Will MMO Games Continue To Die In 2016?
I know it's a time for festive cheer and spreading the Christmas spirit but we're gamers right? There's always room for some doom and gloom. It's no secret that the traditional MMORPG games have seen big declines in recent years - with the exception of a few bigger names - but will that trend continue throughout 2016 or will innovation lead the way to a new golden age of online gaming? If you take a look back at 2015 and the number of incredibly anticipated launches that fell short, or even bigger titles from the previous year that vanished into obscurity or was forced to drop a premium revenue model in exchange for a buy-to-play or free-to-play transition. The Elder Scrolls Online, WildStar, Guild Wars 2 never failed by any means but they clearly didn't meet the level of expectations players had for titles backed by such huge development and marketing teams. What does this mean for the genre as a whole? Well, players are constantly expecting more for less. With the aforementioned games switching to far cheaper business models players are left with massive AAA developed games available for next to nothing. This leaves future pay-to-play developers a hell of a bar to reach, one that some would say is not possible to match. Could these changes result in a bigger free-to-play presence throughout 2016? That's not necessarily a good thing either. Free-to-play games are generally developed with much smaller budgets, often resulting in cookie clutter features and mechanics that are shared between games on portals like Aeria Games or Perfect World Entertainment. Do I think the traditional MMORPG is going the way of the dinosaur? Yes I do. As gaming evolves players are given a much more meaningful experience through the likes of the MOBA genre or other quick to pick up and play titles. Are players growing bored of spending 1000s of hours farming for gear in games with predictive combat, poor mechanics and lackluster end-game? I still think the typical free-to-play garbage we see available today has many years left before it really starts to die out but is that a bad thing? We as players can push for bigger better games, but not if we expect it all for free.Leave a comment
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