MMO Predictions for 2010
2010 is underway, so it’s time for me to make a few predictions about the MMO industry this year. I’m not going to make a ton of predictions, but I will try to make them fairly specific and measurable. Without further ado, my predictions are beyond the break.
- Mythos will change hands again. I want this game to come out, because I was having a lot of fun in beta, but I’m not confident it will ever see the light of day.
- Blizzard will announce its next MMO. It will not take place in any of their existing IPs, and will not be fantasy.
- Mortal Online will launch. It will be more successful (subscriber numbers) than Darkfall. The main initial complaint will be “too much lag.”
- Jumpgate Evolution will launch. It will create a distinct split in style of space MMO from EVE (primarily due to the combat pacing). The main initial complaint will be “too much lag.”
- Alganon will announce that it is closing its doors. Old school Horizons fans (do I still count?) will be sad for David Allen.
Those are my predictions for 2010. Not many this year, but they should all be measurable.
6. EQ2 will once again launch an expansion (that’s not the prediction) and will do very little of anything revolutionary with it. about 3-4 months after the expansion launches, SOE will change elements about the game to make it EVEN EASIER to get to the new level cap than it already is, including (but not limited to) increasing the amount of exp you get off lower level creatures, and introducing a way to buy levels through their virtual cash marketplace (hard to call it microtransactions for what I suspect they’re likely going to charge).
[...] course, other people are putting out their predictions for next year, so I am putting this sentence in as a place to link to them as [...]
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To my mind, they have already Cataclysm announced for the end of 2010, that is to say, early 2011. I agree the game may not take place in any of their current IP, and I even think they may try to focus on something for “everyone”. Just like the Wii brought new console games into new kinds of people, they may try to get a mass-appeal to this very new casual (social?) gamer population. It’s not going to be a Facebook game, but it might be a fantasy one as the guys (moved from WoW to this game) working on are big fantasy fans. Who knows?
Btw, sorry for this topic revival