Category: Marketing/Business

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Game Design Game Development Games Marketing/Business

Music, Video Games, and the Supposed Problem of Piracy

I was thinking about writing about marketing and so I naturally wanted to look at what Seth Godin was saying. Well, Jay beat me to it and wrote about the future of the music business, which links to the PDF transcript of the music industry talk that Seth Godin did recently. You should go read it as it is a good talk, and it won’t take you very long, but I’ll summarize a few points:

Godin talked about how the music industry was perfect in the past. Technology, society, marketing: they all came together to create a perfect storm.

But things have changed. Music is digital now, and digital means that copying is easy and cheap. Music is no longer the primary form of entertainment for many people. Control no longer rests in the hands of a few major players, and people can go anywhere for music.

To continue to try to keep to the old business model is silly. People can get their music anywhere, they have varied tastes, and they aren’t happy with a few choices. They don’t want what they merely like. They want what they love. Sending out blast messages in the hopes that people take notice and buy your product isn’t going to cut it anymore. Adding DRM to make digital act like analog is the opposite of adding value. Suing your fans? Yeah, that’s exactly what you thought about when you were thinking about becoming a rock star. That’s how you know you made it. That’s sarcasm, by the way.

The market has changed, and if the industry wants to play, they have to play by new rules. At this point, Godin talked about everything he has ever talked about: permission marketing, turning the funnel over, giving people stories they want, etc.

Jay notes that the music industry is similar enough to the video game industry that such discussion is important. Times are changing for video games as well:

I believe that in a lot of ways, the PC gaming scene isn’t “dying” so much as it is “evolving.” Due to proprietary technology, the consoles have a little bit more grace period left in them before their business model goes the way of the dinosaur. The PC hasn’t had that luxury, and in many ways it has been blazing the painful trail. But the music biz has been even further in the front, and there are a lot of lessons we can learn from watching that particular industry getting its butt kicked a few times.

Piracy

And both industries have claimed that the ease of copying will be their respective ruin.

GameProducer.net has written recently about piracy in Brazil, something that was covered in The Escapist’s Console Clones article back in 2005. StampOutPiracy.com is a site that claims to have been formed to help crack down on the video game piracy out there. Gamasutra had an article on Reflexive’s piracy stats, and GameSetWatch posted a follow-up, which claimed that 92% of the people playing the full version were not paying customers. Ouch.

And of course, Cliffski’s been fuming about non-paying customers who have the audacity to make support requests!

For some reason, it seems as if the World Wide Web just blew up in discussing piracy and its effect on the video game industry. Was it a major talk or round table at GDC?

In any case, everyone is talking about it, and it seems that the use of the term “piracy” in the place of copyright infringement isn’t going to go away any time soon, but that’s just a pet peeve of mine that isn’t important to this post.

What about solutions? If people are making illegal copies of games rather than paying for them, what’s an industry to do? Well, this part is familiar to those of you paying attention to the music industry. The video game industry has tried to make reality change to how things used to be, and Reflexive’s DRM stats might indicate otherwise, but I believe that fighting against reality is folly.

Reality-based Business Models

The reality of the digital world is that it is a lot easier to copy things than it is to prevent them from being copied. If you insist on trying to keep to the old business models, you’ll fight a losing battle. Before networking infrastructure made mass distribution easy, you could sell physical copies of games and expect that illegal copies won’t go far. Trying to clamp down digital distribution through the use of DRM, CD keys, and requiring online access to play an offline game are just ways to give your customers excuses to not be your customers anymore. So far, people have accepted it, and a lot of them will claim that “if it wasn’t for the pirates” they wouldn’t have to deal with it. Fair enough, but if piracy is still such a problem in spite of these measures, then you are getting inconvenienced and frustrated by methods that don’t actually do anything but inconvenience and annoy paying customers like yourself. You’re paying for the privilege of being treated as a criminal, while the real criminals get to enjoy the game they didn’t pay for all the more.

And yet more and more infrastructure is being put in place to make your computer less and less useful so that the people who write the software can pretend that they’re preventing “the few bad apples” from spoiling things for everyone else.

Perhaps the idea of selling an individual game as you would a toaster is past its prime? This argument isn’t the same as saying “People don’t like to pay for things, so let them have it for free!” If you look at the link to Cliffski’s blog above, I think it is clear that a lot of people just don’t see making a copy of a game as wrong. Why isn’t it more obvious?

