All future Sony MMOs console-bound
Including the next EverQuest.
After revealed that he was keen on bringing MMOs to PSP, Sony Online Entertainment boss John Smedley has spoken more about his company's console development strategy, and it amounts to this: every future SOE game is console-bound.
Asked by MTV if all of SOE's MMOs will appear on consoles from now on, Smedley simply said, "Yes".
This will include the return of EverQuest to consoles. Sony's first foray into the consoles was the PS2's unsuccessful EverQuest Online Adventures.
"It's pretty safe to say that EverQuest has not seen its last game," Smedley said, asked whether the company would be returning to compete with World of Warcraft and Warhammer Online in fantasy RPGs. "So we've got our own cards to play there, and I think we will play them at the right time. But the quality level will be something that people will be very happy with."
SOE's first PS3 release will be the console version of the kids' MMO Free Realms, which Smedley said would be released "about six months later" than the PC version.
Subsequent PS3 titles The Agency and DC Universe Online, however, would be "day and date" with the PC versions.
Smedley wouldn't be drawn on the pricing model for the console games, but admitted that "there's a chance, maybe [the games] won't be subscription-based. Maybe the free-to-play model is the right one to use there, too."
He discussed the company's experimentation with micro-transactions with the EverQuest trading card game, but stressed that it wasn't decided. "We don't know yet. We're going to find out with Free Realms, and adapt as we see things go," he said.