Online entertainment - MMORPG

What is MMORPG?O Massive multiplayer online role-

playing game (MMORPG) is a genre of online games that involve a very large number of players interacting in a virtual game world.

O The World of Warcraft had more than 10 million subscribers in Feb 2012 (reference).

Features of MMORPGO A persistent game environmentO There is progression, or development

of the player’s character. O Social interaction within the gameO Customisation of the character or

avatarO Most MMORPGS are based on sword

and sorcery, warfare, fantasy and so on.

Key players in the online game value chain

O Content Creators – s/w publishers, writers, artists

O Developers – write game programsO Publishers – work with developers

and cater to market needsO Retailers – sell to consumersO Source Aggregator – AOL, Yahoo,

MSN, GoogleO Consumers

Business ModelsO Click here to link to a blog list of

popular MMO business models.O Business models include:

O SubscriptionO Pay-per-play (more common in the

Asian market)O Advertisements

ChallengesO Online games require a huge

investment and the development costs are high. There is also the problem of piracy

O Strong community interaction is required to engage players

O The marketing timeline starts as early as 2 years in advance. These can include printed and online advertisements, youtube videos and so on