of the runaway hit Lineage 2 Revolution and some other games to us in the West is firmly planned.

Here in Europe, many MMORPG fans are still skeptical whether their smartphone and the existing infrastructure are up to the task. Many have reservations and prefer to stay on the PC.

The previous online games on Android and iPhone and iPad  have not yet convinced many core gamers. However, this could change in the long run. The mobile wave will wash over to Europe.

Our recipe for appetite for mobile MMORPGs:

• For most: Wait and look for something else. It will still take a while until we can all play MMORPGs on smartphones here in the West. One should keep an eye on this and not dismiss it as nonsense right away – but for 2017, it seems too far away. But maybe the first high-profile games will arrive in the second half of the year. Until then, one should look for alternatives for now.
• For early adopters: Start checking out the latest smartphones, look for the right plan with plenty of bandwidth, and get into the topic of “power banks”.