Berlin  - World of Warcraft (WOW) is not the only online game available and game developers have finally realized that they have to offer special treats and niches to lure players away from it.

Ever since WOWarcraft hit the markets in 2004, it has been the unrivalled champion of online fantasy worlds. Fantasy fans used to have to content themselves with reading about Middle Earth in the Lord of the Rings saga. WOW allowed them to experience those battles themselves - or at least virtually - in the realm of Azeroth.

Although WOW is becoming increasingly popular and now has 11 million subscribers, the developer, Blizzard, said in a statement, its recent expansion pack, Wrath of the Lich King, has also caused a stir.

But a host of other online worlds await explorers and adventurers. Titles such as Everquest arrived on the market before WOW and the Lord of the Rings' Middle Earth has also gone virtual. And this year, fans tried out the Age of Conan and Warhammer Online.

Market observers often have to rely on rumours of a game's popularity. At present, speculation that the Lord of the Rings Online has 300,000 players is rife. Manufacturers rarely releases exact figures, but Electronic Arts revealed that Warhammer had 800,000 subscribers shortly after that site was launched.

Nevertheless, boosting the figures is difficult and for this reason the focus is now on special features and other niches.

Business models like WOW's under which subscribers pay monthly fees are being questioned. Codemasters, which created Archlord, still charges fees. But that business model is dying and in future people will simply download and play free games.

But there is still money to be earned.

"You can create special items which people can use to improve and upgrade their characters," says Matthias Mirlach, a spokesman for Codemasters. Most of those items sell for up to 2 euros (2.55 dollars).

"The principle works and it's profitable," he added.

Frogster has also released its popular maritime game Bounty Bay Online with a Free2Play version complete with a shop for special items. Reports say the game has attracted 15,000 new players within a month. A spokesman, Axel Schmitt, says new titles like Runes of Magic and the child-friendly StoneAge2 will also be released as free games with fee-based stores for extra items.

Stieger agrees this could be a new recipe for online success with a smaller, loyal customer base.

"There will be more of these niches, with games that host maybe 50,000 to 80,000 gamers."

Sony Online Entertainment is still running Vanguard, which initially sold 200,000 units. Only about 30,000 of its players are still active. But if every one of them pays 10 euros a month, this can add up to a tidy profit. (dpa)