Troedsson said: “The reality is that it’s a very big undertaking. It’s hard to retrofit onto an established franchise – you have a core following of people that enjoy playing your game, and I’m not always sure that it’s the right thing to do.
“The amount of players is also a deal-breaker. If you want that pixel-perfect feeling of shooting someone, if you want that high framerate to be constant, it’s very hard to do that in a big open environment.”
Troedsson doesn’t think there is a place for MMO mechanics in online shooters, however: “I believe that the step forward for us is focusing on how you make more out of persistence – unlocks, leaderboards, points, stuff like that.
“I think we’re going to see more of an MMO angle on those things than try to create a huge open environment that is completely persistent with millions of players at the same time.”
Persistent stats have been a staple of shooters since Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, while PlanetSide was the first (and only) successful subscription-based MMOFPS.
