[MUD-Dev] [NEWS] Warhammer Online Cancelled -- Why?

[Michael Sellers]

Luca wrote:
> Mike Rozak wrote:

>> Without a good USP, even if they succeded in a release, they
>> wouldn't be able to differentiate themselves them from their
>> competitors. This makes survival much more difficult, since the
>> game can't rely upon the USP to keep players around after their
>> 30-day trial.

> Hmm, what is a good USP? And good for whom? For the future
> customers or for the investors/producers of the MMOG? And is the
> absence of a clear USP a signal that we are having more
> evolutionary projects then revolutionary ones?

Revolutionary => evolutionary => derivative.  As we move down that
line, customer acquisition for each following game becomes more
difficult and/or expensive.

> Looking at the list I see three MMOGs that even if they have/had
> cleared USP, failed to reach a critical customer basis (AC2 for
> example with an estimated pop of max 10-15K, A tale in the desert
> with 7,063 subscribers (June 2004), Uru Live (already cancelled)).

Well, USPs aren't a panacea.  And just because something is "unique"
doesn't mean it'll be received well by the market.  Or (as I think
is likely the case with ATitD) a game may have some unique points
that are likely to play well with a larger market, but if that
market never knows about them, the game may not be as commercially
successful as it would be otherwise (OTOH, Andy and the guys at
eGenesis may be perfectly happy with their subscriber numbers).

Mike Sellers
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