Blizzard in for "lengthy battle" - Mythic

By James Lee Published 18 October, 2008

Jacobs responds to claims of lost players.

Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning has only just begun to compete with World of Warcraft, says Mark Jacobs, Mythic's CEO, who commented "It's a marathon, not a sprint".

Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, Jacobs took issue with comments made by Blizzard exec Paul Sams that over half of the subscribers who left World of Warcraft for Warhammer Online had returned, which Mythic's CEO interpreted to as an accusation Warhammer users were leaving the MMO.

"One thing about MMOs is that people play multiple games," asserted Jacobs. "That's one of the reasons I was very surprised by Paul's comments. He knows that people many play WOW and they'll play WAR and maybe even a third game at the same time."

He added: "Any comment along the lines of 'well if they're in my game they're not playing in another game,' flies in the face of all research that's been done among MMO players… The idea that you only play one is really kind of silly."

When asked if he was confident Warhammer Online could hold onto its subscribers when World of Warcraft's second expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, comes out, Jacobs assuredly claimed that Mythic is well prepared to fight back with its own content updates.

"We've known that Blizzard is preparing to launch in November. We just announced some of the things that will be going in our first major patch… that's one of the ways we're going to respond."

"This is the beginning of a rather lengthy battle with the guys at Blizzard," Jacobs explained. "We’re in this space to be successful and, when you have a competitor that is as successful and important to the games industry as WOW has been, you don't go into this space unless you're willing to spend money and spend time and really compete against them."

Jacobs further declared: "It's a marathon, not a sprint. We've got a lot of stuff going in, not only this fall but then there's spring and then after that."

Picture of James.

About James Lee

Read more articles from James by visiting the James Lee archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (40) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • makeamazing #1 3 years ago

    Totally agree with Mythic guys comments. Had to log on to WOW to send some gold to a friend... hadnt been on for a long while, guess blizzard suggest that is a user coming back to the game.. which of course it wasnt really.

    Still playing war, still enjoying it (when i have time to play it), definately getting a subscription :)

    WOW is really successful, it doenst need to chest beat.. lets hope they dont get a MS PR guy on board otherwise it will get bad.

  • ZuluHero #2 3 years ago

    playing both too. This has to be one of the least childish reponses ive seen in a while. Well done mythic :)

    Oh and can't wait for the WAR update! :D

  • Eraysor #3 3 years ago

    WAR and WoW can peacefully coexist, and I personally prefer WAR for the moment. The new patch sounds extremely delicious too.

    Also - "lenghty"?

    I'm really glad they have EA's funding, it certainly means the game can stick around for a very long time.
    Edited by 1 at 18/10/08 @ 09:31

  • Dizzy #4 3 years ago

    WAR is great. They pulled it off... and yes they can all live together since LOTRO, WoW and WAR provide different experiences.

  • Shakey_Jake33 #5 3 years ago

    To be honest, with subscription-based games like MMO's, it's a little bit harder to justify paying monthly fees for multiple games. It also makes it that bit harder to jump to a new game and start afresh.

  • Oli Verified Reviews Editor, Eurogamer.net #6 3 years ago

    Eraysor - I knew there was a reason working on Saturday mornings was a bad idea.

  • tenebrae #7 3 years ago

    Based on my limited research (asking a few guildies :p) I feel that the "playing multiple games" comment is true. I am playing and paying both LotRO and WAR, and many I posed the question said they're subscribed to several MMOs. Although in LotRO, if you've bought a lifetime subscription (I haven't), it is easy to claim subscription. :)

  • Eraysor #8 3 years ago

    Indeed Oli, I have to go to work in 25 minutes >_

  • dudefella #9 3 years ago

    Who the hell is juggling two MMO's? That would require you to have no life whatsoever. It's just not feasible for a normal human being.

  • Wickerman #10 3 years ago

    Glad to see my Saturday morning at work misery is being shared by others - makes me feel just a little better ;)

    Been impressed by a lot of the stuff I've heard coming out of the WAR camp - no-where near as childish as I was expecting things to get between them and the WoW guys. Pity that a lot of the people that play the two games can't be as civil towards each other on the some of the forums elsewhere that I've visited!

