Runescape threatening to overtake WoW

Runescape, a free-to-play MMO with optional content that can only be accessed by paying subscribers, is coming very close to topping World of Warcraft in terms of market share.

According to massively multiplayer online game studies site MMOGData, World of Warcraft held roughly 26.54% of MMO market share in June 2007, while Runescape showed a strong 23.12%. Go back several months to January and Runescape held only 3.89% market share, whereas WoW was dominant at 39.77%. It appears as if the playing field is leveling.

I had seen ads for Runescape for a while, but I wasn’t actually introduced to it until my 13-year-old cousin told me about it. It seems that the game is really popular with younger people. Is WoW on the decline? This is probably just the natural decrease following the explosion in subscribers following the release of The Burning Crusade expansion pack, but it’s good to see strong, competitors to the WoW phenomenon arising out of a group of independent developers. The prospects for commercial success of so-called garage developers makes the PC arena very interesting.

[via Addicting Entertainment]

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Author: GamerNode Staff View all posts by

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