Selling Why is ArenaNet Running Its Own RMT Operation for...

Why is ArenaNet Running Its Own RMT Operation for Guild Wars 2? By frank, Jun 05, 2012 ArenaNet president Mike O’ Brien explains that instead of selling expansion packs at a breakneck speed, as it did to support the original Guild Wars game, it will instead source more revenues from its microtransaction store for Guild Wars 2. Mr. O’ Brien said the average Guild Wars player could not keep up with the amount of expansion content coming out, in an interview with GamesBeat late last month. This convinced ArenaNet to find another way to keep funds flowing in without hurrying fans through the game. “I mean, we literally got to the point where we could release an entire new campaign — with a new storyline, new professions, and new game mechanics — in just six months. That pace was great for the hardcore players who could consume content that quickly, but it left a lot of other players behind and didn’t give the world time to settle from one campaign to the next,” he said. “So we shifted the focus of our business model during the Guild Wars life-cycle from supporting the live game through constantly releasing new expansion packs to supporting the live game through microtransactions,” he added. Competing Directly with Third-Party RMT Companies Mr. O’ Brien said that ArenaNet also chose their new microtransaction system to discourage fans from selling currency to third-party RMT companies. “A player can trade gold to another player to get something he wants from the microtransaction store, but he can’t trade gold to earn pure cash, so there’s no business incentive to trade gold,” said Mr. O’ Brien. “They understand that this system takes power away from RMT companies and puts it in the hands of players. And, again, many of them have already used a similar system and appreciated it in EVE.” But Mr. O’ Brien failed to note that third-party RMT trading has continued to flourish in EVE Online even after the introduction of PLEX, with EVE ISK prices hovering around...