4月1日，SOE（索尼在线娱乐）宣布裁员的消息吸引业界关注。然而3月29日Gamasutra在采访SOE总裁John Smedley时，谈论的更多是公司未来的发展方向。

即便在裁员事件发生前，SOE本身也存在很多问题。网游《The Agency》关注度较低，而且公司正在积极拓宽传统PC游戏市场。Smedley拒绝在采访中就《The Agency》发表评论，他更愿意说说即将到来的《无尽任务》下一代作品。他认为新游戏将属于革命性的作品，会改变MMO游戏的玩法。游戏邦获悉，这款游戏具体信息将于年末公之于众。

John Smedley

虽然新游即将面世，Smedley表示公司不会放弃《无尽任务》原作。这款游戏已历时12年，虽然已无法吸引大量新玩家加入，但目前的玩家都较为稳定且年纪偏大。他本人不想预测游戏的寿命会有多长，但公司已为未来3年的发展做出规划。Smedley说道：“我们已经就未来3年的工作制定了详细的计划。我觉得3年过后，应该有机会制定下个三年计划。”他认为，虽然《无尽任务》原作不再像新MMO游戏那样引人注目，但其游戏社群是其他网游无法比拟的。

当初SOE很早便在PSP上发布《无尽的传说：刀锋公会》，虽然目前还未公开声明将致力开发NGP游戏，但Smedley表示公司肯定会与这个索尼即将面世的新掌机游戏系统有所关联。他表示SOE未来会更侧重于游戏控制器，这不仅包括PS3。Smedley对NGP很感兴趣，认为它很适合网游。他说道：“Spacetime Studios的《口袋传奇》已经证实掌机MMO游戏可以做得如此之好，所以我认为在MMO游戏在NGP上也能获得成功。”

SOE近期发布的最具影响力作品是《DC漫画英雄Online》，这款跨平台MMO游戏使得PC和PS3玩家可共同在虚拟世界中展开角逐。Smedley称公司对这款斥资6千万美元的游戏目前的表现甚为满意，游戏也让他们更深入地了解用户对游戏下载的需求程度。游戏邦获悉，许多玩家不愿意等待下载，选择去商店购买游戏，因而这款游戏成了零售量最高的PS3可下载游戏。

SOE试图用《Dungeon Overlord》和《Covert Ops》打开社交游戏市场，但事情并非一帆风顺。依Smedley所述，公司的问题在于过迟进入这片领域，Facebook新规则使得新公司很难打开市场。他说道：“作为Facebook的用户，我喜欢他们的做法。但作为游戏开发者，我觉得这会令许多人举步维艰。”（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，转载请注明来源：游戏邦）

Interview: SOE’s Smedley On The Company’s Future

Before Thursday, there was a lot to talk about when it came to Sony Online Entertainment. Then the layoffs hit – and there was only one subject on people’s minds.

Unfortunately, my talk with SOE president John Smedley was held on Tuesday – long before even the rumors of layoffs had begun to swirl.

And, not surprisingly, SOE wasn’t making him available after shutting down three of its studios and laying off 205 employees. So while there’s no look as to what led up to the Thursday axings, Smedley was still willing to look into the company’s future in the days leading up to it.

Even before the layoffs, there were a lot of questions where SOE was going. The Agency hadn’t been mentioned in a long while, and the company was actively expanding beyond its traditional PC roots.

Smedley refused to talk about The Agency during the discussion, but was willing to shed a little light on the upcoming next generation EverQuest.

“It’s too soon to talk about that [in depth],” he said. “When we do, I will say what we intend to show is not an evolutionary product. It’s a revolutionary product.”

“It’s going to change the way we think about how MMO games are played. … There will be a lot more information out before the end of the year.”

Despite a new version on the horizon, Smedley says the original EverQuest isn’t going away. Now in its 12th year, the game isn’t attracting a lot of new players, but the current player base is immensely loyal. (It’s also older, with an average age of 38.)

He won’t go so far as to predict how much longer the game will continue, but it certainly has at least another three years in front of it.

“We’ve got actual plans on what we’re going to work on for the next three years,” he says. “And I think three years from now, we’re going to plan for three years after that. … It certainly is not a shiny new MMO, but it has a deeper community than any game out there. And you don’t get that where you have games with a younger audience. … Instead of focusing on new players, we focus on retention.”

SOE was an early presence on the PSP with Untold Legends: Brotherhood of the Blade, and while it hasn’t committed publicly to the NGP yet, Smedley gives every hint that the company will be involved with Sony’s upcoming handheld gaming system.

“You can bet our future is more console-based than it is PC-based – and that doesn’t just mean the PS3,” he says. “We’re very excited about the NGP. … I think you can expect something from us down the road. We kind of have an advantage, since we work for the parent company. It is an amazing device and I think it’s perfect to do online games with.”

He points to Spacetime Studios’ Pocket Legends as a terrific example of what the mobile market can do with persistent world games.

“Spacetime has really shown us how good a portable MMO can be,” he says. “So, yeah, I think it could be awesome [to have one on the NGP].”

Of course, the company’s biggest release lately has been DC Universe Online, a cross-platform MMO allowing PC and PS3 players to jointly occupy an online world. With a $60 million price tag, it came with high expectations. And Smedley says the company has been happy with its performance so far. The game has also given the company some insight into its audience’s demand for digital downloads.

“It’s doing very well,” he says. “We have about a 52/48 percent PS3/PC split. … And half of the PC sales have been digital. … With DCUO, a lot of people didn’t want to wait for the download, so they went to the store.”

The game has recently become the first retail title to be available as a complete digital download on the PS3, something Sony is monitoring closely.

SOE is also trying its luck in the social network gaming arena, with titles like Dungeon Overlord and Covert Ops – but it hasn’t had a lot of luck there.

“It’s not a super profitable segment for us,” he said. “It’s challenging, to be blunt. And we’re trying to learn from that.”

The problem, Smedley says, is the company was a latecomer to the party – and new Facebook rules about how games are promotes make it hard for new companies to break into the market.

“As a Facebook user, I love that they did that,” he says. “As a game maker, I think they may have killed the golden goose for everybody but the early players. It’s an interesting place to be building games because I’m not sure anybody is going to make any money at it aside from the early companies. … Zynga seems to get a pass on the rules that are there now.” (Source: Gamasutra)