Is there more to the MMO resurgence than just nostalgia?

Good morning!

Did you watch SNL this week? No, me neither. But I’ve seen the GTA vs Zelda sketch, and (eye-rolling joke about gamers being virgins aside) I quite enjoyed it. Maybe it’s because they referred to the two games as being the industry’s “Barbenheimer moment”. Perhaps the SNL writers are readers of TGB?

Although… is it just me, or did the audience seem to prefer the idea of wandering Hyrule solving puzzles, over driving around Vice city and robbing banks?

Anyway, we have some pretty big episodes for you this week. Tomorrow, we have a big interview with a former Xbox studio. And on Thursday, we’re going to be joined by both Meta and Pearl Abyss (that’s the Crimson Desert folks). Plus, it’s been a few weeks, but we’ve got some data to share on who came out top in a busy September for video game releases.

But that’s for the week ahead. Today, I’m talking about something I really wasn’t expecting to talk about… the return of the MMORPG.

Enjoy!

Somehow, MMOs returned

I love this industry sometimes.

Just when you think the script has been written. Just when you think you know what the business is about to do. Something unexpected happens.

After months of talking about GTA 6 and Zelda and the jeopardy around consoles and who might emerge triumphant in a congested September release window… something ancient and powerful emerges that seeks to reclaim its place as one of video game’s leading genres.

Ok, hyperbole aside, it’s been a good few weeks for the MMORPG. When I joined the video game media in the mid-2000s, it felt like everyone was making one. World of Warcraft had become a mega hit and, as is often the case in entertainment, everyone thought they’d try to replicate it. The majority of those attempts didn’t work out.