SOE President talks console MMOs, rivaling WoW

by Majed Athab { Mar 17th 2008 at 2:00PM }

GameDaily had a chat with Sony Online Entertainment president John Smedley about the recent Sony corporate shuffle and what's going to happen to SOE as a result of this. According to Smedley, the change is "an opportunity and not a restriction" as SOE will have better proximity to SCE and will possibly develop more intimately for the PS3.

He backed up his opportunity claim by stating that console MMOs have a huge potential for growth as consoles are stable online-capable platforms, and already have a large user-base. He even says that console-based MMOs could possibly rival the success of World of Warcraft.

"Console online gaming in general I think is going to be one of the next huge phases of growth in the online gaming space," said Smeldey. With SOE currently working on PS3 versions of The Agency, a DC universe MMO, and Free Realms, there's no doubt the company is putting action to words. However, could any of you see any one of these titles possibly going toe-to-toe with the king of MMOs? Console MMOs as World of Warcraft beaters, perhaps not yet. Better console MMOs soon? Most likely.

Tags: john-smedley, johnsmedley, mmo, soe

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Thoas @ Mar 17th 2008 2:08PM

The Agency FTW!

scott willis @ Mar 17th 2008 2:36PM

id like to remind smedly about star wars galaxies and ask why i should ever put time, effort and money into any soe mmo again .
yes im still bitter and no sign of forgiving them yet .

trouble with soe is they find a good concept then fail badly when trying to execute , i mean planetside has more promise than anything ive played in ages , but it was so badly implimented and supported its crazy .
they are still the only true mmofps on the market , theyn should have cleaned up with that one .

gumby @ Mar 17th 2008 2:16PM

Dear god DC comic MMO...salivate!!!

Karl @ Mar 17th 2008 2:17PM

mmo console games reaching 10 million sounds more like hype

considering that all of XBOX live Subscribers is approx 10 million
http://kotaku.com/341399/xbox-live-10-million-gold-subscribers

Kodros @ Mar 17th 2008 2:29PM

He's not saying that it could sell that well right now.

Fiddlesworth @ Mar 17th 2008 2:31PM

He said rivalling, not beating and didn't give an IMMEDIATE timeframe for this.

Also, if the game was a real hit many of those WoW players would migrate over to the PS3 & PC SOE MMO.

Sir_Ferdival @ Mar 17th 2008 6:23PM

I think console MMO's eventually will have a steady following, but still, it's way more comfortable to play a MMORPG on a computer even if you do have a mouse and a keyboard for your PS3. If they want to make console MMO's they should focus on something more action oriented than actual rpg's. Just my thoughts.

DrunkRaba @ Mar 17th 2008 6:45PM

I found it much more comfortable to play ffxi on my bed with my ps2 over sitting hunched over in front of my computer.

Thomas @ Mar 17th 2008 5:31PM

The PS3 has been equipped for MMOs since day one. Having mouse and keyboard support will make PS3 a very good system for MMOs. Once People become accustomed to MMOs on consoles... PC Gaming is done.

45nm @ Mar 17th 2008 7:14PM

PC gaming is done??
LOL, now thats a good one.....

Fraser JK @ Mar 17th 2008 5:44PM

LET ME SAY THIS:

I will play and gladly PAY for a Console MMO. I'm tired of WOW, period!

Igor @ Mar 17th 2008 5:46PM

I agree wholeheartedly with the online gaming future being on the consoles. There are many reasons for me to believe that and i just dont feel like rambling on and on at the moment, however i will say that for next 5 or so years i also firmly believe that we will not see any WoW "Killers".
Certain games such as WAR Online, maybe Star Trek and anything with heavy prexisting fan will do good, but that is again on PC only for the time being.
Shooter style MMO's are never going to work. Why would they when we have...well the shooters with RPG elements (read: CoD4). Now time will tell and maybe with better introduction of MMO RPG style peripherals for consoles things will change, or SoE will start an MMO revolution on PS3. You never know!

dustandechoes91 @ Mar 17th 2008 7:37PM

Planetside 2
Planetside 2
Planetside 2
Planetside 2
Planetside 2

please?

chimaera9 @ Mar 18th 2008 9:39AM

I'd certainly prefer to play an MMO from my couch, with surround sound and big TV, rather than in front of my PC. I sure hope they figure out a formula to beat WOW that is better than WOW--I dropped my subscription to that after the first month. It's a walking simulator, no story, and is so incredibly boring I fell asleep a number of times while playing it (had 5 characters, max level was 26--I tried to like it, I reallly did). I seriously do not understand the draw to that game, but I guess leveling up just so you can beat harder monsters so you can level up some more using a variety of classes with skills that are basically the same with only cosmetic differences, well...I guess that is somehow addictive to a lot of people. I just don't get it.

The Agency looked rather interesting as an MMO to me because it seemed like it might actually have a plot, ie, a point. I would love to see successful MMO's, RTS's, etc. on consoles because PC games need to go: it's just too expensive to keep upgrading one's computer every year or so to play games, when a console costs at least half the price and lasts for 5 or more years before the next version comes out.

Anyway, sorry to those that love WOW. I'm just not a fan and I still don't get the draw to it.