Why MMOs Are Having a Moment: Cryptic Studios CEO Jack Emmert Explains
In May 2026, a GamesIndustry.biz interview with Jack Emmert — the returning CEO of Cryptic Studios — generated 450 upvotes on r/MMORPG and struck a nerve across the MMO community. The headline: “People want MMOs, and the sales of New World proved it.”
Emmert’s argument is specific, grounded in 25 years of experience, and worth taking seriously. Here is what he said and why it matters.
Who Is Jack Emmert?
Jack Emmert has a stronger claim than almost anyone to the title “MMO developer who actually keeps games alive.” His games include:
- City of Heroes (2004) — Shut down by NCSoft in 2012, revived by fans on private servers; effectively still alive
- Champions Online (2009) — Free-to-play superhero MMO, still live in 2026
- Star Trek Online (2010) — Still live in 2026, 16+ years
- Neverwinter (2013) — Still live in 2026, 13 years
- DC Universe Online — Still live under Daybreak
As Emmert put it: “One of the things I take pride in: every MMO I’ve ever made is still live today.”
He rejoined Cryptic Studios as CEO in January 2026 after a stint at Jackalyptic Games (formerly Jackalope Games, NetEase-owned) — which was shut down by NetEase in 2025 during a series of closures affecting North American NetEase studios. Cryptic itself, formerly owned by Atari, then Perfect World, then Embracer, is now part of Arc Games, an independent publisher that spun out from Embracer in 2025.
”People Want MMOs, and the Sales of New World Proved It”
The context for this quote matters. The MMO landscape in 2025-2026 has seen significant contraction:
- New World: Aeternum going offline January 31, 2027 (Amazon)
- Amazon’s Lord of the Rings MMO reportedly cancelled
- ZeniMax Online’s Project Blackbird — shut down by Microsoft before release
- Ashes of Creation shut down in early 2026 after a difficult launch
Against this backdrop, Emmert’s counterargument is data-driven. Video Game Insights estimates New World sold approximately 10 million units across Steam, PlayStation, and Xbox. The market was clearly there. The failure was not demand — it was execution and infrastructure.
“I don’t believe that the infrastructure and the strategy was there to sustain it,” says Emmert. “And so ultimately they shut it down.”
He points to Ashes of Creation’s Kickstarter — $3.2 million raised, a substantial audience gathered over years — as further evidence that players want new MMOs. “There were a lot of people following that game for a reason.”
The Core Argument: Stop Trying to Be World of Warcraft
Emmert’s diagnosis of why large-budget MMOs fail is consistent and precise:
“Large publishers come in with the idea of competing with World of Warcraft. So in their minds, they needed to spend hundreds of millions of dollars, and they also needed to appeal to the widest possible audience.”
The result? Games that are “features without any soul… And so they fail, and you’ve seen it over and over again.”
His prescription: identify a niche, serve it specifically, control your scope, and launch small before growing.
The example he gives is Neverwinter’s original design brief: “Kill shit and take their loot. That was it, over and over again. And make it fun.” That game launched in 2013 and is still generating revenue 13 years later.
”I Will Run the Same Dungeon a Hundred Times”
One of the most interesting parts of the interview is Emmert’s rejection of the idea that players need constant variety:
“I will run the same goddamn dungeon a hundred times as long as the loot is worth it. So it’s not that I need a gajillion number of dungeons. What I need is to make sure the progression is worth it.”
His argument is that the standard live service criticism — “players get bored with repetition” — misunderstands what actually keeps people engaged. Engagement is not about having infinite new content. It is about feeling like you are getting better and having something worth getting better at.
The key is reliable cadence: “The game launches, and then three months later there’s something new, and three months later there’s something new… And once you do that, the players are sold.”
The Launch Does Not Need to Be Everything
Another frequently misunderstood point, per Emmert: “The launch does not need to be everything with an MMO. It does not need to be 200 hours of unique content. It just flat out doesn’t.”
He argues that launching with a massive content library is actually wasteful — you don’t know yet what players actually want, so you’re building content they may never engage with. Better to launch economically and let the live team grow based on what players respond to.
He points to Fellowship — a raid-focused MMORPG published by Arc Games (Cryptic’s parent) from developer Chief Rebel/Coffee Stain Publishing — as an example of this philosophy: “That’s it. That’s the game. Great concept. All it needs is to be continually fed with new content and to have a vision for growth.”
What Is Cryptic Building Next?
Emmert was careful to say this is still being figured out. His immediate priority is reinvigorating Cryptic’s three existing games: Neverwinter, Champions Online, and Star Trek Online. After that, he wants to ask the bigger questions about what comes next — whether that is a new MMO, an existing IP, and what technology to build on.
The short version of his answer: “I think I’m going to eat their lunch, because I know how to prototype quickly. I know how to make stuff inexpensively. I’m not trying to be everything in a box of rocks. I know who I am: I make niche games.”
He also welcomed Daybreak’s decision to bring back EverQuest Legends — a fresh server based on the original 1999 version of EverQuest. “I hope it does really well. I think it’s a great idea. Nostalgia works. There’s no new MMOs out there in the West, and so there’s a whole class of people that would love to jump in.”
The Takeaway
Emmert’s argument cuts through the doom-posting that surrounds every MMO cancellation. The demand for MMOs is not dying. Publishers are failing to match it because they are spending too much chasing a game that already exists (WoW), trying to appeal to everyone, and launching with scope that cannot be sustained.
The path forward, in his view, is smaller studios with distinct visions building for specific audiences — not trying to be the next World of Warcraft, but trying to be the best version of what they actually are.
Given his track record, it is an argument worth taking seriously.
