MMORPGs are not as popular as they were during their heyday in the early 2000s. Former Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime has commented on the reasons in an interview.
What did Mike Morhaime mean? The father of WoW explains that in his opinion there are now other games that can capture the social gaming experience better than MMORPGs.
This is also related to accessibility, according to him. The more accessible an MMORPG is, the fewer reasons there are to play together. If players can do much alone, then the title attracts a wider audience, but the social aspect is pushed into the background.
I believe this is a matter of accessibility and time investment. I wouldn’t say that MMOs couldn’t come back in the future, but perhaps there are other types of games that can capture the social experience even better.
I would also say that World of Warcraft has become less social over the years as we’ve removed some of the reasons for players to keep playing with the same group of people due to increased accessibility.
Mike Morhaime
MMORPGs are struggling today
What indicates the declining popularity of MMORPGs? Looking at the situation of online role-playing games at the beginning of the millennium, around the release of WoW in 2004 and afterwards, it becomes clear that many more so-called AAA MMORPGs were released back then.
World of Warcraft was very popular, and other developers hoped to get a piece of that pie. But today, the situation is different. No major “Western” MMORPGs have been released in years. Even Asian games have a hard time here, as can be seen with Bless Online, which had to be shut down just a few months after release. Many MMORPGs that were released after WoW are now dead.
The MMORPGs that are announced mostly come from indie developers, have big visions, and encounter problems in implementing them. The situation surrounding Chronicles of Elyria shows how an indie developer team can become overwhelmed with its vision.
Loot shooters like Destiny 2 or The Division 2, on the other hand, are currently very popular. They offer a social experience and modern gameplay.
How was it like in the past? Mike Morhaime explains that he was completely surprised by the success at the release of World of Warcraft, as he did not expect that it would appeal to so many players right from the start.
I remember when we were working on World of Warcraft. One of the things that amazed me was the initial popularity of this game. I thought that we would reach at least a smaller audience at the beginning with the development of an MMORPG, and it would need to grow from there. But right away, the curve was much steeper than I had ever imagined.
I think World of Warcraft was the most social of all our games up to that point because there were groups of people experiencing adventures together.
Mike Morhaime
Of course, there are still MMORPGs today that are a lot of fun and excite many players. Which ones they are, we will tell you in the MeinMMO list of the 15 best MMOs and MMORPGs of 2020. You might even find a new virtual home in one of the presented online role-playing games.
