Massively Portable
Celtic Heroes Releases Dragonfire: New Great Looking HD Graphics and Loads of New Content
Celtic Heroes continues to surprise me with its longevity. I can think of a dozen reasons why this indie MMORPG should not still be an active game — heck, why it shouldn’t have survived its first year! — but the game has defied them all to remain a viable and ever-improving experience. This week, One [...]
WHAT HAPPENED TO MMORPGS ON IOS?
I remember when I first got my hands on Order and Chaos Online , Gameloft’s ambitious move to create a true, open-world MMORPG experience on iOS. Playing those early levels was like a revelation: yes, a true, WoW-stoye MMORPG play experience was possible on mobile devices. At the time, I thought that OnC would spearhead [...]
In App Purchases Boost Gameloft to Record Earnings. What Does It Mean For Order & Chaos Online?
This week, Gameloft announced that they had record revenues of 50.4 million Euros ($62 million) in Q2 2012. They credited the record on the successful implementation of IAP-fueled freemium and paymium games in the past year. Gameloft’s descent into the freemium model is something I’ve had my eye on for awhile. It began just after [...]
Order and Chaos Online Anniversary Update Arrives, Makes Major Changes
Last week, I was griping about Gameloft’s month-late acknowledgment of the one-year anniversary of Order and Chaos Online . This week, we got that update, and I can see why there was a delay. Far from being a simple novelty update, the Anniversary Update introduces sweeping changes that signal a positive shift in the game [...]
Order & Chaos Celebrates One Year Anniversary, Only One Month Late!
This week, Gameloft announced that the next update for Order & Chaos Online , their successful take on World of Warcraft, will be getting a One Year Anniversary Update on May 31st. Huzzah! Here’s the announcement video: Looks pretty interesting, doesn’t it? Like the Christmas update we got last December, this looks to be not [...]
Freemium, Subscription, or Both? The Right Price for Playing a Mobile MMORPG
Recently, Sega, developers of the upcoming Phantasy Star Online 2, talked some smack about the state of pocket-sized MMORPGs, in particular about the Freemium model that seems to be taking over the genre. According to a report from Kotaku: With the increase of free to play online social games for smart phones, the developers were [...]
Surveying the Landscape of iOS MMORPGs
Welcome to the new Massively Portable column! Massively Portable began as a podcast dedicated to “pocket-sized MMORPGs” – that is, massively multiplayer online role-playing games for mobile devices. While the podcast continues weekly, I have also teamed up with App Chronicles to provide regular coverage of the iOS MMORPG scene in a column format. Big [...]
