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Mark Kern, head of Red 5 Studios, believes if the genre is to continue to find success it must evolve in order to avoid “the circle of suck”.
Speaking with PC Gamer, Kern explained that gamers are in no need of yet another “$200 million WoW clone” as it “doesn’t do anybody any favours and you’re going to lose your shirt.”
“We’ve got to break out of the mould.
“If I see another action MMO combat game with exclamation points over quest givers, I’m going to commit seppuku! We’re pouring so much money down a very stale formula. It’s an illusion to say that ‘Oh, that’s safety’. It used to be safety but it’s not anymore.
He went on to say he hopes to see more experimentation in MMOs as we do in other genres.
“Gamers are ready to try different things. It’s time to take risks and I’m really looking towards the independents to try that. I want to see the Notch of MMOs. Please don’t spend $200 million on another WoW clone because it just doesn’t do anybody any favours and you’re going to lose your shirt.
“I used to draw [a venn diagram of] what I’d call The Circle of Suck. Tabula Rasa came out and Hellgate: London came out, and I drew one circle that said ‘MMO gameplay.’ I drew another circle that said, ‘shooter gameplay.’ Where they intersect – that little sliver – is full of suck.”
Red 5 Studios is currently developing the FPS MMO Firefall, due out this December.
