Publishers accused of trying to exploit Kickstarter (Obsidian)

[Longknife]

It was definitely a bad deal they offered and it would been a shame if it had gone forward...

 

But what developer in their right mind would accept the deal? I don't see any potential advantage, since they'd be raising all of the money anyway. So I'm not convinced this will be a problem in the future.

 

Yeah, it was a stupid offer that only an idiot would be blinded by.

The article posted in this thread, imo, is being a little overdramatic about it.

 

 

Businesses are businesses. By design, they seek a profit no matter the circumstances (unless a CEO or other worker is willing to make exceptions). This means that yes, sometimes they make really scummy offers knowing full-well that it's a scummy offer. They don't give a damn and do it anyways, because not making the offer entails 0 profit whereas making the offer potentially entails a lot of profit.

 

It's to be expected, and I hardly think it's a severe problem like that article makes it out to be.

Nah, it's just god damn hilarious, is what it is.

[BSoda]

I guess I can kind of understand the publisher side of this. AAA budget games are slowly going the way of the Dodo...and now that kickstarter proves to be more and more reliable for financing professional titles with small to medium sized budgets, their reason to exist is slowly vanishing.

[Undecaf]

The article posted in this thread, imo, is being a little overdramatic about it.

 

It's Jim Sterling. What'd you expect?

[kirottu]

I don't see this as morally wrong or anything, if the publisher is honest about it.

 

It's just a bad deal.

[dlux]

Well, you can't blame whoever it was for trying. And I doubt it came from high up, it was probably just some worthless turd at EA/Bethesda/whatever trying to reel in a very one sided business deal to impress his boss.

 

But that is probably the worst business deal offer ever. Only a total idiot would accept a deal like that.

[Longknife]

The article posted in this thread, imo, is being a little overdramatic about it.

 

It's Jim Sterling. What'd you expect?

 

I have no clue who that is.

 

 

Well, you can't blame whoever it was for trying.

 

No, but I do hope Feargus' response to the offer was "AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHA"

[Merin]

It makes perfect sense. Kickstarter + digital distribution threatens to make publishers obsolete. They want to find a way to shoehorn themselves back into the industry.

 

Nail. Head.

[Yaz]

Sounds like publishers have forgotten what the service is they're supposed to be selling and have become too focused on just trying to churn out money blindly. That's the impression I get at least from any group that basically wants to get paid for something but never stops to think about what the other party is supposed to get in return. Hopefully some of them figure out their place in helping the industry rather than just profiting from it so that things can improve in the future.

[dlux]

It makes perfect sense. Kickstarter + digital distribution threatens to make publishers obsolete. They want to find a way to shoehorn themselves back into the industry.

I dunno if they will ever become obsolete, but they are starting to get some serious competition because of this business model.

[BruceVC]

The article posted in this thread, imo, is being a little overdramatic about it.

 

It's Jim Sterling. What'd you expect?

 

I have no clue who that is.

 

 

 

 

He is one of the contributing editors at Destructoid and writes "news" articles and gaming reviews. I don't like him as he manipulates gamers by raging and then exaggerating issues that he knows gamers are passionate about. He does have certain fans though

[Clammo]

Considering how derisory and arrogant the offer is I can't say I'm surprised it was turned down. Unfortunately I see the day a publisher comes along with a better offer for a Kickstarter project (not this one) and the studio gives in. Which would ruin the whole concept that makes it attractive to me - that being a developer I like being able to make the game they design with no interference from suits turning the game into a carbon copy of just about every other game on the market.

[Lexx]

The article posted in this thread, imo, is being a little overdramatic about it.

 

It's Jim Sterling. What'd you expect?

 

I have no clue who that is.

 

 

 

 

He is one of the contributing editors at Destructoid and writes "news" articles and gaming reviews. I don't like him as he manipulates gamers by raging and then exaggerating issues that he knows gamers are passionate about. He does have certain fans though

 

Exactly this.

[Karranthain]

It would appear that the publishers are beginning to see a future where they aren't needed. The horror!

[Auxilius]

The studio who would accept such an offer would be horribly retarded because this is the kind of backhand deal that can ruin a reputation. Of course, big studios won't care since they've more fans who don(t especially care but why would they start a kickstarter. No it's independant studios like Obsidian who resort to crowdfunding, studios aiming for the nerd crowd who like to read any article concerning the new game they're waiting and rage when anything is afoot *hum* RPGcodex *hum*.

These studios better self-destroy already if they were planning to accept. Or run away with the cash to the Carribeans, which may be a smarter objective.

[nikolokolus]

It would appear that the publishers are beginning to see a future where they aren't needed. The horror!

 

The secret fear of middlemen and hacks everywhere.

