Hopefully you recognize the tongue-in-cheek nature of the title, but if you don’t, don’t despair, it’s still early and it’s still Monday. But this was something that occurred to me over the weekend, and I stewed over it enough that I finally decided on Monday I’d have to put up at least a bit of a post.
It wasn’t that long ago that all I was hearing from the people that “know” was that MMOs are ruining the PC game industry because everyone spends all their time in WoW and won’t play anything else, and as a result, PC gaming was dead unless you were WoW. Well right now everyone I know that is a diehard MMO gamer is playing one of three games – none of them are MMO’s, and two of them aren’t even multiplayer. Right now the buzz over Dragon Age: Origins is huge, and in the next month or two I suspect it will only grow. And it’s only a matter of time before some bonehead fanboys or, worse, actual journalists, start making the claim I made above, only in seriousness. And I will cry a bit inside.
Because I think the thing that I would hope that people might realize, when they step back and take a look at the long term picture, is that MMO’s didn’t kill PC gaming. What has killed PC gaming for the past five years has been the fact that, by far and large every game released for the PC outside of WoW (and the Sims) has been absolute SHIT. WoW came out in 2004 and dominated the MMO industry and PC gaming altogether because it was a gawddamn good game. And pretty much from 2004 to and through 2007 all of the rest of the good games being released were only for consoles, and the only thing being released for PC’s was crappy, last-thought poorly written console ports. So a self-feeding cycle was born where people wouldn’t buy games for the PC because they were crap, publisher’s wouldn’t make games for the PC because people wouldn’t buy them, and because publisher’s weren’t making any people weren’t buying any, ad nauseum.
Since, 2008 we’ve seen a resurgence of PC gaming – almost a renaissance – most of it in the form of casual, flash based and web-based games. The ubiquitous PC is the platform of choice for these games because they are everywhere, and you can play these games on just about any PC. These games haven’t been noted so much for their quality as their viral nature. But regardless, the growth of people playing games on PC’s has accomplished an important feat – its got publishers once again looking at the PC as a viable gaming platform. And ‘lo and behold, guess what? When presented with fantastic games on the PC, people buy and play them. And they don’t even care that it’s not an MMO. Now yes, two of the current crop of three fantastic games are multiplatform – they are not just PC games, but console games as well. But presented with high quality games released simultaneously on all platforms, people can and do play them on all platforms – not just the console.
So where am I going with all this? Well I’m trying to beat you about the head and shoulders with a truth that seems like it would be immediately self-evident: It’s not the genre, it’s not the platform, it’s not the content. It’s the game. Your game doesn’t have to be an MMO to succeed. It doesn’t have to be a console game to succeed. Hell it doesn’t even have to be multiplayer. If you build a fantastic game, people will play it. Now before you say to me “Duh, Dusty, ya think?” pause for a moment and think about how many people don’t believe this unless they are presented with evidence. How often have we heard “Oh PC gaming is dead.” “Oh Hard-Core gaming is dead.” So I’m taking this moment to jump up and down and point at the evidence.
DJ Hero: Next installment of arguably the biggest console franchise in the past five years. Do you have it? Will you play it?
WoW: Are you playing it right now? Or are you waiting for Icecrown, or Cataclysms.
Fallen Earth, Aion, Champion’s Online: Three MMO’s released in September. Are you playing any of them still?
And in this corner:
Borderlands: Diablo + First Person Shooter. Not a sequel. Not a pre-established I.P. On three platforms. Proving that there ain’t no rest for the wicked baby.
Torchlight: a $20.00 game built in 11 months by an independent developer that’s PC only and single player only. Oh and amazing.
Dragon Age: Origins: A massive 80 plus hour behemoth of a game, with unique interface and play elements for the PC. Not an MMO, and not even multiplayer. Also, not even remotely “casual”. Also, probably Game of the Year.
So now here’s the real kicker. People are going to look at these successes, and they’re going to look at the string of MMO’s that have not had stellar successes in the past two years – they’re going to look at the Age of Conans, and the Warhammer Onlines, and the Champion’s Online – and they are going to once again forget the fundamental truth, and proclaim loudly “Oh MMO’s are dead. Yeah, if you’re not already a juggernaut success, you can’t possibly succeed in that space, cause look at all the failure. No one wants to play them anymore.” And to those people I just want to say..
It’s the game dummy.
Dusty out.
