We Need More MMOFPS Games

The massively multiplayer online first-person shooter (MMOFPS) is perhaps the most sparse genre in all of gaming, with only five or six notable examples being released since the video game medium began.

They're so rare, that most gamers probably couldn't name a single example, but the entire genre is a well of untapped potential dominated by Planetside 2, which is also a decade old.

A large gap exists in this market, and with the past ten years of technological advancement, someone needs to come along and plug it with a new MMOFPS experience, but is that likely to happen?

Where Are The MMOFPS Games?

MMOFPS games combine the massively multiplayer online experience with first-person shooter game design, leading to a unique hybrid that allows for massive battles between hundreds, and potentially even thousands of participants.

It's important to note that these aren't just games like World of Warcraft with a first-person perspective. These are FPS games through and through, just with a much larger scale and persistent matches that don't end until the servers go down. 

To illustrate the sheer scale of these games, here's a fun fact. Planetside 2 currently holds the world record for the biggest FPS battle of all time, with 1283 players taking part. This means that 1283 players were all on the exact same server at the same time, fighting in the same part of the map for the same objective.

This gives you an example of the chaotic scale of MMOFPS games, and the unique ways the eternal conflicts are allowed to play out. You may have thought Battlefield 2042 was huge with 128 players in a single server, but imagine experiencing that gameplay with ten times the amount of people.  

The History Of The MMOFPS

The first example of the MMOFPS was World War II Online, released back in 2001. It set the blueprint that all following MMOFPS games would stick to and showed the potential of the genre back before Xbox Live, PlayStation Network, and our modern conception of multiplayer gaming even existed.

It birthed many of the features the following games in the genre would follow, focusing on large-scale persistent maps, factions, objective-based gameplay, use of vehicles, and an emphasis on tactics to defeat the enemy. World War II Online still runs to this day, and even got a recent Steam release, though it's a shell of its former self, and most people with a craving for an MMOFPS have moved onto Planetside 2 now. 

Releasing in 2012, Planetside 2 is perhaps the most successful example of a game in this genre, and despite it still boasting a healthy player count, it has dropped significantly over the years. Apart from Dust 514, which lasted for a measly three years from 2013 to 2016, Planetside 2 is the most recent example of an entry into this genre, meaning no developer has dared enter this space in a decade.

Because there really is nothing quite like it, most players stick with Planetside 2 out of necessity, but with such an obvious gap in the market to be filled, you would think a developer would step in to revitalise the genre and draw in the fans. Sadly, it's not that simple.

Firstly, MMOs are ridiculously expensive video games. A lot of money goes into keeping servers up and running, and especially making sure they are updated enough to keep up with current technology.

There's also the initial cost of developing the game, and then updating the game further with post-launch content, updates, expansions, and so on. The costs quickly start to balloon, and it becomes obvious why there are so few examples in this genre. 

What's Next For The MMOFPS?

Secondly, there is the population problem. While it's obvious that all multiplayer games need a consistent population of players to keep them active, a game where 2000 people can play on a single map at once needs a far more active playerbase for the full experience to be tangible, and for it to be successful.

A community of 500 active players can keep some multiplayer games alive for years, but 500 active players in an MMOFPS is barely a quarter of a full server. This means you need to attract and then keep a tonne of players on your game, otherwise the experience will suffer, and your MMO will no longer feel so massive. 

Thirdly, is there even a market for it? While an MMOFPS is a perfect example of the type of experience unique to the gaming medium - and a distinctive experience in gaming itself due to its rarity - it's fair to say the market may not be big enough to justify one yet.

Someone has to take the risk and foot the bill at the end of the day. But in a capitalist system where safe bets and guaranteed money is preferred by executives over taking a chance on art, it seems unlikely we'll get one soon.

Ultimately, the lack of action in this genre over the years is difficult to pin down. Maybe we're patiently waiting for the MMOFPS to have its time in the sun, just like battle royales and MOBAs have before.

Maybe we're waiting for that lightning-in-a-bottle project that launches it into the mainstream, maybe we're just waiting for any new game in a genre that's gone a whole decade without a successful attempt? Whatever the truth of the matter is, it's fair to say that we need more MMOFPS games.