Battle begins for online role players
By Chris Nuttall
Published: October 26 2008 22:00 | Last updated: October 26 2008 22:00
World of Warcraft is under attack. The 3m US players of the online warfare game, populated by monster-baiting characters, are being outnumbered by an army of 4.5m amassed by an independent video game developer from Cambridge, England.
Runescape, a game that, like Activision Blizzard’s WoW, has skill-building quests and conquests, has been developed by Jagex. Unlike WoW, which is sold as a boxed product in shops and requires the download of large software files, players need only a web browser to get started on Runescape.
Jagex’s game has been a hit among younger audiences that cannot afford a subscription and are often using older computers that are unable to run PC games with high-end graphics. The comparatively simple business model has been so successful that bigger players want to emulate it.
Sony Online Entertainment has decided to take the plunge. Others on a similar path include Nexon of Korea’s MapleStory, exported to the US, and Electronic Arts’ Battlefield Heroes.
“We’ve spent a lot of money investing in this space because we think it’s potentially the largest [market] there is,” says John Smedley, the Sony division’s president. “Jagex built a great business model and it’s actually one we’re copying with Free Realms.”
Mr Smedley hopes his children will switch allegiance from Runescape to Free Realms, the competitor being developed by Sony.
“We’re going after the same market – 12-year-old boys and girls. They’ve built up a great user base by having a fun-to-play game that’s quick and easy to get into on any computer,” he says.
Sony is a past leader in online role-playing games with its EverQuest title, first released in 1999. Its financial muscle and established infrastructure make it a formidable opponent for Jagex.
“Sony have got a massive marketing budget,” admits Geoff Iddison, Jagex chief executive. “But gamers can look at us and see how deep Runescape is – there are thousands of hours of gameplay.”
By depth, he means the vastness of the online world that has been continually expanded over the past seven years and the range of activities that have been built up.
Both Runescape and EverQuest have their roots in the multi-user dungeon games first developed 30 years ago. These games originally consisted of typed descriptions of creatures and objects with players text-chatting with one another and inputting commands.
Andrew Gower, co-founder of Jagex, was an avid text-based MUD player as an undergraduate in computer science at Cambridge University, where he began to code Runescape.
The fact that text-based MUDs could be picked up where you left off on any computer appealed to him. He built Runescape on the same principles but using the Java language to allow it to run in a regular web browser and enabling 3D graphics.
Jagex has grown to be the UK’s biggest independent games developer, employing about 400 people.
The company has remained private and is cagey about its financial performance but the chief executive says Runescape has attracted 135m registered users over its lifetime, with on average 6m people a month playing.
“It’s a very understated, rapidly growing business and we’re very proud of it,” he says. “We’re extremely profitable, the margins are very good and we’re growing at 35 per cent a year.”
Runescape makes most of its money from the $5-a-month subscription a significant number of players are prepared to pay to get access to new quests, equipment and areas of the game. Free Realms plans a similar model although Mr Smedley sees the selling of virtual goods as being the most profitable avenue.
“We’re shooting for tens of millions of players, we’re aiming very high. I’m betting virtual items is where the real money is, perhaps 80 per cent of revenues,” he says.
For Jagex to maintain its momentum, Mr Iddison is exploring new markets and products. French and Brazilian versions will launch soon and Mechscape, a science fiction game that will run on the same platform as Runescape, will be released next year.
“We are forever looking over our shoulders to make sure we are staying ahead of the game,” he says.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Battle begins for online role players: Runescape or WoW or Maplestory or Nexon or Free Realms
