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Stratics MMOG Weekly: Volume 25
When Kings Fall: Part II of II
A continued look at the rise and fall of Multiplayer Battletech: 3025, and the mistakes and misteps Electronic Arts made along the
way.
By - Misty "Beans" Matonis
EA Dot Bomb
Motor City Online |
Officially, Privateer Online, Harry Potter Online, and Ultima Online 2 were cancelled in order to enhance Origin's focus on Ultima Online, which was, and still is, EA's flagship online game property. But EA's true pride and joy was to be EA.com. Think MSN's The Zone, but better. Well, that's what the plan was.
EA.com was to showcase a variety of online games, both Java and PC-based including multiplayer and massively multiplayer. Several games were available for free, however, subscription to its platinum service would include such titles as the highly anticipated Majestic, and later BattleTech 3025 and Motor City Online pending their release. Platinum accounts did not include Ultima Online access, however.
EA.com featured quite a number of games from its other online game company acquisition: Pogo.com. Pogo.com was a hot online gaming property and was extremely popular amongst casual gamers who would like to spend their lunch breaks or avoid real work by playing the games they developed. EA took a huge risk in this venture, eventually firing around 200 people, many of who worked either at Origin on Ultima Online 2 or at Kesmai.
Motor City Online |
The idea was to compete with the big companies, such as Sony Station and Microsoft's Zone properties, both of which had a large share of the online pie and extensive experience in the dot com business. In retrospect, it seems a bit silly. Gamers are more familiar with EA's PC and console titles and not as an online gaming conglomerate. However, its huge share in the market and the success of Ultima Online dictated the move towards such an online venture.
And it did seem successful. Shortly before the most recent round of layoffs in October of last year, EA issued a press release stating that it was the number one destination for online gamers, with around 25 million registered users. Yet, despite this success, EA dropped the bomb on its dot com, along with BattleTech 3025. EA stated that it was refocusing its efforts on its current properties, PC titles, console games, and MMOGs. Ultima Online, Motor City Online, The Sims Online and other titles would continue to be supported.
Many people, including myself, partially see EA.com's failure as being caused by Majestic. An interesting concept that ultimately failed in its delivery, Majestic became a bit of a joke in the gaming community. The word on the street was "avoid." Paying $9.95 a month for 15 minutes of play or less does not make a game, even for casual gamers. Sales reportedly dropped quickly as accounts were cancelled. Not even retail sales could save this disappointing title. EA announced the cancellation of this episodic title less than two weeks after it officially closed EA.com and BattleTech 3025.
The Future of EA Online
The Sims Online |
Without a doubt, Electronic Arts has made a ton of MMOG industry blunders, however, the future of EA's online ventures don't look as bleak as one may gather. Motor City Online has turned out to be a rather solid product, a niche product, but solid nonetheless. Ultima Online continues to be popular and will get another expansion called Ultima Online: Lord Blackthorn's Revenge shortly. Word on the street is EA Vegas/Westwood has a solid product in Earth and Beyond, and will probably grab a nice market share if it's released before Verant/Sony's similarly themed Planetside. And then there's the juggernaut of the PC gaming world: The Sims Online.
While EA's mistakes have alienated a sizeable chunk of the online gaming player-base, the market continues to grow in leaps and bounds if you believe the trade reports and the number of MMOG titles that are currently in development. Perhaps EA will learn the error of its ways. Or not. Time will tell.
[Special thanks to Ce'Nedra Willow and Teich Dragon for their assistance with this article.]
Essentials
Next: Stratics Index...
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