Pillars of Eternity, Cities: Skylines Earn $18.5 Million in Three Weeks

[Monte Carlo]

Given the industry works on quarterlies, week one stats are a drop in the ocean. The game will be financially successful. Success is magnetic and good things will come of it, perhaps from trad publishers too.

 

Glass *way* over half-full.

[Zwiebelchen]

To be honest, I'm not happy with Paradox getting a big share of the profits.

 

What did Paradox deliver to us that wasn't the work of Obsidian?

 

1) an overpriced boxed copy (compared to digital distributors that already take their 30% cut! I expected the shelf copy to cost the same as the steam copy since it requires steam anyway, but that's not the case.)

2) a low quality cloth map

3) a horrible, horrible localization job

 

I'm not amused. Obsidian did a good job, Paradox otoh screwed up almost every job they had.

Edited April 1, 2015 by Zwiebelchen

[santanzchild]

Congrats to Obsidian!

 

I got one copy of the expansion as part of my pledge and I added on a second copy to redeem on GOG and burn to disc to go with my DRM FREE!!  collectors edition disc.  

 

My only hope at this point is that Obsidian makes enough money to fund the expansion and the sequel without kickstarter if I back the next game at the levels I did this one my wife might divorce me.

[Bryy]

To be honest, I'm not happy with Paradox getting a big share of the profits.

 

What did Paradox deliver to us that wasn't the work of Obsidian?

 

1) an overpriced boxed copy (compared to digital distributors that already take their 30% cut! I expected the shelf copy to cost the same as the steam copy since it requires steam anyway, but that's not the case.)

2) a low quality cloth map

3) a horrible, horrible localization job

 

I'm not amused. Obsidian did a good job, Paradox otoh screwed up almost every job they had.

Well, Obsidian made it very clear they would not have been able to do it without a publisher.

[Zwiebelchen]

 

To be honest, I'm not happy with Paradox getting a big share of the profits.

 

What did Paradox deliver to us that wasn't the work of Obsidian?

 

1) an overpriced boxed copy (compared to digital distributors that already take their 30% cut! I expected the shelf copy to cost the same as the steam copy since it requires steam anyway, but that's not the case.)

2) a low quality cloth map

3) a horrible, horrible localization job

 

I'm not amused. Obsidian did a good job, Paradox otoh screwed up almost every job they had.

Well, Obsidian made it very clear they would not have been able to do it without a publisher.

 

 

Sure thing. But that doesn't change that Paradox delivered a piss-poor performance.

[EDITEDIT]

And Paradox still didn't send a lot of the physical boxes (i didn't get mine yet) which don't even contain the actual game disc.

[CaptainMace]

Concerning localizations, paradox is improving since 2006. I remember EU3  and Victoria II on release... their french versions were simply unplayable :')
I play POE in english since I wandered in the temple ruins in Gilded Vale. The translation of the clues about the three bells was so f***ed that I just wasn't able to resolve it. Turned the game in english and it got crystal clear. Anyway i'm not surprised.

Still like what I read there :

For us the deal with Obsidian is about a long-term commitment. It’s a prestigious assignment with a studio we’ve long wanted to work with.

 

Hope the cooperation goes well for Obsidian, i'm a paradox braindead fanboy and it seemed the swedes wanted to step a foot in the RPG genre for some time now. Glad there's a publisher focused on PC and earning some fame and success for 5 years now.

Edited April 1, 2015 by CaptainMace

[Mungri]

Well paradox are a nice company because they support and publish awesome games.

[Monte Carlo]

To be honest, I'm not happy with Paradox getting a big share of the profits.

 

Publishers publish and developers develop. An indie publishing model with physical goods would have made the whole enterprise a waste of time - it would simply cost too much. You choose the least worst publisher because there's never a perfect one. And they *always* get a healthy cut.

 

It's just the way the business works. Paradox seemed a reasonable fit, and hindsight is a wondrous thing.

 

Obsidian has never done this before. Not many studios like them have. So, as relative neophytes to indie development and distro and crowd-funding I'd say they'd done incredibly well. I'm impressed for one.

[Mungri]

They could have just kept it entirely digital and not used a publisher though?

 

I do love game boxes but they are expensive and add excessive costs.

[Zwiebelchen]

 

To be honest, I'm not happy with Paradox getting a big share of the profits.

 

Publishers publish and developers develop. An indie publishing model with physical goods would have made the whole enterprise a waste of time - it would simply cost too much. You choose the least worst publisher because there's never a perfect one. And they *always* get a healthy cut.

 

It's just the way the business works. Paradox seemed a reasonable fit, and hindsight is a wondrous thing.

 

Obsidian has never done this before. Not many studios like them have. So, as relative neophytes to indie development and distro and crowd-funding I'd say they'd done incredibly well. I'm impressed for one.

 

 

Again, not against the idea of having a publisher for this game. It's neccessary, as you pointed out. But still, criticism on Paradox performance is justified. Bugs in a game are one thing. Those can usually be fixed pretty fast. A bad localization job or low quality physical backer goods can't.

Edited April 1, 2015 by Zwiebelchen

[Monte Carlo]

They could have just kept it entirely digital and not used a publisher though?

 

I do love game boxes but they are expensive and add excessive costs.

 

Yes, they could have. But as a business decision the physical distribution model also makes sense (for starters, it puts boosters under the Kickstarter). Maybe one day Obz will share some of their decision-making processes with us because they could have gone either way. They've been in this game a long time so I'm sure they made a carefully calculated decision, one that made the most sense from a profit perspective.

