Still "hurdles to jump" for console-MMO, Microsoft and Sony want it

Jeff Strain is founder of the new Undead Labs, the team behind the awesome sounding zombie MMO. There’s ”a lot of negotiation” left yet.

Strain wants it on the consoles, to which Microsoft and Sony are most keen, but it’s how the business model works is the trouble. To have subs.

The monthly subscription kind, not the pinging sonar kind - what would zombies do with a submarine? Don’t be silly videogamer. ”There are still hurdles to jump with both Sony and Microsoft. But people will make it much easier to jump the hurdle if people can come to the table and say ‘we’re making a console-only MMO from the ground-up’”, he said.

Undead Lab’s Strain says their zombie console MMO would “almost certainly” opt for monthly subscription charges over the free-to-play model, and even muses possible motion control in its future.

Talks with the two platform holders are heading in a positive direction, “but there’s a lot of negotiation to do with Sony and Microsoft.” It’s the big question, the money question.

“I’ve been talking to them for years and I think they very much want to see this. There are lots of sticking points to get through. The questions will be how billing works, how the revenue is recognized and who gets what,” explained Strain, speaking with Develop.

Right now the two big boys are still “feeling their way through the whole MMO business model”, which has long plagued the Xbox 360 and PS3. Are you gutted to know Undead Labs are shying away from PC for their zombie MMO?