US free-to-play MMO market oversaturated?

With new free-to-play titles, like Earth Eternal, in development while other titles are being ported over from Asia to the US at a rapid-fire rate, the question of oversaturation is being spread amongst the lips of the industry. Are we looking at a market too filled with low-budget free to play titles?

The answer is yes, if you're speaking with Reality Gap's J. Mark Hood, co-founder of the company specializing in free-to-play MMOs. Thanks to a AAA game market mostly locked down by the immense budgets of Blizzard and EA, the small developers turn to the F2P market as a place to compete. However, the market is now crowded with all sorts of titles not only developed here, but also many titles ported from Asia.

The Asian titles, however, don't seem to strike the same chords here as they do in Asia. Our market is more focused on gameplay, while theirs can be focused on a number of other different options.

"Things that are more important here are actually how the game plays, getting yourself more advancement and skill," Hood said to Gamasutra. "So, it is really different."

For Hood's full comments, check out both his thoughts on free-to-play MMOs and the entire Gamasutra interview.