 

Maybe a digital only 'Pillars' wouldn't, to their mind, be have impactive long-term as one with physical copies and merch.

[santanzchild]

They could have just kept it entirely digital and not used a publisher though?

 

I do love game boxes but they are expensive and add excessive costs.

 

No publisher at all can make life difficult as well.  There has been more then one established developer that was forced to go through green light on steam do to the fact they didnt have a contract with a publisher.

[Andrew_C]

They could have just kept it entirely digital and not used a publisher though?

 

I do love game boxes but they are expensive and add excessive costs.

They could have, but they were already doing physical copies for backers and someone needed to handle localisation and distributiion and all those thing a publisher normally does. Also having a publisher probably helps with dealing with Valve.

 

And this is apparently a multi game deal, not just for POE. The shine seems to have gone of computer games Kickstarters. and its uncertain they could have kickstarted another game to the same level of success, even with the success of POE  behind them

Edited April 1, 2015 by Andrew_C

[PrimeJunta]

Everything's uncertain, but IMO the odds are that another Obsidian KS would blow P:E's numbers out of the water. Most P:E backers would back, and many of the ones who bought it post-release would too.

[Zwiebelchen]

Everything's uncertain, but IMO the odds are that another Obsidian KS would blow P:E's numbers out of the water. Most P:E backers would back, and many of the ones who bought it post-release would too.

 

I don't think they'll do another kickstarter on this series. PoE sold well. Well enough to finance a sequel. If anything, they will use kickstarter for extra features only like more localized versions or complete voiceover.

[Rosveen]

A refund on a project you donated money to.

 

You do know that money was spent, right?

 

It's not like they are holding money for a pre-order.

Actually, you are entitled to ask for a refund or even take legal action if your rewards aren't delivered. Most start-ups wouldn't have the funds to issues refunds, it's true, but in case of Obsidian who apparently just made $7 mln on their new game, surely they can afford it - and it would be a blow to their reputation if they didn't.

 

This is purely theoretical, because I see no reason why Obsidian wouldn't simply develop this expansion they promised.

[Elerond]

To be honest, I'm not happy with Paradox getting a big share of the profits.

 

What did Paradox deliver to us that wasn't the work of Obsidian?

 

1) an overpriced boxed copy (compared to digital distributors that already take their 30% cut! I expected the shelf copy to cost the same as the steam copy since it requires steam anyway, but that's not the case.)

2) a low quality cloth map

3) a horrible, horrible localization job

 

I'm not amused. Obsidian did a good job, Paradox otoh screwed up almost every job they had.

 

1) Physical copy sellers take at least 50% (which don't mean that they make more money than steam as there are more costs associated with selling physical copies than there are in selling digital copies) of the price to themselves, which is why many publishers are keen to get people buy digital copies.

2) This is quite inexcusable thing in this days when laser printing any picture, with high DPI to cloth in manufacturing line is reality even cheapest of shops (of course there are exceptions, but there always are), only thing that prevents high quality printing is quality of cloth (how tight its knitting is). I think that reliably low quality of cloth maps with D:OS, Wasteland 2 and now PoE are because of lack of experience with them from those who were tasked to order them.  

3) Localization with tight budget is hard, which don't excuse poor quality but it usually explains it, as people will always buy localizations from companies that offer to do localization cheaply but nearly always quality of their job is as half assed as their price indicates.

 

But Paradox have seem to also done well for PoE as it seems that their marketing efforts have worked quite good. 

 

Although I am not amused that I paid $30 for shipping and I haven't yet even received confirmation that my copy has been shipped to me or they have informed me why there is delay.

[Varana]

They could have just kept it entirely digital and not used a publisher though?

 

I do love game boxes but they are expensive and add excessive costs.

 

A large part of PoE's charm to many people was the "just like the old days" vibe of following in the IE games' footsteps.

Now, if you want to go full retro you'll have to include physical boxes with large cover art, cloth maps, at least three separate booklets, and possibly all the other stuff that nowadays comes with a "Collector's Edition" or similar special versions.

[Tequilaflavor]

 

To be honest, I'm not happy with Paradox getting a big share of the profits.

 

What did Paradox deliver to us that wasn't the work of Obsidian?

 

1) an overpriced boxed copy (compared to digital distributors that already take their 30% cut! I expected the shelf copy to cost the same as the steam copy since it requires steam anyway, but that's not the case.)

2) a low quality cloth map

3) a horrible, horrible localization job

 

I'm not amused. Obsidian did a good job, Paradox otoh screwed up almost every job they had.

Well, Obsidian made it very clear they would not have been able to do it without a publisher.

 

When or where did Obsidian ever state that ?

 

The only thing I ever saw stated was that a) Obsidian relegated the boxed version of the game and the extra goodies to Paradox and gave them a (rather small) cut and b) Paradox and Obsidian both saw this as a kind-of "prestige first" partnership that was less about actual finance and more about "looking and feeling stronger together" - I'm obviously paraphrasing here.

 

Obviously, that doesn't mean that Paradox didn't cover the cost for the box, the cloth map etc. or that there won't be traditional publishing work done on the expansion or the sequel of PoE (could or could not be, who knows), but I think if there was a "we couldn't have done it without you guys" - statement, it was most likely symbolic and just a sign of courtesy by Obsidian (they simply made enough money via Kickstarter, Paypal and pre-orders to cover everything themselves, had the need come up).