A common refrain from MMO developers at the Austin Game Developers Conference was that even if they had thought of and made World of Warcraft, they wouldn't have that many subscribers because their name isn't Blizzard. Reputation carries a lot of weight among gamers and only a handful of companies operate in the same stratosphere as Blizzard. Thus, when Bethesda's parent company ZeniMax Media announced a new MMO development studio had been created, it created quite the stir. We met with ZeniMax Online Studios studio head Matt Firor - formerly the Executive Producer at Mythic Entertainment - to unearth any nuggets of information he might be inclined to share.
Firor left Mythic Entertainment - now EA Mythic - when the company was purchased by Electronic Arts last summer. He went on to start his own MMO consulting company, Ultra Mega Games, and when we last saw him at GDC in the spring, didn't seem particularly inclined to go back into development. So what changed?
"They gave me the perfect opportunity," Firor told us of ZeniMax. He explained how his new studio has all the benefits of a start-up in terms of flexibility, hiring, location etc., but few of the drawbacks. He doesn't need to hire a legal or human resources department, worry about funding, seek out a publisher or worry about many of the other challenges any start-up typically faces. Plus, his parent company as the developers of Fallout and Oblivion, obviously have a few intellectual properties in their back pocket.
That does not mean people should assume that their first project is Fallout or Oblivion Online. Firor made it clear from the outset that he has absolutely no comment as to what potential existing IP, if any, his studio will pursue. Believe me, we asked in every clever way we knew how. If he's half as good at developing the game as he is not talking about it, it should be a classic.
All was not lost though, Firor did speak to us about some of the themes and principles the guide him.
"The game itself is not based on innovation, but has innovative features," he explained. At a conference like AGDC, there are usually two armed camps of developers. Those that believe the basic MMO is doing well and needs to be built upon and refined and those that believe everyone should do everything entirely differently. Firor is clearly a member of the former camp. He's happy to take lessons from games like EverQuest and World of Warcraft and put his own spin and innovative features into it, but he doesn't anticipate the reinvention of the wheel.
