Developing an MMO:Developing an MMO:key success factorskey success factors

APPLY SERIOUS GAMES 2007

IntroductionIntroduction

What is an MMO?

Multiplayer

Persistent

Game client control

What is success?

Financially successful

Successful MMOs examples

World of Warcraft (Blizzard Entertainment)

Lineage 1 and 2 (NCsoft)

Guild Wars series (Arena Net / NCsoft)

Everquest (SOE)

EVE Online (CCP)

Kartrider (Nexon)

Runescape (Jagex)

TechnologyTechnology

Experienced MMO developers are few, the technology isn’t common knowledge in the industry yet.

MMO are different from traditional game development:

• Tasks are shared between the client and the server

• Networking between clients and servers is key to the player experience

• Clients needs to be a lot more stable than for off line games

• Scalability is key

Can make or break your game – examples

• Anarchy Online launch

• EVE server structure

Possible solution

• Experienced team

• Proven middleware solution

Game QualityGame Quality

The MMO landscape is filled with games cloning the most successful competitors. Innovating has a proven track record of making it easier to be “successful”.

MMO are games that work with a long term strategy, you need the word of mouth to be efficient and thus need to ensure the quality of the game isn’t questionable:

• A strong game design

• An efficient content creation pipeline – quantity and quality

• A strong art direction

Examples

• Game Design: EVE Online

• Content : Lineage 2; World of Warcraft

• Art : Dofus

Service QualityService Quality

Industry most common answer to “how to make a MMO” is “consider it as a service not as a game”. Good service to the game is key even prior to launch.

• Community managementThe Game start its life when it enters Beta. Good community management is essential for your early marketing but also for your development and the quality of the game.

Example: Dark Age of Camelot early design changes

• Customer SupportThe most important factor with Customer Support is to have it integrated in the design. MMOs don’t always require a lot of Customer Support, but the one you provide needs to be of quality.

Example: Guild Wars low requirements

• Cross Platform accessibilityIt includes everything related from websites to accessing the game itself. The more seamless and painless it is, the better the game can achieve its potential

Example: WoW armoury; Runescape accessibility

• Business ModelNot all MMOs have to be subscription based. An excellent game can be ruined because the business model isn’t adapted.

Example: Lineage 2 in Japan; MMOs in Korea

ConclusionConclusion

Key success factors:

• An excellent, scalable technology• A polished, balanced game built for the future• A top quality service to the users

Beyond those points, the most important success factor is the team

QAQA

Questions?

Thomas BIDAUX – NCsoft EuropeDirector of Development

Email – tbidaux@ncsoft.comLinkedin – http://www.linkedin.com/in/tbidaux

The endThe end

Thank you