Mythic: $1B to Compete with WoW "Ridiculous"

MTV Multiplayer has a reaction from Mythic's Mark Jacobs to

a comment by Activision's Bobby Kotick (story) later echoed
by

Monumental Games boss Rik Alexander (story) that it would
take $1 billion to make an MMORPG to compete with World of Warcraft.
Jacobs says that "maybe only $100 million" is a more realistic budget estimate
to compete with Blizzard's MMORPG. Interestingly., he admits this is more than
they spent on the soon-to-launch Warhammer Online, saying "it was lot of
money," but under that $100 million mark because of his team's level of
experience. He offers a number of reasons a newcomer would need a large
pocketbook to compete with WoW, including to allow for setbacks, pointing out
even his seasoned team suffered multiple delays. He also gets to the crux of the
problem in competing with World of Warcraft, which is all the additional content
that's been added since the game's original launch that will dwarf that of a new
game. He also makes some observations about the MMOG market, like using server
additions or subtractions over the first six months of a game as an barometer of
success, citing the server consolidation for Pirates of the Burning Sea
as a sign it is in trouble, saying the same will apply for Warhammer: "Look at
us six months out. Look at us six weeks out. If we’re not adding servers, we’re
not doing well."


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