NCsoft puts its MMOs on Steam

[UnSub]

Link

Probably this is part marketing move for its old titles, part distribution move for Aion and whatever comes next.

[Trippy]

[Yegolev]

Is Steam now a dumping ground for bullshit wanting to appear new enough to snag a few more dollars?

[Mrbloodworth]

Is Steam now a dumping ground for bullshit wanting to appear new enough to snag a few more dollars?

I think its just easier, and better than rolling your own distribution system, the built in user base and potential viewers doesn't hurt ether.

[Hawkbit]

It's interesting that GW:Eye of the North isn't up there yet. 

I'm not sure why they don't take all four GW products, roll them into one and charge $29.99 for it.  I'd wager they'd get a good influx of players if they did. 

[Zzulo]

Seems like a smart move I guess

[Trippy]

Is Steam now a dumping ground for bullshit wanting to appear new enough to snag a few more dollars?

I think its just easier, and better than rolling your own distribution system, the built in user base and potential viewers doesn't hurt ether.

NCsoft already has it's own "digital distribution" system complete with an online store.

[Mrbloodworth]

Is Steam now a dumping ground for bullshit wanting to appear new enough to snag a few more dollars?

I think its just easier, and better than rolling your own distribution system, the built in user base and potential viewers doesn't hurt ether.

NCsoft already has it's own "digital distribution" system complete with an online store.

Yeah, but does it pop up ads to users that do not already own software from them? (I was guessing you were talking about the launcher)

[UnSub]

I see it as a push towards players who download games, but might not necessarily be playing a MMO.

It also allows a greater push when Aion launches than just from box copies and the NCsoft store.

[Draegan]

It also allows a greater push when Aion launches than just from box copies and the NCsoft store.

My guess as well.

[rattran]

It's interesting that GW:Eye of the North isn't up there yet. 

I'm not sure why they don't take all four GW products, roll them into one and charge $29.99 for it.  I'd wager they'd get a good influx of players if they did. 

Since there's no ongoing sub for GW, isn't the point to sell boxes/copies and not just influx players? I can see them dropping the first one to a tempting price point (or a Steam weekend sale) of ~$10 to try to sell the others.

[shiznitz]

It's interesting that GW:Eye of the North isn't up there yet. 

I'm not sure why they don't take all four GW products, roll them into one and charge $29.99 for it.  I'd wager they'd get a good influx of players if they did. 

Since there's no ongoing sub for GW, isn't the point to sell boxes/copies and not just influx players? I can see them dropping the first one to a tempting price point (or a Steam weekend sale) of ~$10 to try to sell the others.

I don't know if more expansions are planned, but the only people who would buy an expansion are those already playing so it always helps to boost the active players. I agree it makes more sense to sell one expansion cheap and then full price the rest.

[DLRiley]

Their not making any new expansions, all hands on deck for guild wars 2 though they will continue to support guild wars 1.

[Malakili]

It's interesting that GW:Eye of the North isn't up there yet. 

I'm not sure why they don't take all four GW products, roll them into one and charge $29.99 for it.  I'd wager they'd get a good influx of players if they did. 

I'd buy it.

[Draegan]

So would I.

[Merusk]

Not me! They'd want $50 or $60 for it, like the trilogy pack.  No thx, guise. I'm not in to paying full price for your 5 year old game, thx.  Next time try a different pricing strat.

[Tale]

/mourn Tabula Rasa. This would have given it life.

The primary audience of Steam is people co-ordinated enough to play FPS games, as opposed to MMOG players who can't strafe.

[Zzulo]

Tabula rasa was not an fps game

[Tannhauser]

How many weeks does it take to download FFXI?

[Morfiend]

Tabula rasa was not an fps game

It was if you used the shotgun.

I the TR shotgun play.

[Kageru]

They have guild a wars trilogy (50$ aus, so about 25$ US I guess) which I believe is all 3 of the original releases but not eye of the north.

I think it's great news. NCsoft have a perfectly usable on-line store which I recently bought CoH from. However having your products on a much larger store with a lot more exposure cannot hurt. And watching steam move towards gaining critical mass brings forward the point at which I can tell console-centric EB to push off, filling me with eager anticipation.

[UnSub]

I don't know how easy it is to get on Steam for someone like NCsoft, but it also counters moves by SOE and CCP in this area.

[schild]

I don't know how easy it is to get on Steam for someone like NCsoft, but it also counters moves by SOE and CCP in this area.

Not really, it seems fairly obvious all MMOGs should be on Steam, it's just a matter of when they get there. It's a no brainer. Most companies just don't want to give Valve a piece of that particular boxsale pie. Which is one of the reasons to digitally distribute yourself.

[Tale]

Tabula rasa was not an fps game

It was. It's become apparent to me that the fantasy MMORPG crowd thought that crouching on the spot and aiming a rifle with tab was the extent of the gameplay.

[Draegan]

Apparently GW has sold 6 Million Units to date.

[UnSub]

For quite a while there GW was what kept NCsoft US in the money. Every new expansion saw the cash just roll in.

[Ghambit]

I don't know how easy it is to get on Steam for someone like NCsoft, but it also counters moves by SOE and CCP in this area.

Not really, it seems fairly obvious all MMOGs should be on Steam, it's just a matter of when they get there. It's a no brainer. Most companies just don't want to give Valve a piece of that particular boxsale pie. Which is one of the reasons to digitally distribute yourself.

THIS.

I mean, how many great ideas have we already seen fail due to dealings with paper pubbies?  If they'd gotten it right from the get-go (which was digital distro. for MMOs from day 1) then the genre wouldnt be so much like a heaping pile.
What is Valves normal "take" per purchase anyways?  Cant be as much as retail brick-n-mortar publishing, especially after you deduct server costs.

[DLRiley]

Apparently GW has sold 6 Million Units to date.

Epic Win. 

[Lantyssa]

Since I haven't seen any responses to it to, y'all should know Guild Wars is offering a free storage pane for a limited time.

See my thread or visit the GW site for details.  I'm not sure how long they'll be offering it, but more storage is good.

[Hindenburg]

Doesn't work with a trial account :(

[Lantyssa]

So get a real one.

[Hindenburg]

Even with TF2 being gifted to me, buying LotrO and Conan in the same semester is already too much. Gimme plz? We'll be, like, BFF.

[Lantyssa]

Are you encouraging me to give it to you or to make sure you never get it?

Sorry, I'm poor.  And selfish.  And don't believe in gifts (unless intended for me, of course).

[Grimwell]

Any time you can get your product in front of new eyes, it's a good thing. Retail, publisher owned digital outlet, and places like Steam are not conflict, they are opportunity. Each outlet has customers the others really don't get on a regular basis, and sharing the proceeds from a sale is better than not having the sale.

I worked retail, I know there is an audience for it -- but there is a growing audience for digital and sites like Steam have customers that may not find my companies games on their own. Plus, the convenience for existing Steam users to get the download started on their Steam ID is a motivator.

I know, I'm not shining new light on things here that are revelations; but it's the simple winning answer for why NCSoft is doing this: It's smart business.

[damijin]

Dont wanna make a new thread for this so I'll put it in here.

Lineage 2 is reactivating all accounts for 2 weeks to celebrate it's 5th year in NA.

They also released their... I dunno... 8th? free expansion yesterday. The game has changed a lot in 5 years, but I guess that's a given.