  • Wickerman #11 3 years ago

    @dudefella - I've managed to juggle two MMOs on more than one occasion and still (shock horror) have a 37.5 hour a week job, have a fiancée (who hasn't left me for the milkman because I'm spending too much time playing games and not enough with her... well, that I know of at least - haven't seen her recently now you come to mention it...), and have a social life. Then again, I've never been a hardcore raider, or instance runner in any game - very much in the casual 'I'll play a few hours of this tonight, and if any of the guys I play with are around and free I'll do something with them, and if not I'll do something solo' camp.

  • Darkjinxter #12 3 years ago

    I'm currently subbed to 3 MMOs
    Age of Conan which get the lion's share of my time atm as I'm one of the few who enjoy it.
    EQii which gets only a few hours a week, more social to talk with my friends on there.
    And....WoW, which gets no time from me at all as my lad has hijacked my characters since Burning Crusade came out.

    I have cancelled my sub to WAR this week not because I don't like it, I just don't have the time to put into it atm. I'll likely re-sub WAR in a few months time to see how it's progressing.

  • dudefella #13 3 years ago

    wickerman - Yeah I guess it's possible if you stay super casual, but the way it usually works for me with MMO's is that I'll play them a whole lot, or not at all. I think I'd just kind of feel like I'm wasting money if I'm paying for subs but only playing a couple of hours a week. But more than that, I just can't commit to two games like that, hell, I have trouble enough as it is commiting to several different toons in WoW. I'm usually a one game, one character at a time kind of guy.

  • Skywise #14 3 years ago

    I'm amazed people have time for multiple MMO's at the same time

  • Shakey_Jake33 #15 3 years ago

    I find it difficult enough juggling FFXI, PSOBB, other games and y'know, real world stuff like university. Don't have the time to even consider games like WoW or WAR.

  • Scribble #16 3 years ago

    Blizzard was right about me though, and my wife. We have 2 CEs of WAR. Only actually registered the keys last week. Haven't logged in since the day after the headstart. It's far too linear for us, no exploration just a tunnel you follow. The PvP is about 20x better than WoWs, but we're carebears.

    Sorry WAR, I wanted to love you, I merely respect you and don't enjoy you personally.

  • WrongShui #17 3 years ago

    To many things wrong with WAR, ditching it without creating a sub.

    Back to WoW it is.
    Edited by 1 at 18/10/08 @ 12:27

  • 4thVariety #18 3 years ago

    I'd really like to see how many percent of MMO players do play multiple MMOs.

  • timberwolf #19 3 years ago

    huh? some people can afford all those subscriptions... which people??

  • Gl3n #20 3 years ago

    Scribble, that's funny as i had exactly the same experience with WoW. Quest your way to 70 virtually solo following the familiar zones. Then gear-grind until dead.

    Not that i disagree with WAR being linear, it is rather. Just there are a lot of other activities accessible from rank 1.

    I miss the heady MMO days of true exploration and open endedness.

    Edit: Actually i might add that there are a boat load of unlockable titles, quests, unique encounters, wearable trophies and XP nuggets just from running around exploring. There seems to be a fair crowd on my server dedicated to this souly.
    Personally, after only the first few days of headstart i'd barely scratched the surface of the stuff i've ended up sinking my time into.
    Edited by 2 at 18/10/08 @ 13:04

  • tap #21 3 years ago

    They'll need to fix the stuttering/hitching or I'm off after the 30 day free period is finished.

    I actually really love WAR; from someone who mainly solos WoW the PQs are genius.

  • MGSmarioPRO #22 3 years ago

    Play more than one game with that subscription price? I cant, :S

  • Kremlik Verified Co-Founder, Crash To Desktop #23 3 years ago

    well when a singleplayer game these days costs £45-£50 brand new and mmos start at £8.99 a month anyone who says can't multi sub and buys singleplayer titles a lot TBH is a down right lier..