Well, copying files is what you DO in this brave new world called the World Wide Web. Giving someone your copy of a book and sending a copy of your audiobook aren’t seen as two separate actions governed by different aspects of copyright law. Similarly with lending someone a vinyl record or giving someone a cheap copy of a music CD. After all, you’re simply sharing with a friend! When Microsoft or Lars Ulrich come knocking on your door with either BSA or RIAA lawyers and accuse you of piracy, well all you’ve learned is that you need to make such sharing more private. It isn’t as if you are doing anything wrong! And copyright enforcement is now tougher because so many people see copyright as a confusing mass of laws that only large companies use to make money.

So what are the options? You could fund public service announcements to warn people not to copy that floppy, and try to get them to first understand and then obey the convoluted mess that is copyright law, and make them afraid to be your customer.

Or you could start looking into different business models, models that accept the customer’s ability to make infinite copies as a fact of life. Making copies and sharing them with friends is what they want to do, so why not capitalize on it? And no, I’m not telling you that all games of the future must be MMOs or require a subscription to play. No, I’m not suggesting that all games get supported by ads. I don’t have to be the creative one that tells you what new business models you can implement, but I can say that both the music and video game industries could stand to reinvent themselves as Godin suggests.

You can look at people willingly copying your games as a problem that causes lost sales from your old business model, or you could look at it as an opportunity for your new business model.

IS PC Piracy Really the Problem? is a fascinating run through of all of the other reasons why PC games aren’t selling as well as people might like. Reasons like increased competition from other sources of entertainment, higher prices than may be justified, and hardware requirements that actually match what most people have.

New Attempts

A friend of mine informed me that Trent Reznor has been experimenting with a different business model. Actually, my friend informed me that Reznor had accounts on The Pirate Bay and similar notorious sites, and I was curious about the reasons why a musician would support the very thing that the music industry claims is ruining it.

Well, Reznor believes that the music industry is ruining itself, specifically by exploiting their customers. When asked why a Nine Inch Nails album was selling for an obscene amount of money in Australia, a suit informed him that his fans would be willing to pay any amount. “As a reward for being a ‘true fan’, you get ripped-off.” So he followed Radiohead’s lead and set out to distribute an album without the backing of a major label.

Reznor teamed up with his friend Saul Williams and released such an album: The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust. You could download the music for free, but you had the option to pay $5 to receive a higher quality download. Fewer than 1 in 5 people paid, and Reznor was shocked. You can read about his view on the lack of success of this album in Trent Reznor: Why won’t people pay $5?

You can also read Saul Williams’ take on it in Unlike Trent Reznor, Saul Williams isn’t disheartened. Williams sees an 18% conversion rate as a good thing.

I think Trent’s disappointment probably stems from being in the music business for over 20 years and remembering a time that was very different, when sales reflected something different, when there was no such thing as downloads. Trent is from another school. Even acts that prospered in the ’90s, you look at people like the Fugees or Lauren Hill selling 18 million copies. That sort of thing is unheard of today. But Trent comes from that world. So I think his disappointed stems from being heavily invested in the past. For modern times, for modern numbers we’re looking great, especially for being just two months into a project.

Anyone else remember reading about “disheartening” sales figures from people who think that a 1% conversion rate for a video game was a sign of doom? People on the Indie Gamer forums were scrambling to tell the hapless newbie that 1% was a decent conversion rate. Seemingly low conversion rates are the norm when the business model is similar to mail order catalogs. Reznor seems to have accepted such expectations since Nine Inch Nails has released Ghosts: I-IV online, this time with a multi-tiered sales model. There is still free content available, but the more you pay, the more you get. There are only 9 free tracks this time around, and $5 gives you access to all of the tracks. There are a few other options as you go up in price, and there is even a $300 option for the Ulta-Deluxe Limited Edition Package!

Currently the website has this notice in red text:

We are experiencing an extremely high volume of traffic and orders right now…

The emphasis is mine. When I clicked to download the free tracks, I found that the download site was down.

While the site is down, you can still purchase the complete Ghosts I-IV here from Amazon’s MP3 store for only $5. The MP3s are high quality and DRM-free. You can also order the deluxe and limited edition packages from Artist in Residence.

If you’re familiar with BitTorrent, you can download Ghosts I, the first of the four volumes, for free, from our official upload at The Pirate Bay.

Emphasis also mine. Note how NIN is actually USING a website that has a lot of venom thrown at it from the music and software industries. Reznor isn’t crying foul and complaining about how unfair piracy is. He’s just making use of the channels people already use.

