WoW Can Close Private Servers — But the MMO Genre Is Still in Trouble
Private servers are a symptom, not the disease. Legal action against them may be justified, but layoffs and a lack of new, successful MMOs point to a deeper industry problem.
This is Terminally Online, PC Gamer’s biweekly MMO column. I hold two views at once: the rational one understands the legal realities around private servers and why many are unsustainable; the other is grim about the state of the genre. Some projects, like TurtleWoW, took risks—running a cash shop on a stolen IP was never going to be safe. But the broader issue is clear: MMOs are aging, newcomers are rare, and new titles are failing or being shut down. I spoke with Raph Koster earlier this month about the industry’s miserly state, and Jack Emmert has raised similar concerns. A few indies, such as Project Gorgon, are doing fine, but the big hitters just aren’t returning.
