News – Page 453 – MMO Fallout

NCSoft Annual Revenue Chart

I’ve been meaning to create this for quite a while now, but I finally got around to compiling a chart for NCSoft’s yearly sales figures on a per-game basis. Looking at the chart on a yearly basis rather than quarterly makes the difference in income all the more obvious, especially when you see that Lineage alone makes more than Lineage II, Guild Wars 2, and Aion combined. Lineage is also NCSoft’s only game to provide a consistent and growing cash flow, with Blade & Soul’s progress too early to tell, especially since the game’s exceptional overseas performance is not reflected in the figures above.

Over the next few weeks, I will be working on expanding our charts from NCSoft, Perfect World Entertainment, Funcom, and more.

Funcom's 2013 Income Drops

Funcom has released their Q4 2013 finances and the results are a mixed bag, mostly leaning towards the negative. Revenues in the fourth quarter dipped below last quarter, $4.2 million compared to $5.3 million and far below the same period last year. Losses in revenue pointed toward weak sales due to increased competition in 2013. Funcom has continued to invest in LEGO Minifigures Online as well as the Dreamworld platform so that the former is compatible across multiple systems, including mobile devices.

The new strategy for 2014 is to increase communication with press and analysts on where the developer is headed in the future. As announced in 2012, the new strategy is to build mid-core focused games with smaller budgets and shorter development times using smaller teams. Also among the list of goals is to build games around known brands, hence the Lego Minifigures title. With the introduction of the Dreamworld technology, Funcom’s future games will be compatible with iOS and Android platforms.

Funcom’s large scale MMOs saw a decrease in activity level due to increased competition in the last quarter, which the developer has responded to with increased marketing campaigns that have resulted in higher activity and revenue in the early first quarter. Numbers and revenue in Age of Conan and Anarchy Online remained mostly stable, and all games are currently considered cash flow positive. The Lego Minifigures game is on track for an open beta this summer, with a tablet version available sometime this year. Lego Minifigures will be free to play with microtransactions, membership benefits, or some mixture of both.

As many of our readers know, Funcom is currently being investigated by Økokrim, Norway’s economic crimes unit, on suspicion of insider trading and negligence in information given to the market leading up to the launch of The Secret World. So far no employees have been charged and Funcom has not been informed as to how long the process will take.

(Source: Funcom Earnings Release)

Neverwinter Expansion Coming Later This Spring

Perfect World Entertainment has announced that another expansion is set to launch in Neverwinter later this Spring. Module 3, titled Curse of Icewind Dale, introduces players to the iconic region of the same name. Icewind Dale is being overtaken by a mysterious presence called the black ice, and it is up to players to utilize this handy resource for their own purposes. Players will be able to harvest, shape, and craft black ice into new gear offering extensive but temporary boosts to their abilities. Also new with the module is the addition of PvE and PvP campaigns, alongside achievements, bosses, encounters, and more.

You can check out the full list of planned features at the link below.

(Source: Neverwinter)

End of Nations Is Dead: Stripped From Trion's Website

If you’ve been following the development of End of Nations, the announcement that development on the title has stopped will be of no surprise. It is almost hard to believe that at one point, nearly a year and a half ago, End of Nations almost reached open beta status. Following a round of layoffs at Petroglyph Entertainment, however, Trion announced that development of the title would be moving in-house and that further beta tests would be on hold “until further notice.” Trion later confirmed that the game would be revamped from an MMO real time strategy game into a MOBA.

A company changing focus that late in development is never a good sign, and End of Nations’ death was essentially guaranteed when “open beta soon” became “on hold until further notice,” and then “join our alpha test” a couple of months later. It looks likely that this may be the last time we hear about End of Nations, as Trion has pulled down the official website and the Trion’s own website makes no mention of the game any more. Trion’s statement to the press confirmed that the game has indeed been halted.

As we informed EON’s community last fall, internal development on End of Nations was put on hold in late 2013 while we evaluated potential paths forward for the title. We’re currently focusing the company’s energy and creativity on Rift, Defiance, Trove, ArcheAge and some new projects that we will be revealing soon.

End of Nations seeing release at this point would be a miracle the likes of which the world has never seen. The impossible kind.

(Source: Polygon)

City of Steam Hits Steam Today

Today’s the day the teddy bears have their picnic. Following the launch of City of Steam: Arkadia last year on web browsers, through Kongregate, and via an available micro-client, Mechanist Games will be launching their MMO on Steam today at approximately noon EST. Arkadia was voted on to Steam through the powers invested in Greenlight, Valve’s crowd-voting platform of approval. In an announcement on the official website, Mechanist noted that certain features had either become obsolete or were deemed unsuitable for the Steam environment, such as the mobile-inspired power limitations. The team admits that 2013 was a “downright rotten year” and, having recovered somewhat, continues to make amends.

