The New WoW Killer is...Facebook Games?

With over 11.5 million subscribers, World of Warcraft is a juggernaut. How could other MMOs hope to de-throne WoW? According to PopCap Games' chief creative officer Jason Kapalka, they won't; the threat to Blizzard's dominance comes from games like Bejeweled Blitz and FarmVille.

In an interview with GI.biz, Kapalka explains that these highly portable titles, which give users the option of playing in short bursts, are appealing because they don't involve conforming to the game's demands. "Those are the kinds of games that are probably going to be the big scary ones as far as the current guys like Blizzard, Activision, and EA are concerned," says Kapalka, "They're going to be fighting them on unequal terms, like asymmetric warfare."

Games on Facebook allow users to play for free, opting-in for paid content as frequently (or infrequently) as they like. This business model is a sharp contrast to the flat monthly fee WoW players pay.  Kapalka says, "people are really deciding that MMOs are a bad place to do business."

(Source: gamepolitics)