Unless some individuals or developer studios come up with something original and innovative for the MMORPG industry, the average lifecycle or expectancy of a typical MMORPG will be from 2 to 4 years.

Of course, there will be blockbuster titles like World of Warcraft which can outlive this normal shelf life, but those will be rare.

What are the factors that contribute to a longer or shorter game-life?

This post will attempt to answer that question, and more.

After the jump, of course…

Of course, everything starts with CONTENT. The game must be sound, graphics must be okay and “continuity”, with regards to updates and high-level content, must all mesh as a whole. When it comes to the business aspect of the game, publishers must put their business cap on and really bang their heads on the proverbial wall. It’s important that the product, the item prices, the business model are suited for the local country.

Since most people think (especially in the forums) that they can run their own company and do it better, here are some of the things that you must consider before bringing a game here to the Philippines:

• COSTS – Can your acquisition costs be recouped after two years or less? What are the modes of payment? Some games have a high acquisition cost and even higher monthly royalties (commissions by the game developer). And there are forecasts for both budget and revenue targets. Do your math properly… if you’re in the red even if you’re running for 3 years, it’s probably not worth it.
• UPDATES – In a perfect world, a game must have updates 4x a year (quarterly). One of those has to be a MAJOR PATCH. Maps, new monsters and loot is just plain boring. The designers of the game must give a committment as to where the game will go 2 or 3 years from now. If you don’t know, you gotta talk to them.
• BUSINESS MODEL – If you’re going free to play, better make sure that you have the power to control the prices in the item mall. Some of my the things I learned, I learned the hard way. It’s pretty obvious, this country does not have residual income vs. other developerd countries like Japan or Korea. If they’re priced for those countries, it means that the average pinoy may not afford it. That’s one sure way of NOT doing your business right.
• NOVELTY – Is the game just another sheep in wolves clothing? What’s new about it. The game must have some sort of novelty in order for it to weather the test of time, so to speak. Doing your homework here will save you the headaches in the months to come.

It will all boil down to making the right choices and choosing a good partner (developer), one willing to work for a win-win situation.

When playing or analyzing a game, make sure that the company has the “3 P’s” worked out – Product, Price and Placement (distribution of both the game and the game cards).

I hope that the above give you an insight about the MMORPG industry and of course, how long you’ll expect a game to outperform it’s life expectancy.

Meanwhile, do check out my piece on MMORPG Trends…

Cheers!

GM T