[Karranthain]

It would appear that the publishers are beginning to see a future where they aren't needed. The horror!

 

The secret fear of middlemen and hacks everywhere.

 

Pretty much this.

[Longknife]

We should nag Feargus until he gives us the number of this publisher.

 

Then call them and offer to play their games and tell our friends how great the games are, cept we get to keep the games and our money.

It's an offer they can't refuse.

[Wintersong]

The publishers, aside from insulting the intelligence and honor of Obsidian, really think that if they pull that off, there won't be any backlash against them. It would be nice if from time to time, those big publishers were to open to think about something more that making profit while stepping over other people.

[honkytonk]

Well I guess the publisher would try to sell the games in more stores and might even get some marketing going... you know: get Obsidian some sweet Gamestop Pre-Order DLC deals and stuff.

I don't think it would have been THAT bad of a deal since they would get the opportunity to sell more copies through shelf presence. I don't expect PE to get a broad release to be honest, at least if Obsidian tries to handle that on their own.

 

But I'm really glad they didn't accept the offer. By now this Kickstarter is more than a simple way to create a game, it's also a statement.

I'm glad they showed backbone.

[Lexx]

Then again, there is nothing that prevents Obsidian from doing "pre-order dlc" and stuff with Gamestop or at least trying. You don't need to be a publisher to get such stuff.

[WorstUsernameEver]

Then again, there is nothing that prevents Obsidian from doing "pre-order dlc" and stuff with Gamestop or at least trying. You don't need to be a publisher to get such stuff.

 

Doubt they'd even contemplate something like that. It would kill a lot of goodwill, and Kickstarter campaigns run on that.

[TwinkieGorilla]

I think the funniest part is that this publisher actually thought an "Ok, sure!" answer was a possibility.

[Monkcrab]

I just think they see a new IP with decent long-term name potential and want the IP under their belts. Some people do have that 'all possible IPs are belong to us' mentality, although that may just be because of the field I work in....

 

The people who approached Obsidian gave them a hilariously bad deal, though. So little common sense that I'm sort of wondering just how much this exploitative process is prevalent in the game industry, to make them even THINK this approach is okay.

[Crosmando]

I think the funniest part is that this publisher actually thought an "Ok, sure!" answer was a possibility.

It was probably a small publisher who is desperate for cash to keep them going, so they had nothing to lose. I can't see a big publisher risking doing this when Kickstarter projects are mostly small change compared to what they deal with.

[Enclave]

Lol, this is hilarious. I said that publishers were going to try to pull this crap eventually in the comments on like day 1 or 2 of this kickstarter. People were calling me nuts and that publishers would NEVER do it because it apparently was just such a small amount of money to them and that they'd prefer the full sale instead of the kickstarter pledges.

 

I told them publishers prefer up front money over a little more money later down the road. Glad I have proof now.

 

Am I missing something?

 

I see the obvious lack of logic in the statement and how ridiculous it is, but I can't help but feel like while I'm laughing at the stupid attempt to basically steal an IP with an offer only an idiot would take, I feel like everyone else is treating this like an extremely cunning plot that would fool many and is a disgrace to society, responsible for the downfall of several potential IPs.

 

Sure, it'd be a disgrace, if it weren't so ****ing funny in how pathetic of an attempt it is. Or am I missing something?

 

...well I would suppose that part of that deal was that the publisher would also pay x million $ if the kickstarter reaches y million $...resulting in a game with a budget of x+y. Otherwise this makes zero sense.

 

It still makes zero sense because as it is now, Obsidian owns the IP and thus reaps all the rewards.

 

I'd assume what happened is the other company tried to say "let us publish it because our name is bigger and therefore we can get more sales for your game," but unless this were true and the company could literally quadruple Obsidian's sales to the point where Obsidian STILL earns more despite sharing the profit, the offer is completely ****. Even IF it can quadruple the sales and turns them a profit, it's bogus because they'd lose their IP and only gain them short term profits, not so much longterm ones.

 

Basically it's some giant company thinking they're so god damned awesome that their name will be enough to convince Obsidian to surrender their IP.

 

That's what makes it so funny. It's like some guy demanding to get into a club for free because he's famous and he's egotistical enough to believe everyone will know him and bow to his every whim, and then the security is like "who the **** are you" and ends up stopping him and beating the **** out of him because they dunno him and don't see why he's entitled to enter for free.

 

You can bet that the publisher offered Obsidian more funding as well well as deal with distribution and also quality control. They likely didn't just offer to slap their own name on the box. They would have tried to make the offer enticing to Obsidian rather than just flat out try to steal the IP from them.

Edited September 19, 2012 by Enclave