Tags: Champions Online, console gaming, Dragon Age, mmo, PC Gaming, WoW
November 9th, 2009 on 11:14 am
As usual, I agree…with an asterisk.
Why now? What is it about NOW that brings the resurgence of single player titles? Fallout 3 was single player, and an excellent game, but it didn’t really kick-start the return to the PC.
I think we need to look at it from a more comprehensive point of view. Are there any new MMOs worth playing right now? I’ll defend Fallen Earth, but aside from that, I can’t think of a one. Are there any new and really exciting CONSOLE titles hitting the streets right now? Again, can’t see any. In fact, without doing any kind of research WHAT SO EVER (this IS a comment to a blog on the Internet, after all, and research be damned), Dragon Age and Torchlight are worthwhile titles in an otherwise quiet period of other offerings.
I agree that both DA and Torchlight are exceptional products, and I prefer the PC over consoles, but I think the reason WHY these titles are shining so brightly right now is because they nailed that sweet spot where no other titles of worth have been released. Either it was a good calculation, or the luckiest marketing shot in history
November 9th, 2009 on 11:18 am
Made a similar post last week — the reason people aren’t playing these crappy MMOs is because … they are crappy.
I gotta hope that MMO developers realize that it’s likely nobody wants to play their game or has any desire to even try it for more than a brief look. I’d hate to see 38 Studio’s marketing behemoth MMO sink beneath the waves like this because I really respect the people working on it. And I wonder if Windstar Studios is rethinking whether their giant killer robot MMO would be more appropriate to another genre
November 9th, 2009 on 11:45 am
I agree with your sentiment that the issues lie within the games themselves. I’ve played mmo’s dating all the way back to meridian 59. Some games have intended audiences and that certainly helps with their success. But by and large a crappy game is still a crappy game, no matter how much you try polish it. Despite my problems with WOW, it was and still is a great game, the level of immersion and quest interactions just changed the way mmo’s are built now. All the new MMO’s haven’t had what I’d call a 10x improvement over WOW. When you compare WOW to the comparable MMO’s at it’s original release (DAOC, Asheron’s Call, EQ2) it just blew those out of the water. And now these new MMO’s aren’t really innovative. Way some may have a great IP or have flying mounts. But those are minor things. The MMO to topple WOW is going to have to be something spectacular, and not just some IP retro-fitted into a WOW clone with player housing and virtual pets.
November 9th, 2009 on 11:45 am
@scopique – I think the reason for “now” is a combination of elements. There have been a few good games released for the PC in the past few years, but by far and large they were console ports (Fallen Earth), and more importantly, release after the console version. And there were’nt enough people really playing PC games to get a movement going. I think the quantity of people playing games on their PC right now in the form of facebook apps, and casual web games has some momentum behind it, combined with some stellar PC titles. And let’s not forget, with Starcraft 2 scheduled for next yewar and Diablo 3 scheduled for, well, sometime soon, I think it’s going to just get better.
@Tipa — heheh yeah it’s not just developers I that have to realize it, but publishers as well. And as for what Windstorm Studios is considering, we are always evaluating all our options. And I don’t for a second to claim to have any special knowledge of what the secret sauce is for a game that doesn’t suck — I only hope that whatever our first title is, we’ve managed to include liberal quantaties of that sauce in it.
November 9th, 2009 on 11:47 am
I think Scopique is right, both Torchlight and DA:O have no competitors at the moment. There is no major xmas MMO release, I cannot even think of a minor one… except maybe LOTRO’s expansion, they might profit from the lack of competitors at the moment, too.
What really makes me wonder if Bioware is trying something like the DA:O origins for SW:TOR, too, and if it will work out for a MMORPG as well as it did in DA:O.
Basically, the old story-driven vs sandbox vs ? debate.
P.S.: Stopped playing Torchlight already, not getting DA:O before XMAS and I have no XBOX. Guess this is why I am still playing LOTRO atm…^^
November 9th, 2009 on 12:09 pm
Ya know I have to agree with you. Recently I was feeling the single-player market PC game was dying because of MMOs. But with the release of DOA, I’m thinking twice about it.
It really is not as much about the genre as about how well it is done. Very similar to films – I can go see almost any type of film if it is well done, doesn’t matter what the backdrop is or even what type of story – if it is done well, I don’t care.
Which hints that there are some fundamentals in game design (and film) that go beyond any genre or stereotype.
Hmm – wonder what those fundamentals are?
