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Casual Games Quickly Transforming the MMO Market

Posted by Soulskill on from the wrath-of-the-carebears dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick disclosed that their forthcoming, unnamed MMOG will have 'a little more broad appeal' than its market-leading MMO World of Warcraft. This is adding to speculation that the game might be free to play, since such games now take more in digital revenue than any other genre. In his GDC Austin keynote today, Sony Online Entertainment president Jon Smedley said, 'As a company, we knew we had to evolve ... to expand [our] audience ... and to get a much wider female audience.' The article notes that SOE hasn't abandoned hardcore MMOs, but his talk focused on Free Realms, SOE's free-to-play MMO that has grown to 5 million users in 5 months. Marketed to kids, 51% of Free Realms gamers are under 13, with around 75% under 18, who pose a challenge to attract and retain. Since they only play for about 20 minutes per session and aren't focused on the mechanics of the game, SOE can get away with changes that are unfair to some players, as shown by a recent, oddly-handled item nerf in Free Realms."

11 of 238 comments (clear)

  1. Re:WoW was ruined by webax · · Score: 2, Funny

    You should be playing FF, SE has not let anything stand in the way of endless grinding reaping exclusive rewards.

  2. Wider Female Audience by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    'As a company, we knew we had to evolve ... to expand [our] audience ... and to get a much wider female audience.'

    OMG! Ponies MMO!

    1. Re:Wider Female Audience by Thanshin · · Score: 3, Funny

      'As a company, we knew we had to evolve ... to expand [our] audience ... and to get a much wider female audience.'

      OMG! Ponies MMO!

      Nonono, it's "wider female, audience" not "wider, female audience".

      So, OMG! Full blown shire horses! XMMO.

    2. Re:Wider Female Audience by L4t3r4lu5 · · Score: 3, Funny

      So, OMG! Full blown shire horses! XMMO.

      The appropriate term is "Hipponies!"

      --
      Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
  3. Re:WoW was ruined by Thanshin · · Score: 3, Funny

    its hellokitty island adventure with a different skin

    Pure marketing. It'll never reach the degree of complexity and required skill you could have in HK:IA.

    I'm talking about before the Breach brought the dark avatars and the kawaru fell upon the land, of course.

  4. Broad appeal by Hognoxious · · Score: 5, Funny

    Broad appeal ... that means they're marketing it to women?

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  5. a perfect place to meet creepy men! by slinks · · Score: 1, Funny

    " 51% of Free Realms gamers are under 13, with around 75% under 18 " The other 25% is creepy men! sound to me like they do have a broad appeal!

  6. Re:WoW was ruined by Mr.+Bad+Example · · Score: 4, Funny

    > Why does it matter if someone else gets an epic-quality item?

    Because you can't entrust the Sword of a Thousand Truths to a noob.

  7. Re:WoW was ruined by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    so is your comment

    you dont belong on internet, unplug now

  8. Re:WoW was ruined by BlackSnake112 · · Score: 2, Funny

    It's even easier to blow/get blown off.

    That can be an incentive to many.

  9. Re:WoW was ruined by An+ominous+Cow+art · · Score: 3, Funny

    Bilbo twinked Frodo with a unique epic ring, purple armor, and a purple sword.