Amidst the hype about on-line games, anyone would think games developers would be desperate to rave about new games they’ll offer on-line, but in fact they seem cautious. On-line games have potential. A report just out on ‘The European Electronic Games Industry – On-line for the next Millennium’ from Datamonitor, London finds that the European market for on-line games will grow to $900m by the year 2000. The Infotech consultancy estimates that hybrid CD-ROM titles containing links to the internet are selling fast compared with conventional CD-ROMs. Games that offer dial-up networked multiplayer features are at the top of the hybrid titles list, but the numbers remain small. There were only 311 hybrid CD-ROMs on the market last year. (That compared with the tens of thousands of conventional CD-ROMs) – but the figure is expected to double to 720 titles at the end of this year, rising to 3,500 next year. Not many people are playing on-line games at the moment. It’s quite a niche club , said Stephen McGill at Microsoft Corp. Others will not be on line for a while yet, but expect to be there soon: On-line games will be the games medium of the future, said Stephen Hey at Ocean Software Ltd. We should get into the market in the next couple of years and are watching early experiments carefully. Of course Microsoft is getting into the market, with eight new titles due out by Christmas, each with some kind on multiplayer capability either over the internet, a local network or via modem. Other names include BCE Holdings Plc, which brings together Rage Software and Software Creations, is developing on-line games and Broderbund Software Inc is working with Australian partner Strategic Studies Group Pty Ltd to develop an on-line version of Warlords for next year. So while future expectations are high, the on-line games market is small now, with Quake from id Software Inc, Ultima from Electronic Arts Inc, and Meridian 59 from 3DO Co being the three most talked about titles. Electronic Arts has put back the date of the release of Ultima, its internet strategy game, until next March, with beta testing starting this November. But that is all the information the company would provide. Of the three, 3DO is the most enthusiastic. Meridian 59 is its multi-user dungeon game with a three-dimensional graphical rather than text-based format. It presents a world with five towns around which the players can roam.

Each player selects an avatar – a character and name that he can use again every time he logs on. The aim is to become powerful by collecting health and wealth points and the ability to perform spells. It was designed by Archetype Interactive Corp, a small company established by two sets of brothers, which was bought up by 3DO in May of this year and integrated it into its internet division. The key to the game is that it mixes internet chat rooms with gaming; two very popular aspects of computing, said James Kaye, marketing co-ordinator at 3DO. The game was developed from the ground up for on-line play, he said. So the on-line aspect is key to the game. Some 25,000 beta users have signed up, while most on-line games will only support a few players, he said. Indeed, the new offerings from Microsoft will only support up to eight players at once, although these can be played stand-alone as well. But there is the possibility that dependence on on-line gaming could restrict potential player numbers and reduce sales if it turns out to be a niche market. Ocean believes that there will be a transition period with on-line and stand-alone aspects combined in a single game. Key to designing a good on-line game for the current market is not cutting out players who aren’t on-line. You can’t cut out people who don’t have modems, said Hey. Initially, games that feature both on-line and off-line play modes will exist as the market shifts towards on-line games. The key remains the games themselves, said Microsoft’s McGill. Our new basketball, football and World War II games themselves will be the biggest pull. The on-line feature will be a plus; another gaming element to play with. Boulder, Colorado-based on-line multiplayer games firm VR-1 Inc is introducing Air Attack, its first multiplayer game, this fall. It is a fighting game for up to 200 players in which the player flies one of eight different aircraft. This too will have a stand-alone CD-ROM version wi th animation and music, alongside a leaner on-line version that will take less time to download. 3DO thinks there are enough on-line players out there to ensure the success of Meridian 59 because it is addictive. We’ve had reports of some beta testers playing for up to 30 or 40 hours a week, declares Kaye.

Hard-core

And it’s opening gaming to new types of users. We also estimate that around 40% of players are women. Mark Vange, chief technology officer at VR-1 sees a new audience for on-line games too. Community-building will be important as people get to know other players. It’s a different audience. We anticipate older, more affluent and sophisticated users who are less interested in blood and gore and more interested in game play, he said. McGill also sees the games broadening the market. On-line games will reach a brand new audience. It’s not necessarily the hard-core gamers who are playing. People in businesses are playing these games too. One reason why business users may be playing these games over the internet is that they don’t have to pay the phone bill themselves, but that’s a story for another day.

By Abigail Waraker