Shane Kim wants MMOs on Xbox 360

By Robert Purchese Published 29 July, 2008

MGS boss still to "crack the code".

Microsoft Game Studios boss Shane Kim is working hard to make Xbox 360 an alluring platform for MMO developers.

He canned Cryptic Studios' PC and Xbox 360 online game, Marvel Universe, earlier this year, but says first-party failure needn't hold the genre back from blooming on the console.

"I'll admit MGS has not had success in the MMO space, and that happened under my leadership, so I take full responsibility. It's a tough and challenging space that's evolving all the time - a lot of shifting sands," Kim told Edge. "We haven't been able to crack the code.

"I think we've made the right decision not to proceed with those things like the Marvel MMO. And that's tough, both for customers looking forward to it and teams working on it. That said, we haven't been successful, but there's nothing to say those titles can't be successful on 360."

Shane Kim said he sympathises with third-party frustration caused by lack of a default hard drive and an enclosed online environment - but promises MGS is working hard to find a solution.

"I know that our third-party folks want to enable all kinds of content and we work very hard to create a stable and secure environment on Xbox 360 and that's where you see that [third-party] tension," said Kim.

"I'm sure we can solve that problem though in a way that is good for MMO developers and customers because we want that content: and we're getting very close. But we're late with that, and we feel bad about that."

Cryptic Studios is now hard at work on Champions Online, which also happens to be a superhero MMO for PC and Xbox 360 - as well as PS3. The difference is that Cryptic, and not Microsoft, owns the IP.

Head over to our E3 preview of Champions Online to find out more.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (23) Latest comment 4 years ago

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

  • Zomoniac #1 4 years ago

    MGS and MGS should have different names. Likewise FPS and FPS.

  • LetsGo #2 4 years ago

    Its really not that hard....

  • seasidebaz #3 4 years ago

    Oh well, DC Universe Online will be better anyway. So will The Agency. And the NCSoft ones that are going to come out (eventually)...

  • DFawkes #4 4 years ago

    Metal Gear Solid hasn't had success in the MMO space? Did it not run at enough first-person shooters/frames per second/firey pig suits?

    Still, if I'm paying the live sub, I want MMOs as a part of that. But I'm not. So I don't. But I think generally speaking people that want to play MMOs will already be doing so on PC or FFXI, so any 360 MMO will have to be free, really good, or just give in and make WoW. Go on, you know you want to.

  • bad09 #5 4 years ago

    So he wants people to pay for Live THEN pay to play games? Hmmm.......

  • Darren #6 4 years ago

    Yeah, right let's release lots of MMO games for a console that (a) has a base model that lacks a hard drive; and (b) has a popular model with a measly 20 GB HDD of which only 13 GB is actually free for use! LOL

    Sure Microsoft are releasing a 60 GB HDD model to replace the 20 GB HDD but that's coming almost three years into the life of the 360 and the 120 GB HDD is horrendously overpriced so it's hardly a must-have upgrade for most people.

  • Wash #7 4 years ago

    APB shud be cool, other attempts have been/are pitiful.

    FFXI was dog shit on a stick.

    A first party, free to play mmo would be widely successful.

  • spammage #8 4 years ago

    WOW is a blip (and PC based), all the suits seem to think there is a massive market for the console MMO genre, there isn't. Mario on the PC anyone?

  • Darren #9 4 years ago

    Another area Microsoft needs to address if they intend pushing MMOs on the 360 is allowing Silver users to play them without paying for the Gold subscription. If you're paying £9 per month to play an MMO online, surely it should be accessible to Silver users as well instead of asking them to pay another £30-£40 per year for LIVE on top? After all doesn't that £9 MMO subscription fee include support and maintenance of the game servers, which may not be run by Microsoft?

  • bad09 #10 4 years ago

    @ Darren

    They probably could do it look at that promotion letting them play Shadowrun etc.

  • DFawkes #11 4 years ago

    Silver users can play FFXI online. Although maybe I got confused with what you just said.

    Actually I just got it, and I agree, MMO sub should also pay for Gold play, but the MMO sub is for Square, and I don't know how it works but Microsoft may not get a cut of that.

