Age of Conan will not see the light of day, or rather our monitors I guess, until at least March 2008. This could be tricky. Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning and World of Warcraft’s second expansion are both slated to hit shelves around Q1-Q2 2008 thus placing them in direct competition with AoC. I’ve tried to look at this from every angle and I am unable to come up with the reason for their decision to go into direct competition with the largest MMORPG title we will see in half a decade and the expansion to the current largest western MMORPG ever.
If AoC doesn’t make it out before WAR and Wrath of the Lich King it is my prediction that the game will never make it past niche status. But is the release date the only thing they have to worry about? In my opinion their Mature rating is going to come back and haunt them in their Hyborian behinds. Currently they are running with the notion that a mature rating will make the game more mature… at what cost? A healthy portion of the MMO community is under the age of 18 and many are still under the iron fist of parental guidance and morals. Excessive violence, gore, partial nudity, and language could easily keep the younger crowd out of the game completely. Mission accomplished? More like a double edge sword to me.
A positive for AoC is that the game will also be released on the Xbox360. This could be a huge boost to subscription numbers because right now the Xbox360 is leading the way in next-gen consoles. Console players are always hungry for a solid MMO/persistent RPG game because on a console you really do not see much of this genre. Console players currently outnumber PC users by a massive majority. Look at E3 and other conventions and you will see the balance has shifted. This could be AoC’s saving grace.
It’s my opinion that, although this game looks very interesting and it has the console support, the two negative factors are major enough to cause AoC to fall into the niche market. Hopefully, for the sake of those working hard on the game and the fans eagerly awaiting a unique approach to their favorite genre, we will see AoC before March 2008. Cross your fingers guys!
My thought was AoC was going to be a niche MMO even before their change in release date, due to their rating and focus on a more “adult” setting. I figured they would lose subs to Warhammer and the new WoW expac when they hit anyway, but releasing at the same time seems like suicide.
Sure, there are folks who always dabble in multiple MMOs for various reasons, but how many will think AoC is so great compared to the competition that they play it consistently for 12-24 months?
But I’m biased – I’ve never bene particularly impressed with what I’ve seen or heard about this game. It just wasn’t one I was looking forward to.
The bottom line is that any game coming out (Warhammer included) shouldn’t be going for anything MORE than niche status. 300,000 subscribers is inevitably going to become the norm for any MMORPG in the future IMO.
AoC was doomed to be a niche title regardless. This release date may only help the game allowing Funcom to put a bit more polish on the game and therefore appeal to a wider audience. Regardless of the release date, I’d be VERY surprised if AoC ever hit 500k subscribers. I’m not even optimistic for 300k.
Agreed and I should have specified what I felt “niche status” meant. For me niche is 150k subs or below (still a success). 300k is by far a major success and something to be proud of in every way. Every company wants their game to be as much a success as it can be. For AoC it’s going to be an uphill battle.
I dunno if I agree about the whole Mature thing biting em on the behind. For one thing a very great many parents can care less what their children watch on tv, read in their comics, or play on their computers/consoles. Secondly I thought the largest portion of the mmo demographic was 18-34? This is one of the saddest parts of the entire mmo scene. The 18-34 crowd are quite often as bratty and foul mouthed as the absolute worst of the sub 18 crowd.
I hope that AOC can garner some amount of success… the setting is nice and they seem to be trying something a bit different. Perhaps if it is successful we can be spared more steaming piles of excrement like Vanguard.