No one knows better than Sony Online Entertainment how hard it can be to develop an MMORPG based on a popular property. The veteran MMO developer has been toiling away on DC Universe Online since roughly 2005; coincidentally, right about the time the studio released the New Game Experience patch in a desperate attempt to revive their first stab at an MMO based on a popular license: Star Wars Galaxies.
DC Universe Online comes off as a direct answer to the criticisms levied at SOE’s Star Wars game. Where there was little sense of the ongoing struggle between the Empire and the Rebellion in Galaxies, DCUO features a story and scenarios developed by none other than Crisis on Infinite Earths writer Marv Wolfman. And where Star Wars Galaxies was a buggy mess lacking key features at launch, DCUO was delayed in part to ensure that both the servers and code are rock solid and ready to go in 2011. All of the launch content is in place and can be accessed from the beta, leaving the team to hunt bugs and polish up the graphics ahead of the launch.
