Steam Greenlight
I know I've read somewhere that the BGEE team can't comment on the future of BGEE appearing on Steam or other digital distribution services. However, I logged into Steam today and saw that the Steam Greenlight feature is now available to the masses. I'd be interested in finding out if BGEE is eligible to take a run through Greenlight, what with its associated IP licensing and whatnot; most of the games on Greenlight now appear to be small, pet projects using original IPs. Seems like a sweet way to get BGEE some exposure if the game meets the Greenlight criteria.
Post edited by Coriander on
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What? Liar! I'll go prove your lies are just that, lies! You lying...liar!
http://deadlystream.com/forum/files/file/197-tsl-restored-content-mod/
It is definitely awesome.
@The_New_Romance I definitely agree with you that BG isn't indie. But, the BGEE project made me kinda think: what is indie? It's kind of a poorly defined term. The original game was definitely a well-funded, big studio game, but is the BGEE project indie? It is kind of in the prove-yourself category. I too lament Steam's lack of Infinity games =(
The only two logical reasons I can see are steam sales and stats/achievements. For steam sales, I honestly want people to pay full price for this game, at least initially, so I don't want it on steam right away. I know when Civ 5 Gods & Kings was announced, I waited until the steam sale to buy it. I don't want that for BG:EE, because I want these guys to be as successful as possible. For stats, I admit I'd like to see how many hours I've spent on this game, but I'd still rather give my money to Overhaul/Beamdog than Steam.
Don't get me wrong, I like Steam, I use it constantly and I think it's a good system, but it's not something that's going to stop me from buying a game.
I know, it's a shame how customers trade in their independence for comfort.
However, I DO want it on Steam not for myself, but for the overall success of the venture. As you said, being sold through the Steam marketplace means exposure to millions of gamers that might not otherwise hear of it. As you alluded to, I think it would generate a great deal of income for the BG2EE and possible BG3 projects; both of which I would like to see fully funded. That's the only reason I care about BGEE being on Steam, personally. I usually don't become emotionally invested in a game's success or failure, but I really do want to see the BG projects continue.
They need to take advantage of what they can, for right now. The more pieces of the pie that gets taken by others taking their cuts, the less likely we are so see further enhanced games, or, golly gee, Baldur's Gate 3. Money makes the world go round, after all.
That, and pie.
First, Stream takes a significant (~20%) cut of all sales -- something they don't have to worry about when selling via Beamdog's site. Further, I'm sure that Beamdog hopes that BG:EE will drive traffic to the Beamdog website -- people who will hopefully purchase OTHER titles from their catalog (after all, they already have the account and client installed), and not offering it to Stream is a fairly easy decision.
It wouldn't surprise me if BG:EE is eventually offered on Stream, though -- probably 6 - 12 months after the initial release.
There are enough examples to show that both ways can work:
1) Legend of Grimrock was distributed directly from the developer, Steam and GOG at the same time and sold very well and made great profit for the developer.
2) Minecraft is available only through direct purchase from the developer, it also sold well and made great profit.
I think the pros and cons of either way balance each other out. But if they want the game to reach more people, distributing on multiple platforms as soon as possible is the way to go.
Once you start thinking about how to squeeze every possible dollar out of every customer, you become EA.
Gaining good will from your customers can be very profitable in the long run.
As for the financial aspects, I also feel very invested in this game's success, which is why I hope they stay off Steam initially. I think if Trent thought going onto Steam would make them more money, then that's what they would do. What I'm hoping is they hold off for about a year (probably a few months after BG2:EE), and then they put it on Steam. That way, they maximize their profit from those of us who will be buying it anyway, but can also get the exposure and sales numbers that being on Steam provides.
I wasn't trying to be confrontational, I know most people on this forum are reasonable and fully support BG:EE, but I've heard a lot of complaints elsewhere (mostly Reddit) about how if the game wasn't on Steam they weren't going to buy it. I just don't understand that logic. Sure, Steam makes my life easier, but in the end it's just a means to obtain and play games, I care far more about the games than the client.