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ION 08: John Smedley keynote shows off Free Realms and The Agency
When you think of Sony Online Entertainment, what comes to mind? I'm sure that Everquest, Everquest 2, Star Wars Galaxies and Planetside are some of the titles which most people think about. From what I've recently seen in John Smedley's keynote at ION 08 that's all going to be changing in the near future. While he did tease the audience with a hint that, "There's more Everquest in our future." Smedley left the topic of EQ at that. I've certainly had my thoughts on what the next Everquest experience should or could be like, but it's just my own personal wish.So why are we going to be looking at SOE in a different light in the near future? Two games are the reason why: Free Realms and The Agency.%Gallery-22870%
Sony Online Entertainment's John Smedley clarifies Free Realms/Agency RMT
Earlier today Sony Online Entertainment and Live Gamer released a joint statement announcing their intentions to collaborate on player-to-player RMT auction services for future titles. Both Free Realms and The Agency, in development at the moment, will offer this moderated transactional element at launch. In past SOE titles, such as EverQuest II, RMT services have been non-existant or highly limited. With these new games, all players will have the opportunity to engage in in-game item trading for real money.To clarify what the company has in store we contacted Mr. John Smedley, CEO of SOE. In our brief conversation about the announcement we touched on how this might affect the games' interactions with the PlayStation 3. We also talked about SOE's hopes for a farmer free playing environment, and what this might mean for the future of the company's relationship with Live Gamer. Mr. Smedley went even further, giving us a few sneak preview comments hinting at topics he'll be discussing in his keynote address today at ION 2008. Will a Pokemon-esque card battle system will be coming to Free Realms? Read on to find out.
SOE bullish on MMOs for the Playstation 3
In an interview with the Seattle Times, John Smedley, President of Sony Online Entertainment has stated that MMOs for the PS3 will be a strong feature for the system's longevity. "I think MMOs are going to be a real strong selling point for the PS3 long term - there's going to be some great ones on the PS3."While it's obviously too early to say what those titles might be, Smedley does mention the upcoming title The Agency, by saying that "[SOE is] trying not to distract them." We like the idea of the Agency team as having diffuse enough focus that something shiny might keep them from hitting their development milestones. Whether or not Smedley's right about MMOs being good for the PS3 remains to be seen. Perhaps he ought to check out our earlier post on the topic.[Via CVG]
MMO titles to become 'selling points' for PS3
We feel like we've heard this spiel before -- MMO's were promised to come onto the PS3 because, let's face it, the thing is practically a computer. What's different this time around is that Sony no longer is saying that MMO's will be something to look forward to, but their forward strategy is to focus on them as key selling points. Sony Online Entertainment honcho John Smedley said this in an interview with the Seattle Times: "MMOs are going to be a real strong selling point for the PS3 long term - there's going to be some great ones on the PS3." He goes on to blab a little bit about The Agency, which we know only bare bones about, but is supposedly going to be a real shining star and pave the way for other MMO's to get onto the PS3. We'll find out soon enough, right?[Via CVG]
SOE's John Smedley weighs in on Gods and Heroes, lessons from Vanguard
GamesIndustry.biz continues its week of MMO-related features, discussing the role of partnerships in the business. Sony Online Entertainment has obviously had a number of notable relationships, and company president John Smedley offered up some time to comment on their history with business partnerships. As has often been the trend in recent years, Mr. Smedley talked heavily about the lessons the company has learned through hard knocks and rough launches. One of the reoccuring themes in GI's discussion with the CEO is what can be taken away from Vanguard's horrible launch early last year.Smedley makes no bones about that situation, saying that the company was being "run into the ground", but also noting that the game is now doing very well. He also spends some time talking about their relationship with Perpetual Entertainment and their stillborn collaboration Gods and Heroes. "Behind the scenes ... they were putting on a brave face to customers, but we were giving them advice all the time - which was ignored. At some point you get to this point in development ... in fact with Perpetual that was a direct result of the learnings we got from Vanguard - at one point they wanted to try and put the thing out early, and we said 'Look, we're not interested - we don't care if we lose money, but if you put this thing out there, users are going to hate it, and it's going to be a bad release.'" Also check out the interview for more on the in-development Indian title Ramayan, the changing MMO marketplace, and SOE's role in the future of the genre.
Industry notables discuss the state of MMOs
Featuring a list of some influential and knowledgeable entities from the MMO universe, there's an extensive discussion of the "State of the MMO" over at WarCry. Including executives like SOE President John Smedley, game designers like EVE Online's Chantel Zuurmond, and industry reporters like IGN PC Executive Editor Steve Butts, there's enough of a broad base here to give a good insight into what's going on these days in the field.The topics range from "How can companies compete with World of Warcraft" to "How development costs affect innovation", and many more. It's a great read, and full of valuable nuggets of information for your ruminating pleasure.