    Personally speaking MMOs in the long term are far cheaper then buy single player titles these days on a monthly basis, the one true issue with them if your basically logging into one in every single moment of free time you have it's bond to be 'not worth it', but if you are a multi subber and manage you time well and not going 'FULL ON TO WIN' then it's money worth spent..

    In fact if you play games like eve with you can buy GTC for isk etc, it's quite easy to multisub, it's basically a diffenerce between playing a game and making it your 'life', which imo these days far too many treat them like - WoW being the ultimate in this as it forces you TO make it your life to 'progress'.

  • Miths #24 3 years ago

    "huh? some people can afford all those subscriptions... which people?? "

    People with jobs :). In fact I seem to recall times even back when I was a relatively poor student when I had three or four MMO subscriptions running at once. €50 or whatever that amounts to, is hardly a fortune - unless you're knee deep in debt or living in your parents' garage.

  • Nikalai88 #25 3 years ago

    I think from a maturity standpoint I like Blizzard better;

    "I think Warhammer is best positioned to succeed out of the various products that have come out thus far since World of Warcraft has come out," he offered.

    "It seems to be a good game, certainly a great company, Mythic and Mark [Jacobs] over there and his team, they're very, very talented."

    I never heard Mythic praise the competition, in fact the Blizzard comment was about how a new MMO launch affects their subsriber base, not about the long or short term success of WAR.

  • Furfoot #26 3 years ago

    To fix the stuttering do a search for buffsthrottle on curse.com

  • hiruu #27 3 years ago

    The battle is joined! WAR is the best thing that EVER HAPPEN to WoW players...we have something get get Blizzard energized about re-inventing the stagnant portions of the game. Whatever some might say...WoW is GROWING, not shrinking, so it's kinda hard to argue with that. WOTLK looks to be amazing, and it's going to cause havok on my gaming ratio...95% WoW....5% everything else...at least for 5-6 months from release.

  • Jigglybean #28 3 years ago

    I've just posted in the other thread but WAR is certainly losing players. I'm just lvl 23 and already public quests are lacking players, RvR scenarios are all but dead for Order. I can see why players are bored of WoW but its streets ahead in terms of polish and dull quests/dungeons but WAR does win the pvp battle - its alot better but that doesnt make WAR a WoW beater.

    Both are genre uninspiring MMOs.

  • Martin #29 3 years ago

    Hmmm... I'd like to try out a trial of WAR but I'm not sure how to get my hands on it.

    Do I need to chat up one of my buddies that has the game or can I just download it from somewhere?

  • Kami #30 3 years ago

    In fact if you play games like eve with you can buy GTC for isk etc, it's quite easy to multisub, it's basically a diffenerce between playing a game and making it your 'life', which imo these days far too many treat them like - WoW being the ultimate in this as it forces you TO make it your life to 'progress'.

    Isn't this true of most MMO's these days? WoW is more accessible than EQ2 which was more accessible than FFXI (which DID demand you spend your whole life playing it and then some!). Some games have lots to do on the way up. Some games have lots to do at the top. Some games do both. Some games fall flat on their faces. If you make it your life, it'll become your life. Whether it's WAR or WoW or Perfect World. The whole point of an MMO is to keep you paying every month or buying those items, never forget that.

    Some of us can switch off. Go out and have a good time and get away from games and gaming. Point is, WoW doesn't force anything - there's lots to do, certainly. But you can easily spend one or two hours a day and get quite far. You won't do it before the die-hards but that's not the point is it? WoW is far lighter than half of stuff on the market.

    Don't mix players and games together... all MMO's have their fanatics who'll sacrifice their lives to the glory of their chosen idol. WoW is the most successful so I understand the hate and lynchpinning but WoW is the biggest MMO because it's accessible to all.

    I'm probably off my head though at 2am... *face splats on keyboard* fgtrfg3

  • Orange #31 3 years ago

    I've seen a lot of players quit at Tier 3 where the levelling slows down too much. Even after the experience enhancement I've felt at times like quitting. It's a shame as Tier 1 and 2 are great, then 3 really brings it down to a snails pace.

  • Vandrius #32 3 years ago

    Meh, if Blizzard reads this...

    WAR > WoW.

    That is all.

