As we’ve been waiting for Ship of Heroes to finally make it past the Steam hurdles to launch, we keep seeing a consistent refrain in the comments and Discord conversations: People seem to believe that the game’s planned subscription will be its undoing – that the game would have a hard enough time as a new free-to-play title but that modern MMORPG players just won’t pay regularly for a new game.

Obviously, we’re going to talk about that for this week’s Massively Overthinking. I’m not asking our readers and writers whether subs are good or bad, though they will surely tell me; I’m asking whether or not a new subscription-only MMO has a chance of making it in our current climate, and if so, what the conditions for success would be. Is it possible to launch a new subscription MMORPG in 2025?

Ben Griggs (@braxwolf): I’d like to think that a subscription model would work in today’s gaming landscape. After all, we’re psychologically desensitized to monthly sub models in all other aspects of life (video, music, meals, and even clothing). I’ve also come to believe that in many cases it’s a better and more economical alternative to models that create the illusion of choice while pushing paid solutions for game design issues or random/FOMO mechanics. But gamers are a strange bunch, and I know that the idea of a monthly fee for even a main form of entertainment causes many to bristle. I will say that if a game decides to use a sub-only model, the devs need to make it easy for a player to sub and un-sub at will as other games lure them away, and also have a great marketing campaign leading up to launch to convince folks that “subscription” isn’t such a dirty word after all.

Brianna Royce (@nbrianna.bsky.social, blog): Is it possible? Yes. Is it likely? No. To pull it off, a studio would have to be a major player in the industry with a pre-existing playerbase already accustomed to paying – World of Warcraft 2 or the next Final Fantasy MMORPG, for example. A lot of the studios with that kind of cachet already rejected mandatory subs (ZOS) or never had them to begin with (ArenaNet).

I don’t think small or indie studios have much of a chance here. I know there are some upcoming Kickstarter MMOs that think they can, but so far, none of them has actually been successful of sustaining a sizable playerbase on a mandatory sub. A far safer option still seems to be an optional sub or pass, maybe with a box fee baked in, though I’d put that off for DLC.

I’m not saying subs are dead, mind you; in the west, everyone is now accustomed to paying subscriptions for phone apps, TV channels, basic appliances, even our cars. I literally pay a sub to LOTRO right now, and I paid one to Palia earlier this year – both of them optional, and I did it anyway because the games are good and the perks are worth it. But a single MMORPG sub is now competing with platform-specific subs that offer significantly more bang for the buck. In fact, it amuses me that the same consolers who used to tell us paying a sub for a game was dumb are now happily paying subs for games. But for one game, especially an indie… it’s a harder sell in 2025.

Carlo Lacsina (@UltraMudkipEX, YouTube, Twitch): Hah, yeah it won’t last. Ship of Heroes is far too risky a venture to go for a sub. The students I teach in my computer science class (11th and 12th graders) all think the idea of subscribing to a game is such a weird thing; I don’t know who would want to go with a sub other than FFXIV and WoW.

If they want a sub model, they should go the premium time route like BDO where players get a value pack that lasts 30 days. Comes with some nice perks like unlimited dye, extra weight and storage space, and better rates at the market board. If they wanna do a sub, that’s all on them, but it would be a shame if the game still isn’t out and then fails hella fast because of silly monetization.

Chris Neal (@wolfyseyes.bsky.social, blog): In a word: no. In two words: absolutely not. And the problem is a perceived quality bar that has to be met.

The MMO and multiplayer genres that make up our sphere of gaming are already being hamstrung by battle passes, early access dreck, and unfinished games to begin with, so the eyes on gamer wallets already feel oppressive, but if your new game is asking for monthly money, it had damn well better look, feel, and play like it’s worth that cost, and right now Ship doesn’t seem to even approach that bar let alone clear it.

Now I’m not suggesting that the game should hand out everything for free – I get that these things are meant to make money and we all sign that contract when cosmetics or other benefits get bought – nor am I suggesting that it can’t get to that point eventually (one could argue a similar thing happened with Embers Adrift), but a totally new MMORPG has to fully present itself as a polished, tightly built, and extremely active product before demanding a monthly fee. Perhaps that’s unfair, but it’s not unreasonable.

Colin Henry (@ChaosConstant): I can’t see it being justifiable when games like Guild Wars 2 exist that give you so much value for no subscription cost, just a relatively low box price. It also has to be weighed against other gaming subscriptions like Game Pass, which gives you access to hundreds of games. A WoW subscription gives you access to WoW… and WoW Classic, I guess. That’s a tough sell for the average gamer.

If you really want to go with the subscription model in 2025, you need a strong free tier to get people in the door. Not too limited or people will feel like it’s a bait and switch and quit, but with enough perks that people who are really invested in the game will happily pay for it. Personally, I think Lord of the Rings Online does a pretty good job of this, giving players access to vendor, auction house, and bank services from anywhere, as well as rest XP. It’s just convenient enough that I’m willing to pay it when I’m playing a lot, but it never feels like the game is punishing you for not subbing.

Eliot Lefebvre (@Eliot_Lefebvre, blog): Here is my response to Overthinking:

Justin Olivetti (@Sypster, blog): A whole lot of things are possible but not advisable. Unless it was a super-premium product with a huge built-in fanbase, a subscription is probably not your way to go for an online game right out of the gate. For smaller titles, this serves to limit an already limited audience. Just ask how that worked out for Embers Adrift, which reversed its sub-only stance pretty quickly.

Sam Kash (@[email protected]): It’s hard for me to see a sub-only game being successful straight up today. I’ve only twice ever paid for a sub; first was six months of FFXI, and the other was for a bit of Warhammer Online, I think. I just never could justify the price of entry with so many options out there to play. The two I did were part of gifts from others, so I didn’t feel the sub as much. Personally, I just can’t ever see the price of a sub working, even if we aren’t talking about online-only games as alternatives. Most likely I’d exit the genre first.

Tyler Edwards (blog): There are basically only two scenarios I can see a subscription working for a new game these days. One is to be a massively big budget, highly polished game from a well-established IP (i.e., WoW or FFXIV), and the other is to be a very small niche game with a totally unique concept not being delivered elsewhere (i.e., A Tale in the Desert). And honestly, in both cases I think it would still be a decidedly uphill battle in the current climate.

Ship of Heroes fits neither category. Maybe when City of Heroes was still unavailable to the general public, it might have had a chance to make the sub work (though I doubt it), but with actual City of Heroes available and free to play, I can’t imagine any significant quantity of people ponying up on a monthly basis to play a City of Heroes-like. I do not see this ending well.

Every week, join the Massively OP staff for Massively Overthinking column, a multi-writer roundtable in which we discuss the MMO industry topics du jour – and then invite you to join the fray in the comments. Overthinking it is literally the whole point. Your turn!