An anonymous Kickstarter donor pinged us with this question for this morning’s Daily Grind:
With the breadth of niche MMOs available, how will companies resort to increasing players?
I presume our donor refers to the absolute deluge of smaller indie titles that we’ve seen crop up in development over the last few years thanks to Kickstarter. While some folks praise the creativity that these niche titles promise in a field of higher-budget WoW-style themeparks, others see only a future of flopped games and communities spread far too thin to sustain themselves. “Niche” can bring dilution as much as diversity.
So studios, big and small, are constantly struggling with how to make their games sticky and how to keep their player numbers increasing in a genre where traditionally the trend is the opposite. We’ve seen MMO studios try everything from model shifts to expansions to new player bonuses and recruit-a-friend deals. But this is a genre where even World of Warcraft is losing subs in alarmingly huge chunks — will indies fare better?
What’s the best way to boost MMO populations in 2015?
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!
