Hidden away in Atlanta is Kaneva. This company hopes to make the dreams of amateur game developers a reality with their gameless game engine available in a beta state through Kaneva.com. Recently, we toured their offices and today we present our impressions:
;) How many million times, on how many million message boards has the thread “I want to make my own MMORPG, want to help?” appeared? Usually these threads meet with scorn and speeches about how the fans will need millions of dollars and a dedicated staff to consider such a project. Last week while in Atlanta I came across a company who has set out to change that: Kaneva. This company has produced a gameless MMORPG engine that they intend to distribute freely to amateur and professional game developers alike. At first glance, it sounds too good to be true, but what they showed definitely has the potential to level the playing field and open up MMORPG creation to practically anyone.
A free game engine? It sounds too good to be true. How do they make money? Kaneva plans to give their game engine to anyone who wants it. Kaneva retains the (non-exclusive) rights to host any content on their website, where they will take care of billing, servers, and the business end of the deal. Developers are free to set their own prices, and then split them down the middle, fifty/fifty with Kaneva. Once again, their business model looks like it might cut away another layer of red tape. It enables the would-be developer to simply worry about their game and actually make some money off their hobby. |
You can read the full article here.
