Funcom: ‘We don’t want to be the first’ in console MMOs

Funcom has no ambitions to be the first developer to break the console MMO market, according to creative director of the studio’s upcoming MMO The Secret World.

Speaking to VideoGamer.com, Ragnar Tornquist explained that while initial plans were laid out to bring the game to Xbox 360, plans changed because console MMOs simply haven’t evolved far enough.

“The secret world was originally also meant to come out on to the xbox 360,” he said.

“We sort of modified our plans a bit based on the fact that console MMOs haven’t really made any huge strides lately. We don’t want to be the first ones to sort of go out there and capture that whole market. But I think Secret World is a game that could do it. It wouldn’t be the same game – there are a lot of things we’re doing in the PC version would be hard to do on an Xbox or PlayStation.

“I hope we’ll see more MMOs emerging on the console, I mean I’d like to be able to sit on my couch and play MMOs as well but it’s a different kind of interaction. You can’t chat and do any sort of voice-over only with tons of strangers, it isn’t the most appealing thing in the world for everybody. I think you need to see a game that is created specifically for the console market in order for MMOs on consoles to really blossom.”

Tornquist stated the studio plans to focus on its PC audience first, at which point it may think about consoles in the future.

“I think we want to capture our core market first, which is PC gamers, to really make the best game we can there. I mean, if and when The Secret World is a big success on PC I would love to take that and try to replicate that on console. Again, use the same setting but I think you’d have to make modifications to gameplay. It is harder, we have a lot of experience making PC games, PC MMORPGs, we have less experience making console games so I think once we have a success behind us we can go and try to experiment and try to come out with something new.”

The Secret World comes from the makers of Dreamfall and Anarchy Online. The MMO is set to launch next April.

Despite it sounding like an oddly negative comment coming from a developer, it’s a smart move to steer clear of console MMOs for now. Focusing on too many platforms inevitably stretches a game thin – here’s looking at you, Final Fantasy XIV Online.