Business model needs to be changed
Arena.net co-founder Jeff Strain has been speaking with GamesIndustry.biz, and spoke frankly on the transition of MMOs from PC to console.
To attract MMO developers to Xbox Live, Mr Strain believes that the Xbox Live's business model does not cater for such a transition.
Speaking on the subject of MMOs on Xbox Live, Mr Strain said, " their whole goal is to encourage people to go and buy games on the shelf, then there's an online component for it. But for us, when you buy it on the shelf, that's just the beginning of our relationship with you - and we want a direct connection with our customer so that we're always giving you new content, always supporting you directly. Xbox Live just wasn't really built, from a business standpoint, to support that."
The problem with bringing a game such as Guild Wars to Xbox Live presents one huge problem for developers. Microsoft would need to hand over control of the customer relationship for these games, and allow companies such as Arena.net to build relationships with their customers, as they do on PC.
Strain hopes that Microsoft and Sony will see the need for changing these business models, but understands it will take time. He said, "They know it's in their best interests to attract the top developers to develop for the console, and they know that that's going to take some business model changes. I think that what we're going to see is that once the dust settles from the launch of this round of consoles, they're going to be very willing to engage in those discussions."
Although NCsoft are rumoured to be working on a title for the next-gen consoles, the only current MMO for Xbox 360 is Final Fantasy XI, currently in its beta phase.
Read the full interview here: here
