The new MMORPG project from Zenimax Online Studios, maker of Elder Scrolls Online, has been canceled

Draugoth

Gold Member
The new MMORPG project from Zenimax Online Studios, maker of Elder Scrolls Online, has been canceled as part of the Xbox layoffs, sources tell Bloomberg News. The project, code-named Blackbird, had been in development since 2018. Still more news to come this morning.

 
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Dj Khaled GIF
 
I don't even know if it is possible to make a new MMORPG that is succesful

it seems like a lot of people have loyalty to the big 4 (WOW, ESO, FF, Runescape)

outside of that, any MMORPG that pops up, despite how good it is, eventually fails

New World I thought is actually pretty damn good. granted, Amazon really fucked it up at the start but it seems to be mostly fixed, yet no one plays it. I think the people from Runescape recently made a new one too that is flopping.

it does seem like MMORPGs are largely a thing of the past.
 
I don't even know if it is possible to make a new MMORPG that is succesful

it seems like a lot of people have loyalty to the big 4 (WOW, ESO, FF, Runescape)

outside of that, any MMORPG that pops up, despite how good it is, eventually fails

New World I thought is actually pretty damn good. granted, Amazon really fucked it up at the start but it seems to be mostly fixed, yet no one plays it. I think the people from Runescape recently made a new one too that is flopping.

it does seem like MMORPGs are largely a thing of the past.
MMOs need a revolution in terms of game design. Like somehow using AI to generate individualized content or something. The current style of MMOs are just stale. Either you have played too much of the same type of game over the decades, or you are too young to want to put up with Grandpa's combat of hitting 1,2,3,4,5 on the pace of a global timer.
 
I don't even know if it is possible to make a new MMORPG that is succesful

it seems like a lot of people have loyalty to the big 4 (WOW, ESO, FF, Runescape)

outside of that, any MMORPG that pops up, despite how good it is, eventually fails

New World I thought is actually pretty damn good. granted, Amazon really fucked it up at the start but it seems to be mostly fixed, yet no one plays it. I think the people from Runescape recently made a new one too that is flopping.

it does seem like MMORPGs are largely a thing of the past.

Its not. MMOs were big 20 years ago. Now there are only a few active ones. Gaming changed a lot, there will never be a new successfull MMO anymore in this day and age
 
Shame - MSFT desperately needs games that appeal to a wider audience, and this could have been one. My fiancee was looking forward to a modern viva piñata.
 
Sounds like working at a Microsoft Studio is a cushy job. Show up for 'work' get paid. Don't need to show anything for 7 years.
Microsoft had to have had the most laid-back bosses. Progress checks once every 5 or 7 years.
 
Since 2018 with nothing to show is crazy

I believe Zenimax/Bethesda is in hot water now. Wheres the profit from these studios
 
Since 2018 with nothing to show is crazy

Eh, not that crazy. An.MMO is a massive project which by nature takes a long time to build up before it can be ready to launch. Also marketing has changed, now announcements come much closer to release. Especially for online-oriented games, timing is everything. Some developers have even used the tactic of a stealth-drop with a "completed" game to catch a flurry of hype in one go rather than hoping a slow wave keeps its crest by the time the release happens. You could do fatal damage showing a game at the wrong time, no matter what the development timeline looks like.

I mean, I wouldn't feel secure if I was at a studio working on a game which still hasn't shown to the public for the better part of a decade, but that's the industry now. Crazy conditions are normal.
 
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Shitty. I was hopeful this could be ESO 2.0 in a sense. ESO is just so old and shitty now to try to get into.
 
Its not. MMOs were big 20 years ago. Now there are only a few active ones. Gaming changed a lot, there will never be a new successfull MMO anymore in this day and age
ESO is one of the top 5 modern day earners for MMOs. I understand what you are getting at, but I feel like this argument would apply more towards a company who couldn't even break top 100.

Also, that Dune MMO just massively sold and it just came out, due to a mixture of factors including developer pedigree.
 
ESO is one of the top 5 modern day earners for MMOs. I understand what you are getting at, but I feel like this argument would apply more towards a company who couldn't even break top 100.

Also, that Dune MMO just massively sold and it just came out, due to a mixture of factors including developer pedigree.
DUNE game is not an MMO
 
DUNE game is not an MMO
This is on the official Dune Awakening website, as the game's description:

"Dune: Awakening is a massively multiplayer survival game. Survive the sandworm, craft your ornithopter, build a fortress, and ascend to power on an open world…"

There is more but there is no need to paste the rest.

The youtubers/twitch streamers who were given codes for advertisement purposes all called it a MMO. The end game is called a PvP zone. There are PvP players ganking noobs who enter.