It’s heartening to see Reznor experimenting with different business models, even if the first attempt wasn’t as successful as he had hoped.

Video Games and You

I’d like to hear similar stories in the video game industry. I already anticipate that people will read this post (or maybe only part of it, as it is quite long) and get upset at the idea that piracy is ok. I’m not saying that copyright infringement is great. I’m just saying that if the reality of the marketplace is that it is easier to copy than it is to prevent copying, then why insist that those who copy are criminals? Why not change your business model and make them customers? Why not get mad about the people who won’t copy and spread your game to a larger audience? With so much competition out there, can you afford to succeed in preventing copies? Maybe in the short term, but in the long term, you’re actively slowing the spread of your game.

Snood was a cheap-looking Puzzle Bobble/Bust a Move clone that took the college world by storm. Do you believe that better copy protection would have allowed it to proliferate throughout college dorms and become the 9th most played video game in 2001?

But what can you do to spread your game if you insist on locking it down? And if you insist on locking it down, can you complain about the lack of sales and the increase in the amount of piracy?

[tags]marketing, business, music, video games [/tags]

Categories
Marketing/Business

Filing the LLC Annual Report Again

It’s that time of year again. GBGames, LLC has to file it’s [tag]LLC Annual Report[/tag] and submit the fee associated with it. I wrote about LLC annual reports last year, but I decided to revisit the topic.

It’s still a simple process. Just sign the form that the Illinois Secretary of State sends you, enclose a check for $250, and send it back. If you need to make changes to the form, such as who is a member and where your principal place of business is, you can do so on the form. The address on the envelope is still different from the one on the form for some reason.

I’ve never had to worry about the late fee before, but I put off submitting this letter when I received it in early February and then promptly forgot about it. Looking at the form, I saw that it is supposed to be processed before the due date, and in my case, that’s March 1st. It was February 27th when I realized that I needed to send it off. The late fee is $300! Ouch!

But wait! Apparently that fee only kicks in once you are 60 days late. That is, the due date is March 1st, but I have 60 days after that date to get my annual report to the Secretary of State before I have to worry about a late fee. I even called to verify that this was the case. I don’t plan on taking great advantage of THAT much leeway, but it is still nice to know.

Also nice to know? You can file your LLC annual report online! The Official website for the Illinois Secretary of State is at http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com, and if you click on Business Services, you’ll see LLC Annual Report Filings. From here, you can read about who can and cannot file the LLC annual report online. If your situation matches any of the items in the list of exclusions, you can’t submit it online, but if you are just planning on signing the form without changes, you should be fine. The service also accepts credit card payments.

I had already placed a stamp on the envelope before I learned about online filing, so I am just going to mail off my report. Filing the annual report is still the easiest part of having an LLC. If you are interested in learning how to [tag]form an LLC[/tag] in Illinois, please read my earlier blog post Forming an LLC in Illinois. Also read through the comments, since people have asked some good questions since I’ve written that article.

[tags]business, llc[/tags]

Categories
Games Marketing/Business

Guardian’s Games as Art Debate

The Guardian’s Lindesay Irvine expressed reservations about best-selling author James Patterson’s move into computer games. Apparently Patterson is planning on working on games that will appeal to his current audience: women and middle-aged people. Irvine just can’t fathom the idea of these people going out “to buy PlayStations and get their thumbs around the controls”. Fine, but apparently Patterson is selling his games for the PC, mobile phones, and possibly for the Wii…all things that casual players own.

Also, ugh. Middle-aged women just wouldn’t know how to play video games? It’s an outdated way of thinking.

Patterson thinks that he may be onto an untapped market. People like his books, and they may think that they don’t like video games, but they may enjoy playing video games based on his works. Lots of people don’t think they play video games, but they do play Bejeweled without a second thought. They think that they aren’t gamers since, you know, video games are for immature males who just want to shoot things. In fact, Patterson says so himself:

It strikes me that the videogame area is an incredibly lucrative niche market, one populated by a small number of boys – and grown-up boys – who like to shoot things and spend a lot of money.

I’ll first say that he isn’t saying anything that the game industry hasn’t already accepted, or at least had the opportunity to accept. Plenty has been written about the hardcore audience and how they used to be considered “mainstream” until people realized that there was an entire mainstream audience that was being ignored.

