The Future of MMOs in China
Speaking of China, it seems like not all is rosy in the MMO world over yonder. Chinese gamers are sick and tired of the horrible service they say they’re receiving from Blizzard and the local provider Th9, and are threatening a boycott of the game to protest. No big deal right? Big deal. The Chinese market alone boasts a WoW player base of around one and a half million people, a sizable chunk of the over six million accounts currently registered.
Like their counterparts in other countries, players have faced problems stemming from the game’s popularity, in short, the providers inability to deal with the volume of requests and issues in a timely manner. Queue times can extend well over an hour, server crashes are unpredictable and devastating, and people are getting downright cranky about it. The thing about the Chinese market is that they’re not roped in to playing by the month, and playing a lot to get their money’s worth. No, in China players buy game cards, somewhat like phone cards, which allow them X number of playing hours before they need to buy more time. They can thus immediately, and at little financial loss to themselves, stop playing the game and hit Blizzard right where it hurts: the pocketbook.
While Blizzard tries to calm the masses, another major player in the MMO arena has yoinked their game from the country. Sony Online Entertainment is planning on returning all Chinese Everquest II accounts back to American servers this month following the completion of the beta testing period on March 1st.
Double whammy for the Chinese, and the loss of major market turf for Sony and Blizzard (if the boycott goes through).
(source)
0 opinions for The Future of MMOs in China
No one has left a comment yet. You know what this means, right? You could be first!
Have an opinion? Leave a comment: