Realtime Worlds explains shift to MMOs, says online market is 'untapped'
by Ben Gilbert 
{ Jul 15th 2009 at 4:00PM } 
(click to MMO-size)
Crackdown developer Realtime Worlds -- currently working on upcoming MMO All Points Bulletin -- is pretty excited about cashing in on the online market. During his keynote at the Develop conference this week, RTW exec David Jones explained his company's shift to MMO development as one with the intention of heading where "the big dollars are."
"Online ... is very, very much untapped -- it's kind of like winding the clock back 10 or 15 years," he said during the speech. Jones apparently cited Call of Duty 4 and Halo 3 as examples of games where players "invest hours" in the single-player campaign but "ten times that online" -- but isn't your game PC-only, Mr. Jones? We're not so sure, considering Jones' repeated references to "next-gen technology" throughout the keynote, 100-person servers for online play, and the recent EA partnership announcement -- though we'd be a lot more inclined to believe it if even a single MMO existed on current-gen consoles in any real capacity. When we asked RTW for comment on the possibility of APB coming to consoles, a representative told us, "There's no update on that front." Hey, we tried, right?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
JXCgunrunna @ Jul 15th 2009 4:07PM
I love CoD4 multiplayer and there is a ton of stuff to do but at the end of the day, if i am going to pay a monthly fee to play a game, there needs to be a lot more content such as huge gang wars or more of a run and gun and pick up and play version of MAG with tons of upgrades.
Iroquois @ Jul 15th 2009 4:12PM
Untapped? Do we have the same definition of untapped here? I'd say it;s been tapped. It's been tapped many times. It could even have been over-tapped (not likely). Yeah turn the clock back 10 or 15 years. THEN it was mostly untapped. But now? I don't think so. I'm pretty sure we've delved quite deep into the world of online-ness.
Platinum_Skeet @ Jul 15th 2009 4:22PM
I can say MMO's are untapped on consoles but PC's there's too many games to list.
Platinum_Skeet @ Jul 15th 2009 4:25PM
Oh now it makes since this guy is apart of the company developing APB. Which is expected to release on Xbox360 along PC. So from a console standpoint this is going to be the first game on next-gen consoles that's MMO based...
Platinum_Skeet @ Jul 15th 2009 4:27PM
Nevermind APB's not coming to Xbox360 anymore I missed that E3 announcement...=/
I have no idea what this guys talking about...
Shadsy @ Jul 15th 2009 4:52PM
I think he's talking about the market for MMOs that aren't like WoW or EverQuest. See stuff like Cities XL or (before it collapsed) Myst Online. If you think of all the people who play CoD4 who don't play MMORPGs, how many of them would sign up for a well-done MMOFPS?
Iroquois @ Jul 15th 2009 5:42PM
Yeah well you guys are right about MMOs on consoles. I guess I didn; consider that in my rant there. But he was also referring to games like Halo and CoD in what he was saying so I was thinking "online" in more of a wider range than just MMOs
Mr Khan @ Jul 15th 2009 4:15PM
There is much higher profit available, to be sure, but only if you can really hit your stride. but i don't think the market is under-utilized. There is a great lot of MMOs out there that suffer in obscurity, and a real bomb of an MMO can kill a company of right quick.
Paper @ Jul 15th 2009 8:56PM
I prefer single player games. I find that MMO's mostly have boring repetitive game play.
butaneko @ Jul 15th 2009 4:27PM
So like Pepsi rifle skins and Doritos sponsored air strikes?
Radink @ Jul 15th 2009 4:34PM
Is this coming to xbox? or PC only?
BunnySlapper @ Jul 15th 2009 4:38PM
"though we'd be a lot more inclined to believe it if even a single MMO existed on current-gen consoles in any real capacity"
Final Fantasy XI is on PS2, Xbox 360, and PC, and it's been quite successful.
j.howlett @ Jul 15th 2009 5:43PM
shh, it's a secret
Snowblind @ Jul 15th 2009 4:53PM
I think it's mainly untapped because there's only so many subscription based games the market can sustain. If they can release some MMO's along the lines of GW, that don't require constant fees, then I'd definitely be interested.
But if APB, etc are just going to be standard MMO's then I'm not going to be too interested, no matter how good the game is, it's difficult to justify paying that much for a single game.
I invest so many hours into games like Halo, because they're free to pay (sans the Gold account, but at least that's a relatively low fee that covers all Xbox games).
Jakka (DSG Defence Force!) @ Jul 15th 2009 4:53PM
'When I use ***** I have a firm grip on my ****** and my palms don't sweat.'
You reckon they just reconfigure keywords of porn spambots before they let them loose here?
The Baron @ Jul 15th 2009 5:44PM
It's untapped in the sense that one company controls practically all of the market. That doesn't mean it's easy to tap.
Jimbodawg @ Jul 15th 2009 5:49PM
Ughh!
I hate when they tease you and say it'll be on consoles, but then change their minds.
My PC can't support hardly any games these days, so I'm screwed.
However, if OnLive integrates this game into their service, I may just have to pick it up.
=)
RedSonRising @ Jul 15th 2009 9:07PM
im still not sold on the OnLive idea, how am i supposed to play games when im not connected to the 'cloud'? online only gaming, especially for single player games, doesnt sound practical or portable to me.
ill stick to consoles that dont need 100% always on, lag free internet connections..
The Baron @ Jul 16th 2009 12:49AM
It's portable in the sense that so long as where you're at has a good internet connection, you can plug your iPod-sized microconsole into a TV and play any game without discs.
But at present the practicality of finding high speed internet does put a damper on that point.
salmoncannon @ Jul 16th 2009 3:37AM
I always thought it was only going to be a 360 game- since I had originally heard about it when it was first announced in 2005 as coming out in 2008. Although there was a little article on TeamXbox about it being verified to be coming out on both PC and Xbox back in January of this year.
http://games.teamxbox.com/xbox-360/1253/All-Points-Bulletin/
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