MMORPG Publishers, Developers, and IP Blocks

In the free to play MMORPG market, the gamers are represented by two separate yet equally important groups: the developers who design the games and the publishers who deliver them. These are their stories.

A Game with Many Publishers

License to Sell
When free MMO game developers want to release their games, they often rely on specialized publishing companies which are familiar with foreign markets and already have localization, marketing, and server infrastructure in place. This system often works well for all involved, including gamers. Aeria Games, Outspark, Gamers First, gPotato, and IJJI are just some of the portals that publish free games developed by various studios around the world. This system does have advantages, but also its share of shortcomings. I’ll share my thoughts on this popular method and whether companies that handle their own development and publishing internally are at an advantage or disadvantage.

By outsourcing their distribution, developers rely on regional publishers to act as middlemen between themselves and players. This frees them up to concentrate on actually improving the game, but makes them less involved with the community. For smallish companies with no experience in foreign markets, seeking a third party publisher is the only logical option.

Developers make their money by selling the license to run their games. These licenses must be renewed regularly and the developers usually get a cut of all cash shop items sold as well. A good example of this is Nostale. It’s a quirky little 2D MMORPG that has no less then 3 official publishers. When I first started playing it, I ended up on the UK sever while my friend wound up on the Global service. The regional publishers are generally more familiar with the local culture which allows them to better market premium items and handle customer support.

Asia now IP Blocked

Walled Gardens
The fact that one game might end up under the management of multiple publishers leads to one of the most frustrating parts of the free to play MMORPG experience — IP blocks. Blocking gamers from accessing the official servers hosted in another region is a legal maneuver that’s meant to prevent competition. If a European publisher has to pay big bucks for a game license, they want to make sure a publisher from another region doesn’t grab their potential customers. Access to multiple servers would benefit players and force publishers to offer competitive premium shop pricing, but neither the developers nor publishers would realistically be behind this.

The real problem with IP blocks is how arbitrary they can be. The North American version of Drift City functioned for over a year without blocking Asian players. But a recent change in licensing forced gPotato to start blocking players. Gamers had little advanced notice and lost access to a MMO they had invested time and money into. Another good example is Dungeon Fighter Online. The game is published in North America by Nexon and implements an IP block on Europeans. The problem is, the IP block only went into effect after the beta ended. Many Europeans tried the game out during beta, liked it, and looked forward to playing it. After it was released, the IP block went into effect leaving many gamers across the pond stranded.

So is there a better way? The story of one Korean sci-fi shooter may hold the answer. Space Cowboy Online was originally hosted in North America by Gala-Net’s gPotato portal. The overseas developers and Gala-Net couldn’t come to an agreement when the license came up for renewal and the game disappeared in the US. The European version of the game, known as Air Rivals, quickly became the server of choice for the exiled US community. Even when a new American publisher picked up the license and relaunched the game under the title Ace Online, the community remain split. As of this writing neither version has an IP lock. Instead, players can choose which server to play on.

Now with Player-Made Mounts!

Doing it In-House
I recently came across a post on the official Perfect World International blog. They had previously ran an event for Ether Saga Online where players sent in mount designs. The winning entry was converted into an in-game mount that players can now purchase. Perfect World is a large Chinese company with operations in many countries. Their publishing branch has much smoother lines of communication with the development arm since the two are part of the same company. Events like this are undoubtedly easier to organize when a MMORPG is published in-house. Nexon enjoys the same advantage with MapleStory and Mabinogi. In comparison, Audition Online was published in North America by Nexon but was developed by a different company. This might explain why Nexon was quick to axe the game when it wasn’t performing.

Sudden game closures are common when a game has a different developer and publisher. A recent notorious case involved Aeria Games and DragonSky Online. The game’s closure came as a complete surprise to the community. Even the GMs, which are supposed to be the links between the publisher and the players, seemed to have had no advanced notice. The list of MMOs and MMORPGs that have been axed over the years is too long to post here but many soldier on in a reduced state by their developers. This has been the case with Cronous, Gunbound, The Legend of Mir 3, and a number of other free MMOs.

There has never been more activity in the free to play industry then now. There are so many options for developers, publishers, and players but inconveniences such as IP blocks and sudden game closures are the price of today’s free wheeling free MMORPG scene. If you’ve had first hand experience of a game you play shutting down or suddenly blocking you from playing, please share your thoughts by leaving a comment!

By, Erhan Altay