Playable Worlds is the new game studio from MMO godfather Raph Koster, which is currently creating a new virtual world with “proven features from some of the world’s most popular games in a unique combination that hasn’t been seen before”. What that actually means, but when I asked Raph what longtime virtual world fans will most like about it, he puts it to me this way:
"We aren't talking about the product just yet, but I will say this: it will be a game -- but we are looking to create a world that really fosters online communities and even society."
That suggests the game will integrate with pre-existing online and real world communities, but Raph coyly declines to offer more details as yet. My personal guess is this MMO will come with the ability to quickly jump into the game world alongside your favorite online social groups from Reddit, Deviant Art, and so on. Raph has written and talked a lot about how the current Internet has been massively influenced by early virtual world/MMOs, so creating a new MMO that in turn influences the current Internet would be a Very Raph Thing to do.
More hints from Game Daily:
“When I look across games today, what I see is games about crafting, fashion play, timed reengagement, social play – basically a whole lot of things that are old tropes out of sandbox MMO play,” he said. “Multiple generations have grown up with sandbox play now – kids who played Runescape are in their 30s, kids who played Minecraft in their 20s, and Roblox is already a decade old. We are seeing demand for ‘sandbox-y’ play all over the place, so I think it is very much of the moment. Heck, when I look at something like GTA Online, what I see is players role-playing cops and bus drivers and whatnot in there. A modern sandbox alternate world that has space for all sorts of players to play together, that feels to me very much like something that resonates now.
“I’d say that our goal, though, is to make a sandbox that looks forward, rather than one that looks backwards. There are many lessons to build on, but we’re not out to build a museum to old gameplay. We’re going to bring the best of that stuff forward to the modern day, and blend it with the best of now to hopefully make something that works for tomorrow.”
The official site has several job openings and a sign-up form to get updates (and probably at some point, early beta invites).
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