It seems that despite the delays, setbacks and lack of marketing DC Universe Online has been a huge success. Both Steampowered.com and Direct2Drive.com saw it shoot to number one in their games charts and in the UK computer game retailer Game saw it sitting in their number 4 position in the weekly chart. Indeed it seems that such success has caught Sony off guard with both PC and PS3 servers crashing both in Europe and the UK due to the over whelming numbers of people who have bought despite the high cost of purchasing the game ($50 or £40) plus the expense of paying a monthly subscription fee (£15). John Smedley tweeted “Adding more servers in the U.S. and the EU. Way more people came to play in the EU than we expected. And we expected a lot!”
However, that did not seem to satisfy some gamers who, on both Facebook and the forums, complained of long loading times and massive gaming bugs that have been carried over to the store version from the beta. So it seems likely that there will be a series of updates added to the game as it continues to be used. Also Sony has promised to release more material as they go and there are rumors that they have already begun work on new material.
Although it remains to be seen how many people will continue to use it after the free thirty day period is up or simply trade it in. As with many MMORPG it takes time to build up a character and become noticed enough to be allowed to “play with the big leagues” as it were. While many of the gamers that it is aimed at will simply want to run around with Batman straight away and in not being able to do so straight away may be turned off by a game, whose main claim was the ability to fight alongside your favorite superhero and suggested this was achievable straight from the start.
Yet the initial sales figures and the large number of people online already coupled with the promise of more content to be released soon should hold a large enough audience to allow this to compete with World of Warcraft and truly turn into a interactive DC universe.
Played DC Universe Online? Go to the forums and let us know what you think of it.
