Microsoft dumps another mmo, Marvel Online

[Nadia]

http://pc.ign.com/articles/851/851078p1.html

another notch in Microsoft belt for abandoned mmos


MS abandoned their own mmo, Mythica -- before WOW launched

MS sold Asherons Call back to Turbine -- also PreWOW

MS abandoned Vanguard

MS abandoned the XBOX mmo True Fantasy Live Online


and now abandoned the Marvel mmo

[Nadia]

I was reading the official reason and it almost sounds identical to what was said 4 years ago

Microsoft on Mythica (Feb 2004)
http://otherworlds31279.yuku.com/topic/1167

other companies are finding it surprisingly hard to duplicate Sony's success.

Microsoft abandoned Mythica last week, even before the game was officially launched. "We were looking at the . . . market and really determined that we couldn't be competitive," said Microsoft spokeswoman Genevieve Waldman.

Microsoft on Marvel Online (Feb 2008)
http://kotaku.com/354886/why-microsoft- ... marvel-mmo

When we first entered into the development and agreement of the development of 'Marvel Universe Online,' we thought we would create another subscription-based MMO. And if you really look at the data there's basically one that's successful and everything else wouldn't meet our level or definition of commercial success. -- Microsoft Game Studios' head Shane Kim

[Kulaf]

Well then MS might as well abandon the MMO market for good. People flocked to WoW because of Blizzard......not because WoW is a great game. They flock to Blizzard because of their track record of putting out good games.....MS had demonstrated a track record of abandoning projects.

I love how any MMO they put out would not meet their definition of commercial success. LOL.

[Finglefinn]

Vanguard was a MS product before it was Sony? Well, I'll be darned.

[Kulaf]

Yup. Originally MS was the producer of VG and held partial rights. Then Sigil bought out the rights that MS held and selected SOE as the publisher before folding altogether and SOE aquiring Sigil's IP.

Wierd thing is Age of Conan and Warhammer are both sounding a lot like VG prior to release. A lot of hype......and going back almost to the alpha stages and having to redo a lot of programming. Let's hope for the health of the market that they do better than VG......if they have the money to make it.

[xilly]

People flocked to WoW because of Blizzard......not because WoW is a great game.

People are flocking in droves to WoW now because of how easy it is, not because of the Blizzard name. Maybe initially, it was all about the Blizzard tag, but now it's because it's so easy that everyone (or at least someone you know) is playing it because it's a big ass chat room. Same thing EQ was at first, just not as wide spread.

[Arathena]

Wierd thing is Age of Conan and Warhammer are both sounding a lot like VG prior to release. A lot of hype......and going back almost to the alpha stages and having to redo a lot of programming. Let's hope for the health of the market that they do better than VG......if they have the money to make it.

Warhammer's IP is such that it's going to be really, really hard for Warhammer to fail outright. As long as it is grim'n'dark'n'dark'n'grim and serves as an excuse for geeks to scream WAAAAAAUGH at each other, it'll thrive.

[Flunkie]

Yup. Originally MS was the producer of VG and held partial rights. Then Sigil bought out the rights that MS held and selected SOE as the publisher before folding altogether and SOE aquiring Sigil's IP.

Sigil didn't really buy out Microsoft for rights to Vanguard, rather Microsoft decided not to put any further effort (i.e. $$$) into developing the game. Sigil then went into a panic and ran back to mommy (SOE) for aid. SOE struck a deal to fund the project and publish it, but I'm sure there were harsh deadlines and unfavorable terms. To some extent Vanguard was abandoned by Brad himself since he really lost control and didn't have many cards to play after Microsoft pulled the plug on the funding. I think (from reading his interviews) that Brad is pretty embarrassed by the entire episode and who wouldn't be? In the end, Microsoft lost a lot of money, Sigil ceased to exist, and SOE picked up a half-baked title with a small following and probably still haven't recouped their costs.

I don't blame Microsoft for abandoning the MMO market, they never should have tried in the first place as they don't have the creative talent to decide a winner from a loser until after they've sunk a boatload on money into the project. Microsoft is good at acquiring companies with blockbusters, and they've published quite a bit that has worked out well, but they are never going to match a company like Blizzard that is totally focused.

[Ddrak]

MS dropped VG a long time (years) before Sigil did the deal with SoE.

Microsoft could have done well in the MMO market if they'd put out a game before Blizzard put out WoW. Comparing Microsoft to Blizzard is flawed anyway - Microsoft is more like Vivendi (who owns Blizzard) and there'd be some fully owned subsidiary of MS that would be completely focussed on the game itself just like Blizzard is focussed on WoW, and Bungie was focussed on Halo.

I just don't think MS wants to jump into the market now that Blizzard already owns it. If they want to get in, they'll probably do something with the XBox rather than the PC.

Dd