I have no idea when Copernicus will be coming out. That’s a common tease from the games industry and there’s good reason for it: Posting your release date too soon can stretch thin the anticipation, reducing your ability to hype close to launch. Competitors can also capitalize on the knowledge and blunt your launch with their own well-timed press releases and updates.

In the Dark

I have no idea what the game is like. That’s more unusual, but I agree with it. It’s not so agreeable to others: Keen is feeling uneasy. I understand that, gamers are accustomed to being informed and bloggers even moreso. Being in the dark makes us uneasy.

The games industry loves pre-release hype, it’s a long standing tradition that goes back to the earliest game magazines. Talking about the future is more exciting than the current. That just might be indicative of a attention-deficit fanbase, but if games have truly become mass-media: Any given game should be able to punch through that tradition and explode on the scene closer to launch.

38 Studios has been downright cryptic when it comes to talking about their game. I think that’s wise, especially if their game is uniquely different as they say. They’re in control of their product, nobody is reacting to any given feature and making assumptions based on current games.

Too many MMORPGs lately have been chasing the pot-o-gold that World of Warcraft revealed. There’s been this widespread theory that if you slap the right elements together you’ll dominate the world. And that’s how the current crop of games have been made, by “listening to the fans” and maybe a bit of “market research“. Some of them haven’t been half bad, but most have had a core of promise that failed to deliver. The more corporate attempts have been soulless. At best, they’ve provided a decent world in the same model as WoW.

Maybe, just maybe, 38 Studios is trying to make their own game without being too influenced from outside sources that would shape their product into more of the same.

What we know

We know it’s an MMORPG and we know Curt Shilling loved Everquest, so he’s likely to give a few nods in that direction. We know it’s fantasy, they’ve made it clear they don’t think fantasy is over-saturated at all, they argue it just needs better games. We know they’re in it for the long haul and they’ve got a business plan. Curt Shilling is a crafty guy, savvy and relentless, he has all the elements for a good businessman. I know that and I don’t even watch baseball.

I think Keen is looking forward to this game as much as I am. He recognizes Curt Shilling has amassed a significantly talented workforce to make the game Curt Shilling wants to play. He’s hired from the top down, respecting that he doesn’t know the industry, so he started with people that do. He also created his talent team around R.A. Salvatore and Todd McFarlane, two names that are bound to turn heads when they do need to hype, but are also likely to give his story and art direction a strong focus.

There are some parallels here to BioWare. Good businessmen that started a game company to make games they wanted to play, in a non-corporate way. A deep respect of the RPG genre, but a desire to produce unique changes to that genre. Hiring the right people for an MMORPG and letting them do what they do well.

I’m hoping 38 Studios keeps their mouths shut until they’re good and ready. If all goes well, Copernicus could arrive as a unique, complete and compelling game. Sure that’s vague, but if it’s true we’ll all play it.