George R.R. Martin had some big news on his Not a Blog today:
Yes, Virginia, it’s true… there is going to be a GAME OF THRONES MMORPG. And that’s in addition to the two previously announced videogames from Cyanide, the real-time strategy game GENESIS and the forthcoming Cyanide RPG.
The upcoming Game of Thrones MMORPG is currently being developed by BigPoint (http://www.bigpoint.com/) in collaboration with HBO. BigPoint is already one of the premier developers of online games, including Battlestar Galactica Online, and Lord of Ultima. Now, in partnership with HBO, and based on their award winning television series, BigPoint is working on a Massively Multiplayer Online version of Game of Thrones.
In an exclusive preview, Venturebeat refers to the game as a “browser-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game (an MMORPG that doesn’t require a long download),” suggesting that it might be more casual and social-based than similar games like World of Warcraft. Despite this unusual platform, the Game of Thrones MMORPG is already looking beautiful, as you can see in the screenshot above. We can expect more details to surface over the next several weeks and months.
I could certainly see the game taking gameplay cues from Mount & Blade, a multiplayer action game where players assume the role of a soldier, archer, or mounted knight in battles of a similar scale to those seen in Martin’s series. According to The Verge, the Game of Thrones MMORPG will be making an appearance at Game Developers Conference, which runs from March 7th-9th. This is in addition to the Game of Thrones-based single-player RPG currently in development by Cyanide Entertainment.
What do you think? Are ready to explore a digital Westeros? Will the political nature and large-scale warfare of the series translate well to a traditional MMORPG structure?
Neither the fans of the gaming scene or of the books will be satisifed with this. Just another example of how a great writer wants to attempt to cash in. Which of course is his right and if he keeps churning out books then who cares.
I think this would be great with a Multiplayer MMORPG Game with Game of Thrones.
But I dont think you should have to pay every month like WoW.
And extra packages shouldn’t cost so much.
If they dont do that, I think it could be awesome!