Cryptic: Neverwinter ‘not trying to compete with World of Warcraft’

Cryptic’s Craig Zinkievich doesn’t think that Neverwinter stands a chance at being the next mega-MMO hit — and he’s completely fine with that.

“Frankly, we’re not trying to compete with World of Warcraft. Anyone whose goal is ‘lighting in a bottle’ is not being realistic,” the executive producer said to Red Bull UK. “Don’t get me wrong, we’d love to have the success WoW earned over years of hard work. But, our immediate goal is simple and attainable: operate a fun game people like to play and want to come back to. We make that game free so, if it is fun, there’s no reason not to play and come back.”

Zinkievich said that Cryptic’s research into the market revealed that eliminating box sales and subscriptions was the necessary zag to World of Warcraft’s subscription-focused zig. “This is the first AAA MMO to be free-to-play at launch here in the west, built from the ground up to be free,” he boasted.