4 ms·

I like the way this guy thinks. The full-price-then-sale model is industry standard---but a company looking to build a relationship of trust with its fans migh

I like the way this guy thinks. The full-price-then-sale model is industry standard---but a company looking to build a relationship of trust with its fans might be able to do so this way. There are certain game companies I love---Stardock in particular comes to mind. I like Stardock for the pretty simple reason that I read Brad Wardell's writing, and he seems like a pretty cool guy. When you factor in company-customer trust, there are a lot of wacky business models that might just be crazy enough to work: - What if a player signed on as a Patron? $20/month, and the company comes out with games whenever it feels like it. Only Patrons can play. - The company benefits somewhat from having trusted players. Documentation, video tutorials, coaching---a lot of this can be done by players rather than W-2's. That's all I have off the top of my head, but I think there's virgin (or perhaps fallow) soil here.

Brashman 13y ago
What stops people from signing up as a Patron right before a game is released? Or put another way, what's the benefit of signing up as a Patron ahead of time?
- akiselev 13y ago
  Well one way you could do it is require a three month minimum which limits how many "blockbuster" games you can play but has staged/unlimited access to the rest of the catalogue. Bigger packages/loyal customers get access to more games. The trick here is to get the customer on the subscription for long enough to even out the volatility of financing new games, especially for more original games that aren't baggaged by the success and creative choices of prequels. I'm not sure if this can be done for games unless a platform like Steam does it at scale, or someone big like EA does it with predatory tactics (difficult to cancel subscriptions, auto-renew with all plans, etc.) Netflix is doing this to some degree so we'll see how much success they have. Valve is in perhaps a similar position with its usage data on PC gamers.
  - chii 13y ago
    the price point of $20 is a bit steep for such a subscription. Perhaps $10 a month, and that seems to be stretching it. I think a lot of gamers are young and therefore cash-strapped. Netflix style gaming rentals have been tried before - i don't think they succeeded much tbh.

Brashman 13y ago

What stops people from signing up as a Patron right before a game is released? Or put another way, what's the benefit of signing up as a Patron ahead of time?

akiselev 13y ago
Well one way you could do it is require a three month minimum which limits how many "blockbuster" games you can play but has staged/unlimited access to the rest of the catalogue. Bigger packages/loyal customers get access to more games. The trick here is to get the customer on the subscription for long enough to even out the volatility of financing new games, especially for more original games that aren't baggaged by the success and creative choices of prequels. I'm not sure if this can be done for games unless a platform like Steam does it at scale, or someone big like EA does it with predatory tactics (difficult to cancel subscriptions, auto-renew with all plans, etc.) Netflix is doing this to some degree so we'll see how much success they have. Valve is in perhaps a similar position with its usage data on PC gamers.
- chii 13y ago
  the price point of $20 is a bit steep for such a subscription. Perhaps $10 a month, and that seems to be stretching it. I think a lot of gamers are young and therefore cash-strapped. Netflix style gaming rentals have been tried before - i don't think they succeeded much tbh.