Kotaku
But does Club Penguin signal a change for the MMOG industry at large? I seriously doubt it, since the WoW players who want to play WoW probably aren't going to be lured away by cuddly fuzzy things, no matter how cute. Still, big companies like Sony seem to be taking an interest and (reportedly) talking about lots and lots of money for a possible acquisition. Terra Nova has a look at Club Penguin and some thoughts:
I don't think mainline/first-generation MMOGs are dead, but I do think this sort of value-recognition in Club Penguin is more of a bellwether than an anomaly. The dinosaurs aren't gone, but the small mammals (or well-dressed flightless birds, as the case may be) are starting to claim their due.
The combination of subscription, free to play, and pay for item upgrade models is interesting to me - the free to play model has really spurred growth in some Asian markets and it's becoming increasingly common in games that hit Stateside from East Asia. Combine free to play with "so cute it's painful" and you've usually got a recipe for success - could the same thing be happening in the West?
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