Jadd Hatchen
Psygod9
D.E.F.I.A.N.C.E
26
   |
Posted - 2013.11.12 20:11:00 -
[1] - Quote
Nightbird Aeon wrote:
Part 1 - What was the thought process with regards to making Dust a PS3-only launch, when there was clearly such a large fan base in for EVE in the PC world?
Part 2 - With player numbers dropping in DUST and Planetside 2 acting as a proof-of-concept, will DUST become a hybrid console/PC game?
Short answers: No PC, and No.
Long answers:
1 - From the get go CCP decided that if they were going to create another "flagship game" that it would be console based. Why? For the same reason that you don't see any of the major car manufacturers producing new cars for less than their main lines... It would undercut themselves. If they released another PC online game, then the players of EVE would have to decide which to spend more time with. This would divide a market that they still wish to grow.
Additionally a new payment scheme had evolved over the years after the release of EVE online that represented a large amount of possible cash flow than the monthly subscription model - free to play. Free to play is a misnomer as it actually the capability to gross more than 10 x the amount that a monthly subscription game can. So quick history lesson....
First there were "boxed" games. You paid your $60 or $80 for it the month it is released, play through the 8 to 20 hour storyline (I'll say it's 12 for argument's sake) and then never play it again (no replay-ability). So for the several months of work to produce the game they gross a lot of money up front upon release and then it trickles away unless they do something like release a sequel (Final Fantasy comes to mind as it will never really be "final"). So the era of the sequels soon led to the era of the MMO, where you get countless hours of replay-ability every month for the bargain price of only $14.95 (originally they started out closer to $10 per month, but inflation...). Now the game producers are raking in the dough every month... Just one problem. They still have to pay for upkeep costs of servers, online support, community support, bug fixes, etc. They then tried to combine the two with sequels to the MMO's, but this still only nets like pennies per hour of game play per person and requires a huge player base to be profitable.
Why do I say pennies? Because in the boxed method you paid approx $60 for 12 hours of content or about $5 per hour of fun. With monthly subscription you pay about $15 per month for around 96 hours (assuming only 24 hours per week) of game play every month which is about 15 cents per hour... It's even less than that if you play more often.
Then along comes free to play. Well it's not free. Admittedly, many people won't be paying at all, but even more will pay for a little here and there and even fewer will end up paying for a lot (sounds kinda like taxes). So at one point back during beta, one of the DUST devs mentioned that a full suit of AUR top of the line AUR gear equated to 24.5 cents. So basically one life = one quarter (sounding familiar to anyone)? So in one match lets say you only die like 4 times, that is $1 per match. How long does a match last? Let's assume 15 minutes. And let's assume that with the gabbing with friends and other stuff you only get in 3 matches per hour... That's like $3 per hour that CCP is making off that player. Now assuming they play for only 10 hours a week, that's 40 hours per month, so CCP gets $70 per month off this instance. Of course numbers are gonna vary, no one uses best gear all the time, but many pay for and use boosters all the time, etc. So it all averages out.
{two part post because of character limit...} |
Jadd Hatchen
Psygod9
D.E.F.I.A.N.C.E
26
|
Posted - 2013.11.12 20:11:00 -
[2] - Quote
{...part 2 of two part post}
...end of short history lesson. So why didn't CCP just turn EVE Online into free to play instead? Because when they started to even implement an AUR system in EVE the net effect was this:
http://www.eveonline.com/capsuleers/jita-riots/
The Jita Riots. So CCP learned it's lesson and as a result they still wanted in on all that free to play cash, but how to do it? Well, how about expanding to a new market entirely? Yeah that's the ticket! So they decided to put a product out there that would not compete with their current cash generator and still yield the opportunities to not only develop a free to play style game, but also grab into a whole new player base. And so they thought why not an FPS? Yeah sure and we'll make it across multiple console platforms because PC gamers and console gamers are a completely separate market (and age-group and segment) of society. Originally it was to be on both the XBOX 360 and the PS3, they even started development on the XBOX as evidenced by the early concepts that they demoed at fanfests years ago (with XBOX controllers in their hands). But then Micro-sux decided to point out that they don't let ANYONE other than themselves access to their networks and linking the game to another platform (PC or otherwise) wouldn't be allowed. Prolly not wanting to help boost any competitor etc. So midstream CCP was forced to scramble and switch over to the PS3.
So there you have it. It's on a console only on purpose to prevent cutting into their PC gaming market share.
2 - They have repetitively said no to this one and I have to agree for all the reasons in the answer to your first question above. Like 50% of EVE Online players (I made that number up) have said that they WILL play DUST if it is offered on the PC and that would be a devastating blow to the player base of EVE Online. Besides which the mentality and profile of your average console gamer wouldn't put up with the bullshit that your average EVE Online PC game would. They are completely different demographics in some cases. Console provides short bursts of entertainment for a younger audience using various tactics, while the PC provides for longer and slower stretches of gaming with a more strategic goal. They actually seem to complement each other in a theoretical sense. At least if CCP ever finished interfacing them. |