14 DAY TRIAL // MMOs are one of the last bastions of power left to PC gaming. World of Warcraft, Age of Conan or the upcoming Warhammer Online are games that are exclusive to the PC and that sport millions or hundreds of thousands of subscribers. There's nothing comparable on either the Xbox 360 or on the PlayStation 3, and one man at Microsoft is ready to take the blame for the lack of console MMOs.
Shane Kim, who is the former general manager of Microsoft Game Studios and who is now corporate vice president, stated that "I'll admit MGS has not had success in the MMO space, and that happened under my leadership, so I take full responsibility. It's a tough and challenging space that's evolving all the time - a lot of shifting sands. We haven't been able to crack the code." In other words, Microsoft does not see the console MMO market as lucrative enough to pour money into a risky development process.
The fact is that Microsoft actually canceled at least two rather high profile projects targeting the Xbox. First there was a game called True Fantasy Live Online, which targeted the first Xbox gaming consoles and which got canceled because of complications in the development process. And then there was Marvel Universe Online, the game developed by Cryptic Studios, a company that previously created the PC superhero MMO City of Heroes. All seemed well with this project until Microsoft suddenly confirmed rumors that the game was not going to be released. Cryptic is now working on its own superhero intellectual property, called Champions Online.
Shane Kim still thinks that MMOs have a place on the Xbox, stating that "there's nothing to say those titles can't be successful on 360," but Microsoft is not currently overseeing any Xbox 360 MMO project. Meanwhile the rivals at Sony are getting pretty close to launching The Agency and DC Universe Online for the PlayStation 3. Microsoft might be in for another disappointment if these two prove to be successful.