The BBC website has put up an insightful article regarding World of Warcraft and the potential for it to be dethroned in 2008 by the two main contenders for the throne - Age of Conan and Warhammer Online.
The article doesn't just discuss the outstanding success of World of Warcraft, being the most played game between April and November 2007, beating it closest rival, The Sims; the massive increase in subscriber figures, from 8 million in January 2007 to 9.3 million in July 2007. The article also discusses the potential for not only game titles to dethrone the monster but also regulations, with the UK regulation board looking to redefine MMOGs to better represent them, which has the potential to damage the MMO genre.
According to statistics gathered by Nielsen the average WoW player racks up 17 hours of play per week - 12 hours more than its nearest competitor The Sims. As such it was the most played PC game between April and November 2007.
In online games such as World of Warcraft players create an avatar or character, give them a profession and venture out into the game world to battle monsters, find treasure and turn their novice into a powerful hero or heroine. [...] In the UK the Byron Review is scrutinising video games with a view to drawing up new regulations and guidelines governing them.
"It's about educating parents more than anything and perhaps making changes in terms of rating systems," he said, "This was likely to mean best practice guidelines for parents but may eventually involve new legislation.That would alter how online games are both portrayed and played," said Mr Wride.
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7156078.stm...
