WildStar: Came Late
WildStar has, to no one’s surprise, announced the move to Free2Play. The numbers left no other option. It had to be clear to everyone – even to the most loyal fan. The only alternative was the complete shutdown of the game, which would have been too sad.
They will adopt a typical freemium model – the transition is scheduled for later this year. And here the problem from 2014 and the release repeats: The timing. This time, they will likely avoid the upcoming WoW expansion, but by the end of the year, Blade and Soul should emerge as a new Free2Play title. Heavensward arrives for FF XIV on June 23. Perhaps in August or later the expansion for GW2. Where is the right time frame for WildStar to have attention all to itself? September? October? Or do they have to hurry and go into July or August?
Looking back at the first half of 2015: There would have been plenty of room for a transition. There was hardly anything happening in the MMORPG sector. The second half will likely be much tighter. The success of WildStar will also depend on the size of the advertising campaign: How much can and wants NCSoft to invest? How high is the estimation of the game if they already have the next Free2Play game in the background?
Recently, there were hot rumors about WildStar: A close collaboration with Steam, making WildStar the pre-installed MMO on the Steambox – what’s true about the Steam rumors is currently unknown. But it could explain why, despite the weak numbers, NCSoft still strongly believes in the sci-fi MMO. The Korean MMO specialist is traditionally not very patient when a game is struggling. If indeed the cooperation with Steam is true, it would be a coup that secures the game’s future in the long term.
