Can Infinite Crisis make a dent in the Philippine MOBA Scene?

I recently received access to Infinite Crisis, the free-to-play superhero themed MOBA from Warner Brothers Games featuring heroes and villains from the DC universe. And a single, burning question came to me as I played: will Infinite Crisis be able to make headway in the saturated Philippines MOBA scene?

League of Legends, Dota 2 and Dota currently reign supreme as the country’s top three MOBA games, with Dota 2 ever growing in popularity. It has even been able to win over League of Legends players, and to the untrained eye it looks like Infinite Crisis already has its work cut out for it. Here are three reasons why I don’t think Infinite Crisis will do all that well in the Philippines.

Marketing needs to change

The first thing that comes to mind is how Warner Brothers (WB) Games is marketing Infinite Crisis. The game has absolutely no presence here in the Philippines. In fact, DC universe fans I know just found out about the game because I asked them about it.

The only time I ever got wind of the game was through an email I received announcing I’ll be getting some free heroes and skins since I had played Arkham Origins on the iPad.

If WB Games wants to push for a better Philippine presence for Infinite Crisis they need to ramp up the marketing to increase local game awareness. It’s not a good sign when even those into the DC fandom here in the Philippines are unaware of the game.

Current gameplay can’t retain player interest

With DC Universe Online introducing superhero-themed gaming to a bigger community via the MMORPG route, Infinite Crisis (as it currently stands) is a game that can elicit some interest from the MOBA crowd – that is, if it bucks up on its gameplay elements.

The game has two maps available and none of which follow the typical MOBA gameplay Philippine players have grown used to. Considering that the majority of gamers in the Philippines prefer typical MOBA gameplay where a team of heroes storm the enemy base via one (or all) of three paths. The deviance in Infinite Crisis’s current gameplay won’t be able to keep the majority of Filipino players’ interest for long.

Purchasing options

In-game purchases in Infinite Crisis can currently only be made in US dollars, Euros, or British pounds, all of which require players to use their credit card to purchase. However the majority of local players rent out computers at internet cafes when they want to play games, and frequently make use of scratch cards and SMS payments because of the latter solutions’ accessibility compared to credit cards.

If the game doesn’t eventually get picked up by a local game distributor, it’ll be hard for players to purchase their in-game stuff, and that will be a deal breaker for a lot of local players who may otherwise want to play the game.