What more do I need to lay out? If it quacks like a duck, acts like a duck, and is called a duck…
 
ESO is MMO trash. If Final Fantasy XIV and World of warcraft were switmsuit models, ESO would be the 250 lbs. trailer girl with sweaty flip flops at wal mart yelling at the manager.
 
ESO is MMO trash. If Final Fantasy XIV and World of warcraft were switmsuit models, ESO would be the 250 lbs. trailer girl with sweaty flip flops at wal mart yelling at the manager.
At this point all 3 are trash in their own way. I don't think these days that MMOs are worth the sub fee for what they have on offer.

Especially when most function as single player RPGs. The Everquest/FFXI/Guild Wars/SW Galaxies days are over.
 
Its not. MMOs were big 20 years ago. Now there are only a few active ones. Gaming changed a lot, there will never be a new successfull MMO anymore in this day and age
A lot was scavenged into separate genres (MOBA, BR, now extraction shooters). But trimmed down MMO-lite still active.

ESO is one of the top 5 modern day earners for MMOs. I understand what you are getting at, but I feel like this argument would apply more towards a company who couldn't even break top 100.
No. Big 3 is WoW, FF14 and Destiny. ESO is incomparable in size to them.
And next are Chinese/Korean ones (some might probably contest big 3)
ESO, SWTOR, GW2 etc are just second/third-tier MMO, most just survived from the times of MMO goldrush
 
A lot was scavenged into separate genres (MOBA, BR, now extraction shooters). But trimmed down MMO-lite still active.


No. Big 3 is WoW, FF14 and Destiny. ESO is incomparable in size to them.
And next are Chinese/Korean ones (some might probably contest big 3)
ESO, SWTOR, GW2 etc are just second/third-tier MMO, most just survived from the times of MMO goldrush
I know. I was talking about the oldschool traditional MMORPGs.
 
No. Big 3 is WoW, FF14 and Destiny. ESO is incomparable in size to them.
And next are Chinese/Korean ones (some might probably contest big 3)
ESO, SWTOR, GW2 etc are just second/third-tier MMO, most just survived from the times of MMO goldrush
I didn't say 'Big 3' I said top 5. At one point it was big 3 but that doesn't apply today.

Didn't Destiny 2 also fall down a bit in ranking?
 
Wow this news really flew under the radar with all the other layoffs and cancellations.

Zenimax President also stepped down


This is on the official Dune Awakening website, as the game's description:

"Dune: Awakening is a massively multiplayer survival game. Survive the sandworm, craft your ornithopter, build a fortress, and ascend to power on an open world…"

The youtubers/twitch streamers who were given codes for advertisement purposes all called it a MMO. The end game is called a PvP zone. There are PvP players ganking noobs who enter.
Everything you cited is called marketing. In reality, Dune Awakening is a survival game with very light MMO elements.

It's as much of an MMO as Diablo 4 is, which also has the PvP zones you mentioned.
 
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This one hurts. I was excited for it b/c he made ESO into a very good game and a fun one so whatever he was working on was gonna be like ESO but a different type of game and word was it might have been SCI-FI Starfield-esque MMO. This is why a lot of us groaned when MS started scooping up developers because with MS you gotta be a HUGE HIT or else you're gone b/c there's no point if they aren't bringing in a ton of money like they do with windows 365 for just...existing. So even if its a nice profitable company, MS looks at that like a loss and has no problem axing it. They now are neutering all of these companies they bought. The guy from RARE who was there for 35 years, GONE. The guy from Zenimax who was there for 20 years, GONE. You cannot replace those types of guys who have SOOO much experience in making games and none of the blame ever is put on Phil who is running Xbox OUT of the hardware business. Game Pass is a failure as of now and doesn't have enough subs to make a profit at their current sub price, so we know more price increases are coming and the sub count has completely plateaud. How do they think they're gonna increase that? By cancelling games after game and ripping apart studios? The sub model works great for TV but for Videogames that take 5+ years to develop, it seems like its a nightmare.
 
Wow this news really flew under the radar with all the other layoffs and cancellations.

Zenimax President also stepped down

Seriously sad stuff.
Everything you cited is called marketing. In reality, Dune Awakening is a survival game with very light MMO elements.

It's as much of an MMO as Diablo 4 is, which also has the PvP zones you mentioned.
This is one of those 'agree to disagree' moments. I have already experienced this same type of debate when it came to games such as Guild Wars and Vindictus. The general public and media settled on calling those games MMOs, whereas the 'but actually' gamers would constantly try to correct people on them. It was a futile effort because they were always shoved into the MMO category for over a decade and it stuck.

I see the same thing happening with Dune Awakening. The people I've spoken to about it already see it as an MMO, influencers are treating it as an MMO, and the devs are describing it with MMO terminology. If you and the other poster want to stay on that hill of "it's not an MMO" feel free, but just understand that the public may have already made up their mind on it.
 
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