"This game is dead anyway."
This is something we read here on our forums, Reddit and across the media landscape all the time, especially when an MMO makes an update that might not sit well with the established playerbase. Calling an MMO or another multiplayer game a "dead" game has become a constant refrain, especially in a community that views the entire genre as already given up the ghost.
I read this a lot over the last few months when it came to New World: Aeternum especially, with players pointing to the ARPG language shift or dwindling PC player numbers as a sign that the upcoming overhaul was too little, too late since the MMO was already "dead" anyways. It's an interesting concept, calling an MMO or another multiplayer title "dead" despite there still being multiple updates, players jumping in daily, and bustling player activity. Yet, as fans of a genre where an MMO could shut down at a moment's notice thanks to the genre relying on the good graces of the Live Service Gods, it's probably easy to simply look at a struggling game and just expect that it's dying, if not already in its death throes.
However, while many "dead" games are anything but, there have been many, many examples of MMOs that seemed like they could be great, yet died an untimely death (WildStar), and then those where there is a dearth of developer support, despite keeping the lights on (RIFT).
Related:
WildStar was the best MMORPG that deserved to die
It's often a phrase that is immortalized in meme form, such as the fateful player who predicted that EVE Online was "dying" mere months into its life, only for the sci-fi MMO to continue, having just entered its third decade of operation.
21 years ago today, a forum poster named Madox immortalized the phrase 'EVE is dying' during an unexpected 4-hour downtime. Little did they know, they'd create one of EVE's most iconic memes! "Already replaced", "Planned at the BBQ", what's your favorite EVE meme? pic.twitter.com/Va8WW3JmO1
— EVE Online (@EveOnline) July 30, 2024
As I watched the criticism of New World: Aeternum roll in, one phrase I kept seeing was that Amazon's MMO was, in fact, already "dead." It made me wonder just what that line is where an MMO, despite still being supported and updated by its dev team and also still played by thousands daily, is "dead." What is the Rubicon to be crossed here?
Personally, I find it hard to call any game that is still being actively played dead, despite a lower player count or general excitement around a title. Does it have the hundreds of thousands of players running around the game world like before? Probably not, but in a game like New World, every time I log in the cities and countryside are bustling. This could simply be because the game world funnels players into these areas, or that server pops are lower than another MMO so the concentration of players in population centers are higher - but it feels anything but dead in my opinion.
So I put it to you: when do you consider an MMO dead? What is your criteria for an MMO to slip its mortal coils and go into the oblivion that is a dead live service game? Let us know in the comments below.
