Word of mouth: a viable business proposition?

[tolworthy]

This is my first game, and based on advice from here I will probably use portals as well as my web site (I need the money!), but the more I learn about portals the less excited I become. Long term I think word of mouth will by my best source of income, but am I fooling myself? What do you think? Here are my reasons.

1. My game is a platform for other stories. I see the game as a mini operating system for stories, not as a game as such. (The first version is being sold on the story since there is only one story to start with! But long term I am selling an environment, not a particular story.) So I expect it to be weak at first, but to continually improve as I learn from mistakes and add features. I can see it disappearing without trace on most portals, but getting much better publicity by being later discovered by a regular news outlet.

2. Every six months I will release a new story and that version will replace all previous versions. I am not sure that portals are set up for this business model.

3. It's an adventure game, so it has guaranteed publicity among the small but loyal and patient adventure gaming community. When it's good enough it should naturally begin to leak into the wider game community, and when it gets even better it should gradually leak into the wider world.

4. It is totally different in style and content from most games out there, and is not aimed at regular gamers. So most early promotional effort would be wasted. I will still promote it, but I think that improving the game would be a better use of my time.

What do you think? Am I kidding myself?

[JoKa]

2. Every six months I will release a new story and that version will replace all previous versions. I am not sure that portals are set up for this business model.


From the marketing view it's probably better to create sequels. It's much better to release Coolgame 2/3/4 than increasing version 1.1/1.2 etc, this would cause confusion and what about people who'd like to play the older stuff?

It's also better for portal contracts. You can clearly specify "Version 1" in a non-exclusive contract and follow-ups can be used in any way you like.

I don't see the conflict with portals. Since you decided to create new content, just show something like "To be continued..." at the end of the game. If you don't show an url it's not a problem for the portal and people may start to search for more info about the game, which can't be found at the portal.

[tolworthy]

From the marketing view it's probably better to create sequels. It's much better to release Coolgame 2/3/4 than increasing version 1.1/1.2 etc, this would cause confusion and what about people who'd like to play the older stuff?
Everyone can play the older stuff, since each version includes all previous versions. The whole point is to create an ever expanding game universe with more and more stories, appealing to more and more people. My dream is for a single game that is so deep and so rich and so varied that anybody can pick it up and find something they like, then just keep playing forever. I could never achieve that with separate sequels.
It's also better for portal contracts. You can clearly specify "Version 1" in a non-exclusive contract and follow-ups can be used in any way you like.
But when version 2 comes out I want version 1 to disappear. Just like you cannot now buy Windows version 1, and if people bought Windows 1 at their local store they would be sorely disappointed in its functionality (unless they were a collector of course). I don't know if most portals would be happy with that arrangement, especially since I would want all links to version 1 to be replaced by links to version 2 which has a different name. (Why a different name? Because version 1 only has the one story, so it has that story's name. But version 2 begins to show its true nature as a collection of stories.)
I don't see the conflict with portals. Since you decided to create new content, just show something like "To be continued..." at the end of the game. If you don't show an url it's not a problem for the portal and people may start to search for more info about the game, which can't be found at the portal.
Yes, that's probably the best compromise. I'll probably put the release date of the game prominently in the demo, so it's obvious if someone is wasting time on an obsolete version. Though I would rather that the portal simply replaced the obsolete version with the newest one each time.

[JoKa]

But when version 2 comes out I want version 1 to disappear.
If the game doesn't sell fine, chances are good it will have disappeared until the next version is released, anyway. On the other hand, if it still sells good, it may open a great cross-selling opportunity. Or you can cancel the contract, which should be possible to do within a delay of a few months.

[cliffski]

It sounds like you are selling an interactive story-telling engine? if so, this is totally something that you should promote yourself. I can think of tons of ways to make good sales with such a system, outside of the traditional portal-games model.

[JoKa]

I'll probably put the release date of the game prominently in the demo, so it's obvious if someone is wasting time on an obsolete version. Though I would rather that the portal simply replaced the obsolete version with the newest one each time.
I wouldn't give away new versions with more content for free, except the game is pushed to a good position again. And I'm not sure portals are prepared for the way you want to go.

However, it could help spread the word about your game if at least the "basic" version could make it onto portals. Then offer new content on your own. If the name always stays the same, you should take care of this when adding it to a contract. Specify the version number clearly to avoid discussions later.

[tolworthy]

It sounds like you are selling an interactive story-telling engine? if so, this is totally something that you should promote yourself. I can think of tons of ways to make good sales with such a system, outside of the traditional portal-games model.
Thanks - that's what I'm hoping. I haven't revealed all the selling points, but the potential market (stressing the word "potential") is huge. It was suggested (by someone who knows what he's talking about) that I should forget developing, invest all my money in an IP lawyer and just sell the business plan.

