Peter Suciu, New York based freelance writer, recently interviewed John Smedley who is the president of Sony Online Entertainment and sat down to talk about the future of online games, reported by Venturebeat.
Sony's EverQuest was once the most popular, most talked about online role-playing game, but its been eclipsed by World of Warcraft. Do you ever see a way that an EverQuest property can recapture that top spot and regain the crown?
John Smedley: EverQuest is a franchise that we have a lot of faith in, it's been around 10 years now and we've released "EverQuest 2¡å very successfully. We've run both games very profitably, and they've made a lot of money. More importantly they've made a lot of players very happy. So yes, we're investing in the EverQuest franchise for the future. And you'll see more EverQuest games in the future. We liked the look of the crown, and we'd like to put that back on.
So maybe there will be a South Park episode centered around EverQuest?
John Smedley: It is my dream! That was one of the funniest South Park episodes [featuring World of Warcraft], and that might just have been the best South Park episode ever. Look, I'm a fan of what the guys at Blizzard are doing. I'm super impressed with World of Warcraft. So to get on South Park, that and [The Colbert Report], are the dreams.
All the of the most successful MMOs have had a fantasy element. The success of those games is something that not even "Sims Online" or even "Star Wars" could match, so why is the fantasy element such a draw for gamers?
John Smedley: It has more to do with the gameplay in them, and in the case of Star Wars I think that is an IP that can reach millions and millions of people. From our perspective, at least while we were creating, it was a different time and a place. But what we've seen is that gameplay has evolved so quickly to become a bit more of the casual play and less of the super hardcore that we had started with EverQuest. So that's something we're adapting to, and that's why we have [the free upocming MMO] "Free Realms" and we have "DC Universe Online" and why we have The Agency. We're broadening out our demographic to be sure that we have games that fit in a lot of different genres, and therefore appeal to a wider range of gamers. I think it is possible to do big games that don't have to be in the fantasy space.
We've even seen fantasy games show up, such as "Dungeons & Dragons Online" a property that has been around longer than EverQuest or World of Warcraft yet it didn't reach that mass appeal, why?
John Smedley: A lot of that is a matter of quality too. You have to have some new and something really cool to appeal to people. But there have been a lot of what I would consider high caliber and high quality games that haven¡¯t done terribly well. What it takes to have that extra spark is making sure that you take the time to do the releases right. That is something we¡¯re focused on. We¡¯ve been invested in this game Free Realms since 2005 and we have the best in class for free MMOs. It is coming out in January, and we¡¯re really proud of that.
We've even seen fantasy games show up, such as "Dungeons & Dragons Online," a property that has been around longer than EverQuest or World of Warcraft yet it didn't reach that mass appeal, why?
John Smedley: A lot of that is a matter of quality too. You have to have some new and something really cool to appeal to people. But there have been a lot of what I would consider high caliber and high quality games that haven't done terribly well. What it takes to have that extra spark is making sure that you take the time to do the releases right. That is something we're focused on. We've been invested in this game Free Realms since 2005 and we have the best in class for free MMOs. It is coming out in January, and we're really proud of that.
What can you tell us about Free Realms?
John Smedley: Free Realms isn't exactly high fantasy. I'd say it is more whimsical fantasy. Think of the movie Shrek, and you wouldn't be too far off. It is that kind of irreverent humor set in a fantasy world. But we still think that high fantasy has a key pillar spot in our company. We want to continue to invest in that, and we are doing so very actively.
Costs are rising in the MMO space, but are we seeing enough players to support the games for the developers to stay profitable?
John Smedley: First and foremost, you have to make great games. But a close second to that is run your business smart and profitably, and that's something we've been doing for many years. We believe very strongly that you have the investment spending with huge negatives. And now I see a lot of venture money going to this space and a lot of it is going into chasing World of Warcraft, and what we should be focusing on is what is the next best thing. Now we've seen some games come in at the low, low cost and there have been some very good examples of that, such as Eve Online. They started very small with that and its grown very well. But I think we'll see the Warhammer Onlines, and the next EverQuests. These are the high budget brands just like there are summer movie blockbusters. I think that is going to be the norm.
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