Game Makers Turn to Online Distribution

[DevilHacker]

I have been saying this for years...
Now, if Microsoft makes an app like XBLA that allows you to download games, and ships it as standard on vista... they will be set! So would the developers.
:thumbsup:

[KOKE]

If this lowers the price of the games, then it sure can be the future.

:thumbsup:

[heavyness]

does anyone have any numbers on how successful Valve's Steam is doing and how well its fighting off hackers? i love Steam and i wonder if people are having a easier time hacking the games so they don't have to pay for it. i know Valve made this due to the fact HL1 was hacked for Counter Strike by the millions.

i think being connected to the net is key, constant updates that kill off bad serials and patch hacks [like Steam and Xbox 360].

will this lower prices? sure, once it's in place and accepted by more studios and consumers.

[pogonip]

It was all a matter of bandwidth . Now that bandwidth is getting reasonable companies can look to downloading as a viable resouce like valve has proven !

[depleteD]

I think that is an excellent idea.
Its the way it should be. Something like steam stops piracy in its tracks. If people want the product they will have to pay.

And of course demos will be available, try our game, if u like click here to buy.+the reduced cost of shipping and distribution is eliminated. I don't imagine bandwidth would exceed the shipping costs.

[ReBootedOne]

It sounds great, but I don't know, though... I mean, I'm prone to extreme paranoia, so I like having a solid box/CD case/DVD/whatever to hold onto, just in case the unthinkable happens, (like a computer crash) and I lose an actual monetary investment. I had that happen with my iTunes Music Store, (having spent probably about 50 bucks on there) and it was just all down the tubes when my computer crashed.
So, as long as they can insure that you can re-download for free in case of emergency, then I'm cool with it.

-eric

[heavyness]

It sounds great, but I don't know, though... I mean, I'm prone to extreme paranoia, so I like having a solid box/CD case/DVD/whatever to hold onto, just in case the unthinkable happens, (like a computer crash) and I lose an actual monetary investment. I had that happen with my iTunes Music Store, (having spent probably about 50 bucks on there) and it was just all down the tubes when my computer crashed.
So, as long as they can insure that you can re-download for free in case of emergency, then I'm cool with it.

-eric

i was like that until i bought Half Life 2 from Steam. i have an account, i can totally download the game again if needed. actually, it's safer then a DVD. you scratch a DVD, bye bye. It works the same for game bought on the Xbox Live Arcade. you Live account keeps track of what you bought. if you should loose your data, you simply dl it again. sure, i miss the box art and manuals...

[Frank Lake]

i was like that until i bought Half Life 2 from Steam. i have an account, i can totally download the game again if needed. actually, it's safer then a DVD. you scratch a DVD, bye bye. It works the same for game bought on the Xbox Live Arcade. you Live account keeps track of what you bought. if you should loose your data, you simply dl it again. sure, i miss the box art and manuals...
That's nice. But what do you do 5 years down the road when the company is gone or the game has stopped being supported in any form by it's developer? Not a damned thing that's what! And this is exactly why the game developers want it!

[mmkelly011881]

i know Valve made this due to the fact HL1 was hacked for Counter Strike by the millions.

what? cs was free anyways


That's nice. But what do you do 5 years down the road when the company is gone or the game has stopped being supported in any form by it's developer? Not a damned thing that's what! And this is exactly why the game developers want it!

what?

[heavyness]

what? cs was free anyways

it was a free mod, but you still needed Half Life to play it. millions or people where hacking HL just so they could play CS at LAN parties.

[JTD]

I filled out a survey from Bioware yesterday regarding this issue. For what it's worth, I prefer the shiney box with the maps and user manuals.:p

[-Vormav-]

Something like steam stops piracy in its tracks. If people want the product they will have to pay.
Not really. If you spend a couple of minutes on google, you can find ways to bypass Steam. (Note: I'm not actually suggesting that anyone do that. Just making the point that, as with all other copy-protection systems, steam can be cracked).

Anyway, I used to be one of the people that had to have the box/manual. But these days, I don't really care. On a fast enough internet connection, buying the game online and getting a direct download can be way more convenient (it's also still an open option when you're wide awake at 2am, looking for something to do ;)). Good to see that more games are starting to go this route.

[PhilOsirus]

In 5 years maybe but not in this new console generation. And when online distribution becomes the main distribution method don't expect games to be sold in the same way, it will be more like a subscription-based service. The internet of video games. All the games, all accessible, at all time. This is also what the recent drive for simpler games and the "old school" downloadable games will lead to.

