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On the launching of ‘DC Universe Online’
Wednesday night, Sony Online Entertainment’s Austin studio closed the beta chapter of its ambitious new massively multiplayer online game, “DC Universe Online.” On Tuesday, the game will go live for Windows PCs and for the PlayStation 3, the rare PC MMO to also be available for console game players.
We spoke to John Blakely, head of the Austin studio and vice president of development for SOE, about the game’s launch. He’s no stranger to MMOs; Blakely also worked on “Everquest II” and “Star Wars: Galaxies.”
Blakely: We’re all very excited. Obviously, we’ve been working on this game a long time. I got a phone call in July of 2005 saying the deal had been done, we got the license. The team right now, we’re just really tickled and really upbeat and tired, but really proud of the work we’ve done. We had an unveiling of the actual product going to the shelves with the team and that went really well. Everybody’s really eager to get their friends and family back into the game now that the beta is over.
How did the closing event go?
It went well for us. The idea for these events is it gives us one last change to get everyone back and give them a memorable event and stress out our systems in ways that are really extreme. I think we did both. I think with everyone that logged in, it was overwhelmingly popular, which is a great sign about the way people feel about the game. We had a lot of stress on our servers, a lot of stress on our client. We found a couple of really good bugs we were able to fix that we wouldn’t have found without those extreme conditions.
What time does the game actually go live?
The servers open up at 10 a.m. eastern time on Tuesday.
Does everyone get a break between the beta and the launch or is everyone hunting down bugs and doing last-minute work until then?
Taking a break would be great, but we unfortunately we can’t do that. We’re double- and triple-checking everything to make sure we have all of our pieces in place. We’re configuring all the hardware in our different locations around the world. Everything is ready for launch day. Server names are up, we’re going through and testing each one. There’s a big, long checklist to make sure everything is working and functioning properly. It’s a last-minute spit and polish, thoroughly making sure the launch date experience is as smooth and fun as possible.
How many different countries will the game launch in?
The game is in five differnet languages and will launch primarily in North America and Europe. It’ll be in over 20 countries.
How many people are on the development team?
The development team here is around 115 people. We also have our Q/A team in the building, about 35 people here in Austin. There’s also folks that have helped us from our Seattle studio, which I manage as well, and some marketing and PR from our San Diego headquarters.
It’s unusual to have an MMO launch on a console and PC at the same time. What have been the challenges of developing for both?
The history for console MMOs is basically “Everquest Online Adventures” for the PlayStation2 in 2002 or 2003. Then “Final Fantasy XI” for the 360, PS2 and PC after that. There’ve only been a couple of examples. For us, the real challenge to get on the console was the type of gameplay; one of the things we learned from “Everquest” was that the more tradtitional model of combat had a hard time translating to the console player. We’re a superhero game; we looked at the platform and we looked at games like “Protoypte” or “Infamous” or “Hulk: Ultimate Destruction,” and “Superman Returns.” On a console, you have a different level of immersion. How do you do that superpower fantasy model and bring it to the MMO genre? How do we get all the things that we normally provide, like the freedom of environment and to gather… how do we bring those things to a platform with limited resources? You can’t just add on memory and upgrade the system. Lots of other products intended to be on the platform, but then developers realized very quickly that those challnges wouldn’t suit those games.
The PC has a very big installed MMO base and you bring a lot of familiarity. But our game has more freedom of movement, the physics combat, the more action-game-centric, moment-to-moment gameplay. For PS3 players used to that, we’re introducing them to this concept of being in a world where thousands of other people exist and you can see them, you can customize characters and you’re growing them over time. It’s hundreds of hours of content, and moving on through to the endgame, and the rewards you get from that. We’re kind of introducing each platform with something new and different for their respective expectations.
Are the PC and PS3 versions on separate servers or can players cross over on each platform?
Separate servers. We’ve worked on some of these games like “Galaxies,” which is in its seventh year, and “Everquest,” which hits 12 years in March… we wanted to make sure those audiences could evolve with the product. PC players can play with a controller, we allow that option. Certainly, we have specific things we’ve tuned for the PS3 and for the PC. Certain functions are easier to do on the different platforms.
Austin has a writer that’ll be doing “Superman” soon and it’s where NCSoft’s “City of Heroes” was developed. Is there something about Austin that seems to lend itself generating superhero content?
I think Austin is very attractive to artists as well as technologists and developers. Me, personally, I share both of those camps. My mom is a really good painter and illustrator, my dad is an engineer. Genetically, I’m predisposed to this business. The cultural diversity that Austin provides is a factor. It really resonates with the individuals we attract and need to make these products.
What was the writing process like, such as working with DC Comics writers like Geoff Johns?
Geoff worked with us many years ago. We hired him before he was part of DC, when he was a freelancer. Now he’s one of the top writers in the DC Universe. He helped us to come up with an over-arching story and reasons for it. One of the big ones was why we have so many heroes and villains. We have Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash and 150 others in our supporting cast of characters. Why are (the players) relevant? He helped us formulate the underpinnings. Marv Wolfman came in and helped us take that rough outline and really hone it and try to tell us the stories of the specific areas we were building in Metropolis and Gotham and other areas. He helped us figure out what’s going on in Bludhaven, the Watchtower, the Moon, Arkham Asylum. Our designers and local talent, editors and designer folks, fleshed out all the specifics, the meat on the bone. They wrote a lot of the dialogue. We were working with DC for approvals; they were the ones playing the game and laying down the content. We got a chance to take those basic frameworks and make them come alive.
What was the split in the beta of PC players and PS3 players?
In the beta it was remarkably even. PS3 definitely surprised all of us by how popular it was. It’s something new and different on that platform. Based on the pre-orders and the beta, I think we’re going to have a very healthy launch on both platforms.
A lot of MMOs launch, generate some excitement and attract players from games like “World of Warcraft,” then lose them back when people lose interest. How do you avoid that churn and keep people interested in the game long-term?
A couple of things are fundamental. We’re not trying ot be one of those games. We’re trying to be the best superhero game you can play with your friends. We’re providing monthly content updates. We have. 75 years of story and history within the DC Universe to draw from. There are vast open cities like Metropolis and Gotham City with over 1,000 sqquare blocks of shared play space plus 25 or 30 different locales that are more instance/zone-based. Our premise is this: we just want you to have fun and have fun with your friends. We’re always gonna have something for you to do, it’s easy to get into and a blast to play. I think people will enjoy that and they’ll always leave on a good note and if they do decide to move on they’ll always be welcome back. With the level of competition and things going on, it’s really just a great time to be a player. We hope we’re worth their time and their dollars.
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