November 9th, 2009 on 12:22 pm
So, in summary crap games = crap and good games = good.
I think it’s amazing people — even high-ups — don’t get this. It reminds me of the previous 5-8 years of television. In the early 2000s this thing called “reality tv” came about because it was easy and cheap. But it also did well in the ratings because it was different and, more importantly, written shows were CRAP! But yet everyone just thought people wanted only reality tv and written shows were dead.
Then came along 24 and Lost — amazing television that embraced the medium and did something that couldn’t be done with a movie. And behold! People LOVED it. Now fast forward to today and reality tv is not dead but it is just another genre of shows on tv along with amazing quality shows like no other. Shows like House, Castle, BSG, etc. Shows that have quality actors and writers and directors.
What did TV learn? Good shows are good. Crap shows are crap.
Unfortunately, we’re just finishing up the computer game’s run of “reality tv” (ie, WoW clones) but luckily we just had a Lost (DA:O) come out, too. I am also looking forward to the true post-WoW fad MMOs but they probably won’t be out for a couple more years but there will be great things coming out again both single-player and MMOs as both have their strengths. (hint: stop making me the “hero to save the world” in an MMO but keep it up in singleplayer)
November 9th, 2009 on 1:11 pm
Great write up! I think the growing popularity and technology behind digital distribution is also helping PC gaming. Perhaps even more than that is that people might be a little fed up with the sewage of MMO communities. How tired is almost everyone of the “lulz wtf noob” juveniles that populate almost every MMO? Not only are Torchlight and Dragon Age great games on their own merit, but I think many people may have been ready for a good MMORPG…just without the MMO part.
November 9th, 2009 on 1:56 pm
[...] games with some effort, but Dragon Age: Origins is just what the doctor ordered for me right now. It’s the RPG without the MMO, and it feels like its just what PC gamers need right [...]
November 9th, 2009 on 2:49 pm
I think investors want to go with something formulaic and safe and often times don’t understand creative disciplines. While we all have a responsibility to the ‘money’ to demonstrate a sound strategy and effective use of funds, my experience in software development has taught me one thing for certain:
‘Quality’ is about perception.
To that I mean, there’s no magic formula that will make your product a success, no specific amount of lines of code or defects fixed. You have to remember that your customer decides if you have succeeded in delivering a value to them.
Great write up, I’m glad there are still people trying to think about games they produce otherwise we’d never see innovation.
November 9th, 2009 on 7:09 pm
[...] Torchlight. I’ll leave the more interesting commenting on those titles to great minds like Dusty and Syp for the time being, [...]
November 10th, 2009 on 3:26 am
Totally agree. For a long time I’ve chosen PS3 versions of multiplatform titles, but I went with PC for Borderlands and Dragon Age – and I don’t regret it a little bit. I can’t imagine Dragon Age strategic, Baldur’s Gate-like gameplay on a console, and Borderlands made me remember what the shooters were like before we played them with the thumbsticks instead of mouse and keyboard; it even reminded me of Deus Ex and System Shock 2.
November 15th, 2009 on 12:08 am
Come on, Dusty.
What killed PC gaming for the past five years was that everything released for the PC has been shit? Really?
Battlefield 2? Guild Wars? Civ 4? Half Life 2? Oblivion? Call of Duty 4? Age 3?
Come on.
What “killed” PC gaming was several billion dollars of cash tossed around by MS in their attempt to go after Sony and Sony’s (eventual) response in kind to this threat. It shouldn’t shock anyone to see a decline in PC sales after retailers reduce their shelf space by 75% and large numbers of PC devs are courted fot Xbox / 360 / PS3 launch titles….
The resurgence underway now is due only to digital distro coming of age….
November 15th, 2009 on 5:05 am
[...] pointed me at this piece of slightly tongue-in-cheek commentary about stupid Single Player Games ruining it for MMOs. Point being, who has a chance for an MMO when there’s so much actually compelling single or [...]
November 15th, 2009 on 9:18 am
@Ian M. Fischer:
heheh well sweeping generalizations are just that, and exceptions to them can almost always be found. Those were indeed outstanding games, but those were rare diamonds, imho, in a sea of crap that gamers had to choose from, including such hits as Sin Episodes, Locomotion, and Singles: Flirt up your life.
There *were* some good ones, to be sure. But most of it was crap — OR, second thought ports of 1st run console games.
