When it comes to MMO development, two studios seem incapable of getting to the finish line and releasing their MMO. In one corner, we have a developer that hired its first employees in 2015: Intrepid Studios and Ashes of Creation. In the other corner, we have a team that announced its Kickstarter over a decade ago: Cloud Imperium Games and Star Citizen. Even after their long and tumultuous developments, both developers still have fans eagerly anticipating each MMO’s successful version 1.0 release. But, just like every Friday Fight, there can be only one winner in the battle of development hell.
Cloud Imperium Games - Star Citizen
I can’t think of any developer that polarizes the gaming community quite like Cloud Imperium Games and its director, Chris Roberts. Having raised over $750 million and counting, there’s no doubt that CIG should have enough cash to finish Star Citizen. Yet many gamers think that Chris Roberts is incapable of reaching the finish line due to his penchant of continually announcing new features. And although there is currently a playable Alpha version, some naysayers even claim it’s all a scam.
Intrepid Studios - Ashes of Creation
Star Citizen isn’t the only game being called a scam. There are plenty of people who also think that Ashes of Creation is a scam, even though the MMO is currently in Alpha 2 Phase 2. Thousands of players have bought into Alpha 2 at this point, although there is still questions about whether the current version is actually playable. In any event, Ashes of Creation is showing development progress. Alpha 2 Phase 2 went live on December 20th, bringing 24/5 testing, and Phase 3 is expected to start in March. That’s when AoC is supposed to go 24/7. That’s still a long way from an official launch, but it is heading in the right direction.
My Take
I want to believe that both Star Citizen and Ashes of Creation will eventually be released in full. God knows exactly when that day will come.
Regardless of whether I am right about either developer ever releasing a finished product, I don’t believe either MMO is a scam. Both titles are already playable, so we aren’t talking about vaporware here. But both games have some obstacles to overcome, and it may be several more years before either MMO is fully released.
For Star Citizen, the biggest hurdle to finally releasing is feature bloat. Chris Roberts has added so many features that they had to spin Squadron 42 off as a standalone story campaign. Just call it already; draw a line in the sand and say, “That’s enough.” There will always be time after the game releases for more features to be added.
Regarding Ashes of Creation, I wonder if funds will dry up before it is finally released. Intrepid Studios has raised more than enough money to push out a single-player game or an “indie quality” MMO. Getting a AAA out the door, though? That’s another beast altogether. And even if they do get to full release, I wonder how long they can keep the doors open. We’ve seen plenty of triple-A MMOs launch and fail over the last few years, and I wonder just how big the audience for an old-school style MMO really is.