A few years ago, a couple of virtually anonymous Turkish developers founded TaleWorlds, a game development company that created one of the most innovative indie games of the last few years. The game is called Mount&Blade and if you want to read a really good game review of it, there's one here. The game is, like I said, quite excellent but there's another thing that caught my attention about it...
As I opened the game's website, one thing was obvious. This game wasn't finished. Fair enough I say, it's still in beta but it looks promising. I'm going to try it. And as I look around for the download button, it hits me, straight between the eyes. There's a buy button. I click the link thinking it might be a pre-order page but it wasn't. Apparently the downloadable version is shareware and it cuts you off when you reach a certain character level. And in order to unlock the rest of the game, you have to purchase a license.
But wait a minute, these guys are still in beta. That's quite the audacity, I think, selling a game that's far from finished.
(Although that's part of the irony, you see. Most of the stuff that goes gold today would barely deserve the beta moniker if you ask gamers. Alot of releases are rushed, unfinished, buggy and generally painful to play until a few patches have dropped in.)
Well, it turns out TaleWorlds' initiative wasn't as preposterous as I first imagined. For one, they had a damn good product and not only they knew it, but the large community that gathered around it also confirmed it ( community which actively provides input on the game as well as takes it to new direction by modding it) . So, as soon as the game wasn't completely unplayable, they started selling it. And the catch is: they started with a rather low price (12 dollars or so) and, as the game progressed from version to version, raised it. And as the game gets closer to the final version, the price will slowly slide up to that of a full game. So buying earlier is also in the user's advantage, as their license will be valid on any game version, beta or not.
Interesting, I thought. And apparently, so did Paradox Interactive, one of the biggest producers of grand strategy games in Europe, who signed with TaleWorlds at the beginning of this year.
"We believe Mount & Blade could be a genre defining title and we are thrilled to be working with TaleWorlds Entertainment to bring the game to a worldwide audience. In BETA, the title has already garnered much deserved attention and excitement in the gaming community and this will be a release to look forward to." states Fredrik Wester, Paradox Interactive's executive VP, according to the press release. So, after getting validation from gamers, Mount&Blade also got a business ''thumbs up''. Cheers to them and, if you try one game this month, let it be Mount&Blade. Because it's a good game and because those turks have guts. And it paid off.
business // business models // companies // Mount&Blade // Paradox Interactive // TaleWorlds // video games
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