Will WarZ Encourage Other Zombie MMOs?

The WarZ has been very, very successful. It’s managed to bring in a large number of people and more want in. As the zombie craze has further hit its stride, and the likes of Call of Duty: Black Ops II and DayZ continue to entice millions into slaying an infinite amount of undead, it’s no surprise to learn that the first proper Zombie Survival MMO is doing incredibly well. This is only helped by their not charging a monthly fee (not unlike Guild Wars 2), a fact that single player/converted console gamers will only appreciate. How long will it be until the market is flooded by survival MMOs? How many zombie MMOs are in development right now? Aren’t we sick of the undead by now? WarZ effectively throws a wrench into the answers of each of these questions.

Reviving the Undead (Again)

I recently wrote a 6000 word essay on the Resident Evil series and how critic and fan reaction has changed with each new entry in the franchise. Around 2002 – probably the most important year in Resident Evil history – people stopped caring. The zombie enemies had lost their edge. They’d had the same weaknesses for six years, the same slow, shoddy attacks, the same low groans and hiding places. Critics loved it, calling each new game a masterpiece. The fans loved it as well, but each new game sold significantly less. In 2002, people were bored of zombies. They were overdone.

Flash forward ten years, and they’re still overdone. People are still bored of zombies. They still love to see their favourite monster presented in new and interesting ways though. The Wii U’s ZombiU is a chilling first person survival horror that arms the player with a radar, a few pieces of food, a limited arsenal of weapons and only a single life. DayZ takes the focus off the zombies and places it more on the wider survival aspect: your own mistakes or your trust in other humans is more likely to get you killed than the hordes of undead roaming the land.

The War Z takes a little from both games and a sprinkling from the survival horror genre as a whole, but brings to the table several MMO elements as well. It’s not the first zombie game, nor the first survival game, but it’s trying to do something that no other game has ever done before. It might be successfully letting people kill the corpses of their friends and relatives – you have to give you audience what you want, after all – but it’s also going to give a deeper experience to those that want it.

"So I suppose it’s not so much that we’re bored of zombies, but rather that we enjoy complaining about how we’re bored of zombies."

When are They Coming?

Although WarZ is currently in closed beta, it’s only a matter of time before they release the game onto the world and everybody and his dog decides to join up. There’s a huge waiting list on this game and, if you believe the early reviews, there’s a very good reason for that.  Although it might not be everything people thought it was going to be (at least if you believe comments on Reddit, N4G and YouTube), it’s still setting a new trend and you’ll be surprised how quickly other developers manage to “borrow” elements from the WarZ.

There are a couple of things you can expect over the next couple of months. Firstly, the WarZ will have its general release and people will either love it or they’ll hate it. Those that love it will play through to the end and eventually get bored, returning only for events or for expansions. Those that hate it will say that they love the premise, but demand that the developers restructure the game in such a way that it appeals to them. These people will eventually try out other games in the same genre, but will probably constantly be disappointed.

Either way, both groups will be looking for new games in a relatively small amount of time. I can tell you with absolute certainty that there are games in development now that will appeal to that crowd. These games have been in development since long before the WarZ was announced, for long before DayZ was big. These games may not have been about zombies to begin with, but the financers have spoken and you might be surprised by how quickly the turnaround is. Expect the first set of zombie survival MMOs as early as mid-2013. Few will be as polished as WarZ, but the fact that they’re on the market will be more important at that point than the quality of them. Perhaps that’s part of why WarZ is doing so well?

Surviving the Storm

In my article last week, in which we spoke about  the way in which the MMO genre borrows and builds upon other games more than it innovates, we spoke about how little changes in our corner of the industry. With WarZ, we’re seeing another side of things. With WarZ, we’re seeing a new idea brought into practise very quickly. WarZ is offering a zombie apocalypse not entirely unlike that portrayed in DayZ, but without needing to mess around with ARMA II. It’ll be available well in advance of the standalone version of DayZ, and it’ll attract people who are still waiting for that.

Other games will be shifting the focus of development from fantasy MMORPG to survival horror – and that won’t be as massive a project as you’d think – but other games will be starting from scratch. Presuming those in the industry have had an idea of what WarZ is all about for a little longer than those of us just observing, we can safely say that the developers are about a year ahead of what we’re seeing released today. We probably won’t see the real influence of WarZ, nor of the current survival/zombie craze, for at least 18 months. That doesn’t mean there aren’t a ton of games going to be released (with very similar names: Z-WAR, Undead Warfare, Zombie Attack), but don’t expect leaps and bounds for quite a while. Expect adjustment, not full-on evolution.

Conclusion

You’d be kidding yourself if you didn’t believe there will be a catalogue of WarZ clones available within the year.

Whether they’re mutations of games that were already in development or games that have been rushed from scratch, you can bet your bottom dollar that the ever-clever MMO industry will cash in on this new obsession quickly and effectively. Out of the mud, however, there will be a few diamonds that will be worth watching, a few games that will push what we thought possible. The WarZ will encourage new zombie MMOs, games that will come in all shapes and sizes, but it is to the long term we must look if we want to see the real conclusion to this craze.

Suggested read: Why Steam Banned The War Z