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The interesting thing is that convincing AAA publishers to port merely requires them to think it'd be profitable. 20 years ago, if someone asked to raise a qua
by makmanalp 13y ago
The interesting thing is that convincing AAA publishers to port merely requires them to think it'd be profitable.
20 years ago, if someone asked to raise a quarter of a billion into a video game, they'd be laughed out of the building. Now it happens often. Over the years, increasingly big-budget games got funded and created.
So, all they need to do is to replicate a similar process. First you move all the indie games and source engine games to linux to "bootstrap" your market. Maybe make them free or a few bucks. Once you have a paying userbase from that, you show financials to bigger fish in an attempt to draw them in. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Even better is the fact that publishers love "free money" that doesn't require them to gamble. A port of an already successful game is much less risky than a new game. And (conditions permitting, like engine support) it costs a very small amount compared to the actual budget. So they can work on smaller margins to still turn a healthy profit.
- bsimpson 13y agoI believe Humble Bundle has a partnership with a consultancy that will take care of porting a game to other platforms to enable their Mac/Linux/Windows value proposition. Valve could probably do something similar (though I imagine it's a lot more work to port a AAA game than an indie platformer).
- wonderzombie 13y agoIf you're using an off-the-shelf engine (Unreal engine, say), it's probably somewhat easier, as some of the work would be one-off, at least in theory. But I don't honestly know how that breaks down.
- speeder 13y agoMost off-the-shelf engine support Linux. This include all Quake engine variations (including Source, and GoldSource) and Unreal variations.
- touristtam 13y agoand probably the branched version from activision used in their `call of duty` franchies.... -_-''
- GauntletWizard 13y agoDon't forget Unity, and C#/XNA support via Mono/Monogame.
- vacri 13y agoI can't speak for recent Humble Bundles, but the linux experience of earlier ones was inconsistent to say the least. Some games were as if they were intended to be native. Others just didn't work or actually didn't exist. Others worked, but were buggy... and never got the update fixes. Maybe they have become better?
- ekianjo 13y agoYeah in the recent bundles it has been much better.
- JVIDEL 13y agoInteresting, where did you hear that?
- trycatch 13y agoTotal production costs of the famous Atari's E.T. (1982) were $125M according to Wikipedia. It's more than $300M in 2013 dollars.
- bryanlarsen 13y agoWhich works out to $25 million to get the E.T. license, $100 million to make millions of cartridges to bury in the desert, and $200,000 on actual development.
- csomar 13y agoNext Generation Magazine reported that Atari earned US$25 million in sales, but netted a loss of US$100 million. Doesn't seem like it was a good idea, though.
- gcb0 13y agoNot so simple nowadays. Games are not fire and forget anymore. Now it's all about downloadable content and In-Game-Currency (which is basically a way to allow gambling legally) Just being profitable initially doesn't mean jack. I think everyone learned that from the emails from Jobs and the Printing industry (and what i'd give to read the ones with the music industry...)
- nullymcnull 13y agoPfft. Most big ticket games continue to be the familiar standalone titles without any in-game purchasing models. Sure, DLCs and 'season passes' and the like are more common. But the vast majority of money that a big AAA title is going to make continues to be made in the first few weeks of its release. Being profitable initially still means a great deal indeed. It's still what franchises are made, or broken upon. You have to really be drinking the kool-aid to believe that the fundamental economics of gaming have been upended by a few obnoxious trends du jour.
- Mikeb85 13y agoNot true. Most big AAA games and the higher quality Indie Games you just buy once, and you get the whole version. Examples are Minecraft, Braid, Fez, for indies, and pretty much all AAA titles are buy-once... Even many of the higher quality Android titles are a one-time purchase.
- gcb0 13y agoI'm pretty sure those titles do not have much leverage on the deal discussed there.
- visualphoenix 13y agoIt's far more trivial to port now that PC and Next-Gen consoles are all X86.