Richard Garriott Wants Blizzard and EA to Go Social

[Marshall Honorof]

Richard Garriott Wants Blizzard and EA to Go Social

Lord British thinks that EA and Blizzard may not view Zynga as a competitor right now, but they will if they don't invest in the casual market soon.

You've got to hand it to Richard Garriott: For a guy who's been in the games industry as long and as successfully as he has, he has every right to rest on his laurels. However, neither the perils of space travel [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/113716-Richard-Garriotts-Crazy-Awesome-Mansion-Up-For-Sale] have slowed him down. He's still one of the first voices to weigh in on industry trends, and more often than not, he's got something smart to say. His latest advice is to gaming giants Blizzard and EA, suggesting that the two should view Zynga as a serious competitor, and the casual market as a lucrative business opportunity. Unless the core gaming companies diversify, argues the Lord of Britannia, they will allow up-and-coming competitors to dominate the casual space and lure core gamers away.

Garriott believes that the separation between core and casual markets is a temporary condition, and that all it will take to lure away traditional gamers is an increase in title quality. "Right now, [those] worlds seem very distinct, and very separate, and very noncompetitive ... I think within a few years, you'll see that's not really the case," says Garriott. "I think you'll see that the quality level that comes up through the casual games will rival the quality of traditional massively multiplayer games and then ... it's something that virally spreads."

This view did not arise in a vacuum. Garriott worked on Tabula Rasa, a traditional MMO for NCSoft, before transitioning over to its casual games team. When NCSoft decided that a casual suite was not necessary, Garriott and his team left to create their own company. During his time working there, Garriott observed firsthand a slow decline for the MMO that paralleled an unprecedented rise in the social market. Now, many core online games appeal only to a specific niche audience. "That's the only reason that I've switched. [The] people who are at the big companies of a previous era very commonly miss these shifts."

As for Blizzard (which he considers "one of the best" developers) and EA, Garriott believes the market would be poorer without them, but they'll need to do some work to remain viable. "The only reason Zynga exists is because people like EA, people like Blizzard, failed to step in," he explains. "And so each of these major upheavals allows new, major corporations to come in and fill that space ... and then leaves the big companies of the previous iteration actually trying to catch up."

EA and Blizzard have made some enticing enormous amount of money [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/111348-WoW-Goes-Free-Forever-Except-Not] it invested in casual gaming juggernaut PopCap. When the time comes, will Blizzard and EA be able to compete with Zynga - or whichever upstart company comes next?

Source: IndustryGamers [http://www.industrygamers.com/news/wow-team-must-contend-with-zyngas-of-the-world-says-richard-garriott/]

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[Ruairi iliffe]

While I recognize the value of casual market(and seening really intresting things in the browser market) I dont believe everyone should jump onto the bandwagon till either it becomes a long term viable market or keeping the loyal niches in the market open on the side or you will alienate a good chunk of your return.





Then again I play EvE so I'm rather bias on Casual...

 

[Something Amyss]

Thing is, they're almost certain to do this at some point. After all, they are both heavily profit-drive companies, and while there's money in the "core" market, there's more money in the casual market. They're eventually going to have to adopt the casual model if they want to keep their profits obscenely high.

 

[Atmos Duality]

Eh. They might as well expand their market base.
Someone needs to keep Zynga in check. While I don't subscribe to much of the "Casual Market", I would hate it even worse if an illegitimate business like Zynga ever grows to the point where it starts forcing itself onto the part of the market I do care about.

 

[Fasckira]

Im pretty sure Lord British is growing more insane with every day. EA already have quite a few attempts into the social gaming market - take a look in the "free games" section in Origin for examples of these.

However much like you'd never expect to see Ferrari release a small eco-friendly city-car, I dont expect to see big games companies start churning out "social games".

 

[uppitycracker]

The thing is, there needs to be a maintained divide between the high quality developers that make causal games, and the high quality developers who make non-casual games. Just because it's successful for one person, doesn't mean it will be for another. Different talents, goals and visions encompass potentials for different markets. There will always be a market for both, too. So, no, Richard. I think you are quite wrong.

 

[Chevy235]

Wow, what the heck is yall's problem? Casual games ARE a huge business opportunity, and they're quickly expanding in capability. Just look at the progress of WebGL. I don't know why yall are in an uproar anyway...this is an avenue to expand and bolster an existing business, not necessarily redirect their focus. Heck, they could even start new subsidiaries to deal with this market and spare your precious little ears from hearing about Blizzard Casual Gaming.

