14 DAY TRIAL // Blizzard might have shattered the MMO market when it released its World of Warcraft, but you know things are really going downhill when the competition is calmly admitting defeat. NCsoft might have tried to shake things up a bit with its Aion: Tower of Eternity, but didn't cause nearly enough of a stir to pose any serious threats. And now it looks like developers working to release a new MMO don't even dare think of anything nearly as impetuous.
With a game release date coming in just under a week, Cryptic might be working hard to get its Star Trek Online out the door, but it doesn't have very high expectations for it. “No game will topple World of Warcraft,” Jack Emmert, the COO of Cryptic Studios, said. “Many companies try to replicate Warcraft’s gameplay, but that’s just silly. If someone wants WoW, they’ll play WoW.”
Funcom is also pretty knowledgeable in the business, with its Age of Conan and the upcoming Secret World, but, unfortunately, even it had to admit the reality. The developer's Director of Communications, Erling Ellingsen, admitted that, “The game has proven to be incredibly resilient against the test of time, not only because it’s a great game but also because it’s turned into somewhat of a pop-cultural phenomenon.” He further explained that, “Predicting success or failure in the MMO segment is dangerous, but I think it’s safe to say that World of Warcraft will be around for a long time. Based on the numbers reported by Blizzard so far, it will probably take a while before their subscriber level falls significantly.”
And while the past is set in stone, Jagex, the developer of RuneScape, doesn't see a democratic future for online gaming, with WoW ruling the market with an iron fist. “2010 will see the release of a number of hardcore space and science fiction MMOs such as Star Wars and Star Trek Online,” Rob Smith, Jagex's COO, said. “These games are unlikely to topple the likes of World of Warcraft from their throne, at least in the short term.” And, like that wasn't enough of a dominion for Blizzard's MMORPG, the developer is planing to release another expansion pack, with an entirely remodeled Azeroth, two new playable races, cross-race combination of classes and many other changes, so it doesn't look like the game will lose fans any time soon.