I completely agree with the second part of what you said, and was essentially what I was saying — publishers were throwing all their money at console developement, and ergo, there wasn’t much to be had outside of the Sims and MMO’s for orginal PC titles. And yeah, MS pretty much effectively abandoning the PC as a gaming platform was certainly a huge part of that.
I think the resurgance is a combination of digital distribution and the growth of the of the web as a platform (which is also sort of “digital distribution”).
November 15th, 2009 on 9:37 am
The reason for the decline in PC gaming was the decline in hardcore RPG’s. The resurgence in PC gaming is because we have had Divine Divinity, Spellforce, Two Worlds, The Witcher, Drakensang, Risen, Fallout 3, Torchlight and Draghon Age: Origins, all in the space of a couple years. We haven’t had that many RPG’s on PC in a decade! Hence the resurgence.
Don’t believe me? Well, in terms of PC units sold worldwide, Two Worlds, The Witcher and Risen have sold more as individual titles than Bioshock, Crysis, FEAR, Far Cry 2, Mirror’s Edge, Dead Space and Left for Dead did individually on PC. Combine all the ales of the RPG’s and all the sales of the shooters and you have an almost 3 to 1 ratio!
While the shooters mentioned sell well in North America, where most of the media is, the belief is they are huge hits, hardcore RPG’s sell worldwide! The Witcher has sold more in just Germany and Poland than Bioshock did in North America for example.
Now granted, shooters are easy to release on console too, but if we’re talking PC. PC gamers will only buy RPG’s in their millions. Not action-RPG’s or shooter-RPG’s, but good old fashioned RPG’s. For example, in terms of PC sales Dragon Age is walking all over Borderlands!
To the extent that next year, and the two years after that probably, we will be back to maybe two or three real RPG’s (I am hoping Fallout: New Vegas is one of them!), making the average one a year, I expect this PC ‘resurgence’ to come to an end.
Diablo III a PC only game, has been delayed beyond 2010, for example, and Mass Effect 2 is going to be even more shooter and less RPG than Mass Effect 1 was, according to Bioware. It’s still being called an action-RPG though – because even publishers think if you add ‘RPG’ to the genre, you sell more. I say make games like Jade Empire and Mass Effect real RPG’s and you would have sold just as many on console and four times as many on PC…!!
November 15th, 2009 on 10:24 am
I think PC gaming is misrepresented. It is easily the most profitable platform for any company that approaches it correctly. No, its not great for the big boys that only push out the latest hardcore 3D games because PC hardware varies so much. However, that is such a small part of PC gaming that it should be outlawed to have it represent ALL of PC gaming as it currently is portrayed in the media.
PC gaming is broad and I firmly believe at some point we’re going to see a group like NPD actually track the entire spectrum of PC gaming and go “oh shit, we’ve missed the golden goose”.
November 15th, 2009 on 2:10 pm
“What has killed PC gaming for the past five years has been the fact that, by far and large every game released for the PC outside of WoW (and the Sims) has been absolute SHIT.”
I know it’s subjective, plus I haven’t played everything, but here’s a provisional list of some well-known “not shit” games from the last five years:
2005: KOTOR2, Darwinia, BiA, SWAT4, Trackmania, Psychonauts, GTA:SA, Fahrenheit, FEAR, Civ4…
2006: Oblivion, Hitman Blood Money, PREY, CoH, NWN2…
2007: STALKER, Bioshock, Portal, TF2, The Witcher, Crysis…
2008: World of Goo, Dead Space, Fallout 3, L4D…
2009: Braid… (and obviously a bunch of newer ones which I haven’t ‘digested’ yet – personally I prefer to have a bit more perspective than a week or so before pronouncing something as a ‘classic’)
I do miss the more quirky, offbeat and ‘hardcore’ style of games that seemed to occur between 1998 and 2002, before the mass ‘buy-up’ of minor studios by the massive multinational ones.
November 22nd, 2009 on 8:26 am
[...] Anyone else noticed that lots of people are easing up on their MMO playing at the moment because of all the great single player games that have been coming out? Dusty asks (tongue in cheek?) whether single player games are ruining our MMOs. [...]
December 7th, 2009 on 8:11 am
[...] Stupid Single Player Games Ruining it for MMOs (Dusty) [...]
January 2nd, 2010 on 11:09 am
[...] gave Dusty a hard time for his recent assertion that the death of PC gaming wasn’t due to MMOs but rather five years of shit games. I probably should have beat him up for suggesting that there has been any “death” at [...]