“We don’t need the kind of subscriber levels that people throw around, like a million subscribers, to make a lot of money on this title. If we get anywhere near that level, we’ll be making a lot of money.” Why thank you, THQ CEO Brian Farrel. MMO success is, as I have said before, relative. Technically … Continue reading “THQ: We Don't Need No Stinkin Million Subscribers!”
Layoffs post-launch are not new in the MMO world. Once an MMO has launched, and most of the post-launch bugs are taken care of, a large part of the team (many working under contract rather than full employment) are let go. Think of it as seasonal work, but working on a video game rather than … Continue reading “Fallen Earth: Do Not Fear 80% Layoffs”
Warner Brothers has been on a spending spree this week, and their latest acquisition? Turbine Inc, in case you didn’t read the title. I won’t say much about Warner Brothers, considering they own virtually my entire childhood, but my favorite part of acquisitions always comes from the press releases, where both the purchaser and the … Continue reading “Warner Brothers Owns Turbine Now”
As some players point out to me in the numerous emails I receive each week, I apparently look like an idiot/hypocrite/uninformed child when I praise a company one day, and then crush them like a bug the next (literally) for doing something insanely inane. What these emails forget is that here at MMO Fallout, we … Continue reading “Turbine: Sorry We Directed You To Scams/Phishing”
And I shall whisper, no. Being the publisher of an MMO is hard work; your tasks are relegated to bug reporting, polishing upcoming versions, localization, and running events. You don’t fix bugs and you can’t add in any features, and you serve essentially as a franchise for the MMO in question. A lot of people … Continue reading “Gala-Net + Astrum Nival: Clarification and Fear Of Death”
This should be obvious by now, but it’s not just the world that is massive in an MMO, the budget is as well. Virtually every mainstream title (sans Runescape) has sucked up millions of dollars in the process of being developed. Not too long ago, it was revealed that Ensemble Studios was working on Project Titan, … Continue reading “As It Turns Out: MMOs ARE Expensive”
My Lord of the Rings account can’t be used in Germany, nor will my World of Warcraft account work in China. My Archlord account may now work in Europe, but my Chronicles of Spellborn account will certainly not work in the Philippines. My Allods Online account might work in Australia, but my Tabula Rasa account will … Continue reading “Aika Online Restrictions And Cash Shop Woes”
Although I’ve long since beaten and hogtied Mark Jacobs in my attic, his long over-quoted words still ring true to this day: If we’re not adding servers shortly after launch, we are not doing well. Global Agenda, having launched two months ago, is doing quite well for itself. So well, in fact, that Hi-Rez Studios … Continue reading “Global Agenda: Success Calls For More Servers!”
Computers are great, and are becoming more integrated into our lives with every passing day. Nowadays you can use a cell phone to do more than just talk to your friend in Thailand with your unlimited long distance and roaming plan. Now a phone can be used to play video games, update your Facebook pages, … Continue reading “Mythic Billing Explodes: Some Players Charged $500!”
I love me some Massively.com. Aside from being great reading material to begin with, I will admit that Massively is one of the biggest sources of MMO news that makes its way on to MMO Fallout (although without my cheeky commentary). One issue I do take with Massively, being the cynic that I am, is … Continue reading “Dungeon Fighter Online: 197 Million Is Still Meaningless”
MMO Fallout 