Trion Worlds has been working on Defiance — the TV show/MMO collaboration between them and SyFy — for a while now. While the concept seems interesting, many gamers have wondered how a project like this is going to work.
It seems there are a lot of ways for something to go wrong when you combine the world of television with MMOs. What if the show gets cancelled after a few episodes? What if the game doesn’t make it? Will people want to play if they’re in a country that won’t see the series for weeks or months?
As of yesterday, we’re a step closer to finding out. SyFy has begun production on the show in Toronto, Ontario.
While we’ll have to wait until April 2013 to see how this all works out, we do know that the game will start off in San Francisco, where the players will get to meet the main characters from the show. Unfortunately, it seems that players won’t see much of Nolan and Arissa beyond that, as they will leave California and head to St. Louis, Missouri where the show begins.
Players will continue their struggle in the Bay Area and somehow the show and game will continue to influence each other despite the geographical separation.
I must admit, while I find the collaborative nature behind Defiance to be interesting, I’m also highly skeptical that it will work. Television audiences are fickle and a lot of really good shows don’t make it.
Let us know in the comments what you think of this MMO-TV meld.
