Worlds Apart brings collectible games into the digital age
by Steve Horton, published in Scrye, November 2005
In this age of World of Warcraft and Halo, it's natural that the CCG industry would find a way to tap into modern-day gamers' obsession with online gaming. Colorado-based Worlds Apart has been in the thick of things for years, and they're poised to become a major player in the digital CCG world.
Worlds Apart was founded in 1996, and in 1998 released its first product -- an online role-playing game called The Eternal City that gained it a reputation for quality development and innovative content and provided the foundation for modest growth. Eventually, Worlds Apart began looking at the digital CCG marathon and found its way to Decipher. Worlds Apart designed the technology that brought The Lord Of The Rings Online TCG to life in February of 2004.
When asked about the company's current in-house projects, Star Chamber and The Auto Assault TCG and its recent hire of ex-Decipher game designer Evan Lorentz, Worlds Apart President Scott Martins said, "Most of our history has been in development of original content, so we're not moving in a new direction, as much as getting back to it, in addition to building partnerships with paper game companies."
We designed the tech platform for The LOTR Online TCG to be modular, extensible, and cost-effective. As a proven infrastructure supporting a world-class brand, it can save a company looking to move into the online space a lot of expense and time-to-market."
Star Chamber
Star Chamber is an online hybrid CCG and science-fiction strategy game. "I'd been playing quite a bit of Star Chamber in 2004, before striking up a chat with its creator, Paul Dennen, about the possibility of working together," said Martins. "We decided it was a great fit between Star Chamber's gameplay and our tech platform, so we licensed the game from Paul and brought him on board as a developer and designer."
Worlds Apart plans a relaunch in the fourth quarter, featuring a host of improvements. "We're giving it a facelift, including new card templates and stronger racial themes and identities, and better deckbuilding and trading functionality in the client," said Martins. "We're also focusing on stronger story, single-player campaigns multiplayer support and league technology. With the relaunch, we'll also be releasing the game's second core block with a whole new set of cards and game mechanics."
Auto Assault TCG
Worlds Apart is also developing the Auto Assault TCG, an online collectible game based on the massively multi-player online (MMO) game from NCSoft (publish of City of Heroes) and NetDevil. "The MMO is billed as 'the fastest, most destructive MMO ever!' and we're working hard to emulate that fast pace and sense of mayhem in the TCG," Martins said. "We're having a blast so far -- it's been a while since we've been able to mount a flame-thrower on a car and wreak some havoc!"
Worlds Apart is planning on several cross-promotions between its online game and the MMO. "We're working on some fun possibilities, including exclusive content you can earn for the MMO by participating in the TCG's organized play system, chances to win copies of the MMO and its Collector's Edition by playing the TCG, and loot drops in the MMO that get the player free cards, promos and packs for the TCG." Martins added that a physical Auto Assault TCG is also a possibility.
Competition or complement?
Worlds Apart considers online CCGs to be an important part of the collectible-game world. "I think they're becoming critical to the long-term success of the market," Martins said. "I played a lot of Magic: The Gathering back in '93-'95, but hadn't picked it up for years until Magic Online came out. Suddenly it was easy -- I could hop online for an hour before work in the morning and get a couple games in.
"Establishing an online presence... allows companies with great brands whose customers traditionally come from the core hobby market to expand their fanbase to a much larger audience."
There's a misconception that an online adaptation will interfere with a physical game's growth and tournament scene. Martins was quick to put to rest that particular idea. "The LOTR Online TCG has brought players to the physical game who might not have otherwise tried it, by virtue of not being hooked into core hobby marketing channels," he said. "And at the high-end tournament scene, there's a significant crossover audience between paper and online players who come online to test their decks against the best players in the world."