I'm actually shocked how many people are still carrying on a discussion not knowing the difference between ownership of an ip/company and publisher.
So they got rid of the middle man regarding publishing their own game. Great. I wouldn't look into this in a positive or negative way.
I'm not sure GW2 has been all that successful, having one game for 3 years with no expansion and no subscription and a very...uninteresting cash shop...cant be raking in the money.
Maybe they need to drop the middle men to stay profitable while selling their new expansion? Maybe they've done well enough to just leave them alone.
Have to look at this with carbine included though, they've done aweful, they are not marketing, they need to just get on steam, take the 30% haircut on sales and pray pray pray. Not a bad game just no ones into what they are selling anymore.
GW2 needs to take a long hard look at what they expect to make money on between their three year expansion cycle (which is ridiculous they need to do it yearly or every 1.5 years)
I know gw2 has always been the golden child of popular viral marketing, and I'm not saying its absolute trash by any stretch...just I cant see how they can be making enough money to support proper development with a one time $50 payment, then maybe another $50 on deco/bag space...and that's a big maybe on the latter part.
The fact they have been able to keep their 350+ person studio for 3 years only on a cash shop says the game is financially viable and a success.
NCSoft outside Asia is basically Anet anyway. In fact NCSoft West has the same address as Anet.
Players have this weird concept on a what a publisher is.
Basically a publisher loans money to a developer studio and get the economic rights of the game they make. The developer studio gets their wages and expenses of their studio paid (electricity, rent, water, equipment).
Additionally a publisher also has not only contacts with stores, media, etc, but a team specialized in getting the game to stores and digital retailers reducing the developer studio costs (by erasing the need to create and pay for a team specialized in publishing).
So in this case NCSoft been paying wages and studio expenses for Anet for 3 years and the return for their investment was the cash shop revenue and the upcoming expansion (which is expected to generate revenues).
So, opposed to what many players think, NCSoft kept the same investment in GW2. Sure, GW2 revenue was higher than that investment, on the other hand during the 5 years of initial development, Arenanet didn't generate enough revenue to cover their expenses.
This was simply a case of "re-branding".
Currently playing: GW2 Going cardboard starter kit: Ticket to ride, Pandemic, Carcassonne, Dominion, 7 Wonders
Comments
NCSoft outside Asia is basically Anet anyway. In fact NCSoft West has the same address as Anet.
Players have this weird concept on a what a publisher is.
Basically a publisher loans money to a developer studio and get the economic rights of the game they make. The developer studio gets their wages and expenses of their studio paid (electricity, rent, water, equipment).
Additionally a publisher also has not only contacts with stores, media, etc, but a team specialized in getting the game to stores and digital retailers reducing the developer studio costs (by erasing the need to create and pay for a team specialized in publishing).
So in this case NCSoft been paying wages and studio expenses for Anet for 3 years and the return for their investment was the cash shop revenue and the upcoming expansion (which is expected to generate revenues).
So, opposed to what many players think, NCSoft kept the same investment in GW2. Sure, GW2 revenue was higher than that investment, on the other hand during the 5 years of initial development, Arenanet didn't generate enough revenue to cover their expenses.
This was simply a case of "re-branding".
Currently playing: GW2
Going cardboard starter kit: Ticket to ride, Pandemic, Carcassonne, Dominion, 7 Wonders