To make online distribution you need:
1- A smaller amount of game data for bandwidth reasons
2- Which means simpler games
3- Which means smaller budgets
4- Which means shorter development time

And all of this solves the Next-Gen Problem that is leading to wastes of time and money due to huge budgets that are only bigger because the competition's budgets are bigger as well and yet doesn't make the games more fun. The simpler games generation will bring more fun games to the market more often and will grow the market due to the simplicity and variety of the available games.

Hence online distribution won't happen for the next Resident Evils or Halos, but will be the main distribution method of the new simpler games generation. As simpler games become more popular, large publishers that will have spent millions in development and marketing on lifeless clones of formerly popular games will fall the hardest as gamers' attention is focussed elsewhere. These simple games don't need a lot of marketing, they just need to be fun in order to sell. It's the Blog era, not the 2 minute spots on TV days in which everyone's attention was clearly focussed on specific ads. How do we know this is the likely future? Because Nintendo is doing this right now with the DS. It is crushing the cellphone games market, it is crushing the PSP's game sales, and it all cost less in all aspects (development, marketing, etc.).

It's too bad that Nintendo is not focussing on online distribution with the Revolution, this would have brought a true revolution. If only the Revolution came with a large capacity hard drive we would see during the next few years the biggest change in the way we acquire, play and percieve video games.

But I believe Nintendo will have shown the whole industry the "light" without getting anything much in return. The market is not going to grow for the sake of the biggest publishers, it will grow for a dedicated company just like the portable music player market has grown recently for the sake of only one company. It's just a question of who will actually lay out the foundations needed, and not just halfway.

[P_T]

With this online distribution method, I wouldn't like it if I have to install different clients like Steam for every different game developers/publishers. It may not be a big deal but it's still a waste of HDD space.

And if it means smaller, episodic games like what Valve intends to do, then count me out totally. It'll be like eating a cookie few crumbs at a time, unsatisfying.

That being said, with CD/DVD version, I don't like how I have to keep the DVD in the drive everytime I want to play the game, but it's a very minor hassle that I can put up with.

I don't think the cost of making/distributing boxset hardcopy of games as the big factor in the pricing. I mean, the BF2 DVD boxset I bought from EB look anything but expensive, probably cost them a few bucks for each boxset to mass produce.

Another thing is, my mate bought a WoW Collector's boxset worth several hundred dollars eventhough he already has a copy, he then sold his old copy+account to his brother. I too have sold my old games and bought second hand ones.

It just shows that people love to have the hardcopy version of games. Things they can collect and sell easily. I mean how would you sell your game when you don't want it anymore if you dloaded it off the net? I have a feeling you won't be able to which is a bonus for game publishers.

[KevinKraeer]

I think it's going to come down to money. Not having to create box art, print millions of boxes and manuals, burn millions of CD's - that's going to save publishers untold quadrillions. Though the monolith companies are slow to react to Steam's success, I'm sure they're reacting.

What's going to be interesting is to see how the small development houses muscle their way into this new space, and shout 'in your face, monolith game publisher!'. I think there could be a lot of awesome homebrew games, on the Counter-Strike-quality level, on the horizon. (Meaning, state of the art, for today, not another Counter-Strike clone.)

[richcz3]

Has anyone heard of "Tiered Internet"?
Unfortunately the FTC is backing it here in the States. The Baby Bells want to throttle certain companies that exceed certain bandwidth usage. They are going after Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft, but expect to apply it to companies that cause significant bandwidth traffic. Companies that pay the "Bandwidth Excess Fees" get prime service.

LINK1 (http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060213/chester) | LINK2 (http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/02/02/1926257&from=rss) | LINK3 (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4552138.stm)

Senate Proposes to Block Tiered Internet Plan
LINK1 (http://www.threadwatch.org/node/5784)

So much for saving on boxes, manuals, and shelf space. People have to rise up against this.

[P_T]

What's going to be interesting is to see how the small development houses muscle their way into this new space, and shout 'in your face, monolith game publisher!'.

Interesting as that may be, the "monolith game publisher" will probably just laugh in their faces and say "good luck marketing your games".

Having made a great game means little if they can't market it to people. Advertisement are also very important and I doubt these small houses can afford ads like that BLACK or Metroid Prime one.

Consumers also prefer to spend a few dollars more on a trusted brand than on a cheaper unknown, that's why Armani can sell leather jacket for $5k, an extreme example but applicable nonetheless.

[Samo]

Will online-distributed games be cheaper?
I suspect they won't

[CGTalk Moderation]

This thread has been automatically closed as it remained inactive for 12 months. If you wish to continue the discussion, please create a new thread in the appropriate forum.