Gaming News: "I Would Guess"
Posted: Wednesday April 9th, 2008
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During a "Gamer's Day" event in San Francisco, THQ's head of development, Jack Sorensen, told EuroGamer that he believed World of Warcraft had peaked. He went on to promote THQ's Warhammer 40K MMO by stating Blizzard had "based a lot of their, let's say, RPG characteristics on 40K".
Source: EuroGamer [ more info ]
Where I can appreciate Sorensen's position, and assuming he's talking about subscriber numbers, I'm not certain that WOW has peaked. The game is likely to see a massive spike at the release of Wrath of the Lich King. The subscriber base has gotten larger as people have left. Where the influx of new users may have leveled off, it's quite possible that the expansion will bring a lot of the "old timers" back.
If I had to venture a guess of my own, I'd say that Sorensen is likely using a mildly inflamatory statement to garner free press attention for THQ's 40K MMO project. Nothing grabs a little attention like tossing out a snippy quip aimed at the reigning champion in a genre you're targeting yourself. He does make sure to back-pedal a little, offering some kind words about Blizzard, and stating that their game and wow could "certainly co-exist".
Ultimately though, I don't mind Sorensen's commentary. Like I said above, it's pretty par for the gaming course. Hell, it's pretty par for the course in any field. You know... try to knock some luster off the competitors/hype your own product.
By the way, those Penny Arcade guys... I haven't seen the numbers but I would guess they've hit their peak. **whistles**
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