  • bushwod #12 4 years ago

    Is that why they released the text pad thing?

    I'm quite interested to see how Age of Conan turns out on console.

  • sneetch #13 4 years ago

    @DFawkes & bad09

    Yeah, it seems a bit rich to me that they'd expect to be able to layer another subscription on top of the existing payment cake.

    First, you pay your ISP, then you pay for Live, then you pay for the game. Hmmm. No thanks. (Although that mini-rant goes out the window if Silver subs allow you to play MMOs online). Add pay DLC to that and you've just shot yourself in the foot.

    Also the Xboxs apparent allergy to keyboard and mouse would make most "traditional" MMOs unfeasible. I couldn't imagine trying to heal in a WoW raid using an Xbox controller, for example.

  • makeamazing #14 4 years ago

    If they were going to be fair, really the mmo should cost say £30, and then its free with your Xbox live accounts. They shouldnt charge you twice.

  • ChrisBravoTown #15 4 years ago

    I played FFXI when I was on a Silver account so you can forget the "charging twice" argument. You do not have to be a Gold subscriber to play MMORPG's on Xbox 360.
    Edited by 3 at 29/07/08 @ 22:29

  • kangarootoo #16 4 years ago

    All this talk of charging you twice really just boils down to the numbers.

    XBLive Gold membership costs what, £3 a month or something? And what does WoW cost per month, £9? So even if you paid an extra £5 to play an mmo over XBLive, it would still be cheaper than WoW.

    It doesn't really matter how many individual payments you make for something, all that matters is what it actually costs.

  • bad09 #17 4 years ago

    @ ChrisBravoTown

    The argument still stands if you already are a gold subscriber though doesn't it.....

  • kangarootoo #18 4 years ago

    Not really. If you are a gold subscriber you aren't paying just to play an mmo, you are playing for everything that a gold subscription gives you. You aren't paying twice for the same thing, you are paying for two different things.

  • sneetch #19 4 years ago

    @kangarootoo
    "XBLive Gold membership costs what, £3 a month or something? And what does WoW cost per month, £9? So even if you paid an extra £5 to play an mmo over XBLive, it would still be cheaper than WoW."

    Well, of course, I think that's obvious to everyone here, but why would an MMO company reduce their prices to sell their games to the Xbox crowd? I mean, why would they charge less just because gold subscribers already pay a separate fee?

    They have their own expenses and frankly the fact that a player may or may not have additional expenses is irrelevant to them. You don't get a discount from WoW because your ISP, phone-line or electricity has become more expensive. It's not their problem.

    Also as these are just random figures it's also pretty meaningless; you may as well say that if they paid you a tenner a month to play you'd actually be making £7 a month for playing. (Edit: I mean, the fiver a month is random)

    But so long as you don't need a gold subscription to play any potential future MMO then it's all good.
    Edited by 1 at 30/07/08 @ 10:32

  • Ryze #20 4 years ago

    Chatpad / USB Keyboard + motion pointer = MMO, RTS, FPS, RPG win.

  • Connobi #21 4 years ago

    Cryptic have already said that if you want to play the champions online MMO on the 360. you WILL need a HD.

    They made the very good point of saying that people that have a 360 without a HD, most likely wouldn't be the type of people who would play an MMO anyway.

  • Connobi #22 4 years ago

    Also, why are some of you moaning about paying for gold & an mmo game subscription. They are two totally seperate things. Gold allows online play via xbox live & all the perks therein for 12 months.

    Your mmo game subscription pays for the maintenance & upkeep of the games servers.

    You wouldn't have to be a gold member to play an MMO on the 360. You don't have to with FF, or PSO, & you didn't back on the xbox with PS either.

    Unless all console MMOs went the Guild Wars path (which are free to play), but some argue guild wars isn't a "true" mmo. Personally i think its they way it should go :)

  • Yaz #23 4 years ago

    Connobi wrote: "why are some of you moaning about paying for gold & an mmo game subscription. They are two totally seperate things."

    Agreed. Good posts.