Over on his Long Tail blog, Chris Anderson argues that gaming is content and like other content will probably be distributed and shared for free - and that the gaming industry will have to find new ways to make money.
Valleywag says that videogames, unlike music, can’t be made free because there’s no sideline business in which to make money, like music’s concert tour or merchandise sales. Oh really? What about advertising? Or land? Or additional levels? Or clothing and furniture? Or the various powerups, gold, armor, characters and other upgrades options that allow all these online multiplayer games to be free?
The points is that digital distribution lowers the marginal cost of putting games into the hands of players close enough to zero to encourage every pricing and business model possible, including free.
The Long Tail: Valleywag’s wrong: games want to be free, too
I have never heard of subscription-based MMORPGs with non-Free server software such as World Of Warcraft, and so I cannot imagine how computer game authors will thrive by producing game software services with the cost of distribution media removed.
October 18th, 2007 at 1:57 pm