"Out of all the massively multiplayer games we have, EQOA has the least amount of churn," Worley told us. Churn is an industry term for the rate at which people leave a game and are replaced by new subscribers. This means that out of all the SOE MMOGs, the EQOA playerbase is the most stable. "With EQOA, it's interesting, we kind of alternate between months where we have positive influx and months where that goes down a bit."
"The life span of the game is actually kind of amazing," he added. "Our subscriber base hasn't changed since the day the game launched."
EverQuest Online Adventures is fully compatible with the Playstation 3, a fact that they hope keeps that playerbase stable. However, there are no plans to release a version for download on the Playstation Network.
"What we're trying to do is figure out if there's really a space for it," Worley said. The problem they face is that while the game is obviously more suited to the online-ready PS3 with its internal hard drive, the game itself is 8 GB in size, which would be a major download and would practically fill the system that downloaded it.
Despite the obstacles they face, Worley and his team remain committed to continued updates for the game. Some players will undoubtedly be upset they have no plans for a full expansion, but SOE believes they are doing the best they can for their players with their current approach and their stable playerbase indicates they are likely correct.
