@CriticalHit, This title has seen an increase in popularity recently after coverage on FilePlanet for the beta release and with a brief stint on various websites, such as Kotaku and MMORPG.com, announcing the upcoming launch. While this game is flying under the radar, it would be difficult to say that it is being totally ignored. Another point of consideration is that while PC games have seen a dip in market performance as of late with the news of Quake: Enemy Territory and the lackluster sales therein, an MMO would circumvent the problem of piracy with a requirement of subscription a service.
The buzz that is starting to bubble up for this game is enough to say that at least a couple hundred thousand people would buy the game. With the expectation that only 100k people would buy this, it seems like an underestimate for a potential launch fan base. While I wouldn't say that this is a sure fire winner with a consistent player base, enough people will express an interest in this game to say that 200k is not too high of an estimate.
To be honest, I do hope that this game does generally well, because pirates games are awesome.
And the fact that they use Sid Meier's Pirates as inspiration (just look at the graphics, even the in-game fonts!).
GDC '07 Hands On
"Large Scale World Control PVP
Just to touch on what is probably the most intriguing feature of Pirates of the Burning Sea, the port control PVP aspect could take the MMO world by storm. Each of the four factions control several forts in the Caribbean. Owning a port allows members of that faction to build structures and harvest resources used in crafting items, along with various other benefits. Each port has an unrest level, which can be increased by members of other factions running missions or sinking their ships. Once the unrest level reaches the boiling point, large scale conflict breaks out.
This leads to a three day PVP battle around the port, where players of all factions can come and join in the fray. After three days, the top twenty-five members of each faction are pulled into a massive battle to determine who owns the port.
The beauty of the system is that even if you don't want to fight other players you can still run missions to contribute to the unrest points of any particular harbor."
While the ship combat may be like that of Eve online's, the inclusion of actual avatar combat on land seperates it. Also the idea of a customizable home (can't remember if that will be in at launch) is also a draw for alot of people.
This doesn't have to be a niche game. I for one have never had much of an intrests in ships, pirates, or the time period itself. However I am drawn to this game Just because of the fun factor. And if it does end up being a niche game, it may end up bringing people into that niche because of that reason.
The game will undoubtedly grab a niche crowd, which is nothing to scoff at. A niche crowd can be as high as 200,000 subs with over half a million retails boxes sold.
My personal theory is that this game will be much like Eve Online in terms of gameplay but set in a time where more people can relate and thus draw in more subs. MMORPGs may have trouble gaining momentum in stocks but remember these companies make WAY more money than console games that sell the same numbers because of the monthly fee's. My guess is that this games stock will slowly rise and rise until its released where it will remain flat. Only time will tell though.
I agree with GoblinMerchant, it is very hard to gain any traction in the MMO market, especially with WOW soaking up all the sales. Most MMOs don't sell that well, most end up becoming niche titles and if this game doesn't do well in the first year, the severs will shut down, eliminating any hope of aggregated sales over a long lifetime.
Yes but fortunately this sim-exchange is trying to forecast lifetime sales. So if you agree that it will eventually sell 10 million copies then you should also in theory be willing to pay that much for the stock, or at least you should expect it to get that high. If on the other hand you are trying to say it will not sell that many copies because the PS3 will never reach the sales numbers of the PS2 I am inclined to agree.
Although this game may look good, it is near impossible to get any traction in the MMORPG market, especially as a new IP from a new studio. You must discount this stock with a very large risk factor.
This game is looking good, the previews indicate something like Sid Meier's Pirates! but as an MMO. Since Sid Meier's Pirates! was such a great game, if this can come close to replicating the fun of that game but in the MMO space, this game could sell into the half million mark. If they use the Pirates of the Caribbean crazy to full effect it could sell even more.
It all depends though on how smooth the ship combat is and how well the game can keep people coming back for more. The combat sounds good at 50 people, which should be pretty exciting and the prospect that skill trumps experience points in combat seems sound to me.
This game is being distributed through Steam though, so that could dampen the sales overall though the prospect of a retail package in the future could up sales over the long haul.
We have to wait and see as more information comes out but on the whole this game is looking pretty promising for me, after all its a break from the swords and sorcery fantasy/sci fi worlds that most MMOs are, which is in its favor.
4
This title has seen an increase in popularity recently after coverage on FilePlanet for the beta release and with a brief stint on various websites, such as Kotaku and MMORPG.com, announcing the upcoming launch. While this game is flying under the radar, it would be difficult to say that it is being totally ignored. Another point of consideration is that while PC games have seen a dip in market performance as of late with the news of Quake: Enemy Territory and the lackluster sales therein, an MMO would circumvent the problem of piracy with a requirement of subscription a service.
The buzz that is starting to bubble up for this game is enough to say that at least a couple hundred thousand people would buy the game. With the expectation that only 100k people would buy this, it seems like an underestimate for a potential launch fan base. While I wouldn't say that this is a sure fire winner with a consistent player base, enough people will express an interest in this game to say that 200k is not too high of an estimate.