Welcome to another fast roundup of MMO-related business news!
Bookmark this research study so that if ever the loud angry gatekeeping trolls of gaming are getting you down, you can pull it back out to hug. EA community insights manager Jenny Shi conducted a study on how gamers feel about inclusion, and as it turns out, “inclusion is a pressing concern for many players” – the “backlash” against inclusion is coming from a small minority. She’s also shown that toxicity is still a major problem, especially for women in online gaming, and that a lot of folks who support inclusion want “authentic” representation, not tokens. (via Gamasutra)
SuperData is touting its latest report on gaming subscription services – only $1999! It’s focused on subscription platforms, mind you, not sub MMOs, but it’s worth noting. Among the highlights accessible to the public are the fact that PlayStation tops all the other subscription consoles, earning $143M in subs in 2018. “Price plays a sizable role (51%) when users consider purchasing a subscription,” the firm says. “Consumers weigh the cost of buying games outright with spending $10 a month on average on a subscription.”
MMO Culture has a report on Nexon’s recent Korean media event previewing chiefly mobile titles rolling out in one region or another this spring; MapleStory M, Overhit, and Durango all get a mention, but the most interesting bit is for Peria Chronicles. “When asked about Peria Chronicles and other PC games, Nexon replied that it might give an update in the 2nd or 3rd Special Day event in the future,” the site writes. Hmm.
Brendan “PlayerUnknown” Greene is moving away from his role on PUBG itself. Though he says he’ll still be a “consulting creative director” on the game that made battle royale a household name, he’s passed the development lead torch to Taeseok Jang and will himself be heading up “PUBG Special Projects” out of Amsterdam.
https://twitter.com/PLAYERUNKNOWN/status/1105829330033221637
Tencent and Netease are likely breathing a sigh of relief right now: China’s latest round of video game approvals after its long freeze in 2018 included titles from both Asian companies.
It’s not exactly MMO news – not yet – but former Ubisoft and EA developer Jade Raymond has revealed her next steps after she left the EA substudio she founded last year: She’s now a VP at Google. Though she didn’t give more info, we’re expecting big news out of the tech company at GDC this month; it’s expected to have juicy video game news, and it’s pretty likely Raymond will be part of it. (Thanks, A Random MMO Fan!)
Finally, wanna take part in a study… for science? A UK psychology undergrad is soliciting MMORPG players specifically to take part in what’s characterized as a study “exploring the engagement and social aspects of [MMOs] on well being.” As researcher Rixonv puts it, “in psychology MMORPG’s are often depicted in a negative light, and it would be refreshing to shed a more positive light in this area. We are looking for participants both male and female who are active members in an MMORPG [and] the study should last around 10-15 minutes.”
