Perfect World looks to set a new standard for console MMORPGS with an expansion onto consoles...
Perfect World Entertainment announced today that the company is expanding and will create a console division targeting both current and next-gen consoles.
The company is planning to bring its current and future games to consoles so that players will be able to experience the best of free-to-play online games on consoles.
Perfect World is responsible for wildly popular games such as Neverwinter, Torchlight II, Blacklight: Retribution, and the superhero MMO, Champions Online.
"Perfect World Entertainment has long been the leader in free-to-play PC titles,” said Perfect World Entertainment CEO, Alan Chen. “Bringing our titles to consoles is a natural progression for us, and we can’t wait to set a new standard for console MMORPGs and other genres.”
“We are looking at this medium to better connect with gamers,” said General Manager of Publishing, Andrew Brown. “The opportunity to work on new types of projects with developers from all over the world is really exciting for us as a company. We are confident in our outlook entering into this new business, and you can expect Perfect World to be a major player in the console marketplace.”
Although Perfect World is being coy about the specifics, the company promises to announce upcoming console titles in 2014.
Our Take: I think of the titles that Perfect World has created, the most likely to succeed on consoles is Torchlight II, especially after seeing Torchlight hit XBLA already. While Perfect World's titles are generally high quality, the company loses a lot of potential players by commonly using a free-to-play model--a major turn-off for many gamers. If the company can shed their free-to-play model and skip the microtransactions that gamers are now finding incredibly annoying, Perfect World could see a great deal of success going to consoles. I certainly look forward to seeing what Perfect World has up its sleeve to debut on the console market.
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