Friday, May 25, 2012

Didn't Just Hurt Rhode Island

Scott Jennings:

Loyalty matters, but character also matters. And in this case, Schillings failure of character has damaged an industry, to the point where it may be years before we see another investment in MMOs. I am loathe to link to anything said by the possibly sentient Michael Pachter, but even a stopped watch is right twice a day. The MMO industry in general is in deep trouble this year, and Schilling this month pile-drived it even further into the concrete.

I have nothing but sympathy for the now-unemployed former employees of Schilling at 38, and I know from my own time working in the trenches that many of them will violently object to much of what I have said here. But I think the direction that our industry is going – the incredible amount of money wasted by EA on what was essentially a roll of the dice that came up 2 and 3, and the even more incredible display of massive hubris and utter incompetence on the part of Schilling and his management team, is killing the very concept of massively multiplayer gaming.

Read the whole thing, Rhode Islanders.

38 Studios outperformed my expectations by releasing a single game that not only ran, but was reportedly at least somewhat interesting.

Also, EVE Online may outlast the rest of the industry if this keeps up.

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