MMOs don’t work in the US, says Take-Two’s Chairman
If you’re expecting an MMO based on Grand Theft Auto, Borderlands or Bioshock you’ll probably have to wait a really long time, or maybe never see one according to Take-Two’s Chairman Strauss Zelnick who argues that the genre doesn’t work in the US.
“We’re actively investing in online and MMOs, we’re just not doing it in the U.S.” Zelnick said at the Cowen and Company Technology, Media and Telecom Conference today. “MMOs don’t work here. A couple of our competitors have found out that through very, very expensive lessons. One of our competitors just recently announced they’re restarting an MMO project.”
For Zelnick, the list of MMO titles that have found some solid footing in the USA was short. “How many MMOs have been successful in the U.S.?,” he said. “Two. World of Warcraft and EverQuest. Kind of a bad slugging percentage.”
Take-Two is instead looking east in search of the most friendly geography for MMO success, in that “at any given time 10 to 20 are successful in China and generating revenue,” according to Zelnick.
Earlier this week, World of Warcraft developer Blizzard Entertainment said it was making “some large design and technology changes” to its in-development next-generation MMO, codenamed Titan. Over the past year, MMO titles like Star Wars: The Old Republic, Rift, TERA and Vanguard: Saga of Heroes shift from a paid subscription model to free-to-play models. Two high profile MMO releases are planned for later this year, Bethesda Softworks’ The Elder Scrolls Online and Square Enix’s revamped Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn.
Source: PolygonAbout the Author
George X. is a lover of MMOs. Been playing full time since the first days of Everquest and never stopped since then. Currently he's addicted with DOTA 2 and GW2.
Related Posts
Sandbox MMO Salem to continue independently →
New Warhammer 40k MMORPG Revealed at E3 2013 →
Archeage Beta Signup is Open →
