Fans of Pokémon-inspired MMO Temtem are arguing with the developer about what MMO means after Crema CEO says it's 'not feasible' to keep adding content forever

Temtem developer Crema announced a new game earlier this week called Temtem: Swarm, the latest Vampire Survivorsification of an existing game that eschews collecting and training in favor of all-out inter-Tem violence. 

The news did not go over entirely well as some players of the 2022 Pokémon-style game complained about Temtem being abandoned, and that situation did not get better when Kikill0—that's Crema CEO Enrique Paños Montoya—waded into the fray to tell those fans exactly how they're wrong.

Temtem is widely regarded as an MMO: The 2018 Kickstarter described it as a «massively multiplayer creature-collection adventure,» and it's also categorized as such on Steam. But what exactly that means has been a matter of debate literally for years. In 2018, for instance, game director Guillermo Andrades said the studio has "never used the MMO label," but that it is an MMO in the sense that it's massively multiplayer and online. (Relevant: the latest episode of our podcast, PC Gamer Chat Log, digs into this very subject!)

«Whatever everyone has in its minds for when they hear MMO… we can't control that,» Andrades wrote. «We have always been pretty clear and upfront to what we're trying to make. On the campaign, on the FAQs and every time we've been approached with the question.»

In his own lengthy statement on the Temtem Discord, later posted to Reddit, Montoya leaned into the same concept. «Crema has always been very honest about what the game was and what it is,» he wrote. «The community expects to add infinite content, which is costly in terms of time and money, and just because it carries the MMO label, but MMO doesn't mean infinite.

»It's compared to other MMOs, even though Crema has clarified since 2018 that it wouldn't be like those MMOs. But when comparing it to other MMOs, the small detail is forgotten that those MMOs have a subscription model or are free but with pay-to-win practices. They are sustainable in that way."

As it stands, Montoya wrote, Temtem is «a