SOE's Fan Faire heads back to Vegas for 2008
Imperial-paid bounty hunters, elves, cat-men, sci-fi soldiers, elves, secret agents, and yet more elves are already donning their garb and readying their fake ears; Sony Online Entertainment has announced that this year's Fan Faire event will be held from August 14th to August 17th at the Las Vegas Hilton. It took some time to establish this date, obviously, but it sounds like it's going to be a good time. The usual live events, costume contests, receptions, banquets, and developer roundtables are already in the works. This year's event will feature more looks ahead to in-development Sony Online titles, which we assume means The Agency and Free Realms. There will also be a community address, the second in as many years, from SOE President John Smedley.Every year the community team tops themselves with game-specific events. This year the in-development title out at SOE-Seattle, The Agency, is listed as one of the games on tap for live events. Interestingly, Free Realms is not. While there aren't any details on the site yet, the team already has their work cut out for them. We've been eying up this summer with trepidation: July has Comic-Con and E3, while August has Leipzig, Dragon*Con, PAX, and Gen Con, with Gen Con running opposite Fan Faire itself. Convention attending gamers, we salute you; you've got some hard choices to make.
The long goodbye to Gary Gygax continues
The death of Gary Gygax earlier this month is still sinking in for the nerd nation. Despite some viciously cruel (and completely off-base) commentary on his legacy, it's fair to say that his work had an enormous impact on gaming as a hobby. Videogames in particular have been affected by his work, and to explore that the Newsweek games blog LevelUp has been chatting with various industry paragons about how D&D affected them. As you might imagine, the MMO developer crowd is well represented; NCsoft's Richard Garriott, EA Mythic CEO Mark Jacobs, and Sony Online CEO John Smedley all weigh in with a few words about their time with pen and paper.Mr. Smedley and Mr. Garriott are well-known D&D players, with the game's influence on the Ultima and EverQuest titles a fairly open bit of gaming trivia. Mr. Jacobs, though, had an especially interesting take on what has been lost since the early days of tabletop gaming: "I think we've lost some creativity, challenge and true social interaction. If you go back to the heyday of table-top gaming, you had an amazing variety of games, worlds, etc. to explore ... while games like EverQuest, Dark Age of Camelot, World of Warcraft, etc. have their own magic and wonder, some of the pen-and-paper gaming sessions that I participated in were a lot more fun, intense and immersive than anything I've played on a computer."
Smedley: PS3 has "massive advantage over PC" for MMOs
GameDaily landed an interview with SOE president John Smedley in the wake of the recent corporate shuffle that moved SOE into the PlayStation family. Smedley said a lot more this time than he did when he spoke with WarCry last week. He commented on the departure of Sony Pictures head honcho Yair Landau, saying that it's only a coincidence that the SOE move happened at the same time. He also suggested that the move is a bit like "coming home," since EverQuest was originally developed under SCEA's banner.Most interestingly, though, he said that while SOE is committed to multi-platform releases (read: PC and PS3), he believes the PS3 has a "massive advantage" over the PC for developers and publishers of MMOs. This is because because the system is "a stable platform where every customer has an online box ... and we don't have to worry about graphics cards or anything like that." That this is an advantage is true; that's why a lot of the recent growth in the industry is in web-based games that will run on any hardware (like Sherwood). But it'll be interesting to see how The Agency and the DC Comics MMO do on the PS3.[Via PS3 Fanboy]
SOE President talks console MMOs, rivaling WoW
GameDaily had a chat with Sony Online Entertainment president John Smedley about the recent Sony corporate shuffle and what's going to happen to SOE as a result of this. According to Smedley, the change is "an opportunity and not a restriction" as SOE will have better proximity to SCE and will possibly develop more intimately for the PS3. He backed up his opportunity claim by stating that console MMOs have a huge potential for growth as consoles are stable online-capable platforms, and already have a large user-base. He even says that console-based MMOs could possibly rival the success of World of Warcraft."Console online gaming in general I think is going to be one of the next huge phases of growth in the online gaming space," said Smeldey. With SOE currently working on PS3 versions of The Agency, a DC universe MMO, and Free Realms, there's no doubt the company is putting action to words. However, could any of you see any one of these titles possibly going toe-to-toe with the king of MMOs? Console MMOs as World of Warcraft beaters, perhaps not yet. Better console MMOs soon? Most likely.
John Smedley comments on the SOE/SCEI marriage
The other day, Sony Online Entertainment announced that it would begin reporting to Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. to expedite efforts to produce online content and features for the PlayStation 3. WarCry tracked down SOE president John Smedley for comments on the move. The jist of it is that nothing within SOE will change; the move just makes it easier to coordinate the company's PS3-related projects by allowing Smedley and Kazuo Hirai (who's in charge of everything PlayStation) to work together more closely. "Being part of the PlayStation family is exciting and offers us a lot of great opportunity," Smedley said. But opportunity for what? Are announcements of new PS3 titles forthcoming from SOE? Obviously this move is the start of a longterm investment of SOE's time in the PS3 (and maybe even the PS4), but what specifically will come of it? We're anxious to find out.
