Quote Originally Posted by Selvokaz View Post
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There's still a market and huge demand for the classic MMORPG. XIV alone has a large user base, and other games, while maybe not as big, have players that've been with their games for years. The next bigger title in the pipeline is Ashes of Creation, and a number of others are also being made.

I wouldn't say the MMO genre is dead. The problem is that MMOs tried to be everything to everyone, and that just doesn't work. When WOW switched from what it was up to WoTLK to the mobile clicker it is today, it alienated a large part of its fandom. XIV is still in a comparatively good position because it has so many rides in its theme park, but you can tell from the constant conflict between the more casual folks who want to dive into a fantasy world and chill with their friends, and the more competitive audience who finds content too easy, that the people playing this are more diverse in their interest than XIV in any phase of its development has been "made for" specifically.

I'd guess the future of MMOs is the smaller niche game that caters to a specific audience and sticks to it, rather than the Happy Meal model the older ones tried to be. But the genre itself isn't dead.