As discussion on some of the blogs in the MMO blogosphere seem to be discussing the slowdown of activity in some of the WAR-dedicated blogs recently it occurs to me that there are all kinds of different definitions of what makes an MMO commercially “successful.” While some companies look at anything less than Blizzard-Level numbers as too small, many companies are looking at smaller niches or alternate styles and saying “yes” to new game development.
So what DOES make an MMO a success in your eyes? I think that is a complex question. There are certainly different levels of success. There are definitely different levels of failure. When you see a game like Tabula Rasa close down so soon after launch, you have to probably agree that it’s a business and critical failure. Same for games like Auto Assault. But what of those games in between? Certainly I’ve written enough about how big a DISAPPOINTMENT Vanguard turned out to be, but with a dedicated team still working on it and a small but loyal customer base you may be able to successfully argue that it’s not a total failure. Certainly the economy of scale that SOE has working allows for some marginal games by today’s standards to stay open and running. Whether the publisher thinks a game is successful or not is certainly dependent on the investment they have in it and how profitable it remains.
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