Jeffrey Steefel: LotRO will be the second western MMO to succeed in Asia
In an interview with videogaming247, Turbine bigwig Jeffrey Steefel said that he expects The Lord of the Rings Online to become the second viably successful western MMO in Asia (after World of Warcraft), should his team get the Chinese launch right. The two MMO-playing communities have historically had very different tastes, but Steefel believes western devs are finally figuring out how to break into the east. "That's where a big part of the global gaming market is and it's been that way for a long time," he said, "but we're only just now figuring how western games can begin to tap into that market.
Steefel also noted -- as many of Blizzard's competitors have been keen to do -- that much of WoW's growth in recent months has been in Asia, not in America or Europe. Guess he's hoping to capture a little of that Blizzard cross-cultural mojo when his game launches in China and Korea. We're aware Asia is a long way away for most of our readers, so for those of you who could care less: check out our own interview with Steefel for subjects a little closer to home. Shameless, aren't we?
