Mythic: Activision Estimate That It Takes $1 Billion To Compete With 'World Of Warcraft' Is Overblown

MTV Multiplayer's Tracey John writes:

"Mythic VP and lead "Warhammer Online" designer Mark Jacobs said it wouldn't take a billion dollars for a competing MMO to take on "World of Warcraft" - maybe only $100 million.

"When certain people throw out ridiculous numbers, you know they're throwing out ridiculous numbers because they want to scare off competition or they want to make themselves seem invincible and that sort of nonsense," he said, referring to a statement Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick made at an investor meeting earlier this year.

"Realistically, if you're going into this space for the first time, and you want to compete with 'WoW' and you want to compete with us - because we're going into that same space - you've got to make sure that you have at least 100 million dollars," he said.

When I sat down with Jacobs last week during a demo of the game, we talked about what makes an MMO successful. Having worked in the industry creating MUDs in the '80s, online games in the '90s, and Mythic's biggest hit "Dark Age of Camelot" in 2001, he had some advice for those wanting to make it in the MMO business.

So why is $100 million the magic number?"