True fact: Whenever a hardcore indie FFA PvP sandbox MMO shuts down, Blizzard releases a commemorative cash shop pet. Think about it.
Author: Admin
Funcom Q3 2012 Finances
The third quarter results are in for Funcom, and the news is a mix. The Secret World has launched and revenues for the third quarter are 10,963 TUSD, more than double for the same quarter in 2011 and far higher than in the second quarter of this year. Unfortunately due to the poor launch of The Secret World in July, new estimates show that the company may not achieve a positive cash flow in 2013. All of Funcom’s titles that have launched are in a position of bringing in a positive cash flow, while development continues for Funcom’s Lego Minifigures MMO, as well as Project A revealed previously and in conceptual stages. The Lego MMO is set for a 2014 launch.
Now for some juicy speculation. Funcom stated that 30-40% of The Secret World’s income is from the cash shop. Since The Secret World pulled in $1.1 million USD in October, and we’ll go the low route and say 70% is from subscriptions and they are all people paying the $15 a month. That leaves Funcom with approximately fifty one thousand subscribers for The Secret World in October. This number is either great or terrible, depending on your perspective. Hopefully it is more than enough to keep the MMO going.
Funcom has retained ABG Sundal Collier and GP Bullhound, leading some to believe that the development studio is on the verge of selling itself off to the highest bidder.
Star Vault Q3 2012
Profits and sales are down from last quarter in Star Vault’s latest reports. According to the latest financial documents, subscriber count decreased in the third quarter compared to the second, despite the release of Mortal Online’s expansion Awakening. Awakening aims to bring new players into Mortal Online by making the game more user-friendly.
Next on the list is promotion. Star Vault hopes to have Mortal Online present on Steam. And once again for the moment we all anticipate each quarter: Star Vault anticipates break even in…unknown. The previous expectation for September or October has obviously not come to fruition, due to a break in the upward trend when the estimation was first given. Star Vault will prepare Mortal Online for 2013.
Other than that, no surprises for Q3.
Lineage II: Vision For The Future
It’s been nine years since Lineage II launched (In Korea), and NCSoft continues to update the game on a regular basis. The publisher just released this video, an eleven minute trailer for what the game might become one day. If you haven’t played Lineage II in a while, or at all, the video doesn’t really offer much exposition as to what the future holds. Guys fight each other, people die and get stabbed in the face (not necessarily in that order), and some dialogue that makes me think NCSoft needs to brush up on their zingers.
I don’t know about you but I’m still waiting on Lineage Eternal news.
Xsyon Hits Up Kickstarter To Fund Full Release
Xsyon has been operating in a land we’d like to call “under the radar,” since it launched the “prelude” phase. Since its initial launch, the game has maintained a small community with regular live events from the development staff. We’ve seen the game pop up here on MMO Fallout a few times, including the recent release of an endless trial server (which wipes every week). Despite being a small release, Xsyon has some pretty intense ideas behind it. Players set up in groups and take over land in a world that is continually evolving as new technologies are discovered. Animals breed and migrate as resources move along with them, and players are able to terraform in a manner that permanently affects the world.
Well, Xsyon hasn’t technically gone “gold” yet. Notorious Games has several plans for the title, including separate PvP and PvE servers, as well as a major expansion in territory size as well as new creatures, magic, and more. So the team at Notorious has made its way on to Kickstarter, to seek funding for the game. The project aims for $250,000, with a due date of January 1st, 2013 to gather up all of the moolah. Check it out at the link below.
(Source: Kickstarter)
This Week In Launches: Dual Wielding Shotguns
Happy days are here! November 20th has come and gone, and left us with a little early Christmas present. Over on the browser side, Jagex has finally unleashed the Evolution of Combat. After five months of strenuous beta testing, the update went live on servers Tuesday to some mixed but mostly positive reactions by the community. Along with the new ability bar (and abilities), Evolution of Combat overhauls the combat formula, changing the way everything from weapons, armor, and NPCs work. Players are now able to dual wield weapons as well.