SOE moved under SCEI to strengthen PlayStation 3
Sony Online Entertainment (the group behind EverQuest, Star Wars Galaxies, and other landmark MMO titles, for the types of readers who need answers to questions like "Vhat eez zees ... 'video game' theeng?") is relocating within the Sony empire. Starting April 1, SOE will operate under the Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. banner.That means that SOE prez John Smedley will be reporting directly to Kazuo Hirai, who is President and CEO of SCEI, and one of the masterminds behind the success of the PlayStation brand. According to the press release, they're making this move so that Sony can use the talent and resources at SOE to push its online gaming agenda on the PlayStation 3 console. Currently, SOE reports to Sony Pictures Digital.SOE has already been working on PS3 projects for a while now, including the spy-themed shooter MMO The Agency, and Free Realms, a family-friendly, microtransaction-fueled endeavor. Even though the press release didn't come with new game announcements, it's big news. There's been a lot of debate about whether the XBox 360 or the PS3 is the best online gaming platform, but this new structure could give Sony a new edge.
Structural changes mean Kaz Hirai will head both SCEI and SOE
Sony is announcing today that structural changes will be occurring within the company, effectively merging the Sony Computer Entertainment and Sony Online Entertainment departments. (Sony Online Entertainment has been run by Sony Pictures.) While the two will remain largely separate Kaz Hirai, President of SCEI, will now be the head of both companies, with SOE President John Smedley reporting to him from April 1st onwards.Both SOE and SCEI seem excited by the opportunities this brings, with Hirai stating that he is "excited to be able to work with SOE even more closely, as online games and services become a more integral part of the PS3 entertainment experience. This new structure will allow us to take full advantage of the extensive breadth of expertise of the two companies and increase our range of exciting entertainment offerings to our consumers." Smedley shares these sentiments, adding that he is "thrilled to become a part of the incredible team that has made PlayStation 3 the premier platform for next generation online gaming."This all seems to make sense, considering how much energy SOE is putting into PS3 projects over the next frew years. We can't wait to finally starting seeing the fruits of their labor later this year.[Via press release]
What do you want play more: The Agency or Warhammer Online?
Ken Smith, writer for MSNBC's gaming section sure does crank out a bunch of Top 5 lists, some are ridiculously bad. In a more serious effort, The Agency is the only MMOG to rank on his "Top 5 Most Anticipated Games of 2008" list. Who cares, right? Tons do, well enough to say "your list sucks." Skimming through two hundred plus comments Warhammer Online received more votes than any other MMOG due to launch sometime this year. (Who knew MSNBC's gaming site was that popular?) Tapping into Massively's metrics I can tell you that Warhammer Online easily beats out The Agency in the war for eyeballs, but you know what other MMOG beats it? If you guessed World of Warcraft, you're wrong. Second Life currently holds the top spot. Don't worry, we'll be posting more and more about Warhammer Online and The Agency, more so after both games launch. As for the video above, if you've been keeping tabs on The Agency there isn't much new footage. Matt Wilson, the dev shown peddling the goods, claimed the team is still undecided on whether or not PS3 gamers will play with their PC counterparts on the same servers. John Smedley, SOE President, reiterated last month that it was unlikely given that it would give PC players an unfair advantage. Given the conflicting statements, I guess it's still up in the air, although, I'd go with Smed on this one. Smedley also reassured player accounts will be universal and not tied to a specific platform. As noted in the video, the game is still in alpha.
PS3 vs. PC action unlikely for The Agency
In an interview with the Next Generation site, SOE CEO John Smedley noted that 'crossplay' capability in The Agency is unlikely to see the light of day. PC and PS3 controls are just too different to allow players to compete head to head, though he notes players won't be lock into one format or the other. Paying players should be able to log into the game on either the PS3 or PC as they see fit. Said Smedley, "Would the mouse player have a unique advantage? Would we have to make the auto-aiming system on the console a lot better to compensate for that? That would take some of the skill element away on the console." The company's commitment to making this game a fantastic twitch-based experience on par with something like Counter-Strike would seem to be restricting the scope of the project; a good thing, I think.%Gallery-12934%
Live Gamer to develop in-game RMT client for EverQuest 2
We've previously discussed the Live Gamer service, a venture-capitalist funded enterprise looking to legitimize RMT in the US marketplace. Their collaboration with Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) has been a topic of discussion since it was announced late last year, but not much was known about what precisely the two companies were working on. In an announcement this morning, they have revealed that Live Gamer (LG) will be effectively taking over SOE's Station Exchange (SE) service. LG will be absorbing the Station Exchange technologies, and retooling them into a service they're calling Live Gamer Exchange. By the end of March Live Gamer will be running SOE's RMT service as an independent third-party enterprise. LG eventually hopes to offer, among other tools, an in-game EverQuest 2 client to access the service. We had the opportunity to speak to SOE president John Smedley and Live Gamer President Andrew Schneider about this step towards legitimate 3rd party Real Money Transactions. Besides stressing that the Live Gamer Exchange will still just be limited to the two already existing SE servers, the two men had some interesting things to say about the future of RMT in the US. They went on at length about the pitfalls and frustrations of existing third-party goldsellers, along with a few plans for the future. Read on for a look at what a legitimate gold-selling industry might look like.