 

[dimensional]

The thing is, there needs to be a maintained divide between the high quality developers that make causal games, and the high quality developers who make non-casual games. Just because it's successful for one person, doesn't mean it will be for another. Different talents, goals and visions encompass potentials for different markets. There will always be a market for both, too. So, no, Richard. I think you are quite wrong.

Completely agree although I am less certain about the ability for `hardcore` MMO games to remain viable in the face of more `casual MMOs` because they rely heavily on social interaction and the best way to get people to join is make it casual the graphics arent usually a huge issue in these types of games anyway so there isnt a big divide that way and if its free well thats a huge bonus more odds youre friends will give it a go if they dont have to fork out cash for it (at least on the surface).

But yes as for more non MMO type games I cant see there ever being a huge convergence of casual and hardcore games its the difference between a newspaper and a book.

 

[Hitchmeister]

Why is Garriot telling Blizzard and EA what they need to be doing, rather than just stepping up and doing it himself? Come on man, you've got the chops. Carve yourself a big chunk of the Zynga pie and then Blizzard and EA will pay attention because YOU are the threat. Standing on the sidelines saying, "let's you and him fight" just makes people not want to take you seriously.

 

[Marshall Honorof]

Why is Garriot telling Blizzard and EA what they need to be doing, rather than just stepping up and doing it himself? Come on man, you've got the chops. Carve yourself a big chunk of the Zynga pie and then Blizzard and EA will pay attention because YOU are the threat. Standing on the sidelines saying, "let's you and him fight" just makes people not want to take you seriously.

I think Garriott does intend to aim for the casual market with his current company, Portalarium. However, he doesn't have the same kind of resources as EA and Blizzard. I guess for now, it's better to encourage companies he likes than believe he's going to capture a huge market share overnight.

 

[maxben]

I can see that happening. A lot of people who play video games are terrible at them. They express feelings of frustration and ask developers to make it easier. Thus casual gaming.... Oh wait I forgot about WoW and PopCap. I think these companies have already made investments into the casual market.

They will make more I have no doubt in my eyes, and WoW will become just a little bit more casual.

There is a big difference between someone who like to play big immersive experiences but suck generally at combat (hence why I play everything on Easy in general, though DE:HR I did on normal). Casual games and exploring a world are not related, and there is no requirement to be "good" to explore, you just need to get sucked into the scenery. Casual gamers don't have anything expansive to get sucked into, their experiences are shallower than that because they are not meant to be played for long. I'm sure you can see though that someone who plays Fallout 3 on God Mode for 8 hours straight is not the same as a "casual gamer" but is a certain type of hardcore gamer.

But, yeah, you are soooooo right about EA and PopCap. WoW isn't casual because it is an expansive time sink unlike Farmville which is a shallow time sink. However, maybe Lord British has so completely gotten lost in his own self-importance that he missed that EA picked up the Atari of casual gaming. I like how the article brought up Tabula Rasa, I'm sure that that's one thing he doesn't mention often. He had his moment as a revolutionary developer but he is pretty much a dinosaur of a different age like the Quake guys,

 

[Fursnake]

So the great Lord British wants Blizzard to go social just to validate himself? Dream on.

You are no longer worthy of the video game industry's or fans'attention Garriot, so either go make a new Ultima game to try and redeem yourself or shut the hell up.

While I am not really a fan of Blizzard or it's games anymore, Blizzard makes enough money off real games that they don't need to go social.

 

[Aeshi]

The day that the "Hardcore" and "Casual" markets mix will be a very sad day indeed.

 

[Daisuke1133]

Wow, what the heck is yall's problem? Casual games ARE a huge business opportunity, and they're quickly expanding in capability. Just look at the progress of WebGL. I don't know why yall are in an uproar anyway...this is an avenue to expand and bolster an existing business, not necessarily redirect their focus. Heck, they could even start new subsidiaries to deal with this market and spare your precious little ears from hearing about Blizzard Casual Gaming.

Except that it is by necessity a shift in focus. The more time and money that are wasted on making casual games means that much less time and money is there to be invested in making proper games. This very thing already happened as a result of the competitive multi-player boom, and now it's happening again. Those of us who are old enough to remember when game developers focused on crafting excellent and incredibly satisfying single-player experiences can already see the writing on the wall as far as casual "games" are concerned. Very soon there won't be anyone making "Triple A" titles anymore if this keeps up, just like there are barely any good single-player games anymore.