World of Starcraft: New Blizzard MMO to be announced May 19? (Updated)
Computer and Videogames’ website is purportedly confirming [see Update below] what has just been an incessant rumor up to now: Vivendi game studio/World of Warcraft developer Blizzard Entertainment will announce an MMO spinoff of their wildly popular Starcraft franchise at the company’s May 19th Worldwide Invitational in South Korea.
I say “purportedly” because the CVG article only cites unnamed sources, and I don’t want to jump the gun; I’m checking with Blizzard’s PR department now, and will report what they say, if anything. Then again, Blizzard has been running help wanted ads for developers of an unnamed “Next-Gen MMO” on its site, these last few weeks, and Starcraft is the other jewel in the company’s IP crown.
Assuming the company does confirm, is a Starcraft MMO a good business move? For the Asian market, absolutely, but it’s hard to imagine it would reach anything like the global success of World of Warcraft.
So far, science fiction-themed MMOs based on well-known IP have performed poorly against expectation: Star Wars Galaxies only managed a few hundred thousand subscribers; Matrix Online didn’t even reach six figures. (My personal theory is that sci-fi just doesn’t work in an MMO, because it’s not fantastic or other-worldly enough to feel like a meaningful escape into an alternate reality. After all, what’s the appeal of pretending to be in a world of spacecraft, high-tech military hardware, and pervasive computer interfaces, when you’re already in one?)
Another challenge: Both Warcraft and Starcraft began as real-time strategy games, but it was easier for Blizzard to make the genre leap with the fantasy-themed Warcraft, already similar in appearance and gameplay to other fantasy MMOs. Without a large pre-existing audience for sci-fi MMOs, it’ll be a lot tougher to convert Starcraft into a multiplayer roleplaying game that’ll appeal to its RTS fanbase.
Except, of course, in South Korea, where 3.5 million of the 9 million units of Starcraft have sold. Given its population of 49 million, that means one in sixteen of the entire country has a copy; there’s even Korean television shows devoted to Starcraft gaming. Which is probably why Blizzard’s making the announcement there (if they are). I’d expect any Starcraft MMO to be developed for the Korean/Asian market first, and only after proving itself there, localized for Western consumers.
Update, 6/19: IGN is reporting that Blizzard announced development of Starcraft 2, not a Starcraft MMO.
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(In a prior life, I built video games, and even worked on MMO technology.)
I see how easy it could be to jump to the “sci-fi just doesn’t work in an MMO” conclusion, given the examples, but there’s a much much simpler reason: Star Wars Galaxies and Matrix Online were both terrible games. Beyond terrible, really.
I think nearly any MMO fan would tell you they’d love to play a really good sci-fi MMO, and Blizzard is possibly the only PC game company on earth that delivers hits reliably, so I suspect if there was a MMO Starcraft, it would be incredible, and could replicate WoW’s success.
Let’s not forget that “sci-fi” is an incredibly broad term, at least as broad as “fantasy”, and there had been tons of sucky MMO fantasy games, too. Very few hits, actually – Ultima Online, Lineage, and Everquest being really the only ones. I believe genre isn’t nearly as relevant for success as actual game quality.
You also mention “the other jewel in company’s IP crown” but you’re missing a much much bigger one: Diablo. Industry rumors have long had Diablo III coming before another Starcraft game, though whether it’ll be an MMO or just an online-enabled single player game, is still up in the air.
Personally, I’d be thrilled either way – Blizzard’s track record is pristine and both IPs are to die for.
Re: my prior comment
In case it wasn’t clear, “the only ones” = “the only ones prior to WoW”. Let’s not forget that, especially in the US, no-one had ever dreamed of, let alone seen, and MMO like WoW.
Don’t make that mistake if Blizzard ships another MMO. It’ll be a monster.
I agree to the notion that Sci-fi MMO’s have been poorly designed. Star Wars initially had a good design IMO but the CU & NGE upgrades completly screwed that game over…sadly:-(
You’re right, Don, I should have mentioned the Diablo franchise too; of course, in the context of IP that can be made into an MMO, I doubt Blizzard would want to operate both WoW and a World of Diablo MMO at the same time.
Well, I wouldn’t say that Sci Fi isn’t “otherworldly” enough to match up to fantasy MMO games. I think it is.
I think the problem is that they’re trying to make Sci Fi MMOs based on the current mechanics of Fantasy games and it may not be the way to go. EVE online is finding growing numbers and they’re part of the pioneering of SciFi MMO games. Once the genre settles into it’s own personal feel and mechanic, it may work better.
Otherwise it probably doesn’t work to just take a fantasy MMO and change the skins and names of things to fit a Sci Fi theme.
I’m 110% sure that the fact that SWO didn’t work wasn’t because of the sci-fi but because of the gameplay mechanics — it was just a boring game.
Damn,
I hope these rumors are not true. I love Starcraft as a RTS. I do not play MMO’s. I have been waiting for Starcraft III for like 4 years.
I agree with brklynsurfer. Starcraft IMO is the best game of all time. I’ve been waiting for SC2 (as an RTS, not an MMO) since 1999!
Just spoke with my friend working @ Blizzard. The announcement will not be World of Starcraft. This has also been confirmed by Blizzard in the past.
I just spoke to my friend @ Blizzard he said it definitely will be a MMO game and it’s actually called Worlds of Starcraft.