Developing an MMO: key success factors APPLY SERIOUS GAMES 2007

Introduction What is an MMO? Multiplayer Persistent Game client control What is success? Financially successful Successful MMOs examples World of Warcraft (Blizzard Entertainment) Lineage 1 and 2 (NCsoft) Guild Wars series (Arena Net / NCsoft) Everquest (SOE) EVE Online (CCP) Kartrider (Nexon) Runescape (Jagex)

Technology Experienced MMO developers are few, the technology isn’t common knowledge in the industry yet. MMO are different from traditional game development: Tasks are shared between the client and the server Networking between clients and servers is key to the player experience Clients needs to be a lot more stable than for off line games Scalability is key Can make or break your game – examples Anarchy Online launch EVE server structure Possible solution Experienced team Proven middleware solution

Game Quality The MMO landscape is filled with games cloning the most successful competitors. Innovating has a proven track record of making it easier to be “successful”. MMO are games that work with a long term strategy, you need the word of mouth to be efficient and thus need to ensure the quality of the game isn’t questionable: A strong game design An efficient content creation pipeline – quantity and quality A strong art direction Examples Game Design: EVE Online Content : Lineage 2; World of Warcraft Art : Dofus

Service Quality Industry most common answer to “how to make a MMO” is “consider it as a service not as a game”. Good service to the game is key even prior to launch. Community management The Game start its life when it enters Beta. Good community management is essential for your early marketing but also for your development and the quality of the game. Example: Dark Age of Camelot early design changes Customer Support The most important factor with Customer Support is to have it integrated in the design. MMOs don’t always require a lot of Customer Support, but the one you provide needs to be of quality. Example: Guild Wars low requirements Cross Platform accessibility It includes everything related from websites to accessing the game itself. The more seamless and painless it is, the better the game can achieve its potential Example: WoW armoury; Runescape accessibility Business Model Not all MMOs have to be subscription based. An excellent game can be ruined because the business model isn’t adapted. Example: Lineage 2 in Japan; MMOs in Korea

Conclusion Key success factors: An excellent, scalable technology A polished, balanced game built for the future A top quality service to the users Beyond those points, the most important success factor is the team

QA Questions? Thomas BIDAUX – NCsoft Europe Director of Development – Linkedin –

The end Thank you