14 DAY TRIAL // World of Warcraft recently broke another record, with the Cataclysm expansion launched in December becoming the quickest selling PC-based title ever and more than 5 million copies moved to gamers, and the behemoth MMO is still the biggest subscription-based title in the world.
And even John Smedley, who is the president of Sony Online Entertainment, does not believe that any one title launched in the coming years has the power to “topple” World of Warcraft and take its place.
Speaking to Eurogamer, the executive has said “What's going to happen is as more great games come out, it's going to fragment their user-base over time, and you're going to see death by a thousand cuts.”
He added, “WOW came out at a time when there were very few big MMOs - we were one of them. Now times have changed. You've got some great games out there - look at the great numbers EVE puts up, look at our own EverQuest II, look at all of the new games coming out.”
Smedley also believes that the PC-based MMO will need to face the challenge coming from similar experiences that are being delivered on gaming consoles like the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3.
One such title is DC Universe Online, the MMO Sony Online Entertainment has recently launched on both the PC and the PS3, which aims to attract gamers who are interested in superheroes and is one of the first big launches of this year.
Another huge contender for the MMO crown that will probably arrive in 2011 is Star Wars: The Old Republic, which is being worked on by BioWare and will benefit from the marketing might of Electronic Arts.
A schedule that was leaked from Blizzard China late last year also suggests World of Warcraft could be getting another expansion late in 2011 or early next year.