10 Hardest Video Game Genres To Make (From A Game Developer)

1. Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game

the witcher 2
Square Enix

MMORPGs, without a doubt, are the hardest game genre to build, for one very significant reason - the sheer volume of resources required to build them. As a common sense rule, +1 game content = +10 more development required.

Fledgling devs often think big when imagining their own magnum opus, excitedly telling friends about how their MMORPG is going to have twenty character classes, each with three fighting styles, and there'll be PVP, and there'll be a peer-to-peer marketplace, and...

Ugh.

Just the sheer AMOUNT of content and systems in the average MMORPG are enough to fill two or even three full titles from most other genres, and even when you've finished creating your game, there's the question of upkeep, which is a gargantuan task.

In some ways the MMORPG market is one of immense optimism; MMOs have one of the highest failure/collapse rates of any online game genres. To embark on the colossal quest of building one, you need to have the kind of conviction you'd normally only find in a plucky JRPG protagonist, and you will absolutely require the power of friendship to overcome the challenge of bringing one to release.

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Contributor
Contributor

Hiya, you lot! I'm Tommy, a 39-year-old game developer from Scotland - I live on the East coast in an adorable beachside village. I've worked on Need for Speed, Cake Bash, Tom Clancy's The Division, Driver San Francisco, Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise, Kameo 2 and much more. I enjoy a pun and, of course, suffer fools gladly! Join me on Twitter at @TotoMimoTweets for more opinion diarrhoea.