For Mechanist, 2014 is all about making the best game, doing what we originally intended, keeping our promises no matter how long ago they were. The two most important ones we have to fix as soon as possible are paragon supporter promises and steam greenlight promises. We’re doing both right now, actually started immediately after new year.

The City of Steam Steam launch coincides with the release of update 2.4 and the launch of a brand new server, and will also introduce a bevvy of content originally anticipated for the previous version’s Steam launch. New pets, new vehicles, Steam achievements, hats, dungeons, jetpacks, and character customizations, with Valve-inspired pets and vehicles among the lot.

Both updates go live at 9am Pacific.

(Source: City of Steam)

Harry Potter MMO Is Go…Until Beta, At Least

How many times have you found yourself wondering why no one stepped up to create a Harry Potter MMO? If you’re anything like us, the answer is a lot. Even though it has been nearly six years since the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, the franchise is still going strong with loyal followers based all over the world and in just about every language. With much of the world still left to discover, Harry Potter seems a perfect candidate for an MMO.

Ask and you shall receive, well sort of. The website for Harry Potter Online has launched and, while the game is technically announced, there is a bit of an important “but” to the equation. You see, the Harry Potter MMO is not yet fully approved for full development, and Warner Bros. wants to see a working beta before they decide to fully fund the project. Once the game reaches beta, Warner Bros will decide if the game is worth completing.

Check out the website at the link below.

(Source: Harry Potter Online)

Path of Exile's First Expansion Coming

Path of Exile is getting ready to launch its first mini-expansion Sacrifice of Vaal next week. The mini-expansion will include a bevy of content, including a high level encounter with Atziri, Queen of the Vaal. Much of the content is layered across the game world rather than focused on the end-game with new secret areas dotting the map, each containing their own special bosses guarding Vaal gems and fragments. New Vaal gemstones gain energy while equipped and can be unleashed for massive attacks, while exiles may corrupt their equipment for a number of benefits at the cost of being unable to mod the item any further.

Two new leagues also find their way in with this update. Ambush leagues feature strongboxes guarded by ambushes, while the hardcore Invasion league dramatically increases the variety of monsters one can encounter, including those from later levels rather early on. Check out the link below for more information on what is coming, and check out the trailer below that to hear a voiceover about sacrifice.

(Source: Path of Exile)

Another Strong IP Bites The Dust

If we have learned anything here at MMO Fallout over the past five years, it is that a strong property means absolutely nothing when it comes to the success of an MMO, or any video game for that matter. In case you didn’t notice this idea in place with the launch of Warhammer Online or the plan that The Old Republic would sustain itself on subscriptions alone, you can take a look at the latest casualty: Doctor Who.

Doctor Who: Worlds in Time is an MMO-lite launched in March 2012, that will have already shut down by the time you read this. Worlds in Time was a decent puzzle game, but ultimately became repetitive and unsustainable over a prolonged service. The developer, Three Rings, is responsible for a few titles you may be familiar with: Spiral Knights and Puzzle Pirates.

The moral of the story is that not every IP needs an MMO. I’m looking at you, Fifty Shades of Grey Online.

Marvel Heroes Mac Beta Signups

Gazillion Entertainment has announced that users are now welcome to sign up to beta test the Mac client for Marvel Heroes. Launch for the Mac client is set for later on this Spring, but users can sign up now to beta test. Check out the link below for more information on how to sign up.

(Source: Marvel Heroes)

Trion Bans May Now Revoke Game Access

In case you haven’t seen, Trion Worlds has announced the introduction of a new “forum toxicity” policy. In short, the developer has issued an ultimatum that trolling, threats, and abuse will no longer be tolerated, and swift action will be taken to ensure that the forums remain a squeaky clean place for squeaky clean boys and girls. One issue that seems to have been tossed into the spotlight is the idea that Trion is now suspending and revoking game access for behavior on the forums. That is half true.

As explained on the forums, revoking game access is apparently reserved for players who repeatedly return on alternate accounts to continue trolling.

Users who have previously had their forum access revoked, and create second, third, fourth, fifth…and so on, troll accounts, may now see penalties on their game accounts. (Yes, people really do this.) Those penalties range from suspensions to revocation of game access.

With the proper execution, Rift may actually wind up having one of the few official MMO forums worth visiting.

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