  • hiruu #33 3 years ago

    Why would you even try to talk smack? With WOTLK coming out...i think the game might top the last and sell 3+ million on day one, and imho, that's NOT exactly something you want to be competing against...especially when you're under 1 million subs.

  • warlockuk #34 3 years ago

    Y'can't be king of the world when you're a slave to the grind.

    I'm playing WAR as soon as I get my net back.

  • Chimpy #35 3 years ago

    Well from personal experience, the people in my wow guild that left for WAR, vast majority have come back. I don't know how repesentative this is.

    There are quite a few people where I work that play WAR, but they weren't WoW players to start off with.

  • iokthemonkey #36 3 years ago

    I concur on a number of points here:

    1. It's possible to play more than one MMO.
    It's like saying you can only ever watch ITV and not the BBC. You just choose when you want to play and decide based upon your mood. Until a few months ago, I was playing THREE MMOs. Now I still have two on the go and switch between both when the mood takes ms.

    2. It's possible to play MMOs AND have a life.
    I've argued this before: playing an MMO is no more "addictive" than playing any other game. I find it frustrating (and insulting) when workmates will make comments about "I wish I had the time to play an MMO, but I have a life to live too" then go on to discuss how they were up until 2 AM trying to set a new lap record on Forza...

    3. Payers vs Players
    There's often a lot of figure-massaging in these things. They'll claim they have "400,000 subscribers" but that doesn't equate to 400,000 PLAYERS. I subscribed to WoW for a period of 6 months in which I didnt' even log in. Yet I'd still count as a "player" in the stats. Active players and active subscribers are not the same thing.

    It actually says more about Blizzard's fears than anything else. They're clearly so obsessed about their stats that they have to put out stuff to deny anybody is leaving their game. They have 11 million players. Even losing 10% of their userbase would still put them VASTLY ahead of their nearest rival...

  • anomagnus #37 3 years ago

    the fact is, that blizzards orginal comment was utter bullshit without the actual numbers involved.

    lets say that 100 people put down they were leaving for WAR. Half of that is 50 people. Who gives a fuck about 50 people?

    If it were 50,000 people that said they were going to WAR, and 25,000 came back, that would be something to crow about.

    The fact that blizzard didnt mention numbers should tell you fanboy's something

    Fact is, this is blizzard doing the ONLY thing they are good at, marketing

    Sure as fuck, they dont push imagination anymore.

  • anomagnus #38 3 years ago

    @MrZ

    i'm utterly baffled by your comment. Blizzards zones are lovely looking, but they are vast, empty wastelands.

    Ever tried walking through a zone in WAR, and finding a grave stone, clicking on it gives you a little lore, and tells you something about the world.

    Blizzards zones are so utterly, utterly sterile, its not even funny. theres no history to them, no lore, nothing to find that gives you a greater sense of the world.

    I literally don't understand how you think that WAR;s zones are lifeless, when EVERY SINGLE zone is filled with noteworthy persons, lore finds and bestiary unlocks.

    as opposed to blizzards zones, which have factions

    yay....

  • Jigglybean #39 3 years ago

    @ano

    LOL sorry to laugh, but WoW hasnt got 'vast wastelands'. You want vast, try Star Wars Galaxies. Huge maps that you can explore (expect the wow copying Kashyyyk).

    WAR has probably moved the MMO genre one step forward but thats it. In terms of content, its yet another genre MMO. It also needs polish - badly! WoW isnt good but its polished.
    Edited by 1 at 20/10/08 @ 23:30

  • king_randomness #40 3 years ago

    I don't see why people are trying to protect one game or another.... who give a **** about which game got most players or the coolest graphical effects or what not people always start shouting about.

    The sole purpose for gamers to play games is to be entertained. If you don't find WoW entertaining... don't play it, if you don't find WAR entertaining, don't play it and so on and so on.

    Giant games like WAR and WOW has least one thing in common and that is there have been a lot of talented hardcore people working on them for a long time.

    Personally i find WAR exciting and the whole start-up phase their going through right now can't be described as anything else but interesting. You can say what you want about WAR but you can't deny for a new MMO their doing pretty good.