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Are MMOs Time-Release Vaporware?

Posted by Soulskill on from the going-going-gone dept.

KKnDz0r writes "Australian technology and gaming site 'Atomic' raises an interesting question about the dangers of MMOs that go bust. Are they part of a new breed of games that render themselves completely useless and without value if the parent company goes belly-up? It certainly seems that way in some cases, with Fury and now Hellgate: London both going to software heaven, leaving a player base holding relatively useless client software." While it's certainly not an issue for the large, continuously successful MMOs, we've lately seen a huge influx of companies trying to grab a slice of the MMO pie, some of which will inevitably fail. It would be great to see a dying company at least open up the server software, but how can we give them incentive to do so?

2 of 193 comments (clear)

  1. I think... by BJH · · Score: 5, Informative

    ...I should point out that Hellgate: London was not actually an MMORPG, and it includes a single-player mode so it can indeed be played even if the servers are no longer available.

  2. not vaporware, it's abandonware by scotsghost · · Score: 5, Informative

    And you people claim to be geeks. Here's the crux: Vaporware gets announced, but never released. Abandonware gets released and then abandoned.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaporware

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abandonware