Russian-Targeted MMORPG Faces Unique Obstacles

Thanks to the Moscow Times for their article discussing the rise of the Russian-based PC MMO title Sphere, which "is the first MMORPG developed in Russia and catering specifically to Russian players." According to a spokesperson, there are markedly different limitations to Western titles: "From the beginning, we faced a big technical problem -- how to make a game that would work well over our absolutely abominable phone lines." In addition, some of the economic problems are also intriguing: "Since few Russians have credit cards, 1C developed another scheme for online payment... [using] Yandex-Dengi, a ruble-based payment service similar to the dollar-based service PayPal. Players interested in a low-tech alternative can also re-subscribe by buying a fresh Sphere CD for about $6 every month." Overall, the MMO's subscription "costs about half as much as EverQuest's, opening the door to cash-strapped Russian gamers", and it's attracted over 15,000 players in the first 3 months.

Comments

Red Dawn?

[Eklypz]

Meanwhile, the Defenders of Light call on players to battle the forces of darkness, which include a few elements from a more familiar world. In particular, the Defenders hope to defeat the United States of America -- "a beachhead," they say, "for the invasion of the Devil."

I say get a bunch of American clans over there and kick some commie butt!

Re:English website.

[RobertB-DC]

Handy link, thanks. I have trouble even playing something as bandwidth-friendly as BZFlag on my slow, rural home connection. A "light" MMRPGOOGOOGAAGAA (whatever) would be excellent.

Unfortunately, the "Buy" links are in Russian, and I don't know "????????? ??????" from "?????????????????". My knowledge of Russian is limited to the similarity between "Toys [R] Us" and "Tet[r]is" (reverse characters in []).