SOE prez to headline ION 2008
The 2008 ION Game Conference in Seattle, WA appears to have gained it's crown jewel, with the announcement that Sony Online Entertainment President John Smedley, one of the key members of the original Everquest team, will be delivering the conference keynote. His speech will reportedly focus on the achievements of Sony Online Entertainment, and the keynote will serve as a springboard for him to talk at length about SOE's exciting new property -- The Agency. Normally I'd make some snarky remark about a company President trying to sell his game at a conference populated by the competition, but after having poured over our preview of the game from CES, I have to concede that I'm just happy we'll get to hear more about the game at length.ION, known formerly referred to by the considerably less cool sounding acronym OGDC, is a game development conference aimed at networking the increasingly international community of online game developers. Like the more generalist Game Developer's Conference, ION has lots of panels, expo space, speakers, and network opportunities aimed specifically at the guys and gals who make our favorite MMOs. Don't wait around for notes from the keynote though -- the conference isn't until the second week of May. We'll keep you posted though.
Behind the Curtain: What's in a name?
How much attention do you pay to the names behind the MMOs we're playing just now? Do you dig up as much information as you can on the developers, producer and designers involved in up and coming games? Do you even pay any attention at all?I'll be honest – I picked up Star Wars Galaxies based on the licence alone. While I've been a gamer since my Uncle gave me a ZX Spectrum as a child, I didn't know anything about the people behind Galaxies. I had heard about Everquest of course – I wasn't stupid after all – but Galaxies was my first MMO, and I was a noob in every sense of the word. I didn't know anything about the designers, the developers, and I didn't even think to check up on them.I was a little more aware when I came round to World of Warcraft. I was, and still am, a big Diablo 2, fan, so I knew who Blizzard were. I hadn't picked up Warcraft 3 when it came out, due to the PC I had t the time not being to run it, but I knew that it'd been a huge commercial and critical success for Blizzard, so I knew that it was a safe bet. Plus, it was taking the world by storm already, so it was a bit of a no-brainer. Maybe I'm just older and wiser now, or maybe the information is just easier to get a hold of, but I pay more attention to the people actually making the game that I'm interested in – I thought this week, we could have a look at some of the names you should be aware of.
CES 2008: SOE wants to pay you for 'Sharing the Wealth'
CES provided us with an interesting look at the future of Sony Online Entertainment. We finally found out what The Agency was all about and got a good look at the wacky, kid-oriented MMO FreeRealms. And, in an exclusive interview with Massively, CEO John Smedley unveiled a new program that will launch alongside FreeRealms. Dubbed "Share the Wealth," SOE's unique buy-in program will offer site owners monetary incentives for driving customers to the game:"Let's say you have your own website. You come out our site, fill out a form pretty much the same as the one for our Station Exchange service with a Social Security number, and give us your PayPal account information. You cut and paste some JavaScript to your site, and now you have a banner ad for FreeRealms on your site. We are tracking every customer you give us, and once a month we'll give you somewhere between 5-10% of all the revenue from every customer you send us. That's as long as they are playing the game."The full interview gets into specifics behind the program, while the follow-up touches on big plans for the future of the company's Station Access pass.
A CES interview with SOE CEO John Smedley (pt. 2)
Earlier today we unveiled the first part of our CES interview with SOE's Chief Executive Officer, John Smedley. He announced to us an unprecedented buy-in program for their upcoming free-to-play kids fantasy game Free Realms. This afternoon we have the rest of the interview to share with you, with big news for players who use the company's Station Access pass. While a lot of commentators have been frustrated by price increases, SOE is working behind the scenes to make those increases worth your while. We are having ongoing discussions inside the company about making station access an all-inclusive pass. Everything that we have, you get as a customer. Station Access subscribers would get every expansion pack for every game, as well as future expansions for every game as well. For the same price now, without raising the price.Read on for our discussion on why these changes have taken so long to implement, and a few words about the company's rededication to fighting gold farmers.
