Pokemon MMO on the Horizon?
Is there a Pokemon MMO on the horizon? Our current poll shows that there’s clearly a great demand for a Pokemon MMO. Does Nintendo have any explanations why there is not Pokemon MMO yet – and, more importantly, will there be one in the near future?
Official Nintendo Statement: Why is there no Pokemon MMO
One year ago, Pokemon franchise director , explained why there is no Pokemon MMO yet:
“At this point, we’re not thinking of going in that direction. Trading is a core concept of Pokémon. So when you’re trading, you meet with a friend and decide which one you want and which one they want” Source: Vg247
The “Trading Concept”?
Ok, trading is a vital part of the Pokemon concept, but is that really a reason why there is no Pokemon MMO yet or is money behind it all? Often, Pokemon fans feel themselves forced to buy both Pokemon games, because they are not that much into trading with other people or simply can’t find someone who’s willing to trade with them. Aside from that, Pokemon Diamond and Pearl have the wifi global trading system that allows people to trade Pokemons without actually meeting – so, is the “trading concept” really an explanation? No, it’s not.
Nintendo Shuts Down Fanmade Pokemon MMO
Just recently, Nintendo shut down an entire Pokemon fan-made MMO that was about to get popular. Doesn’t that underline that there is a great demand for a Pokemon MMO?
PokeNet “Valiant Venonat” received a takedown request from Nintendo in late March, although there are many other Pokemon MMO’s out there.
Pokemon MMO: Pokemon World Online
Another Pokemon MMO Pokemon World Online is still online and flourishing with 200+ players online at any given time.
Pokemon MMO: Pokemon Universe
The same is true for the Pokemon MMO: Pokemon Universe.
So, why is Nintendo not releasing their own Pokemon MMO, don’t they realize that there is a great demand or do they believe that they can make more money selling two Pokemon games for $34.99 each to every Pokémon fan instead of getting paid millions every month?
It is estimated that Blizzard makes 1.725 billion dollars gross per month from about 8 million World of Warcraft subscribers. So, if Nintendo would release a decent Pokemon MMO and get 10 million subscribers (a ridiculous low number for a game as popular Pokemon) they’d make billions every month! It clearly can’t be the money, so what is it? Please Nintendo, enlighten us! Are you already working on a Pokemon MMO? You better are! Instead, they could also make a game like Pokemon Black and White and add online features like online tournaments, online trading and other features players have been asking for. That would be really innovative, but as of right now I agree with Kotaku reader PimpNinja24:
I have stopped buying Pokemon games. They aren’t bad, but to me they grew tiresome. I feel like I’m playing the same game, with no real improvements, and the gameplay to me is too simplistic.
I am sure that many people would love to play a Pokemon MMO even more than a Morrowind MMO, what do you think?
I play Pokemon World online, when Valiant Venonat got shutdown we all expected Nintendo to come after us next, but oddly, they looked and decided to ignore it, dont have a clue why.
But i do agree, a Pokemon MMO would be a huge success, considering how many fan-based ones were made and how much fans and non-fans of pokemon want one, it would be as big as WoW if not bigger.
As to why they havent seen the light with this is beyond me, everyone sees plain as day how huge it would be.
Maybe they arnt tipping their hand because they have one in the works and just dont wanna say O.o.
I guess only time can tell, Pokemon is as popular as ever and its not stopping for a break/
This is going to get long… TL;DR? There’s more factors to worry about in making money than simple numbers. Read on if you’re interested in my POV.
The problem isn’t with Nintendo, it’s more to do with what making an MMO would entail. Pokemon has and (probably) always will be aimed at kids. The original concept behind the game was to get them to interact with eachother on the playground in a shared experience. I grew up when the game had just come out, followed by the card game. Lots of kids played, and through the game found friends. This isn’t really the case anymore. Lots of non-kids do play the game, but the focus is still on kids.
Going by the sales of Pearl/Diamond (17.1 million), there’s a good good market there, but 17.1 million console games does not directly correlate into 17.1 million subscribers to a Pokemon MMO(arguement 1). I personally play Pokemon because it’s portable, the mechanics, and because it’s a tie to my past. Hooking it up into an MMO ruins my main reason to play the game (argument 2). For a lot of other people this will be the same. Then we have to look at the target audience. Selling a single game for $35 is easier than getting parents to pay 30 upfront and a 10 dollar renewal fee (argument 3).
Then we have to look at a redesign of mechanics which is expensive (4). Using the same mechanics is great for a hardcore group of gamers (such as those in the above-mentioned MMOs), but the general amount of players will tire and let their subs slip (5). We would also need to look into expansions, which include an on-going and more error-prone system of updating versus a one-off solution which Gamefreak does now (6). And then there’s the maintenance of the servers for your subs (7).
But the main killing factor of a Pokemon MMO is the accountability (8) of the company. In most online games, you have to be a certain age or have a parent consent, but this would ruin the image of Pokemon to many families. It may be awesome to have a pokemon named “cawk” in your version, but having this supported and proliferate in a game aimed at kids would definally cause controversy. This may not happen in the current MMOs, but we’re talking about dedicated fanatics/hobbyists who love the game. Many are older than the target demographic and love the game because of the time they have spent with it. If this were to become comercialized, expect something similar to WoW, where there would be 10-13 year olds running around with bought characters screaming swear words and put downs at the caps of their keyboards(9). Opening a game up to user interaction is great if the users are responsible enough to try and maintain the atmosphere, or at least civility within the game world. But this isn’t the case, generally, and this is why most games are closed worlds(10).
