Secret World designer: MMO needed to be more commercial
Funcom's Martin Bruusgaard examines what went wrong
Funcom's Martin Bruusgaard, who was lead designer on MMO The Secret World but left in a recent round of layoffs, has shared his thoughts on the game's failure to thrive.
"It's a shame to say, but I think it's very, very few cases where you can sit down and make the game that you really want to do, and it turns out to be a success," he told Penny Arcade.
"Unfortunately I think that in order to be a success in today's market, you need to make the game a bit more commercial."
"I think you have to consider what sells. You just have to. Not doing it is a huge risk. Yes, you might get lucky and everything works out great, but I would not do that again."
He admitted that omissions like the lack of classes and levels, plus strange quests might have just been too unfamiliar to players who were familiar with more traditional MMOs. And while he likes the "twist" Funcom put on the genre, the focus should have been on the commercial. He also acknowledged that the release window was tricky.
"I think it was a very difficult window to launch in, between Star Wars and Guild Wars and TERA. A lot of big MMOs out there. I think we also could've done a better job when it comes to marketing and making sure people know there is a game called The Secret World. I think too few people had heard of it, even though again, our numbers seemed like we were tracking really well."
While outwardly Funcom has remained confident about the game's player numbers, Bruusgaard described the internal reaction to the game's release.
"I could tell by the sort of frequency of certain meetings and certain people talking. You sort of get this vibe that something is wrong," he explained.
Bruusgaard also reported that almost the entire team were placed on furlough, an enforced leave lasting 30 weeks that comes with minimal pay. "I think it was five people who weren't put on forced leave." Bruusgaard quickly found a job with a software company.
"I didn't want to make a thing out of it. I was afraid it might hurt the game, or people who are anti-Funcom would get more fuel for the fire, so I just sort of wanted to fade out."
GamesIndustry International has contacted Funcom for its comments on the story.
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Rachel Weber
Rachel Weber has been with GamesIndustry since 2011 and specialises in news-writing and investigative journalism. She has more than five years of consumer experience, having previously worked for Future Publishing in the UK.
It needs to come out for PS3, If it had come out I would have given it a shot. And NO making it more comercial would probably ruin the games concept and integrity. I dont think making it more comercial would be the answer. Just make a better game, add more features, quests, customization options and stuff to do. Im not about to go buy a PC just to play this game, but out of all the MMO's out there I would have given this one a shot, had it come out on PS3.
I mean "in order to make money, you have to consider what sells?" What? another shooter? Gimme a break. New brands and ideas are tough to sell and gain momentum over time. I say keep pushing the secret world and everything it is, it will eventually make a crack through the market.
I mean games like vanquish were awsome. However Platinum quit maing it after just one game. Bayonetta was a great IP. And now it has new life on the WiiU with a sequel im looking foward to.
Making money in the MMO market is a tough thing to do, with WOW hogging up most of it. But you cant quite on a brand on initial release. Besides War Craft has a long huge historey, starting from the single player stratagy, story oriented games. WOW, already had an established fan base before becoming an MMO. Secret world however is a brand new IP. You cant hope to make anywhere close the sales of an established brand, even if you design it to be more commercial. When you sell something the product itself is only one aspect of getting it sold.
Branding and marketing are also things that are important towards selling a product. Call of duty is a game that is generally stagnent and tired game design, more of the same every year, but it sells cause its backed by huge marketing budget. So NO i dont think commercializing it is the answer to making it sell more. New brands have to be worked into the market, trial and error is also part of things that help. It helped the Bayonetta developers alot, not to allow a thrid party to port their games to other consoles. Games like borderlands didnt really hit on there first game, but with DLC, add ons, and the new sequel, they are slowly establishing it as a top tier brand name in gaming. Borderlands 2 was strides better than the first, reciving good reviws and ratings.
Secret world has a future. Its just a matter how far you willing to work to push it in the market. i just havent played it cause its not available on the platform I choose to play on. But Its a game I defenitly would like to try. I would also add one more secret society to the roster.
Edited 2 times. Last edit by Rick Lopez on 9th October 2012 1:41pm
Posted:2 days ago