Bruce Sterling Woodcock (born 1970) is an American computer and video games

industry analyst An industry analyst performs primary and secondary market research within an industry such as information technology, consulting or insurance. Analysts assess sector trends, create segment taxonomies, size markets, prepare forecasts, and develop in ...

, best known for his work on subscription tracking of

massively multiplayer online games A massively multiplayer online game (MMOG or more commonly MMO) is an online video game with a large number of players, often hundreds or thousands, on the same server. MMOs usually feature a huge, persistent open world, although there are ...

via his website MMOGCHART.COM.

Biography

Woodcock was born in the small farming community of

Sullivan, Missouri Sullivan is a city that straddles the border of Franklin and Crawford counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. The population was 6,906 at the 2020 census. History On January 28, 1839, 120 acres were conveyed by the U.S. Government to Garretso ...

, on June 20, 1970, the youngest of three children to Myron and Mary Woodcock. He graduated from Sullivan Senior High School in 1988, and then went on to

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and mone ...

, studying

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

, philosophy, and

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to practical disciplines (includi ...

. In 1989, he became involved in

internet gaming An online game is a video game that is either partially or primarily played through the Internet or any other computer network available. Online games are ubiquitous on modern gaming platforms, including PCs, consoles and mobile devices, and s ...

on early

MUDs A MUD (; originally multi-user dungeon, with later variants multi-user dimension and multi-user domain) is a Multiplayer video game, multiplayer Time-keeping systems in games#Real-time, real-time virtual world, usually Text-based game, text-bas ...

, and in 1990, was briefly running two of the largest

TinyMUD A MUD (; originally multi-user dungeon, with later variants multi-user dimension and multi-user domain) is a Multiplayer video game, multiplayer Time-keeping systems in games#Real-time, real-time virtual world, usually Text-based game, text-bas ...

s of the time, ''TinyMUD Classic'' and ''Islandia''. His original online handle was Sir Bruce Sterling, which was later shortened to Sir Bruce when he began posting on

message boards An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are often longer than one line of text, and are at least temporar ...

. Leaving college early, he moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 1991, where he began a career in

information technology Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of Data (computing), data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information te ...

. In 1993, he moved to

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popu ...

, where he subsequently worked as a

system administrator A system administrator, or sysadmin, or admin is a person who is responsible for the upkeep, configuration, and reliable operation of computer systems, especially multi-user computers, such as servers. The system administrator seeks to en ...

at early

internet service provider An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides services for accessing, using, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non-profit, or otherwise privat ...

Netcom (USA) NETCOM On-Line Communication Services, Inc. was an Internet service provider headquartered in San Jose, California. Early history Netcom was established in 1988 by Bob Rieger, an information systems engineer for Lockheed and Bill Gitow of Syst ...

, and then Network Appliance, eventually leaving in 1997 with $250,000 in stock options. He started to maintain a presence on the

Yahoo! Yahoo! (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web services provider. It is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California and operated by the namesake company Yahoo Inc., which is 90% owned by investment funds managed by Apollo Global Manage ...

financial message boards as he closely tracked the performance of Network Appliance, helped the company's fortunes, and built his own portfolio to $3 millio

With the advent of the

MMOG A massively multiplayer online game (MMOG or more commonly MMO) is an online video game with a large number of players, often hundreds or thousands, on the same server. MMOs usually feature a huge, persistent open world, although there are ...

s, ''

Chron X ''Chron X'' is an online collectible card game and a turn-based strategy game in which an individual battles an opponent over the internet in a cyberpunk setting. Players choose between an arsenal of agents, weapons, programs, and resources chos ...

'' and ''

Ultima Online ''Ultima Online'' (''UO'') is a fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) released on September 24, 1997 by Origin Systems. Set in the '' Ultima'' universe, it is known for its extensive player versus player combat system. ...

'' in 1997, Woodcock became a player and beta-tester for this genre of game. He invested in and joined the board of directors for Playnet and their game ''

World War II Online ''WWII Online'' is the very first massively multiplayer online first-person shooter (MMOFPS) ever created and holds three Guinness World Records. It is in active (continuous) development by Playnet, Inc.'s internal game studio, "Cornered Rat Soft ...

'', and in August 2002, began his research, reporting, and tracking of MMOG subscription numbers, which has become a standard of reference both inside and outside the MMOG industr

In November 2004 his work was moved to its own dedicated website, MMOGCHART.COM. The site has not been updated since May 2008. Woodcock currently lives in San Jose, working as an independent game consultant and analyst for the MMOG industry. He is a member of the IGDA, International Game Developers Association, and has spoken on game industry topics at trade shows such as the Austin Game Conference.

Public speaker

* "What the Market Research Tells Us - Where MMOs are Going and How Are we Going to Get There" (Speaker), ''Austin Game Conference'', September 6, 2006 * "Building Massively Multiplayer Games on a Budget" (Panelist), ''Austin Game Conference'', September 10, 2004 * "Massively Multiplayer Games on a Shoestring Budget" (Panelist), ''Austin Game Conference'', September 11, 2003

Works

"An Analysis of MMOG Subscription Growth"
MMOGCHART.COM, 2002 - 2008
"Confessions of an MMOG Cross-Dresser"
''The Escapist'' #77, December, 2006
"Is Rape Wrong on Azeroth?"
''The Escapist'' #69, October, 2006
"IGDA 2004 Persistent Worlds Whitepaper"
contributor, January, 2005

''Quanta'' #3, February, 1990 * '' Grimtooth's Traps Too'', December 1982,

Flying Buffalo Flying Buffalo Inc. (FBI) is a game company with a line of role playing games, card games, and other gaming materials. The company's founder, Rick Loomis, began game publishing with '' Nuclear Destruction'', a play-by-mail game which started the ...

Computer-Conflict Simulation, contributor, ''The Catastrophic Keyhole'',

References

MMOGCHART.COM
Bruce Woodcock's website)

at ''Austin Game Conference'' website

July 3, 2000 - Profile of Woodcock in '' Business Week''
"Race to build Stormreach"
by Hiawatha Bay, ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'', June 8, 2005
"Can Mickey and Frodo revive virtual worlds?"
by John Borland, '' CNET News.com'', May 31, 2005
"Everything You Need to MMO"
by Evan Shamoon, ''

Game Developer Magazine ''Game Developer'' was a magazine for video game creators, originally started in March 1994 by Miller Freeman, Inc as quarterly, later bimonthly, and finally monthly. In each issue, industry leaders and experts shared technical solutions, reviewed ...

'', Volume 12 Number 4, April 2005 * "Student of the Game" by Daniel Morris, ''

PC Gamer ''PC Gamer'' is a magazine and website founded in the United Kingdom in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future plc. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games m ...

'', Issue 12 Number 4, April 2005
"Massively Multiplying Online Games Face Age of Cannibalization"
by Steve Smith, ''Electronic Gaming Business'', August 25, 2004
"Multiplayer Online Games: Let in the Cannibals"
by Steve Smith, ''Electronic Gaming Business'', April 7, 2004

by

Richard Bartle Richard Allan Bartle FBCS FRSA (born 10 January 1960) is a British writer, professor and game researcher in the massively multiplayer online game industry. He co-created ''MUD1'' (the first MUD) in 1978, and is the author of the 2003 book ''De ...

, December 1990 (Woodcock is interviewed during his early TinyMUD days.) {{DEFAULTSORT:Woodcock, Bruce 1970 births Living people People from Sullivan, Missouri American critics Video game critics MUD developers