The cost of Subscription MMOs

[Andy 60]

I was really intrigued by the space-based sci-fi MMO EVE Online before it was released, but Star Wars Galaxies came out first so I played that instead. My WoW subscription expired recently and I can't afford to renew it right away, so thought I'd take the opportunity to take advantage of the 14 day free trial of EVE Online.

I'm quite liking it actually, I'd heard it was pretty hardcore, and probably is once you get into it. There is a lot of micromanagement to do in the game, which suits me as a fan on strategy-type games, but I was really surprised by the subscription fee.

Subscription fees in games are one of those things that people love to hate. The subscription MMO market is shrinking, with games either going free-to-play such as Dungeon and Dragons Online and Lord of the Rings Online, or closing altogether like Lego Universe and Star Wars Galaxies, and it wouldn't surprise me if in a few years time it looked significantly different.

The standard for subscription fees seems to be set by World of Warcraft, with games like Star Wars The Old Republic matching the price exactly.

In the UK a standard 1 month subscription for WoW or TOR is £8.99 (around $14).

EVE, with a relatively low subscriber base of around 380,000 members seems to buck this trend, probably to their detriment, with a 1 month subscription setting you back £12.42 (around $20).

Now, the US price of the subscription is much closer to the WoW standard, but it looks like CCP have priced EVE Online out of my reach and I cannot justify that expense.