Over on the Sony Online front, Planetside 2 is live and running. Players are fighting on three factions over three continents in an endless tug of war over territory control. You can download Planetside 2 on Steam for easier access, the game is free to play with a cash shop and optional subscription. Planetside 2 brings three factions and thousands of players together to fight in massive, multi-hour battles over large portions of land and resources. The game does require a decent computer to play, so make sure you check out the requirements if your rig is dated.
Finally, RaiderZ has launched today (the 21st). I have a review coming soon, but to sum it up: RaiderZ is a lot like a free to play version of TERA, with a few alterations to flavor thrown in the mix. A free to play game with a cash shop, RaiderZ emphasizes on action-based combat, where you’ll have to be active in dodging your opponent’s attacks and coming back with your own. The game is supported by a cash shop and published by Perfect World Entertainment.
Video of the ___: Tabula Rasa Trailer
Tabula Rasa is gone, but not forgotten. I wanted to share the opening cinematic for those of you who may not have played Tabula Rasa, or did and simply would like a taste of nostalgia.
Darkfall: Unholy Wars Developer Diary
When Darkfall: Unholy Wars launches, I will be a happy man. As Aventurine has ensured myself and the rest of us are aware, Unholy Wars is set hundreds of years after the events of Darkfall, in a world that has been completely rebuilt from the ground up and inhabited by creatures that have slightly evolved over their predecessor. Check out the video above, where Creative Lead Adam Oikonomopoulos discusses the change in art direction for Unholy Wars, as well as how the new Darkfall will expand up on the old.
Darkfall shut down November 15th. Darkfall: Unholy Wars will go live on December 12th.
Falling Out #17: Live Events Q&A
Live events are a trade-off. On one hand, they’re often a massive, lag-riddled clustertruck of players scrambling over one another in an attempt to get their participation noted, leaving out those in other time zones. On the other hand, if you did attend the live event as I did, the sight of the world permanently changing before your eyes offers a new level of immersion. It’s something that if you were there, cool, if you weren’t, you feel left out.
Beta Perspective: City of Steam Weekend #1
A long time ago, the four nations of the world lived in peace and harmony. But all of that changed when the fire nation attacked. I’m sorry, I’m thinking of the wrong IP again. City of Steam is an upcoming browser MMO by Mechanist Games, set in a not-entirely-steampunk world of goblins, draug, dwarves, and man. The game is built over the Unity-3D engine, offering excellent graphics and smooth gameplay with all the benefits of being a browser game. It’s been a long time since I played the alpha, so I took the chance to sit down over the weekend and play in the first closed beta.
City of Steam allows you to choose from ten races and four classes (tank, mage, ranger, healer). Each class is divided into several subclasses that determine what kind of weapon and abilities you start out with. As you level up and gain skill points, you can choose to train in other fields of combat. The first thing you’ll notice is how amazing the game looks. Unity 3D has the ability to push some heavy graphics, and every part of City of Steam looks crisp and rides with the theme. Even better, while there are a few gameplay bugs to note, the game itself ran incredibly well despite the hustle and bustle of players crammed into the beta server. I didn’t experience any lag or graphical hitches, and the game did not crash once during the weekend.
After you create your character, you are given a direct sight to just how grand of a scale this game aims for: With the view of a massive behemoth attacking the city. Even your starting hub is much bigger than it appears to be at first. As the tutorial (which can be skipped) progresses, you learn the usual spat of controls, combat, and healing. Mechanist Games wants to please everyone, however, so while the game can be controlled entire through the mouse, players are also able to use WASD movement controls with the standard keys for abilities and perks. Just remember that your “injections” (hp and mana) are on the Q and E keys. I kept accidentally using health potions instinctively hitting E to pick up items.
Overall, there wasn’t a whole lot to do this weekend. Quests were dramatically cut short for the sake of the beta, so once that was over (around level 6) there wasn’t much else to do but run dungeons. Still, for what was available, City of Steam is turning into a very enjoyable game. If you haven’t picked up a key, you can do so at the link in the above banner. Grab a key, and it is good for all four beta weekends, so if you pick one up now (or in future tests) you won’t need another one for each subsequent weekend.
MMO Fallout 