MMO Hopping is Incredibly Common

mmo-hopping-common

It's launch day. Everyone's eagerly downloading and patching this new much hyped MMO; the company behind it marketed it as an “AAA” masterpiece and people are speculating that it's a WoW killer. The hype is real. But unfortunately, reality sinks in pretty quickly and people grow disappointed with their new game and move on to something else. This is a phenomena called MMO hopping; people download and try new games and quickly switch, or hop, to another MMO without committing to it.

This is surprisingly common and happens with every major MMORPG launch. New games are typically filled with new players during the first few weeks of launch. So much so that newbie areas are almost always packed to the brim, which actually creates an awesome environment for beginners. MMOs are supposed to be massive, so whenever I see a lot of players in a game it creates a more enjoyable environment. This never lasts though as hype dies down very quickly. People seem to hop from one MMO to another. But how common is this? What does the data say? Well. Take a look:

Apparently MMO hopping is shockingly common. Almost 20% of users who log in to a new MMO on launch will lose interest by the next day. About another 20% will lose interest in 3 days and by 30 days after their initial log in, only 20% of players will keep playing. This is a pretty steep drop and it shows that retention amongst MMOs isn't high. Despite seeming incredibly low, MMO retention is MUCH lower for players that log in after launch month. For example, about 6.21% of players that log in during launch month will stick around 12 months in, but only 0.6% of players that log in for the first time a year after launch will still stick around 12 months down the road. I'm guilty of MMO hopping myself. It's hard to stick with a new game, even if it's actually promising like Skyforge, because there's always that next game to try.

So why is this happening? I think the primary cause of such low retention is the countless options players have in front of them. There are literally hundreds of free to play MMOs out there with new ones launching regularly. Players have the luxury of hopping around and trying new games. This became even more prevalent when free to play became the business model of choice for most games. Another reason is the lack of innovative titles. Let's face it, MMORPGs haven't really innovated in a LONG time. Most games, especially free to play Korean ones, bring little new to the table. What do you think? Are you an MMO hopper? How far do you typically get in an MMO before hopping to the next one? Let us know in the comments below!

Been playing MMOs since I first got my hands on Ultima Online when I was 12 years old. Played so many games from Star Wars Galaxies to MapleStory to DAoC to World of Warcraft. Long time League of Legends player too! I'm also Known as "ReMo" and "Remotay"