The Genre
Final Fantasy XIV's 2021 moment, the failed MMOs that preceded it, Guild Wars 2, EVE Online, Old School RuneScape's polling system, and where the successors stand.
6 pieces
BlizzCon is where the announcements land, and where several of the decisions documented on this site were first stated out loud.
Photo: Tahir Xəlfəquliyev / Pexels
Square Enix stopped selling the game in 2021 because too many people were trying to buy it.
Photo: The Primals @ Final Fantasy XIV Fanfest 2016 · Wikimedia Commons
Start here
A Shadowlands slump, a Square Enix server queue, and the moment one game's misfortune became another's headline.
The GenreWildStar, Warhammer Online, The Matrix Online: What Closed ThemWarhammer Online closed in 2013, The Matrix Online in 2009, WildStar in 2018. Each launched into a space WoW already occupied.
The GenreEVE Online's Economy Is Monitored by a Real EconomistCCP hired an economist and published quarterly reports. No other game has treated its own market as a subject of study.
The GenreOld School RuneScape Votes on Its Own UpdatesContent needs 75% player approval to ship. Nothing in WoW has ever required a vote.
The GenreThe Successors Are Still LoadingIn development since 2016, and still not released. The successor problem turns out to be a scheduling problem.
The GenreThe Game EverQuest Built and Blizzard Sold to Fifty Times as Many PeopleServer communities, raid progression, gear dependency. WoW inherited the vocabulary and sold it to fifty times as many people.