Quick Interview with Acclaim CEO Howard Marks...

Hey folks,

Sat in on a great presentation by Acclaim CEO Howard Marks about the future of MMOs. His presentation focused on the non-hardcore MMOs that are taking over the market. He cited many examples from Korea, China, and Japan. He also cited some of the other MMOs geared towards teens and kids like Runescape, ClubPenguin, etc.

Anyways, after the talk...I stuck around to ask him some questions. He thinks MMOs are the future. This is a summary of the conversation....

I asked him about whether MMOs are going to be "winner take all"...in the sense that there will only be one defining MMO for each category niche...like the way MySpace dominates the Social Networking scene.

He said that in Asia, that is not the case. In fact, folks get tired of MMOs quickly and move onto others. I asked him whether the Asian MMOs have "user generated content" like MySpace...and he said no.

So...my opinion is that it may be "winner take all" for MMO category segments...especially if users invest time to create content.

I then asked him about using MMOs for work. Things like Second Life and IBM are doing things where work takes place in the virtual environment. He wasn't as focused on that, but said it could happen. I brought up the "Google Maps Airplane" game and how there could be "Information MMOs" where folks collaborate and work on some information environment like Google Maps. He found that interesting, but seemed to be more focused on entertainment MMOs. I wanted to know if Acclaim was going to do work-based MMOs...and it doesn't seem like it.

Finally, I talked to him about business models. Mainly, the idea of physical-based products promoting the MMO. I mentioned some kids games online that give out candy with a web-code...so that kids can go online to play the games. I asked him if physical-based promotion is worth it...especially for indie game developers since profit margins for physical goods are much lower.

He said that physical-based promotion can definitely work. He then talked about a deal Acclaim is doing with a shoes company. The shoe design will be in the MMO...and at the same time, there will be a physical shoe that looks the same...that folks can buy. That will help brand things...so that the MMO becomes a lifestyle brand.

Finally, he also mentioned that this space of emerging MMOs is perfect for young folks looking for an opportunity in the game industry. Emerging MMOs seem like a great opportunity for indie game developers too...and most folks will find out that they are much easier and faster to make nowadays.