World of Warcraft and Life After Cataclysm 52
by Michael Thomsen [08.31.11]
MMO juggernaut World of Warcraft has been shedding subscribers at an unexpectedly high rate since the launch of its latest expansion -- but what's the cause, and can anything be done to stem the tide? Gamasutra speaks to Blizzard, academics, and players.
Business/Marketing, Interview, Social/Online

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The F-Words Of MMOs: Free-To-Play 20
by Simon Ludgate [08.16.11]
In the third installment of his feature series, Simon Ludgate examines the evolution of the free-to-play MMO, and how games can implement -- or how they should implement -- different monetization schemes for best economic benefit and user satisfaction.
Business/Marketing, Design, Social/Online

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Crucial Demands: What MMO Developers Require From Publishers  
by Frank Cartwright [07.28.11]
Frank Cartwright, SVP of Product and Platform Development for GamersFirst, discusses what is absolutely essential in a developer / publisher relationship for an MMO.
Business/Marketing, Social/Online

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The Man Every Facebook Developer Wants To Know 3
by Christian Nutt [07.27.11]
Gamasutra recently got a chance to sit down with Facebook's Sean Ryan, the social network giant's director of games partnerships, to find out what the company is doing for developers now that it has a team dedicated to improving the infrastructure and fielding requests.
Business/Marketing, Interview, Social/Online

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The F-Words Of MMOs: Faucets 26
by Simon Ludgate [07.21.11]
In this, the second part of a three-part series, MMO economy expert Simon Ludgate examines the concept of faucets -- how money comes into the game and goes back out again, making some surprising revelations about what's truly crucial to a healthy game economy.
Design, Social/Online

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The F-Words of MMORPGs: Fairness 29
by Simon Ludgate [07.05.11]
In this first installment of his look at how MMO economies function, Simon Ludgate speaks to Richard Garriott and other notable developers to hone in on the concept of fairness: how have developers preserved or destroyed it, and what effect does it have on players?
Design, Social/Online

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The Next Wave of Free-to-Play: Licensing 3
by Paul Hyman [06.16.11]
In this feature, Gamasutra speaks to CrowdStar, Bigpoint, and Gazillion about the opportunities and, in their opinions, increasing necessity to incorporate licensed content in free-to-play games, as a way to build engagement in a competitive marketplace.
Business/Marketing, Social/Online

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The Right Amount Of Depth: Lord British Goes Social 4
by Brandon Sheffield [06.10.11]
Lord British holds court on his plans for his social games developer Portalarium, describing his thoughts on game design and UI, audience and testing, and explaining why he no longer plays the "kinds of games you might think I would make" anymore.
Design, Interview, Social/Online

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Location Awareness in Mobile Games: Uses & Advantages  
by Will Luton [06.09.11]
In this article, Will Luton, creative director of UK iOS game studio Mobile Pie, which developed the location-aware My Star, describes how this technology helps bring players back for microtransaction monetization opportunities.
Social/Online, Smartphone/Tablet

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AAA-Lite Audio: Design Challenges And Methodologies To Bring Console-Quality Audio To Browser And Mobile Games 4
by Rev Dr Bradley Meyer [05.31.11]
In this feature, former console audio director turned mobile and browser director Brad Meyer explains what challenges are presented by these constrained platforms -- and how to get the best results with the tools, budget, and staff size that's required by them.
Audio, Social/Online, Smartphone/Tablet

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