The Twitch streamer Michael “shroud” Grzesiek became known for shooters, but in recent months he has increasingly played MMORPGs like New World, Lost Ark, and WoW. In a livestream, he explained where the weaknesses of the two newest titles on the market lie. The mentioned reasons certainly play a role, but they are not everything.
What happened with the two MMORPGs?
- New World launched in September 2021 with a huge hype. At its peak, over 900,000 people played the MMORPG simultaneously. This places it at number 7 among the games with the most players on Steam.
- Lost Ark, on the other hand, launched in February 2022 and created even greater hype. The game’s advantage was that it is free-to-play, eliminating the hurdle of having to purchase the game upfront. With over 1.3 million concurrent players, it ranks second on Steam.
- However, both MMORPGs have significantly decreased in numbers in the months following their releases. Two months after release, New World had only 177,000 players at its peak (about 20% of the release numbers) and Lost Ark had 416,000 (about 30%).
The streamer shroud has streamed both games live on Twitch for several hundred hours. New World ranks second for him with over 480 hours among the most streamed games in the last 365 days – just behind Valorant (via Sullygnome).
In a new livestream, he explained why he thinks the two games are failing and why Lost Ark could face a similar fate as New World.
Cheating and Pay2Win discourage old and new players
What exactly does shroud say? First, the streamer talks about New World. When asked how a large number of players could return to the MMORPG, he replied:
A few new updates, then take New World down and restart it. Or completely new servers. I think new servers are important for New World as soon as they have fixed the game and it is in a better state.
Because of all the exploits that existed and happened, nobody really wanted to play New World when they saw everyone cheating.
He further explained that many players were so discouraged by all the bugs and cheaters that they did not want to start or return to New World at all.
In New World, there were indeed dozens of exploits, including gold dupes, item dupes, and even an invulnerability glitch that also worked in PvP.
He also draws a connection to Lost Ark and the Pay2Win allegations:
It’s a bit like Lost Ark, isn’t it? The pay-to-win elements in Lost Ark have a significant impact on the game. More than you think. It’s still doing well, and it will continue to do well. But the “Pay2Win” mechanics will discourage people.
What’s the deal with Pay2Win in Lost Ark? In Lost Ark, you can buy various items in the shop that provide significant advantages, including the Crystalline Aura or the additional completion of daily quests.
However, many criticize the game more for a hidden Pay2Win through a backdoor. Because to upgrade equipment, a lot of materials are needed – and there can also be failures. These materials can be farmed or purchased from other players.
So whales can exchange their real money for in-game gold and buy items from the marketplace. Those who invest heavily will progress faster.
Players try new MMORPGs and leave if they don’t like them
Are cheaters, exploits and Pay2Win the only reasons? No, they are mainly problems that hardcore players and hardcore fans see. Many casual players simply try out a new MMORPG and see if they enjoy it both gameplay-wise and content-wise.
They then leave if they don’t like the game. Especially with free-to-play titles like Lost Ark, a high turnover is common.
However, such players rarely pay attention to problems in the economy or Pay2Win. They don’t dive deep enough to encounter these mechanics or simply don’t care as long as they have fun with the MMORPG.
Here, especially New World had problems keeping players engaged at the start, because many contents were simply missing or not fully thought out.
What do you think, why have the two MMORPGs lost so many players? And what do you think needs to change for you to return to the titles? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.
For more on the current development of New World, you can find out more in this special:
