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Make My MMO: Crowdfunding February 23 - March 1, 2014
This week's Make My MMO adds Trials of Ascension's Light the Forge campaign, which is Chaos Forge's company-specific (i.e., non-Kickstarter) bid to raise $40,000. The fantasy sandbox canceled its initial Kickstarter campaign because it "failed in showing its true potential," according to a news posting on the ToA website. If the Light the Forge drive is successful, the devs will use the $40,000 to finish the game's demo and return to Kickstarter in the hopes of attracting additional funding. Head past the cut for a breakdown of other crowdfunded MMO projects for the week ending March 1st, 2014.
Total Kickstarter pledges surpass $1 billion
How much money have Kickstarter projects made since the service's April 2009 inception? That's right, over $1 billion-with-a-B dollars. MCV reports that US citizens lead the way with over $663 million in pledges, followed by backers in the UK, Canada, Australia, and Germany. On April 28, 2009 -- Kickstarter's first day -- a total of 40 people pledged $1,084 to seven projects. On March 13, 2013 -- Kickstarter's biggest day to date -- 54,187 backers forked over $4 million-plus for 1,985 different projects. While Kickstarter isn't restricted to gaming drives, they do lead the way in terms of total funding with over $215 million in pledges as of press time.
Grinding Gear's Wilson talks F2P ethics in Path of Exile
Gamasutra reports that over five million people have signed up to play Grinding Gear's Path of Exile title. The company hasn't disclosed how many of those people are actually paying for the free-to-play Diablo-style game, but Path of Exile's critical and financial success invites a closer examination of its business model. Unlike most F2P titles, Path of Exile completely avoids gameplay gates and delaying mechanisms and thus avoids the dreaded pay-to-win stigma. Microtransactions are purely cosmetic, and Grinding Gear's crowdfunding campaign has now morphed "into a permanent rewards-based structure for monetization." Managing director Chris Wilson tells Gamasutra that PoE's supporter packs are a big part of the game's success story in addition to traditional microtransactions, the latter of which offer "enough money to run the company on" by themselves. Wilson says that players want to support PoE because its business model puts gameplay first. "We've been careful when designing the game so there's no paying for game content or advantage in the game," he explained. "We've purposefully divorced any game mechanics from the monetization."
European Commission examining 'free' games with in-app purchasing
The European Union's executive body is meeting with game developers in an effort to improve consumer protections, according to GamesIndustry.biz. The European Commission feels that "consumers and in particular children need better protection against unexpected costs from in-app purchases." The Consumer Protection Corporation and EC member states have condemned various forms of misleading advertising in games, along with direct purchasing appeals like "buy now!" or "upgrade now!" "The use of the word 'free' (or similar unequivocal terms) as such, and without any appropriate qualifications, should only be allowed for games which are indeed free in their entirety, or in other words which contain no possibility of making in-app purchases, not even on an optional basis," the European Commission says.
Make My MMO: Crowdfunding February 9 - 22, 2014
In the world of MMOs, no news is not necessarily good news -- especially when it comes to crowdfunding. Silence often denotes a lack of progress on a game, and that can certainly make investors nervous. Thankfully, many games provide players with updates that we, in turn, provide for you here. If no news is bad, then news is good, right? Unfortunately, this doesn't hold true. In the case of Star Rider and Hot Rod Hustle, the news is that neither met its funding goals. So we say farewell to these two games from Make My MMO. And Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen's campaign was chock-full of news, but in the end, its Kickstarter didn't succeed either; Pantheon, however, is continuing the fundraising effort on its official site. At least some news is good! War of Omens also leaves this round up, but for different reasons: Players can hop in and play the game! Likewise, HEX: Shards of Fate and StarCraft Universe move on now that both have moved into testing. Another sandbox, Terrayn, also joins the Kickstarter ranks. To hear other good news, keep reading.
Make My MMO: Crowdfunding January 26 - February 8, 2014
The crowdfunding train just keeps rolling right along, with passengers always coming and going. New passengers hop aboard while others hop off at their desired destination. Sadly, some have to disembark early -- such is the case with Universe Rush and Antilia. Although the Kickstarter campaign fell far short of its goal, Antilia does plan to continue development on its own. On the brighter side of things, some passengers reached their stop; Tales From The Strange Universe reached its goal, and both it and Novus AEterno (which brought in over 3.5 times its initial goal) will now take their places in the funded category. The Repopulation, earning over 175K during this latest Kickstarter run, disembarks at Betawatch station thanks to its ongoing alpha testing. Catch up on all the news for all these titles as they journey through crowdfunding here in Make My MMO.
The Elder Scrolls Online won't require a PlayStation Plus membership
If you're looking forward to playing The Elder Scrolls Online on a console, it's going to be cheaper to do so on the PlayStation 4. Why? Because subscribers will not need a PlayStation Plus subscription to subscribe to the game and keep playing online. Xbox One owners, meanwhile, will require an Xbox Live Gold membership in order to subscribe, bringing the cost up ever so slightly beyond the normal price of entry. That's the takeaway from a recent post on the official PlayStation blog by game director Matt Firor. Other important points from this blog entry are the fact that the servers for the game will be split by platforms, meaning that PC players cannot play with PS4 players and vice versa. Firor also stated that while the team does not have an exact timetable, a beta on PS4 is incoming for later this year. The game is launching on the PC on April 4th, 2014.
Make My MMO: Crowdfunding January 12 - 25, 2014
After a sleepy holiday season, the crowdfunding crowd has woken up and gotten down to business. And amidst that new bustle of activity, Make My MMO's ranks are altering a bit. Two games leave our listing, but each for different reasons; the cross-platform space sim Space Unfolding folded after missing its goal, and Face of Mankind moved along to Betawatch to join the ranks of the games in testing. And now that War of Omens' campaign has wrapped up, it moves into the fully funded category. Some campaigns have really kicked into high gear. Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen joined the crowdfunding race and has delivered a slew of nearly daily news. Novus AEterno has nearly tripled its goal and is closing in on yet another stretch goal these final days of its campaign, while The Repopulation has also blown away its initial goal and is aiming for its eigth stretch goal (not to mention revealed plenty of juicy new bits). A smaller title, Tales From The Strange Universe, is more than halfway to its modest goal with a week left. And newcomer Star Rider also jumps on the Kickstarter bandwagon. Unfortunately, others aren't faring as well. Things aren't looking promising for Antilia or Universe Rush, whose campaigns end soon and are still over $85K and $98K short of their respective goals. Want more details on these stories or an update on all the already-funded projects? We've got the round-up right here.
Make My MMO: Crowdfunding December 29, 2013 - January 11, 2014
Was 2013 the year of Kickstarter? Whatever you think personally about the funding model, you can't argue with the fact that over $480 million was pledged through the crowdfunding platform in the last calendar year. That's definitely one hunk of change! But whether or not that figure translates into a tidal wave of awesome games has yet to be seen; the jury will remain out until even more funded games actually release and players get to experience what they backed. As for specific MMO news this past fortnight, the bulk of it involves new titles vying for a slice of 2014's crowdfunding pie. The CCG War of Omens has already grabbed a piece; it met its goal and has moved on to stretch goals for the last couple of days. Other hopefuls include more two space strategy games. Learn more about all of these, as well as the news from the funded front, right here in Make My MMO.
SOE cancels previous subscription changes, rolls out a bigger all-access pass
When Sony Online Entertainment first announced its changes to the way subscription benefits would work from February on, players weren't happy. One of our columnists explained the reasons why the changes were a bad idea in great detail. SOE listened, stepped back, and according to a post on Reddit by John Smedley, is revising the plans again to better fit player needs. The subscription reward will still be in the form of Station Cash on a monthly basis rather than a single free item worth up to 2000 SC. Under the new system, subscribing to the company's all-access pass will be priced at $14.99 a month, and subscribing to any PC title makes you an all-access member automatically. You still get 500 SC every month, and you can still stockpile it as before, but you will need to claim that benefit on a monthly basis rather than see it automatically dropped into your account. For more of the fine details on children's games with subscriptions and console games, take a look at Smedley's full post.
Make My MMO: Crowdfunding December 15 - 28, 2013
'Tis the season... but not for news! With minds focused on the holidays, it looks as if not much happened in the realm of crowdfunding since our last Make My MMO update. Just how slow was it? It was so slow that Star Citizen did not announce earning another $2 million. A few tidbits did, however, did trickle out. Novus AEterno met its goal within 102 hours and still has a month of funding ahead. On the other hand, Empires of Tahn followed what seems to be the new norm: cancel the project before getting the dreaded "unsuccessful" label. And one title that is already strong in its development has jumped back into the crowdfunding realm; The Repopulation aims to incorporate even more features into the sandbox. There are also a couple dev blogs to speak of and a few odds and ends, all of which you will find rounded up for you below.
Make My MMO: Crowdfunding December 1 - 14, 2013
If it seems as if crowdfunding's gone into a turkey coma lately, you aren't just imagining things -- at least as far as funded games are concerned. News on that front has seemed scarce compared to the deluge of some other two-week spans, but the current campaigns are trying to make up for it. Life is Feudal canceled its Indiegogo campaign, but devs vowed to "survive according to Plan 'B'," so we'll keep an eye out to see whether it moves into personal funding as other games have done. (That route is working for Neo's Land, whose donations keep creeping higher.) Similarly, Novus AEterno scrapped its second Kickstarter campaign, but in a twist, it's already restarted another with a lower goal. Outer Worlds Online, however, just didn't make the funding cut. On the successful side, manners and dinner parties will be coming to an MMO near you; Ever, Jane got an invitation to join the funded club. A few other funded titles also saw some progress, and still others joined (or re-joined) the race for your support. And topping all that, we also bid farewell to Elite: Dangerous, who leaves Make My MMO for Betawatch now that its alpha has started. You can catch all the updates below.
Make My MMO: Crowdfunding November 17 - 30, 2013
One thing gamers can definitely be thankful for this year is crowdfunding! Thanks to this phenomenon, we have many more options opening to us than ever before. And there are definitely some good gaming prospects on the horizon, even if news about all but one is seeming a bit scarce lately. While it's true that a few funded projects tossed out a news morsel or two, two new campaigns replaced two unsuccessful ones (neither The Zodiac Project nor Omuni Online made their goals), newcomer The Mandate already made its goal, and another hopeful -- Ever, Jane -- has secured three-quarters of its goal with only a couple of days left, the majority of the spotlight has been stolen the upcoming space sim Star Citizen, which continues to blast the crowdfunding record to smithereens. If you missed any of the news, you can catch up on it all right here in Make My MMO.
Make My MMO: Crowdfunding November 3 - 16, 2013
A quiet fortnight in the land of crowdfunding these past two weeks have not been. In fact, with the popularity of this funding model, it may never be quiet again. The past two weeks have had their share of campaigns starting, campaigns closing, and campaigns obliterating goals and funding records alike. Three new prospective games have popped on the radar (including one for those with impeccable manners!), and one has disappeared. But even that game isn't gone for good; although pledges had climbed to over $86K, Trials of Ascension canceled its campaign in order to "regroup, rework, and return." Another title, City of Titans, is taking its place among the fully funded crowd. And there there is Star Citizen, which proved that a single fortnight can't go by without the game's gathering another million or two. All that information and more can be found here in Make My MMO!
Perfect World Entertainment explains more about Arc
Perfect World Entertainment is pulling its games together in a big way. The company's new Arc platform is meant to integrate all of its various titles, from Star Trek Online to Neverwinter to Perfect World International, under a single launcher and a more unified scheme. A new development update explains more about what this will mean for players of these titles and offers a rough idea of when these changes will begin rolling out. First and foremost in many players' minds, the new launcher will not be made mandatory just yet, although a new version of all the various game websites will be launching before the year's end. The change is also creating a new and streamlined format for buying Zen for each game, along with a new set of game guides to help new players understand what they're getting into. For more details on these changes as well as the new profile system, take a look at the full update, and keep your eyes peeled for our interview with PWE on these changes from Terilynn Shull.
