The Great MMO Collapse of 2015

sludgebeard · February 2015

Can you feel it?

I for one welcome the MMOPOCALYPSE that is upon us.

Bossalinie · February 2015

You've come out of Vault 101 about 10 years too late...

manaek · February 2015

Meh. What you are likely gonna see is the death of MMO-Themepark subgenre, aka no more WoW clones. What you are gonna see more of are MMO hybrids, like War Thunder, World of Tanks, Destiny. Maybe some of the themeparks will get shut down, but MMO as a genre is bigger than WoW and its clones. EVE is doing fine, and even growing. War Thunder is growing. MMO themeparks are the ones that struggling, and even then, the one single biggest themepark of them all, WoW, which has more users than all of its clones combined, is doing just fine, and nowhere near death.

Also, dont forget the consoles. They didn't have "console WoW" yet. Destiny is as close as it gets, and that game is kinda meh really. People are playing it because there is no better PVE gear threadmill grinder on consoles.

sludgebeard · February 2015

Originally posted by Bossalinie
You've come out of Vault 101 about 10 years too late...

Doesn't everybody?

iixviiiix · February 2015

Not sure , but i sure that MMO nowadays too expensive to make. It mean less MMO and more MO (multiplayer online) like MOBA or Co-op RPG .

Phry · February 2015

Well, if there is any huge collapse this year, it will probably be the bursting of the 'F2P' bubble, with F2P saturation as high as it is, its practically inevitable, its going to be messy

sludgebeard · February 2015

Originally posted by Robokapp
they're basically doomed at this point in my eyes. the natality of MMOs that interest me is pathetic. Notable titles (wow, eve) are hanging in there, but anything to rival them hasn't been seen since mid 2000s.

I keep hearing "there'so many MMOs to choose from compared to 10 years ago" yet nobody can point me at the good-graphics persistent-world large-scale PvE one.

List is full of MM-singleplayer, MM-MOBA, MM-casino and other MM-big-boob-welcome-scren-evony-version.

I find it hilarious that when company's try to market to gamers, this Is still there strategy.

Maybe in the early 90s when our outlet of seeing naked chicks was smaller, but now we just want good games and less boobs.

svandy · February 2015

Ive done a lot of "soul searching," and concluded for myself that this has already happened. Years ago, really. It just wasn't a "collapse," like people expected. MMOs died with a really long, painful whimper as opposed to a huge explosion. The only event I can think of that people can point at as the defining moment, the "bang," if you will for the MMO decline, was the failure of TOR. Granted TOR has gone on to do good things, but it was a case study in just how impossible it is to topple the top dog.

We all thought the MMO genere had a lot of room for innovation, but we slowly found out it really, really doesn't. The few games that do push the envelope end up niche games at best, and are more often than not poorly funded.

It's hard to find MMOs to be excited about anymore, and its been that way for some time.

dreamscaper · February 2015

Originally posted by manaek
Meh. What you are likely gonna see is the death of MMO-Themepark subgenre, aka no more WoW clones. What you are gonna see more of are MMO hybrids, like War Thunder, World of Tanks, Destiny. Maybe some of the themeparks will get shut down, but MMO as a genre is bigger than WoW and its clones. EVE is doing fine, and even growing. War Thunder is growing. MMO themeparks are the ones that struggling, and even then, the one single biggest themepark of them all, WoW, which has more users than all of its clones combined, is doing just fine, and nowhere near death.

Also, dont forget the consoles. They didn't have "console WoW" yet. Destiny is as close as it gets, and that game is kinda meh really. People are playing it because there is no better PVE gear threadmill grinder on consoles.

I agree with most of this. I definitely welcome the collapse of the WoW-clone subgenre. And not a moment too soon - I think I would have lost it if I had to play one more game that had me collecting laundry lists from NPCs with ! above their heads. We actually have some really interesting titles on the horizon - Everquest Next, Life is Feudal, Albion Online, Crowfall, and Camelot Unchained just to name a few. And none of the titles above are anything approaching your standard WoW clone, which is a Very Good Thing.

However, I don't think we're going to see console version of WoW at all. Though you could maybe make an argument that Minecraft is the console WoW, I think that console MMORPGs will be a more evenly balanced landscape, with a slight edge going to FFXIV.

yaminsux · February 2015

Originally posted by sludgebeard
Originally posted by Bossalinie
You've come out of Vault 101 about 10 years too late...

