Quote:
Originally Posted by Shiftfallout
Very, it has caused more and more investors and publishers to push for MMORPGs. In fact the number of MMORPGs on the horizon and the budgets associated with them are astounding. This is largely thanks to WoW's success.
The budget and opportunity to make more MMORPGs goes up as the potential profit goes up, WoW showed just how profitable that can be.
FFXI showed that MMORPGs can be accessible on consoles as well, but it didnt really catch on. At the Game Developers conferences its always brought up how to really catch gamers onto multiplatform mmorpgs and how best to develop them. The next wave of MMORPGs will be tinkering with console play (AoC) as well as full console MMO's like (the agency). To FFXI's credit though, it was the first big console mmorpg title along side Phantasy Star Online.
|
Agreed, WoW could be considered a big reason North America is so interested in MMORPG's in the first place, albeit Ultima Online / Everquest were quite big for their time, but when WoW was released it turned MMORPG's into mainstream gaming.
Everquest was successful in what it did, but it also took years for it to garner up a million subscribers. When WoW hit the shelves, already a few million copies sold, trumping the years it took Everquest to reach the million player status.
WoW really did pave the road and encourages more upcoming MMORPGs to try and overcome the beast, but that's good, because we want progression in mmorpg development, not stagnation.
Phantasy Star Online had it good for a pretty good while, and I think they were also multi platform were they not? I believe PC was able to communicate with Dreamcast players back then, though I could be wrong.