But here is Patterson, intentionally or not, slighting that audience. If you’re an adult, you’re just being a child when you play games. And if you’re a female who already plays games? You know, a member of a significant part of the market? Well, clearly Patterson needs to reach out to you since you’re not really playing games. If you were, you’d just be an immature boy. Also, there has already been a lot of money spent outside of this niche. Casual games are making, what, billions now?

Patterson should be applauded for trying to bring out the gamer in people who think they aren’t gamers, but the 80s called and it wants its video game market perception back.

As for Irvine, he doesn’t get a free pass on his outdated perceptions, either.

I wouldn’t dispute that computer games have the potential to offer something more than the joys of pretend killing. There’s room for imagination in worlds like The Sims and the strangely banal parallel universe of Second Life.

The joys of pretend killing. Roger Ebert called, and he wants his perception of video games back, although good job on knowing the name Second Life. What about games like Maniac Mansion, King’s Quest, Myst, Tetris, and any other game where the focus is not on death and destruction?

Is this a Luddite response? Should I look forward to the Iris Murdoch quest where players race to collect symbols and Jungian archetypes, and the first Martin Amis first-person shooter? To the Henry James adventure where you attempt to escape from inside 3-D versions of his sentences? The Crime and Punishment actioner where you must get away with murder; to rescue fantasies where you can save Tess or Anna Karenina?

Just because you have an inability to see what someone can do with a new medium, it doesn’t mean that others will have the same problem, Irvine. The Guardian’s Alastair Harper argues that video games are just a new medium for storytelling.

Of course, this idea isn’t a new one either, is it? Lots of game developers, past and present, have thought of video games as just another storytelling medium, and many more see story as a significant part of a game. Lorne Lanning’s Oddworld is one result. The IGDA’s special interest group for game writers is another. Of course, other people might argue that games aren’t about telling a story and aren’t ideal for doing so, just as movies aren’t ideal for showing off a live performance. They excel in different ways.

I guess if anything, I find the entire “debate” old hat, but I’m sure there are going to be a lot of people who will read about Patterson’s decision to enter the video game market and learn about this debate for the first time. A lot of these people don’t yet realize that they already play video games because they don’t think they count. After all, they aren’t acting like immature boys shooting anything that moves and spending hundreds of dollars to support the habit. They just play Peggle or Tetris. Or Myst, or Wii Bowling. But not normal video games.

Perception doesn’t change to match reality fast enough, I guess. I guess I’m a bit upset by the generalizations that go unchecked by all parties, but I’m glad that video games are becoming at least somewhat more accepted outside of the hardcore market.

I’m going to go play Homeworld now. I could read a book or watch a movie, but a lot of them are ultra violent, although I admit that sometimes you can find something good like The Great Gatsby or Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure. If I were to base my opinion of an entire industry based on what the top sellers are, I’d say that the movie and book industries are just full of gore and sex for the immature audience that consumes them. Trashy romance novels and movies about fart jokes? Please. Pot, you may continue calling the kettle black as long as you want, but understand why Kettle might make fun of you for it.

Categories
Marketing/Business

Invalid Click Activity?

Today I found that I couldn’t login to Google Adsense to check on my earnings. I found an email from Google informing me that my account has been disabled.

It has come to our attention that invalid clicks and/or impressions have been generated on the Google ads on your site(s). We have therefore disabled your Google AdSense account. Please understand that this was a necessary step to protect the interests of AdWords advertisers.

I have heard horror stories about accounts getting disabled and cutting off the main source of revenue for many business owners. At Google’s whim, their businesses suffer a huge setback.

There’s competition, though, so I’m not worried. It isn’t as if Google is the only way for me to earn money, and in fact I hope that actually selling games becomes a bigger part of it.

I’m appealing this decision, but I’m not holding my breath. I’m not freaking out about it since it isn’t as if I make that much money from it anyway, but I definitely need to look into quality alternatives.

As a side note, if you are trying to be helpful to me and click on an ad, please don’t. Google will see it as invalid click activity.

Categories
Games Geek / Technical Marketing/Business Politics/Government

So-Called DRM is Fundamentally Flawed

PlayNoEvil Game Security News and Analysis wrote an interesting post regarding DRM as a broken system. Microsoft’s Digital Restrictions Management for Windows has been defeated. Again. Nothing too newsworthy about it.

What’s interesting is the following statement:

In fact, as I’ve noted before (repeatedly), DRM is built on a flawed model.

Traditional cryptographic security systems are designed to heal themselves to protect new data. This is completely inconsistent with the underlying model that content protection is built on – the protection of existing data.

