Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
The game was originally released in 2004/2005. Currently it has over 10 million
subscribers who each pay around $14 per month. The success of WOW and the
money it generates has led to an explosion in the number of MMO games being
released or in development. All the major MMO creators are hoping to replicate
the major success that WOW has achieved over the last few years, but for the
moment, no one has been successful in replicating its success.
Note
You can find out more information about potential subscriber numbers for MMOs at http://www.
mmogchart.com. This list only runs up to 2008, but gives a good idea of some of the ups and
downs an MMO might get in terms of subscriber numbers throughout its life.
MMOs Today
The MMO market is continually changing. This section takes a small look at
some of the other influences, changes, and issues that have changed the way
MMOs are designed, made, and marketed to the end users.
The Asian Influence
MMOs are extremely popular in Asia, and many of the Western-based MMOs are
being translated to Korean and Chinese to increase their subscriber numbers. There
have also been a number of Asian-based MMOs translated into English. Many
MMOs seem to originate from Korea where there is a very strong gaming presence.
In countries such as Korea, gaming Internet cafes are very popular and are seen very
much as a social part to playing games. Gaming cafes have not been as successful in
Western countries, where people are more inclined to play MMOs at home.
Korean MMOs have a reputation for being a
whereby you repeat
the same process many times, such as attacking creatures and collecting the
items they drop.
“
grind fest,
�
Browser-Based Games
With the traditional MMO, you go to your local game store and purchase a
boxed product, take it home and install it, and maybe download any updates
that have taken place since the CD-ROM was manufactured. Some game
companies decided that all this effort was a barrier to casual game players
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