One of the things that stood out to us when wereported on Kakao’s recent quarterly financials was the fact that the studio is specifically looking to target the older gaming demographic. “We are researching games and content for users aged 50 and older worldwide,” co-CEO Kim Tae-hwan is quoted as saying at the time.
Any regular reader here will already know that there are a lot of MMORPGs trying to capture the old days of our genre, and there are certainly plenty of players who have stuck to their tried-and-true title for many years, which is to say that there doesn’t appear to be a lot of spring chickens out there nowadays. That’s obviously not a bad thing, but it is interesting to consider.
In fact, let’s overthink it: Is it smart to angle MMOs and MMORPGs towards the older crowd? Do you think older fans and gamers are open to new ideas? Or would the genre be better served trying to court the younger players out there instead?
Brianna Royce (@nbrianna.bsky.social, blog): I think it’s just a smart play at this point. There’s a big audience of millennials-and-older who love MMOs and other games from the 2000-2015 era. They don’t have as much money as the boomers, but they definitely have more disposable income (and frankly, more attention span) than the younger set. A smart MMO studio is going to figure out a way to tap that. I think for a long time, the play was to try to make games that would reach down and up at the same time – make one game, reach the middle of the market. But I think there’s a compelling argument that as time has moved on, it may be more profitable to specialize and tailor games for more targeted demographics that really aren’t super happy with the degraded gameplay and monetization of the last decade or so.
It’s bonkers to me that of all the big studios, Kakao is the one that voiced it first to investors in a genre where most companies have been content to just throw out cheap classic, progression, and legacy servers. But the demand has been there in plain view this whole time. It’s nice not to be invisible.
Carlo Lacsina(@UltraMudkipEX, YouTube, Twitch): I’m all for making more things inclusive, so this is a good thing. I’d be interested in what kind of stuff older gamers would want.
Chris Neal (@wolfyseyes.bsky.social, blog): I don’t hate it — honestly it is nice to be marketed to once in a while — but I do wonder whether this strategy has legs or not. On the one hand, the folks who have loved this genre for multiple years are very obviously dedicated customers and willing to exercise patience to see if an MMO will pan out, but on the other hand it would really be a shame if all the younger gamers out there only experienced individual pieces of the genre. And it still really feels like there is definitely a hunger among the old guard for something new (don’t let the gatekeepers tell you differently).
I think the thing that will stand the test of time is whether or not those younger players of titles that I’m referring to will be encouraged to see what the full genre has to offer as they age themselves. Tastes do change given time, after all, and it really can just take one game to make someone a convert. We all have our first loves in this genre after all, and I know I didn’t start digging into MMORPGs when I was slipping into what might be considered old age. Or even middle age. Stop looking at me like that.
Justin Olivetti (@Sypster, blog): I think it’s smart to angle your MMO toward all age ranges. Younger players might be more enthusiastic and carry your message to their friends, mid-age players might be the ones to invest more into in-game leadership and out-of-game content creation, and older players might be the ones who stick around the longest and invest the most time and money. I do hope we don’t see one age group catered to above the others, and I also hope we don’t see seniors ignored or belittled, as we’ll all be in that group some day.
Sam Kash(@samkash@mastodon.social): Definitely the smart move. The way gaming has played out for younger gamers right now, and by younger I just mean younger than me (which is many of them!) is apparently all about the flavor of the week. There’s still room for major single-player games and quick arena styled ones too but they all largely want to play whatever is hot right now.
That is no way for a company to build a deep, persistent world’s playerbase. Not to mention olds like me are finally at the stage where I get to buy the toys I want. Folks like me are getting more established in whatever our lives are going to look like going forward and so we are the ones who can vote with our time and wallets.
So, yes. Target me please. I will bathe you in the riches of my reasonable budget for gaming if you bathe me in some properly built MMOs.
Tyler Edwards (blog): It’s a good idea in the short term, but not the long term. Yes, at this point much of the MMO fanbase is older games, and there’s clearly money to be made courting them, but equally clearly focusing on older people isn’t great for long term sustainability.
Not like we’re all going to be keeling over dead tomorrow, but a genre needs new blood to survive, and the longer you put off making that a priority, the harder it becomes. No young person wants to be seen as doing something that’s for “old people.”
Really devs should have started having serious conversations about how to bring in younger players like ten to fifteen years ago. The relatively empty slate of upcoming MMOs to look forward to is the fruit of that error.
Every week, join the Massively OP staff for Massively Overthinking column, a multi-writer roundtable in which we discuss the MMO industry topics du jour – and then invite you to join the fray in the comments. Overthinking it is literally the whole point. Your turn!