This article isn’t bashing Microsoft specifically. It’s pointing out the flaws in a system that is not well designed to do what it is supposed to do. Food for thought if you are one of those people who still believe that copy protection is a “vital” part of game development. If DRM isn’t actually doing a good job of preventing copyright infringement, and it frustrates your paying customers, why use it?

It seems that using regular copy protection techniques will be much more effective than anything that resembles DRM.

Categories
Games Geek / Technical Marketing/Business

Excited about PS3 Price Drop?

I received an email from EBGames.com informing me that the PS3 dropped in price.

Let’s get right to it, lowered in price $100 the Sony 60GB PS3 is now available for $499! Armed with the Blue-ray Disc player, built-in HDD, 1080p high-def output, Wi-Fi connectivity and SIXAXIS wireless controller, what else could you possibly want from a serious gaming system?

I replied to myself with “How about games?”

While I admit that I haven’t been following the games available for any of the latest generation consoles and so don’t know much about games available for the PS3, I find the next line pretty telling:

On top of that, from now until September 30, purchase a PS3 and receive 5 free Blu-ray movies with mail-in redemption.

Uh, this “serious gaming system” should let me play games still, right? When Sony first announced the PS3, I remember thinking that the fanboys have their work cut out for them. No games announced. It was just a very powerful computer system. Oh, and it played movies in a format that no one has.

Today, are there any games for PS3 that merit buying a PS3? Even with the “price drop”? Is anyone really that excited about being able to purchase a PS3 at what I still consider too high a price for a video game console? The Wii has some interesting games, although as I understand it there seems to be a lack of interesting new games coming in the near future. The 360 has XBLA. What does the PS3 have going for it? What games can I get with the $100 savings? Or am I supposed to be happy with buying more Blu-ray movies…which I already own on DVD and can watch on my laptop or using the television-connected DVD player? It’s not even perfectly backwards compatible with the PS2, so why not purchase that system instead? There are hundreds of games available for it.

Last week, I was having a blast playing the SNES game Smash TV with my girlfriend’s nephew…on my old SNES. I don’t feel like I am missing out on the next gen experience. Anyone else?

Categories
Games Geek / Technical Marketing/Business

World of What?

This past weekend, my girlfriend and I went to a barbecue. One of her cousins was on the computer, so I went in to say hello.

“What are you doing?”
“Playing Runescape.”
“Oh, I remember when I played that game. It looks much better than I remember it.”
“Yeah, I’m at max level for wood cutting.”
“Did you know that there are more people playing Runescape than World of Warcraft?”
“What’s World of Warcraft?”

Oh, yeah. There are people who haven’t heard of one of of the biggest names in video games.

Oh, and if you’re wondering, last I checked, Runescape had one million more people playing it than World of Warcraft did. You’ll note that when people talk about WoW‘s size, they can never call it the largest. They always talk about revenue. WoW makes much more money than Runescape, but Runescape has more people playing.

And apparently some of them have never heard of World of Warcraft. This map of online communities is slightly inaccurate in the same way that Alaska always looks smaller than it really is on a world map.

Anyway, I think it is interesting when you can’t depend on people knowing who you are, no matter how big of a gorilla you are. Before Runescape, he was playing on Club Penguin. Maybe one day he’ll discover games such as World of Warcraft and Vendetta Online, but for now, he has no idea that you even exist.

Categories
Geek / Technical General Linux Game Development Marketing/Business Politics/Government

GPL v3 Released

The Free Software Foundation launched GPLv3 yesterday. You can read the wording of the license in its final form.

What does it mean for software developers and indie developers in particular? I don’t know. The GPLv2 was written over a decade ago, and this new version deals with software in the face of new technologies such as the World Wide Web. I know a number of businesses participated in the discussions so any silly arguments about the license being a tool for communism can hopefully be put to rest.

“By hearing from so many different groups in a public drafting process, we have been able to write a license that successfully addresses a broad spectrum of concerns. But even more importantly, these different groups have had an opportunity to find common ground on important issues facing the free software community today, such as patents, tivoization, and Treacherous Computing,” said the Foundation’s executive director, Peter Brown.

I am sure people will be talking about what the new license means and how it is different from GPLv2 for weeks to come.

Categories
Marketing/Business Personal Development

Do I Need a Business Checking Account?

