Co-Inventor of MMOs Launches the World’s First Outdoor RPG

June 17, 2024 – Los Angeles, CA. Monsarrat, a Los Angeles startup, today launched Landing Party, a demo game that is the world’s first Outdoor Roleplaying Game.

This is the second time that its founder, Johnny Monsarrat, invented a new type of game. He previously co-invented MMOs, as the Founder, CEO, and CTO of Turbine, one of the “big three” first MMO game companies. Turbine’s MMOs included Dungeons & Dragons Online, D.I.C.E. “RPG Game of the Year” Asheron’s Call, and PC Gamer “MMO Game of the Year” Lord of the Rings Online. Warner Bros. later bought Turbine for $160 million.

Now Monsarrat is taking his expertise outside. Outdoor walking games were defined in 2016 by Niantic’s Pokémon Go, which has earned a staggering $8 billion, including $566 million just in 2023. But Pokémon Go gameplay has nothing like the creativity and community of powerhouse MMO games that Monsarrat knows so well. Niantic struggled to evolve its entry level Pokémon Go, where you collect stuff, into mature products with better performing player retention and monetization. Harry Potter and Marvel heroes don’t spend all their time collecting stuff. Fans wanted real storytelling and roleplaying adventures.

Monsarrat’s new launch, Landing Party, could show the way. It’s an Outdoor RPG inspired by its founder’s background in MMOs and backed up by 4 patents. Instead of placing one creature at a GPS point, Landing Party lays out an entire fantasy world across an open map space, which the player walks through to play. The game has no fixed locations, allowing players to set their next game mission in their back yard, a local park, or any other open space, even a small one.

CEO Johnny Monsarrat said, “In the global crisis of loneliness, people are craving a reason to go outdoors. But some people aren’t drawn to sports. They want an alternative outdoor activity that’s more creative and less athletic. That’s what we’re building, and we see three key market drivers: creativity, community, and convenience.”

Landing Party is so far just a demo game, but it’s free and has 12 missions that could be the future of outdoor video games. It is now available on Apple App Store and Google Play. See links and videos at monsarrat.com.

About Monsarrat

Monsarrat is an AR game company based in Los Angeles, whose first demo game, Landing Party, is an “Outdoor RPG”, a new type of AR mobile walking game that supports deeper, MMO-style storytelling and player interaction.

Monsarrat is now seeking business partnerships, and funding to build out their future full game.

Press kit: https://monsarrat.pl/presskit

Videos: https://youtube.com/@monsarratgames

Contact: Johnny Monsarrat, CEO, jmonsarrat@monsarrat.com.