Acclaim getting into the act

August 8, 2006 on 11:29 pm | In MMO (Upcoming), General Gaming, Industry

In pursuing their vision of free games supported by revenue generated through ingame advertising, PC GameZone has announced that Acclaim is building a new MMORPG called 2Moon.

 "2Moons" to be Directed by Game Development Veteran David Perry

Acclaim Games announces a free, totally brutal massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) designed specifically for adult gamers. Bearing the tagline: “No mercy for the weak, no pity for the dying, no tears for the slain.” 2Moons was created to be an easy to get into game set in an aggressive, dangerous and visually stunning world. This M-Rated title is targeted at those looking for an adrenaline soaked experience and aimed squarely at players looking to kick @$$ for free!

With 24-years of experience in the video game development business David Perry, whose latest Matrix Movie related game projects grossed over $300 million, hand picked his key creative partner, Mr. Sunghun Baek for the 2Moons project. Mr. Baek is the Designer and Chief Technical Officer for GameHi, a blockbuster game maker from Korea.

As Acclaim CEO Howard Marks explains “David is a superstar in the game world and his first MMORPG is going to change the ‘game.’” “2Moons is a game that focuses on training players to become saviors in a world where any hope for survival was virtually nil,” says Perry. “Instead of wading through a lot of heavy back story, the game’s narrative is all about the individual’s journey as they grow to become a level 100+ warrior. And the arcade style fighting system in the game lets you dive right in and go hand to hand with some of the most impressive enemies in a massively multiplayer game yet.”This collaboration of two leading game designers from either side of the planet, working on a game of this titanic scale, is hailed as visionary and very exciting. But perhaps the partnership’s most beneficial component for players is that Acclaim’s model is based on releasing full-price games for free. With no subscriptions, and no charge to download the game, it will be funded mostly by advertising–and (even more radically) the user will be allowed to turn off the in-game adverting if they choose. With Perry's approach, Acclaim is determined to offer truly free gameplay by creating a new kind of advertising model for the industry.

I've been to Korea twice in the last few months and have met with a lot of very impressive talent.” Perry, who also sits on the Advisory board of the Game Developer Conference, said. “GameHi’s Chairman Mike Kim is extremely forward-thinking, and he really wants the Western gamers to experience the unbelievable work his teams do and I'm going to help him do just that.”

You may register immediately to be a member of the 2Moons closed beta (for free) at www.acclaim.com.  Log on today and make sure you are one of the first in the world to experience this exciting new game! More information will become available in the coming months.

So what do we know so far:

• Free to play
• Ad-supported revenue model
• Players may be able to "opt-out" of seeing the ads, though I think it highly likely they'll have to pay a price of some sort to do so
• They consider backstory less relevant than grinding to 100+
• They want to use an arcade-style combat system
• This is being co-developed with the Korean group. I imagine that will impact a lot of the game design elements. Hopefully they can straddle the East/West divide in playstyle preferences unlike those that have come before them.
• They seem to like the number+noun name convention, as 2Moon comes shortly after the announcement of 9 Dragons. 

This could end up being a straight Korean import, or maybe they will inject Western sensibilities enough so a Western audience will play it. Regardless, the above press release reads like an accountants attempt to spin the same "play2crush" message Wolfpack Studioes created for Shadowbane so many years ago. And it comes off just as comical.

But I give them props for trying. Everyone should try to make an MMOG. It'll help evolve the genre, because they can't all look to rip each other's ideas off and expect to survive.