Doesn't everybody?

Nope...just you. We all see it coming.

haplo602 · February 2015

Hmm ... if the folks that started it followed the same path as I did, it actually might be the case. I am happily playing Rift without the need to talk to anyone. Even a few years ago, I could not play a few days without being part of a guild. Now I don't care anymore. If Rift was a single player game, I'd not notice.

Still waiting on the next best thing after EVE Online but this time in a fantasy setting. All the fantasy MMORPGs lack something important so far. The last good experience was GuildWars.

sunandshadow · February 2015

The current environment does seem a lot like the period just before the video game crash of 83/84.

Bladestrom · February 2015

Lol mr mmorpg is dying arises from the depths again. As far as I'm aware 2014 has more mmorpg than any other year, and includes ESO that is shaping up to be the best MMORPG made to date. Perhaps 2015 will be the year more people realise they have just grown out of the genre and will take responsibility for their own tastes.

Shaigh · February 2015

What great mmo collapse? Did wow suddenly collapse, together with ff14, gw2, swtor, rift and eve online.

The problem with this idea of an MMO collapse in 2015 is that the genre is in better shape than it was back in 2010 when it was basically just WoW and Eve looking good and the f2p transition of the genre just getting started.

How is 2015 any worse than 2010?

DavisFlight · February 2015

Originally posted by sludgebeard
Can you feel it?

I for one welcome the MMOPOCALYPSE that is upon us.

The MMO genre collapsed in about 2004-2005. We've been in its ruins for a while now. And until publishers entirely pull out of the genre, I don't really see any light at the end of this apocalypse. They've shown a complete lack of common sense, no matter how many themeparks and WoW clones fail...

DavisFlight · February 2015

Originally posted by Shaigh
What great mmo collapse? Did wow suddenly collapse, together with ff14, gw2, swtor, rift and eve online.

The problem with this idea of an MMO collapse in 2015 is that the genre is in better shape than it was back in 2010 when it was basically just WoW and Eve looking good and the f2p transition of the genre just getting started.

How is 2015 any worse than 2010?

Haha, why are THOSE the ones you've listed? Half of those have been bleeding players since the day they launched. Rift is doing especially bad, and EA doesn't even mention SWTOR more than once in its investor hearings. They haven't posted good numbers in a long while.

Sulaa · February 2015

Originally posted by manaek
Meh. What you are likely gonna see is the death of MMO-Themepark subgenre, aka no more WoW clones. What you are gonna see more of are MMO hybrids, like War Thunder, World of Tanks, Destiny. Maybe some of the themeparks will get shut down, but MMO as a genre is bigger than WoW and its clones. EVE is doing fine, and even growing. War Thunder is growing. MMO themeparks are the ones that struggling, and even then, the one single biggest themepark of them all, WoW, which has more users than all of its clones combined, is doing just fine, and nowhere near death.

Also, dont forget the consoles. They didn't have "console WoW" yet. Destiny is as close as it gets, and that game is kinda meh really. People are playing it because there is no better PVE gear threadmill grinder on consoles.

War Thunder, World of Tanks, etc are multiplayer lobby games. Like League of Legends, Conter-Strike, Starcraft or Battlefield.

Multiplayer "lobby" games were always in good condition, ever since Quake and Unreal Tourment released.

This has nothing to do with MMOs though.

Even Destiny is just an lobby Dungeon Grinder. It is just like Diablo, rather than MMO(RPG).

EVE is an MMO of course and it is an good example, but it is only one game.

Bladestrom · February 2015

That's not a collapse, it's a different genre expanding. Yoh could equally say all all games are collapsing because iPhone games sell much more. Mmorpg genre is broader and richer than it had ever been.

grndzro · February 2015

Until there is a great group oriented MMO in the same venue as FFXI the entire MMORPG roster will be completely stagnant. Sure there will be fits of popularity here and there but they will all end up F2P in no time just like all the recent releases.

The developers simply don't get it.....and I can't see any light in the tunnel.....that's headed down.

Scot · February 2015

You can add SOE selling of its gaming division to the signs of problems ahead. You don't sell of wonderfully successful parts of your company, you sell of what you think is going no where.

