Outer Empires to Offer First Subscription MMO Game

Countless new MMOs have seen the light of day in the App Store and show no sign of stopping. While I welcome the concept of MMO games (“Massively Multiplayer Online”) to the iPhone, almost all of them are exactly the same — the only difference is the background story and terminology.

Outer Empires promises to give a truly different MMO experience. According to their website:

Outer Empires is a space based massively multi-player online game created for both the iPhone/iPod Touch and desktop browsers (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, Safari).

Every player will be able to create an online persona in a persistent galaxy; from that point on they can choose from a number of different careers to progress through the game. The game is set up in a sandbox style, to allow players to choose how their character develops.

Players will have a variety of options, including:

Fly missions (transport, fighter, freight, exploration, bounty)
Set up colonies (Mining, Food Production, Manufacture, Development/Research)
Run/join factions (guilds) within the game.
Take control of and fight for systems (either themselves or as part of a faction).
Buy/Mod/Build/Sell ships using a number of variable items that can be created from the manufacture plants players set up.
Trade with other players and the system.

Developed by Ironwill Studios, Outer Empires has a lot of potential. By being able to shape the life and career of your particular character, it already adds extra elements to the game compared to other MMOs.

Check out this video showing off the game.

One other aspect of the game that sets it apart from others is the subscription service. Touch Arcade reports that Outer Empires will require a $4.00/month subscription in order to take full advantage of every feature. There will be a free option which will let you play up to Level 10, to give you a general idea of the game and if it will be worth paying for.

I personally am not a fan of paying a monthly charge; but considering the worldwide success of other subscription MMOs such as World of Warcraft, it may still work as long as it’s implemented well enough.

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Ironwill plans to submit Outer Empires to Apple sometime later this month.

Check out Outer Empires’ website for every detail available, and let me know what you think.

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Date

July 19th, 2009

Author

Brad