Ever since last Friday’s latest Daybreak drama – the announcement that longtime EverQuest franchise head Holly Longdale was leaving the studio for some big new opportunity – people have been moaning and worrying about the fate of the games.
But I’m not that worried. Don’t get me wrong: Longdale was a fixture, and even though there were things I did not love about her tenure (like, say, the still-smarting cancellation of EverQuest Next, or the continuing teases she made for the next possible game), I attribute most of the shenanigans to Daybreak itself, not to her. She also kept the games going with successive updates. That counts for a lot.
Either way, I don’t think Daybreak spun up these sub-studios to cancel games with valuable IPs. And interviews with Longdale’s replacement, Jennifer Chan – here’s one MMO blogger Wilhelm sent our way from just a year ago – show her to be remarkably capable and (I’ll say it) bullshit-free. I’m curious to see where she takes the team.
Are you worried about the fate of EverQuest right now?
Every morning, the Massively Overpowered writers team up with mascot Mo to ask MMORPG players pointed questions about the massively multiplayer online roleplaying genre. Grab a mug of your preferred beverage and take a stab at answering the question posed in today’s Daily Grind!