But lets just keep our head stuck in the sand and keep talk about how much money 'MMOs' are making, everything is fine.

jusomdude · February 2015

*Plays highlander music and looks at Blizzard*

Mothanos · February 2015

There is WoW / Eve / Final Fantasy that are doing fantastic.
Anything else is making pocket change as they are way to shit for the masses to play.

I mean check the release dates of Eve and WoW 2003 / 2004...
In all that time not a single mmo has kept me longer then any of those 2 and tbh i still play Eve Online like a madman.

While WoW lost my interest with MOP it is still the the king of kings and thats just a realy fracking sad state of the mmo market.

To much greed and suits controlling the market these days.

I look at whats comming this year or the next and i just laugh at how pathetic the line up realy us.

EQN ?
SC ?
Its all going to be nikkel and dime mmo's i have zero interest in and gameplay wise EQN is just another generic wannebe action combat failure.

SC might look good but so far its vaporware untill they start working on finishing the game and even then i am very sceptical about how it plays out.

Archeage good have been one hell of an mmo if it wasnt for the suits lying in our faces with no tricks no traps crap.
Sadly money talks and the studio's sold their soul to the devil for that extra buck without thinking it trough on how severe the impacts is on the playerbase with all that nikel and dime shit.

For me personaly the mmo market is dead and burried with the exception of Eve Online.
A realy sad state of affairs.

zaberfangx · February 2015

Originally posted by Mothanos
There is WoW / Eve / Final Fantasy that are doing fantastic.
Anything else is making pocket change as they are way to shit for the masses to play.

I mean check the release dates of Eve and WoW 2003 / 2004...
In all that time not a single mmo has kept me longer then any of those 2 and tbh i still play Eve Online like a madman.

While WoW lost my interest with MOP it is still the the king of kings and thats just a realy fracking sad state of the mmo market.

To much greed and suits controlling the market these days.

I look at whats comming this year or the next and i just laugh at how pathetic the line up realy us.

EQN ?
SC ?
Its all going to be nikkel and dime mmo's i have zero interest in and gameplay wise EQN is just another generic wannebe action combat failure.

SC might look good but so far its vaporware untill they start working on finishing the game and even then i am very sceptical about how it plays out.

Archeage good have been one hell of an mmo if it wasnt for the suits lying in our faces with no tricks no traps crap.
Sadly money talks and the studio's sold their soul to the devil for that extra buck without thinking it trough on how severe the impacts is on the playerbase with all that nikel and dime shit.

For me personaly the mmo market is dead and burried with the exception of Eve Online.
A realy sad state of affairs.

WoW for sure doing fantastic not better then Heart Stone in profit but doing fantastic, Eve one the games never grow pass it's limit but there no other game like it still be around for little longer. But FF14 seem to be one game that can end up going down hill really fast. Is not gorwing with last year report was close 1 mil player with all there 3 games. mind you there web site that year saying 2mil but just 2 mil accounts, not sub. Pretty sure wow pulled more people back out FF14 with WoD, but we will see be a hard market this year.

wireded21 · February 2015

MMO collapse, or PC gaming collapse?

I for one will not be investing in my PC hardware from this day forward. It's good enough to run for another few years but I'm thrilled that next gen consoles are being targeted for new MMO's.

Within a few months we will have;

ESO

Neverwinter Nights

H1Z1

PS2

and more to come...

Next gen consoles are the future of MMO's.

I really hope that this time the next gen consoles have killed off the PC gaming market once and for all.

Dullahan · February 2015

Not only are WoW clones winding down, but I think we'll see the dull sandbox clones with their stringent "no pve" policy start to taper off as well. Neither of these models are profitable anymore so I don't think publishers will be funding them.

I'm hoping we'll begin to see games with real content and progression like early mmorpgs begin to resurface.

Azaron_Nightblade · February 2015

Originally posted by wireded21
MMO collapse, or PC gaming collapse?

I for one will not be investing in my PC hardware from this day forward. It's good enough to run for another few years but I'm thrilled that next gen consoles are being targeted for new MMO's.

Within a few months we will have;

ESO

Neverwinter Nights

Neverwinter Online, not "Nights". NWN was a Bioware RPG with multiplayer options (damn good ones IMO) while Neverwinter Online is an MMO by Cryptic Studios/Perfect World Entertainment.

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