10 Rivalries That Killed Video Games
9. World Of Warcraft Vs. EverQuest II
The MMORPG community is inordinately monopolised by World of Warcraft. Released in November 2004 and thus being older than the inaugural iPhone, the film adaptation of Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and the phrase "sexting", WoW was an immediate critical success and now stands as the genre's leading example, with a 2010 peak of 12 million active subscribers.
It didn't, however, popularise the genre; that feat belongs to the EverQuest franchise.
Released in March 1999, EverQuest was once adorned with the accolades currently sitting in World of Warcraft's inventory cabinet, oft-heralded as the best the genre had to offer through its use of a 3D game engine.
Its sequel should have done well, then - and it improbably would've, had it not been for its ill-fated release date.
Thrust into the public domain only fifteen days before World of Warcraft was, EverQuest II was doomed from the start, its leading criticism being that it wasn't as commercially successful for the MMORPG genre as its predecessor was. World of Warcraft, meanwhile, was as successful, remaining the premium example to this day.
Its unmitigated success will presumptively never be topped, either; every gamer either plays WoW or knows someone who does. EverQuest II barely enters the conversation.