Todays tidbits

Of interest...

Did you know Square Enix has been working away at a new MMO, and may plan to show it at this years E3?

What is more interesting is they plan to NOT use the Final Fantasy license, and it supposedly is a whole new IP? Or if not a new IP, a different IP...

Fascinating.

Did you know the rumor mill hit full steam this past month over the fact that Turbine is working on RMT (really now...who isn't recently) for an MMO.

The LOTRO kids went insane, but luckily it seems to be a NEW MMO. 

Now, if it is free, I would actually play it...

Whatever happened to Webzen? This company had a supposed 3 major MMO's that were up and coming..then it is like they vanished.

Microsoft had their hands in one title, which was to be the first MMOFPS for the 360. Called Huxley.

Well, it seems Webzen was going to call it quits, and all development stopped.

Out of the blue, it seems news has arisen of a relaunch, and a rename for Huxley as well to Huxley:Dystopia.

Some good video of the game at the link above...make sure to check it out.

On the same site, there is a poll, with the most anticipated upcoming MMO's. What struck me as odd is that Blade and Soul, so far a Korean only NCSoft game, is beating Aion (whicha happens to be in the #2 spot though) for most popular. Aion is released in Korea, and is coming to North America SOON (trademark that word people....).

Like we seem to always say, no one is ever happy with what they have, and are always looking for the next thing.

Finally....does anyone really think Darkfall will launch on the 22nd of January? Does anyone really believe that there are "code" issues with Acclaims copy of Spellborn in regards to the anti hack cheat guard?

Will the US audience buy into Aion? Will WoW's playerbase decline below 10 million this year?

Stay tuned...

Turbine starts the downsize

Announced today, another MMO developer takes a cut.

Turbine announced layoffs in the QA and Accounting areas of their offices. This is almost along the lines of the Funcom layoffs.

I am assured that most could see this as an issue with the recession, and this could be possible. Yet, with the recent launch of the expansion pack, sales should have been brisk, especially so late in the year.
Add to this a steady player base, it is unclear why they felt the need to do this before Christmas even.

As noted by the Turbine rep.

"As part of this transition some of our talented colleagues will not be with us going forward."

But, as another commenter noted...

"is it not counter-productive to sack your talented colleagues in order to achieve your strategic goals?"

Again, this takes me back to the SOE argument. Turbine, don't you have a dead weight MMO sitting around to shut down instead, and put your 100% focus into the one which IS doing ok?

This begs the question of what happened with the recent influx of cash Turbine received. Where did this money go? What exactly is a private company doing? The worst part is their privacy, as no one really knows what is going on behind closed doors. This can lead to frustration on a perspective customers part if they believe (based on what type of impression this layoff gives) the company may not be around for long.

We know why Funcom did their layoffs. AoC really messed them up. Yet, they only laid off their American brethren, while the European offices are doing fine.

This is quite odd at this point, and I question their motives, and of course we must ask the question "Are the games really not doing that well"? It has been noted over and over that Turbine is profitable. If so, why these layoffs?

This is really sad for the genre as a whole, and hopefully the economy starts a turn around. Otherwise, the only MMO choice will end up being WoW.