Everyone is all a-twitter over the announcement that Ubisoft will be releasing a Heroes of Might & Magic MMORPG. However, there are a few details that are slipping through the cracks on this.

Yes, it’s exciting news…as long as you’re a fan of browser-based MMORPGs. From Gamesindustry.biz:

The game will be browser-based, meaning no download or installation will be required, and play sessions can last anything between a few minutes to several hours, depending on the player’s own preference.

The publisher’s chief creative officer, Serge Hascoet, commented: “This is a new type of game for Ubisoft, one that allows you to jump into a rich and complex universe just with your Web browser.”

And who, praytell, is going to develop this game? Well, for the Chinese edition at least, it’s TQ Entertainment.

TQ Entertainment…known for online MMORMTs such as Crazy Tao, Eudemons Online, Conquer Online and Monster & Me.

TQ Entertainment…developer of five online multiplayer games to date…all of which are RMT games.  Back to Gamesindustry.biz:

The game has been scheduled for a Spring 2008 worldwide launch, although no details on price points or subscription packages have yet been announced.

Well, they’re obviously going to skip box sales, since there will be “no download or installation required”, so no revenue there. And TQ has no experience with a subscription-based method of revenue generation. The Chinese version that we know for a fact is being developed by TQ is already in beta, and the press release from Ubisoft states that the game will launch worldwide in Spring 2008.

This leads me to conclude that the American version will be a translation of the Chinese version from TQ, which leads me to believe that Heroes of Might & Magic will be an “item shop” type of game.

If this proves to be the way of things with Heroes, this will be the first major title to get the MMORPG treatment with a RMT system. For the Asian countries, this should pose no problems, as their playstyle and views on RMT are much different than those in the US. It’ll be very interesting to see how well it does in America if my guess holds true.

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