Trion Unveils New Intiative, Codenamed: RED DOOR

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Acclaimed MMO developers Trion Worlds have just announced the launch of a brand new publishing and distribution initiative, curiously code-named Red Door.

In brief, Red Door will manifest as a one stop platform that serves to not only provide continued support for MMOs under their banner (e.g. RIFT, End of Nations, etc.), but also double as a platform for external developers and game makers to publish and distribute their own third-party MMOs.

Essentially, Trion’s out to put forward a service that resembles Steam, Origins or Zynga, the catch being that Red Door will center itself around epic online experiences, or as CEO Lars Buttler likes to put it, “living worlds”. They’re pulling all the stops in promoting the ideal of online games that persists and pro-actively changes with time and further wishes for developers to reach out and take this opportunity to utilize Red Door and share in the technology and model that made RIFT the success it is today.

For us players, Trion promises a whole host of features, customizable services and social knick-knacks that’ll better allow us to connect and enhance our overall MMO experience, regardless of the game we play on Red Door.

Tentatively, Red Door is set to roll out in early 2012.

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Have your say. Add your comments:

  • Wei-Meng

    I don’t know what to think about this. Sure, as a developer or publisher it might make sense to control your own distribution chain. But at the same time, as a gamer, I don’t really like the idea of having over 9000 different services doing essentially the same thing, just for different publishers/developers.

    No easy way out of this atm, need someone with great business smarts to rule the world, I guess.

  • http://mikeramblesaboutstuff.blogspot.com/ Michael Lim

    The thing specific to Trion here is that they’re pushing forward a business model that does not entail sequels. A game like RIFT is what they refer to as a “living world” that is constantly expanded upon by numerous patches and mega-patches that bring in new content. A patch like Hammerknell or the recent 1.5 patch could have served as grounds for an expansion, but no, it came as a free update, defying the model that WoW laid on the industry and is still using today.

    Trion aims to earn money, yes. However, in addition, they have positioned themselves in a manner that allows them to share the technology behind RIFT that allows it to update the way it does, thereby allowing developers who’re interested to buy in and work towards the idea of “living world” MMOs. Essentially, they’re reaching out to developers to develop “living worlds” as well. In the end, Red Door will feature a combination of THEIR games, along with games from third party and external companies that share in RIFT’s persistent game model so to speak. That’s what kind of appeals to me. 

    I’m not a fan of Steam or Origins myself, hate those services to be honest. In this case however, Trion has the added objective of seeing more innovative ways of designing and maintaining MMOs that doesn’t require players to constantly fork out cash or have them disrupted by massive updates that may or may not break the game.