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Innovative in business model? I don't see how, at least in the West. A subscription fee is not innovative. Not to blow my own horn, but our business model is considered far more innovative than the subscription models. And even though Simutronics' has a subscription fee, I'd consider all its addons quite innovative as well: Paying for quests, paying for character portraits, etc. Of course, with the # of players the big games have, they don't really need to innovate with their business model. They're raking it in already.
Having said that, there are numerous games in the East with different business models, ranging from site licenses for net cafes to a couple Korean games that that looked at our business model and decided to use it, etc.
I don't think anyone is suggesting they should take greater risks. I know from first-hand experience that publishers and investors are concerned, more than anything else, with reducing risk. On the other hand, that really only applies to AAA titles. Smaller graphical muds, like A Tale In The Desert, do innovate and take risks in ways that are not financial.
--matt
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