WildStar closed, ArcheAge and Rift sold, layoffs at Guild Wars 2. For fans of PC MMORPGs, the situation looks bleak at the beginning of 2019, says our author Schuhmann. The last 12 months have brought almost only bad news.
This is what it looked like a year ago: A year ago, around this time I was still quite optimistic. On February 24, 2018, the article “Out, but sexy – MMORPGs like WoW, ESO or FF14 in 2018.” was published on MeinMMO.
In the article, I described that while no new PC MMORPGs were being developed, the “first tier” of online role-playing games was doing quite well:
- WoW thrived after Legion
- ESO had established itself as a console game
- Final Fantasy XIV did its Final Fantasy thing with big Chocobos and cat girls
- Black Desert developed well with new features and a graphics update
- Guild Wars 2 had gotten back on track with a strong expansion
These were the “Top 5 MMORPGs,” which have since dethroned WoW as the sole dominant game and major beacon title.
In addition, a number of interesting indie MMORPGs were in development, Asian games like Bless or Lost Ark were on the horizon, and there were still several other, already older MMORPGs that had their own player bases.
I said back then: The MMORPG market had become broader and more interesting. The games were all in better shape than five years ago.
Instead of a single major beacon game like “World of Warcraft,” today there are four or five first-tier MMORPGs that are perceived as “successful” and “good.” And even games outside this first tier have their fans.
Schuhmann on the state of MMORPGs, in February 2018
A year later, the mood has noticeably darkened. Because in 2018, there was almost nothing but bad news for PC MMORPGs.
This is what has happened to the top players since then:
- WoW has gone through a rough development with “Battle for Azeroth” – great marketing campaign, but problematic content. The news situation surrounding Activision Blizzard has been tumultuous lately.
- With ESO, Summerset was a solid addon, but there was a feeling that it lacked innovation and new ideas
- relatively little happened with Black Desert and Final Fantasy XIV in 2018
- with Guild Wars 2, people are now being laid off. Apparently, the MMORPG had been running on low flame for a while and ArenaNet was supposed to develop mobile games. When that didn’t pan out, NCSoft raised the alarm, leading to layoffs.
Nowhere does one have to yell “crisis” or fear for the existence of a game. The prospects for the top MMORPGs for 2019 look quite good.
The layoffs at Guild Wars 2 are also expected to lead to a renewed focus on ArenaNet’s core business: that is, more Guild Wars 2.
However, none of the 5 MMORPGs made a big splash in 2018. Black Desert is financially doing great, but that’s due to the mobile spinoff that is working in Asia.
This is what has happened since then with second-tier MMORPGs:
- EVE Online was sold to the developers behind Black Desert and now wants to focus more on mobile and Asia – layoffs at EVE developer CCP have been significant since 2017
- Trion Worlds, the company behind ArcheAge and Rift, is dead – the games were taken over by Gamigo
- Funcom, a long-time MMORPG developer, no longer wants to be heavily involved with the genre, focusing on survival games – the relaunch of their MMORPG The Secret World hardly made waves
- WildStar has been officially shut down
- Bless has failed in early access, had to go F2P and it now seems to be a nearly hopeless struggle to become relevant again
- with SWTOR it has been surprisingly quiet since BioWare focused on Anthem – they are still waiting for a roadmap
The situation looks significantly bleaker here than with the first-tier MMORPGs. Many of the games seem to have switched to some sort of “maintenance mode.” They are not shutting down, but they are not exactly being passionately developed either.
Little is heard from many games outside of the closest fan circles. A game like SWTOR, which just a few years ago made headlines with major expansions, has almost completely disappeared from public view.
This is what has happened with indie MMORPGs:
- Chronicles of Elyria was still a distant hope a year ago – now the mood has turned quite sour. There is a lot of criticism that nothing is progressing.
- Ashes of Creation has been feeling more headwinds than tailwinds in recent months, after making some controversial decisions
- There has still been no news from Crowfall – even though it looks promising
- Camelot Unchained is the niche game it always wanted to be
- Pantheon is staying out of the turmoil, apparently wanting to avoid any publicity
Overall, little has happened with indie MMORPGs. The games are in tight niches. They are considered hope bearers by their fans and are also followed with interest by other MMORPG fans, but not much moved here in 2018.
The hype around games like Ashes of Creation has rather faded.
Are there any good news? Yes, there are, despite all the crisis:
- ESO is planning a new addon with Elsweyr, which has been well received
- Final Fantasy XIV will take a new shot with Shadowbringers – here too, the outlook seems good
- Black Desert is flourishing on mobile and is making a fortune there
- Crowfall still looks like a good game
- and Lord of the Rings Online seems to be doing quite well
- with Astellia, a new Asian MMORPG is set to release in Europe in 2019
- and in the distant future we’ll eventually get Lost Ark
Not everything is bleak – there is still plenty to play in the MMORPGs in 2019.
WoW will surely bounce back again and excite the millions of fans who still play it. The release of WoW Classic is also coming soon.
But most of the activity in the MMORPG genre will happen in the existing games that have found their own way and groove. There are no big “new MMORPGs” visible on the horizon.
What happens next? In Asia, PC MMORPGs have almost completely been replaced by mobile MMORPGs. Sites that used to bring 10 news about new PC Asia MMORPGs each week now bring 10 news about mobile games.
Here in the West, this development has so far not occurred – MMORPG fans have strong reservations against mobile games. Therefore, many online games in Europe and North America are dominated by shooters and action titles.
We can be curious to see if a change will occur here in 2019.
