In an interview with GameIndustry International, John Smedley stated “I firmly believe the days of the WoW-style MMO are over.” This belief came in response to talk about his newly formed company Daybreak, and what their plans are for the future.
Earlier this year, Smedley was president of Sony Online Entertaining, before he and his team broke off from Sony and formed their own company, Daybreak Games. Their first major title is a zombie-themed MMO called H1Z1.
“Is it an MMO? Sure, by definition,” Smedley stated, “but I would consider it a session-based online game with a lot of people. And I say that because the average life expectancy in H1Z1 might be 45 minutes, and that’s what today’s gamers want.”
Released on Steam in January, H1Z1 started with many technical difficulties upon its release, but has since had patches to fix these bugs. As of March, the game has sold over 1 million copies on Steam.
Do you agree with John Smedley’s statements? Do you think gamers today want less time consuming experiences? Let us know in the comments below.