8 ms·

I think it's fairly well-known at this point, but I find it interesting that the game will never be on sale [0]: > We state it on our steam page, but people ar

I think it's fairly well-known at this point, but I find it interesting that the game will never be on sale [0]: > We state it on our steam page, but people are still asking about it so I want to state it officially. We don't plan any Factorio sale. I'm aware, that the sale can make a lot of money in a short period of time, but I believe that it is not worth it in the long run, and since we are not in financial pressure we can afford to think in the long run. We don't like sales for the same reason we don't like the 9.99 prices. We want to be honest with our customers. When it costs 20, we don't want to make it feel like 10 and something. The same is with the sale, as you are basically saying, that someone who doesn't want to waste his time by searching for sales or special offers has to pay more. I like their reasoning, and I think it helps to show how focused they are on the quality of the game (as well as, you know, 8 years of early access). [0] https://www.factorio.com/blog/post/fff-140 https://www.factorio.com/blog/post/fff-140

markus_zhang 6y ago
It's an interesting and strong technique I actually hope more games take on, even as a player.
- fileeditview 6y ago
  I also like it. But I doubt that most games can afford to take a stand like that. Only the most well received can do this IMHO. There are always people only secondarily interested in a game. Maybe it's not their first priority genre or whatever. If the game company needs to convert as many customers as possible, staying with the same price forever probably won't work out.
  - thendrill 6y ago
    Exactly.... Making bad games and then making money off said bad games is just bad for everyone.
    - Alupis 6y ago
      I think sadly this mindset really limits their playerbase, and will ultimately expedite the decline of the game and online community. Steam Sales have a massive effect on games - thousands of new players try the game simply because it happens to be 15% off today or whatever. Even the "Free Weekend" play converts thousands of players that find the game fun. It makes trying out a new indie-type game feel less like a risk. Now that Factorio has real competition in this type of building game (Satisfactory - which I highly recommend if you liked Factorio), they might discover their principled stance against any Sale might waver a bit. To each their own I suppose. One day, Factorio will be on sale... once the playerbase dries up and they desperately try to inject life into the game. Or not... maybe they let it wilt away... which would be a real shame.
      - maximente 6y ago
        you're going to have an extremely hard time justifying that this attitude has or will "expedite the decline of the game and online community" given that they've been in early access for 4 years, continue to add sales, have an exclusive (and active) reddit, active modding scene, etc. 4 years is practically infinity when it comes to the uber-long tail distribution of indie video game success stories; not only that, but the game continues to add and keep players.
        Alupis 6y ago
        Eh, Steam Early Release program has this effect with a _lot_ of games that, otherwise, would never see the light of day. You can play an ER game, get bored, stop playing for 6 months, and then come back and tons of new content is available now. This keeps the player base around too. Usually though, once a game calls itself "1.0" or whatever, the new free features tend to stop shortly thereafter. (which is more than fair, it's a "completed" product now) Where will this game be in another 4 years, after little or no new content? All games have a shelf life. The developer could stick to their principles and ride it out, and shutter the game once enough people have lost interest. Or... they could have a Steam Sale and extend the life for years at a time. We'll have to see...
      - 6y ago
OnionBlender 6y ago
Jason Rohrer said Castle Doctrine would never go on sale but he changed his mind in March. https://steamcommunity.com/games/249570/announcements/detail/1719750490053944631 https://steamcommunity.com/games/249570/announcements/detail...
eikenberry 6y ago
From what I've read sales are not about making a lot of money in a short period of time, but are instead about seeding the community for more word of mouth. That games do best over the long run when they hit a critical mass where they get most of their purchases from people recommending it and sales were a strategy to ramp that up faster.
- CameronNemo 6y ago
  One alternative option is to offer rebates (or credits for subscription based products) based on referrals.
- dasb 6y ago
  AFAIK sale-based pricing is about squeezing consumer surplus, as described by Joel Spolsky [0]. [0] https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2004/12/15/camels-and-rubber-duckies/ https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2004/12/15/camels-and-rubber-...
  - hvis 6y ago
    Yes, it's about collecting the money from people who wouldn't buy it at all otherwise. Relatedly, I have a crapton of games purchased of Steam that I will probably never get around to playing.
munificent 6y ago
I don't have any moral problems with sales. Some people have money and less time. Others have less money and more time. Sales let each of those groups use the resources they have acquire the product. People with less money but more time can spend that time hunting for deals. Busy people with cash can pay full price.
- CameronNemo 6y ago
  This is a type of price discrimination, which has highly debated morality and unequivocal efficacy. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_discrimination https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_discrimination
  - michaelcampbell 6y ago
    Interestingly, the word "moral" doesn't appear at all on that page. The "debate" must be elsewhere.
    - CameronNemo 6y ago
      https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/business-ethics-quarterly/article/ethics-of-price-discrimination/EFFAB30A520782135D1EFF291F32E22E https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/business-ethics-quar... https://econsultancy.com/what-is-price-discrimination-and-is-it-ethical/ https://econsultancy.com/what-is-price-discrimination-and-is...
  - neves 6y ago
    They already price discriminate. In Latin America Steam store you can by Factorio spending just US$9,00. Some people value the product differently. If I'd play it for hours, probably it is money well spent, but I'm a casual gamer. The game looks nice, but I wouldn't spend the price of good books in it.
  - s3cur3 6y ago
    Obviously people might not like it, but can you summarize the moral arguments against it?
renewiltord 6y ago
Minecraft has been the most successful use of this, I think. Minecraft price has only steadily risen over time.
hinkley 6y ago
Also, for quite a long time the tradition was that a game only goes on sale after a successor has been chosen. Steam sales are a comparatively new concept. When Factorio 2 comes out, you will most likely be able to pick up Factorio for $10.
smusamashah 6y ago
It's $10 on my steam page.
m463 6y ago
I think this is great. make and sell a game. No monetization tricks, no data collection idiocy. And they will have loyal fans.