If you’re just starting a company and sweating about decisions such as “Do I need a checking account for my business?”, I know how you feel. I went through this same decision, concerned about doing the right thing. Actually, I was concerned about accidentally doing the wrong thing and messing up somehow. Are there legal concerns that essentially require that I have a separate account? Could I lose my limited liability simply because I used my personal funds to pay for my business’ web hosting? In the end, I found that I didn’t have much to worry about, but these concerns were very real (and scary!) to me. Starting a new business is scary enough. Worrying about doing things right to avoid violating some unknown law just seemed like wasted effort, and it can be incredibly distracting when you’re trying to earn some income.

I formed GBGames LLC last year, and a month later I received my Employer ID Number. Other than renewing the LLC and dealing with taxes this past April, I haven’t done much of anything related to business or accounting. On my list of things to do, I have “Get a business checking account”, and it has been there for a long time. I decided to get it completed and off of my list as soon as possible. First things first: do I even need a business checking account?

Having a separate checking account for the business seems to makes sense to me. It should be easier to keep my personal and business finances separate if I have a separate account for each. But then again, does this mean I need a separate business credit card? Most of my purchases are through one of my credit cards. I pay the balance each month and get the advantage of building credit. Occasionally, I receive a gift card to use at a local bookstore. Having a separate card means I won’t receive the benefits I do from using one card. I’ll have to remember to use the business card for business purchases, and if I forget, I’ll have to reconcile my numbers with my personal finances. Currently, I only have one set of finances to deal with, which seems much easier.

If I do get a separate account, I will need to deposit some money into it. Business accounts aren’t likely to make as much in interest as my current personal account at ING Direct, which is 4.5% right now. Any money I take out of it will make less money for me. Then again, the money invested in my business will hopefully be netting me bigger gains than the most generous bank. Still, what’s the point of having a separate account? It seems like having one would just be one more thing to keep track of, and more complexity isn’t really necessary or desirable for someone running a part-time business.

Since I run a single-member LLC, and I have not elected to be taxed as a corporation, the government taxes my company as a sole-proprietorship. My business is just an extension of my personal taxes. I don’t make many purchases for my business yet, and any purchases I do make are made in my name. Yes, I have to keep my receipts and separate personal expenses from business expenses, but since I do not make too many pruchases, these expenses are easy to keep track of. Last year, I bought a laptop and paid IGDA and ASP membership dues. I also paid to attend the Grand Rapids Schmooze meetup, including hotel expenses and transportation. My accountant took this information and figured out how much of it could be deducted from my taxes. Having a separate checking account wouldn’t have made this process much easier.

Basically, don’t attempt to pass off your family’s grocery bill as a business expense. If I buy a video game as a birthday present for a friend, it’s a personal expense. If I buy a video game as research for my business, it’s a business expense. I bought my girlfriend a computer for Christmas. I bought myself a laptop to allow me to do work. The former was a personal expense. The latter was a business expense. So long as I keep such expenses separate, I will be fine.

I’ve decided that I do not need a separate bank account for my business, at least for now. Maybe when I start earning more from my business, it could make sense, but there is no urgency in getting one. I can concentrate my efforts on the work of my business rather than the overhead of my business. If one day I find a need for a separate checking account, I’ll get one then.

If you decide that you do need a business checking account, this article on choosing a bank for your business will probably come in handy: Choosing Banks

Categories
Game Development Marketing/Business

Runescape Founder Speaks

Gamasutra had an interview with popular MMO developer and Jagex founder Andrew Gower in Q&A: Behind RuneScape’s 1 Million Subscriber Success. If you don’t know, the largest MMO isn’t World of Warcraft but Runescape. Although WoW makes much more money in subscriptions. Runescape has many more people playing.

The developer created Runescape as a personal project. It was basically a MUD with graphics. It slowly evolved into the freely available MMO with subscription-exclusive content that you see today.

When asked about the demographics of the players, Gower said that Jagex doesn’t collect such information.

We’re actually more focused on our product than marketing

It’s counter-intuitive to think that an incredibly successful MMO was made without focusing on the marketing. If you have a business, you’re supposed to think about marketing before you make the game.

I haven’t played Runescape in a long time, but I do remember spending quite a few evenings developing my mining and cooking skills. Adventuring with friends was fun. And perhaps it is that network effect that makes it so successful. Once those friends stopped playing, I stopped playing. When your customers are enjoying themselves, they’ll call their friends to get them to join. You don’t have to spend your time telling people about the game if they are already finding out about it. If no one played Runescape and the developers still wanted to commercialize it, they’d probably spend more time on marketing than they do now.