HOWEVER, I have to balance this optimism with the fact that this is my first game. The first version might well stink, and it will probably take several years before it begins to stand out from the crowd.

Which leads to another question on portals, but I'll post that on the newbie forum where it belongs.

[LilGames]

For word of mouth to happen, you have to have something "remarkable", something worth talking about.

[tolworthy]

For word of mouth to happen, you have to have something "remarkable", something worth talking about.
I am confident, based on others' comments, that my game will pass that test easily. But not for the first few years. So my question is what to do in those first struggling years. Play the portal game, or focus on the vision?

If it takes several months of hassle to get into portals, and if my game is not suited to what they expect, I wonder if it isn't better to be patient? To invest that time in improving the game, hastening the day when word of mouth begins to drive sales?

[JoKa]

I am confident, based on others' comments, that my game will pass that test easily. But not for the first few years. So my question is what to do in those first struggling years. Play the portal game, or focus on the vision?
A game that's not worth to talk about should be worked on until it's worthy. If it's not impressive right from the start, you're wasting much potential. Portals, editors or reviewers who were disappointed with the first version may not look at later versions, because there are tons of other games to look at.

[Artinum]

But when version 2 comes out I want version 1 to disappear. Just like you cannot now buy Windows version 1, and if people bought Windows 1 at their local store they would be sorely disappointed in its functionality (unless they were a collector of course).

As a business model, this is rather strange. Windows (like many products) brings out new versions all the time in order to sell them again. From now on, all major Windows developers will code for Vista - so if you want the latest version of Office, you need to upgrade from XP, and Microsoft get two lots of money out of you. However, Windows Vista (whilst retaining some backwards compatibility) will not be shipped with every version of Windows from Windows 1.0 onwards!

Your business model also has two other very strange factors - one being that over time the download gets bigger. After seventeen versions you're suddenly faced with (say) a 3Gb download, and that will hurt sales - especially when you're selling to your most receptive customers: those that bought version 16. A similar situation applies with money - regardless of the price, people will feel cheated if they pay X for version 1, then another X for version 2, while new customers buying version 2 get the same deal for half the price. You'd need to offer the latest version of your game to your older customers for free - and that would wipe out your repeat business.

A far better approach is to release each story as a separate entity. Customers can then buy as few or as many as they like, paying X for each (and possibly with a discount for multiple stories). You've said that you want to have the stories form an overarching world - this method needn't be a bar to it. A lot of software packages can interact with far more complexity than this - look at the Microsoft Office suite.

I'd say your best bet is to have the main game engine as a separate download. There'd be no stories in this engine, just the means to add them. You'd then have your stories as separate downloads that you "install" into the engine. The engine program is free, and could be updated regularly (and possibly even check for updates automatically). Stories would cost money.

If you ever tire of the project, you could then sell a story writing package and let fans create their own.

[tolworthy]

Windows Vista (whilst retaining some backwards compatibility) will not be shipped with every version of Windows from Windows 1.0 onwards!
But it should do everything Windows 1 did. True, some 16 bit code doesn't work as well, but DOSBbox is free.
over time the download gets bigger.
Yes, but not as fast as I expected in the early days. As time goes on I re-use more and more resources, much as a theater reuses actors and scenery. This is quite delibereate: I want every scene to be packed with interesting detail, and every character to become an old friend. Right now I have 5,000 scenes and 200 characters, which will compress to around 250 MB (twice that uncompressed). I anticipate that the expansion curve will flatten out at about twice that, and toward the end most new stories will be created almost entirely by simply adding text. I'm not trying to compete with Hollywood studios, I just want depth, depth and more depth.
regardless of the price, people will feel cheated if they pay X for version 1, then another X for version 2
I aim to follow the market in applications, not games. Games are an anomaly. Most people are happy to upgrade an ap they like every three or four years. My sales needs are so low that this is all I need. Though I think a complete new story for fifteen bucks (or 20 via a portal) probably isn't excessive.
You've said that you want to have the stories form an overarching world - this method needn't be a bar to it. A lot of software packages can interact with far more complexity than this - look at the Microsoft Office suite.
Sadly my programming skills aren't up to that level yet. But only buying the stories you want would remove the element of serendipity, discovering a new and unexpected story around the next corner and becoming engrossed. I accept that people don't like paying for upgrades, but every other field of software has come to accept it.
I'd say your best bet is to have the main game engine as a separate download. There'd be no stories in this engine, just the means to add them.
If I had the skills, that would be a temping proposition. :) It might happen eventually for other reasons (as time goes by I find new ways to streamline the stories, and they already resemble a database) but I'm using a third party engine so for now the stories have to be embedded.
If you ever tire of the project, you could then sell a story writing package and let fans create their own.
That is definitely the long term plan. But maybe in 10-20 years.