It's hard to become invested in MMOs and video games without learning something about the industry at play -- an industry of repeated layoffs and mergers, acquisitions and shuffling ownership, and a whole lot of passion and drama over seemingly inconsequential subject matter. The acquisition of PopCap by Electronic Arts last week prompted The Seattle Times to conduct an interview with Mike O'Brien of ArenaNet, known for the highly anticipated Guild Wars 2 and the already quite successful Guild Wars, about acquisition, corporate oversight, and the life of a smaller studio moving into big waters.
As O'Brien puts it, the decision to seek outside funding from the start was a direct result of the scale and scope of the Guild Wars project. Rather than trying to scramble for resources to create a big project that could compete, the studio went for a company that seemed like it would appreciate their way of doing business. And O'Brien has nothing but positive things to say about the working relationship between his studio and NCsoft -- although he's very aware of what can happen when a small studio gets bought by a larger organization. The full interview should be of interest to anyone who follows the industry... and like we said, that's a good part of the MMO crowd.
Reader Comments (20)
Posted: Jul 18th 2011 4:04PM Kalec said
"O'Brien is confident the game will overtake World of Warcraft"
While I'm 100% sure this will happen, saying it so directly is a bit bold isn't it ? just me ? mkay ....
While I'm 100% sure this will happen, saying it so directly is a bit bold isn't it ? just me ? mkay ....
Posted: Jul 18th 2011 4:12PM Irem said
@Kalec
They've been stepping around the subject so far, but I don't think he's calling GW2 a WoW killer or anything like that. It's not a sub game, so the two really can't measure success in the same way--they may have more boxes sold over time, but fewer long-term players who log in nearly every day. GW1 has done -very- well in sales of the actual game.
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They've been stepping around the subject so far, but I don't think he's calling GW2 a WoW killer or anything like that. It's not a sub game, so the two really can't measure success in the same way--they may have more boxes sold over time, but fewer long-term players who log in nearly every day. GW1 has done -very- well in sales of the actual game.
Posted: Jul 19th 2011 12:35PM ZenJitsu said
@Kalec
Also note that there was no directly attributable quote. I suspect the writer may have taken some liberties while talking about the competition. You know, in a 'yes, we can compete with them' kind of way. Certainly sells hits for theTimes, doesn't it?
"O'brien to Blizzard: We'll Bury You."
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Also note that there was no directly attributable quote. I suspect the writer may have taken some liberties while talking about the competition. You know, in a 'yes, we can compete with them' kind of way. Certainly sells hits for theTimes, doesn't it?
"O'brien to Blizzard: We'll Bury You."
Posted: Jul 18th 2011 4:07PM Irem said
They keep saying the right things! It's almost like they get it!
That or they're evil overlords who are fully aware of the fact that players will read stuff like this and know better than to come down with a case of foot-in-mouth disease like Kotick. Either way, I'm impressed.
That or they're evil overlords who are fully aware of the fact that players will read stuff like this and know better than to come down with a case of foot-in-mouth disease like Kotick. Either way, I'm impressed.
Posted: Jul 18th 2011 5:03PM Nenene said
It's like the Anti-Kotick.
ANet, I am proud.
ANet, I am proud.
Posted: Jul 18th 2011 5:04PM yeppers said
So... these guys are heading to Comic-Con. Any word if they're going to have any BIG news for their fans? State-of-the-Game?
Posted: Jul 18th 2011 5:23PM CaptainZoidberg said
Posted: Jul 18th 2011 8:34PM Glyph said
"O'Brien is confident the game will overtake World of Warcraft"
I guarantee you O'Brien never said that directly. He's been asked many times & his answer is always something like "we don't see them as direct competition, we have a non-subscription game".
I guarantee you O'Brien never said that directly. He's been asked many times & his answer is always something like "we don't see them as direct competition, we have a non-subscription game".
Posted: Jul 18th 2011 8:36PM Glyph said
The article also says they chose to have ArenaNet HQ in Seattle because it was "away from Blizzard". This guy is full of b.s.
Posted: Jul 18th 2011 10:59PM JuliusSeizure said
@Glyph
You're taking that out of context. The founder of ANet, as the article just explained, were former Blizzard employees. When looking for where to set up their own operations, they decided against staying where they were.
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You're taking that out of context. The founder of ANet, as the article just explained, were former Blizzard employees. When looking for where to set up their own operations, they decided against staying where they were.
Posted: Jul 19th 2011 1:15AM Eamil said
@JuliusSeizure The article could have been worded to convey that better. Between that and knocking WoW without directly quoting O'Brien (which suggests to me that they're putting words in his mouth) I just get the impression the writer is trying to subtly insert drama.
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Posted: Jul 19th 2011 12:54PM ZenJitsu said
@Eamil
Indeed...drama sells.
It's one thing to have two MMOs in the field co-existing, but it's another to have two heavyweights going at it. This is done all the time in celebrity news: talk up a rivalry and it plays itself.
That's the great part about GW2 though, I can play that AND be subscribed to SWTOR or TERA or whatever I want as well. Win for us.
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Indeed...drama sells.
It's one thing to have two MMOs in the field co-existing, but it's another to have two heavyweights going at it. This is done all the time in celebrity news: talk up a rivalry and it plays itself.
That's the great part about GW2 though, I can play that AND be subscribed to SWTOR or TERA or whatever I want as well. Win for us.
Posted: Jul 19th 2011 5:09AM wufiavelli said
Kind of funny with the publishers thing. Ncsoft really helped out Anet, but at the same time they also contributed to the poor showing of tabula rasa. Sure garriott takes a lot of the blame, but Ncsofts hands were equally dirty with that failure.
Posted: Jul 19th 2011 7:24AM Distaste said
@wufiavelli
While I'm not a big fan of NCSoft, that mess was mostly Garriott's fault. If I remember correctly they got like 1/2 way finished with the game and Sir Richard decided that instead of fantasy he wanted Sci-Fi. While some of it could be reused that is still a ton of work to redo and considering how most MMO's that don't change halfway have issues finishing the game on time, it probably had a bit to do with it's failure.
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While I'm not a big fan of NCSoft, that mess was mostly Garriott's fault. If I remember correctly they got like 1/2 way finished with the game and Sir Richard decided that instead of fantasy he wanted Sci-Fi. While some of it could be reused that is still a ton of work to redo and considering how most MMO's that don't change halfway have issues finishing the game on time, it probably had a bit to do with it's failure.
Posted: Jul 19th 2011 12:45PM ZenJitsu said
@Distaste
Yah, it was some sort of sci-fi-magic fusion. They spent years working on that, and then basically redesigned for another few years. I ultimately enjoyed Tabula Rasa, but it had little mass market appeal, unfortunately.
I'm just hoping that NCSoft keeps the hell out of ANet's day-to-day and leaves them to do what they do best.
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Yah, it was some sort of sci-fi-magic fusion. They spent years working on that, and then basically redesigned for another few years. I ultimately enjoyed Tabula Rasa, but it had little mass market appeal, unfortunately.
I'm just hoping that NCSoft keeps the hell out of ANet's day-to-day and leaves them to do what they do best.
Posted: Jul 20th 2011 9:50PM bartfww said
I love ArenaNet's approach to making games. "When it's done," is not a unique approach, but as you can tell from the article. All of the best game producers use this approach. This ensures that the box you open after buying a new game does not explode in your face. ;)







