Mythic VP and lead "Warhammer Online" designer Mark Jacobs told MTV news that it wouldn't take a billion dollars for a competing MMO to take on "World of Warcraft" - maybe only 100 million USD.

The details are as below:

"When certain people throw out ridiculous numbers, you know they're throwing out ridiculous numbers because they want to scare off competition or they want to make themselves seem invincible and that sort of nonsense," he said, referring to a statement Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick made at an investor meeting earlier this year.

"Realistically, if you're going into this space for the first time, and you want to compete with 'WoW' and you want to compete with us - because we're going into that same space - you've got to make sure that you have at least 100 million dollars," he said.

When I sat down with Jacobs last week during a demo of the game, we talked about what makes an MMO successful. Having worked in the industry creating MUDs in the '80s, online games in the '90s, and Mythic's biggest hit "Dark Age of Camelot" in 2001, he had some advice for those wanting to make it in the MMO business.

So why is 100 million USD the magic number?

"The reason [you need 100 million USD] is that no real first-timer has ever succeeded with these games," he said. "And when I mean succeeded, no first-timer has gone in and said, 'Okay, I can do this in two or three years and actually do it where it comes out on time and on budget. So it is really tough."

"When you're competing with 'WoW,' you're not competing with 'WoW' at launch. You're competing with 'WoW' in 2008 or 2009 with all the additional content."

Jacobs said part of problem with competing against "WoW" is that the game has a head start on content with all its expansion packs. "[Blizzard president] Mike Morhaime said when you're competing with 'WoW,' you're not competing with 'WoW' at launch," Jacobs explained. "You're competing with 'WoW' in 2008 or 2009 with all the additional content. That is absolutely true. That's what we did with 'Camelot,' that's what Sony did with 'EverQuest' and that's what we're going to do with 'Warhammer.' So it will get more and more difficult every year for somebody to come in and compete with whoever the leaders are."

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