alt Hacker NewsThis bit feels naive, in 2007:
> While there may have been some money in it for a few select games, most were not profitable - they were created for other reasons, such as genuine intrigue in mechanics, users' fun, and curiosity.
2007 places us well into World of Warcraft territory. Online games were already a juggernaut and highly profitable.
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For context, initial WoW was developed until 2005, and up to roughly 2003 Blizzard was going to release it only for the US and Korea, because they thought “Europeans only play racing games” (source: WoW dev diary by Staats)
Doesn't Everquest pre-date Wow? There were support groups for people married/in a relationship with someone addicted to Everquest. I know someone personally that almost dropped out of college because of "Evercrack".
Agreed.
It's a fair point, but there's definitely more to the history.
Ten years earlier, let's look at 1997:
- Final Fantasy VII
- Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
- GoldenEye 007
- Banjo-Kazooie
- Fallout
- Age of Empires
- Diablo
- Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire
- Grand Theft Auto
- Planescape: Torment
And crucially... It was 2000 when we received Counter-Strike. This game undoubtedly started the competitive gaming scene, and opened up new avenues for expansion and profitability, with the potential of vast sportlike eyeballs and sponsorships.