At SOE Live, a marketing specialist from SOE was asked why the survival MMO H1Z1 was progressing so quickly and had so much information, while Everquest Next was taking so much longer. After all, Everquest Next is quite a bit older.
H1Z1 heavily relies on Planetside 2
At SOE Live in Las Vegas, the focus was on all games in the now-rich repertoire of the MMO specialists from Sony Online Entertainment. The magazine CVG asked marketing vice president Laura Naviaux why SOE had decided to present H1Z1 to the public at such an early stage, while there was so little fuss and so few revelations about Everquest Next, the great MMO hope.
In response, Naviaux stated that H1Z1 could rely on the existing technology from Planetside 2. The Forgelight engine is ready, players can take over vehicles, and the shooter mechanics are also in place. The path from the initial idea to the release is clearly marked for H1Z1.
Everquest Next builds on nothing, SOE must first create its own tools
Everquest Next, on the other hand, aims to turn the whole genre on its head. A comparison to H1Z1 is therefore like comparing apples to oranges. For Everquest Next, the developers needed new technology, a new AI had to be developed. The voxel world needs to be created. The challenges to the infrastructure and technology are completely different. However, they are eager and have firmly resolved to be just as open and transparent with Everquest Next as they currently are with H1Z1.
At the moment, both projects have a completely different focus. H1Z1 will soon enter Early Access, while there are no such plans for Everquest Next.