markus_zhang 6y ago

It's an interesting and strong technique I actually hope more games take on, even as a player.

fileeditview 6y ago
I also like it. But I doubt that most games can afford to take a stand like that. Only the most well received can do this IMHO. There are always people only secondarily interested in a game. Maybe it's not their first priority genre or whatever. If the game company needs to convert as many customers as possible, staying with the same price forever probably won't work out.
- thendrill 6y ago
  Exactly.... Making bad games and then making money off said bad games is just bad for everyone.
  - Alupis 6y ago
    I think sadly this mindset really limits their playerbase, and will ultimately expedite the decline of the game and online community. Steam Sales have a massive effect on games - thousands of new players try the game simply because it happens to be 15% off today or whatever. Even the "Free Weekend" play converts thousands of players that find the game fun. It makes trying out a new indie-type game feel less like a risk. Now that Factorio has real competition in this type of building game (Satisfactory - which I highly recommend if you liked Factorio), they might discover their principled stance against any Sale might waver a bit. To each their own I suppose. One day, Factorio will be on sale... once the playerbase dries up and they desperately try to inject life into the game. Or not... maybe they let it wilt away... which would be a real shame.
    - maximente 6y ago
      you're going to have an extremely hard time justifying that this attitude has or will "expedite the decline of the game and online community" given that they've been in early access for 4 years, continue to add sales, have an exclusive (and active) reddit, active modding scene, etc. 4 years is practically infinity when it comes to the uber-long tail distribution of indie video game success stories; not only that, but the game continues to add and keep players.
      - Alupis 6y ago
        Eh, Steam Early Release program has this effect with a _lot_ of games that, otherwise, would never see the light of day. You can play an ER game, get bored, stop playing for 6 months, and then come back and tons of new content is available now. This keeps the player base around too. Usually though, once a game calls itself "1.0" or whatever, the new free features tend to stop shortly thereafter. (which is more than fair, it's a "completed" product now) Where will this game be in another 4 years, after little or no new content? All games have a shelf life. The developer could stick to their principles and ride it out, and shutter the game once enough people have lost interest. Or... they could have a Steam Sale and extend the life for years at a time. We'll have to see...
    - 6y ago

OnionBlender 6y ago

Jason Rohrer said Castle Doctrine would never go on sale but he changed his mind in March. https://steamcommunity.com/games/249570/announcements/detail/1719750490053944631 https://steamcommunity.com/games/249570/announcements/detail...

eikenberry 6y ago

From what I've read sales are not about making a lot of money in a short period of time, but are instead about seeding the community for more word of mouth. That games do best over the long run when they hit a critical mass where they get most of their purchases from people recommending it and sales were a strategy to ramp that up faster.

CameronNemo 6y ago
One alternative option is to offer rebates (or credits for subscription based products) based on referrals.
dasb 6y ago
AFAIK sale-based pricing is about squeezing consumer surplus, as described by Joel Spolsky [0]. [0] https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2004/12/15/camels-and-rubber-duckies/ https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2004/12/15/camels-and-rubber-...
- hvis 6y ago
  Yes, it's about collecting the money from people who wouldn't buy it at all otherwise. Relatedly, I have a crapton of games purchased of Steam that I will probably never get around to playing.

munificent 6y ago

I don't have any moral problems with sales. Some people have money and less time. Others have less money and more time. Sales let each of those groups use the resources they have acquire the product. People with less money but more time can spend that time hunting for deals. Busy people with cash can pay full price.

CameronNemo 6y ago
This is a type of price discrimination, which has highly debated morality and unequivocal efficacy. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_discrimination https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_discrimination
- michaelcampbell 6y ago
  Interestingly, the word "moral" doesn't appear at all on that page. The "debate" must be elsewhere.
  - CameronNemo 6y ago
    https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/business-ethics-quarterly/article/ethics-of-price-discrimination/EFFAB30A520782135D1EFF291F32E22E https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/business-ethics-quar... https://econsultancy.com/what-is-price-discrimination-and-is-it-ethical/ https://econsultancy.com/what-is-price-discrimination-and-is...
- neves 6y ago
  They already price discriminate. In Latin America Steam store you can by Factorio spending just US$9,00. Some people value the product differently. If I'd play it for hours, probably it is money well spent, but I'm a casual gamer. The game looks nice, but I wouldn't spend the price of good books in it.
- s3cur3 6y ago
  Obviously people might not like it, but can you summarize the moral arguments against it?

renewiltord 6y ago

Minecraft has been the most successful use of this, I think. Minecraft price has only steadily risen over time.

hinkley 6y ago

Also, for quite a long time the tradition was that a game only goes on sale after a successor has been chosen. Steam sales are a comparatively new concept. When Factorio 2 comes out, you will most likely be able to pick up Factorio for $10.

smusamashah 6y ago

It's $10 on my steam page.

m463 6y ago

I think this is great. make and sell a game. No monetization tricks, no data collection idiocy. And they will have loyal fans.