So to sum it up, 1: Copies sold of Pokemon do not directly correllate to the amount of subscriptions an MMO will have, due to 2: loss of portability and 3: the subscription cost (which many kids can’t justify to their parents). Even to pull this off, mechanics would need to be redone(4) in order to attract and keep subscriptions(5), including expansion packs(6) which would need to be actively produced on a tight time-line to keep subs to pay for servers(7). Gamefreak would then have to police their own content(8) to try and keep it kid-safe in order to protect their franchise’s image without alienating the consumers, who generally will screw with the system(9 and 10).
BTW, this isn’t the stance of Nintendo, Gamefreak, or anyone else connected with Pokemon. This is coming from a gamer who has spent years playing MMOs (and games in general) in every category. While I can’t guarantee that these thoughts are true for Nintendo, these are some of the general issues that any child-friendly franchise would face.
To close, I’ll echo what I said above. Nintendo is out to make money. There are more factors to worry about than just sending out a product for consumers to buy. Going into an MMO, especially for a IP like Pokemon would be very risky at the scale they operate on (house-hold name). The Pokemon MMOs currently out survive and thrive because of their limited size. They are not popular enough to attract non-hardcore players, and they are small enough that they do not cause much threat to the Pokemon IP by existing. This is a completely different market than what Gamefreak would be capable of, and it is why they work.
woah… that’s a real long and detailed explanation but after reading it i figured that it’s kinda true.
Noname, I don’t agree with all of your arguments (see below) but you have some very valid points. If Nintendo would have a dedicated team for the development and marketing they would still make a killing. The name alone will attract a lot of people. As for the accountability, that’s very true, but see my points below.
Most games nowadays cost like $50. CoD Black Ops even more. Heck, in Europe it’s even more. Sometimes as high as $70! Publishers are really going crazy with prices, but people still buy it.
1: agree
2: agree
3: partly agree (If they want to play they will find a way. I don’t know about you, but when I was younger I always had to pay for my games alone. Children in EU/US usually have a lot of money to spend on all sorts of stuff, but since Nintendo is based in Japan and their main market will be Asia it’s a totally different story)
4: 100% agree
5-7: Of course, Nintendo would need a dedicated team for that MMO, but every MMO’s needs that or it will die really quickly.
8-10: Most parents don’t even know what their children play (sad, but true). I read some studies that it may even help children when parents play together with their children, but only very responsible parents will actually do that. Anyway, with some dedicated GM’s it should be manageable to create a better atmosphere.
there are very valid points there BUT Nintendo would still make a TON of money from a mmo and the subscriptions there are a lot of people that would play this there are so many threads and forums about this there have been people wanting this since the game came out it would take a lot of time and money but with that time and money spent they would make 10 times that in the first month alone its hard to make new mmo’s but other companies have done it wow used to just be warcraft and although the game is aimed mostly at kids grown ups still play it its a great game, also saying that they would have to police the game and whatnot, most mmo’s do have a chat filter feature which blocks out swearing and such but it doesnt matter what i say because there will probably never be a pokemon mmo
i dont know why good has no pokemon games not evan other websits! i mean really come on guys we need something!!!!!!!!! cause i mean with all of us fans here there are bunches!!!!!! so come on make something!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Think of this, All the monsters in WoW, or Final Fantasy 11/14 are now pokemon, 8 different cities to start in. with the gyms having level caps so even when your lvl 50 pokemon, you sync down to the gym requirment. As for the expansions.. they already have the expansions. have Red and Blue the very origonal start the game.. and start with 150 pokemon, and give the game a try. Give people a chance to prove it is worth there time and the profits they would make. when expansions come out, have new areas with new gyms and achievements. Could have it so that gym badges add stats to your character and unlock certain areas. Have it set up so its like wow or any othere MMO where you get gear, “Gloves” (+9 Attack to fire Pokemon), or (Increases Pokemon HP by …) or whatevery, you could have gear to farm/buy as you go through game with an auction house, and Professions to make yourself gear. For Rare pokemon, like Mewtwo, Zapdos etc, they could have a 24-48-72 hrs or w/e spawn and make them hard as hell to catch.. or even once a week where people have to earn these rare pokemon. have side quests or quests like “Go into cave and defeat team rocket (lame example, but it is one) I have such great visions for this game i wish Nintendo would get off there asses and make this game. As for the servers.. and them worrying about Kids and the bad mouthed people.. protecting kids innocence, they could have special servers.. Kids server where you cant take language filter off… and a server for 18+ or w/e, im sure the server would fill up with 18+ 14+ or whatever its set at. i brought this idea up to my friends and im 24 and i still love the game. they would easily fill out the subscripions.
Truthfully I doubt the market for Pokemin is as young as it used to be. Even Nintendo has recognized it by making slightly older characters in their latest installment. Also some of he negatvie arguments forget the core army of MMO players out there and how this installment could bring more players in general to the Pokemon Realm.
Old, but w/e
The reason why Nintendo hasnt made Pokemon MMO is quite simple, they know that doing it will attract ALOT of people(in the millions like it was stated above), but it also runs the risk of ruining the entire franchise, so I believe that they are waiting for pokemon to die out a bit more and then make a big return with a Pokemon MMO, not only will they obviously attract everyone again, but they’ll make money, if the game holds on, they keep making money, if it doesnt, it was already going down so at least they made a few more bucks
At least this is how I see it :p