Nope, World of Warcraft still isn't going F2P
Sorry, free-to-play fans; World of Warcraft still isn't your game. Eurogamer reports that Blizzard production director J Allen Brack ended speculation of a potential business model switch for the hugely popular MMO. "We didn't make this game to be free-to-play," Brack explained. "We would have to rework the game pretty significantly in order to make it free-to-play. It's not something we're currently considering." In other expansion news, the official WoW website has been updated with several new articles fleshing out yesterday's panel announcement. The first covers leveling from 90 to 100 in the new expansion, while the second is more of a general overview that also includes the Warlords of Draenor: Remaking a World video. View it after the cut.
Newest producer's letter discusses the next major Allods Online update
Allods Online is the first game that launched free-to-play and then launched a subscription server. How did that go? According to the latest producer's letter, it went. Not perfectly, and it's not as popular as the option to play the game for free, but it serves different customer types. But that's just the smallest hint of the changes coming to the game, which could include a merge for the American and European regions in the future. The game's next major update, appropriately titled Winds of Change, is currently in the works. It promises to bring new features such as an asymmetrical 6v24 PvP challenge. The small team will be tasked with infiltrating a large facility and retrieving the flag deep within, leading to a different approach than the usual clash of armies. New mounts, new class features, and more are due along with the update, which should go live in early December.
Microsoft's Perry on F2P the wrong way
Today's winner of the most provocative post title award is this little ditty about Age of Empires Online. But hey, don't blame Massively! It's actually the title of a speech given by Microsoft's Kevin Perry at GDC Europe 2013. Gamasutra has posted video of the event, and it's well worth watching if you've got 45 minutes to kill and you're interested in what goes through a developer's mind as he thinks about continually evolving monetization schemes. Perry says that this particular speech is on its third iteration. It initially started out positive when he shared it with an internal Microsoft audience some time ago. He then reworked it based on newly collected data about the game for GDC San Francisco earlier this year. And then he reworked it again for GDC Europe based on even more data. If you're sensing a trend here, you're right: game devs often don't know how well their business models are performing at any given time. As Perry says, "it's an ongoing conversation." There are a few other choice quotes as well, including the notion that PvP players are small in number but "very, very loud" in terms of influence as well as the supposition that you can launch incomplete games under the F2P business model and "sort it out on the fly." This last bit isn't always true, Perry says, "especially for a large, branded title."
Make My MMO: Crowdfunding October 20 - November 2, 2013
The news meter for crowdfunding keeps right on ticking. The last two weeks have seen a score of changes in the realm of community funding initiatives, with some titles experiencing success, others not meeting their goals, and even more joining the ranks. One big name in gaming, Brad McQuaid, is even planning on launching a campaign in the near future. The zombie-centric The Living was unsuccessful, and Story Quest Online failed for a second time. Mixmaster Online removed itself from the field and canceled its campaign. On the other hand, 8BitMMO met its first stretch goal, ensuring that a Mac edition of that game will be available for players. And then there's City of Titans, which is climbing closer to doubling its goal with only two days left. Finally, there are all the progress updates for those already-funded campaigns, conveniently rounded up right here for you in Make My MMO.
Some Assembly Required: Mark Jacobs on Camelot Unchained's Kickstarter
Given all the MMO-hopefuls flocking to it, you'd think that Kickstarter is the only way to make a game these days. And in some ways, it is. Indie companies and niche games now have a real chance to see the light of day, whereas previously only the "sure sells" got financial backing. For developers like Mark Jacobs, who as City State Entertainment's CEO spearheads the development of upcoming sandbox Camelot Unchained, Kickstarter is a way to bypass those detached investors and appeal to the gamers themselves. As he told us, "Kickstarter is the perfect platform for an indie developer both to gauge interest in a concept and to receive either all or part of the funding necessary to make the game." Jacobs offered other musings and insights about the role of Kickstarter and updated us on the development of Camelot Unchained in our exclusive interview.
