In this three part series, we’re going to explore the roots of the genre and look at examples of games that have been released in the past. In the second part, we’ll look at what I feel is the best example of an MMOFPS and something I spent almost two and a half years playing, Planetside. In the third part we’ll take a look at what the future holds for the genre and what I feel an ideal MMOFPS would incorporate.

Since the first days of Doom over IPX, both gamers and publishers have been looking to increase the number of people that are able to do battle with each other. The major barriers to making the game larger are both the bandwidth needed on both the player’s and the server’s connections, as well as the processing power on both ends needed to facilitate the battle.

While not true MMOs, the limit of four players on Doom gradually increased, first to 8 in Doom 2, then 16 in the first Quake. Even today, some popular FPS games in the same tradition such as Counter-Strike or TF2 still limit their players to 32 per server (even though the source maximum is 64) due to bandwidth and processor requirements.



Some games however chose to break the mold starting with the Tribes series. Released in 1998 (and freeware since 2004), Starsiege Tribes pushed the boundaries, with enormous maps that could take minutes to traverse (if you didn’t Skii), and a massive maximum amount of players per server that dwarfs even most games today: 128.

Including vehicles, multiple classes, enormous maps, and massive server sizes, Tribes includes everything an MMOFPS game would have except for having everyone play on the same server. The release and popularity of Tribes signaled to developers that both the market and the technology had gotten to a point where a massive persistent FPS game could be developed.



While some cite Planetside as the first true MMOFPS, it is predated by World War II online, which was released in 2001. WWII online literally features Europe as its map and a persistent battle line that shifts based on the actions of the players. In addition, in game events are used to recreate historical battles, and there is no limit to the number of players on the server.

At the time WWII Online was released broadband was just starting to reach the first homes in America. Unlike MMORPGs like Everquest where a player might be able to make it by with a 56k connection, you simply can’t do so in an MMOFPS. Due to the initial bandwidth limitations and being part of new, unknown genre, its population never skyrocketed like some MMORPGs. It did however reach a maximum subscription rate of about 15,000 and has hovered at about 12,000 since 2002. WWII online is still active today and you can download a demo from their website.

Since the release and relatively luke-warm reception of WWII Online, few games in the genre have been released. This is due to the large overhead costs associated with developing an MMO, which are even higher for an MMOFPS due to the large amount of bandwidth and more sophisticated servers needed to run them relative to an equivalent MMORPG.

Despite these problems, as high speed broadband becomes the norm and better servers are available at a cheaper cost, more games in this genre will be developed. Even at this moment, Sony is developing an as of yet unnamed successor to Planetside, although it is unfortunately not a sequel. Huxley, Twilight War, and The Confinement Online are also under development, and hopefully one of these games will allow the genre to break into the mainstream likeMMORPGs have done.