More About Money, and Why Destiny Is Brilliant

          So last week we talked about how the ways paying for games have changed. Which, like I said earlier, isn't really much of a surprise to anyone. This time, I am going to talk a little more about that. Honestly, I am going to write a lot more. Everything is internet connected these days. With games connected to the internet, it allows developers to sell extra content, quite easily. Not to mention, think about how little that costs them as far as sales go. If you put any additional content on a disc, you have to pay to have the discs printed, packaged, shipped, etc. There is so much extra cost attached to having a physical copy. Now consider selling the same content, but digitally. The only cost attached to it is creating the content, and hosting it on the servers. You completely cut out the cost of printing and shipping discs. Yet, they can sell the content for the same price. This is also done with full games, not just extra content. Whether you buy the hard copy or the digital game, you are still paying $59.99 retail price. The difference is, that with the digital copy, they make so much more in pure profits. They get to cut out the production cost by a large margin. It is for this reason that many indie and third party games are download only. It is much cheaper to do, and much larger profits.

          So this is one way to make a lot of money, off of one game or franchise. But using the expansion/dlc model, one can continue to make money almost indefinitely. To understand what I am talking about, let us look at the most popular MMORPG, pretty much ever. Most, if not all of you, have heard of or know someone who plays or has played World of Warcraft. We have all met someone who has. That makes sense, as the playership of that game is insanely large. Yet despite having come out ten years ago, MILLIONS of people still play it on a daily basis. And I do not mean that figuratively. As of summer 2014, there are almost 7.5 million active accounts on World of Warcraft. That is sort of crazy, when you think about it. That almost ten years later, one game can still have over seven million players on a daily basis. Not many games can make that claim. Less still can continue to profit almost a decade later. The big question in this situation really is how do they do it?

          Part of World of Warcraft’s success is from its previous fanbase. Before the MMORPG, was released, there was already a Warcraft game. There was several, actually. The Warcraft series on PC was already decently popular, so they decided to tap into the online model. Not only did they bring over their already existing fanbase, but added a ton of new players as well. The real secret to their success is continued quality, and constantly staying relevant. They never let the game get too stale or old. Basically, World of Warcraft uses the expansion method for PC gaming. Every year or two, Blizzard Studios makes a new expansion, to keep the game fresh, the latest installation being called the Mists of Pandaria. Like previous expansions, it added new areas, missions, and this time a new playable race. But like I mentioned, by continually adding content every so often, the game never really has time to get old. They add missions and races, regions, and sometimes even new aspects altogether.

          So now we have seen that one game can stay relevant, and widely played, over the span of a decade. Now, there is a console game that wants to do the same. By now, most of you have heard of the new blockbuster game Destiny. This game is trying to do something new, something different. Now, up until now there have in fact been a few console based MMORPGs, but quite frankly, none of them very good. For one reason or another, the MMORPG format has, up till this point, never translated well onto console. With Destiny, Bungie Studios and Activision are trying to tweak this model to work to their advantage. Instead of making this an online RPG, Destiny will appeal to a whole new target audience of players: First Person Shooters. In Destiny, Bungie is taking the FPS format and making it a massive online experience, with cooperative and versus multiplayer options.

          Quite frankly, Bungie is brilliant for making this game the way they have been. To start with, they already had a massive fanbase from their previous series, Halo, which is one of the most popular fps franchises on Xbox. Secondly, the format in which they are presenting the game will make them a disgusting amount of money. By making this game using the MMO expansion type model, when combined with the DLC method,  will be largely profitable in the long run. The game made half a billion on the first day it was released, and will continue to sell. The first expansion comes out in December, which will retail for $20, and be available for digital download as DLC. Like WOW, they will be periodically adding content, for a relatively low price, This will not only keep the game relevant and fresh, it will continually allow for new players to join in on the fun. Not to mention, Bungie has a 10 year contract and plan with Activision. They intend to release content for the next 10 years, to try and tap the financial success that has been working so well for Blizzard. The only challenge for Bungie now will be making sure that they can add enough original and quality content to keep the game relevant for the years to come.