Game News Divinity: Original Sin has sold 160,000 copies, already approaching profitability

[RK47]

That's the word we keep waiting to hear.... (an Expansion, NOT shit DLC garbage)

But it is probably too soon though.

I'd be crazy to pay for a DLC when the game needs more patches.

 

[Volourn]

"Swen promised "No DLC shit"."

So, as Roguey pointed out, he blatantly lied? LMAO

 

[Tigranes]

How about a little fine addin that is free for Kickstarter backers?

Ya mean like the sodding content that comes if you add in a kickstarter code? *gasp* Such exemplary genius!

No - more a Night of the Raven style addin...

We should be paying for such substantial content, what's the point of giving them $ to make this happen if we then demand so much free stuff to drain their profits?

 

[Darkzone]

Roguey
This DLC is for people who want to upgrade their Steam / GOG D:OS to the Kickstarter Level. But i think you know this. I stated to InXile that they should give the Novellas for free, also to the late Backers and EA people, since they pay much more money for W2. They have done it, and it was a nice move from InXile. Basically it is the same. Kickstarter is a form of 'trust' investment, and this 'trust' should be rewarded. But if you have missed the Kickstarter, for what ever reason, you should not be punished. This DLC does not punishes the Kickstarter backers, but gives the other people the chance to buy up to the level to the Kickstarter. And to hate something only because it is called a 'DLC' is not a smart thing to do. Remember any Expansion bought at Obsidian for the download, is a DLC. But is think also that you know this, and i only wrote this, to bring it to your memory.

 

[HiddenX]

How about a little fine addin that is free for Kickstarter backers?

Ya mean like the sodding content that comes if you add in a kickstarter code? *gasp* Such exemplary genius!

No - more a Night of the Raven style addin...

We should be paying for such substantial content, what's the point of giving them $ to make this happen if we then demand so much free stuff to drain their profits?

Depends on how much profit Larian is going to make the next months - if the dollars are raining it would be a good thing to give some love back and make a free addin (for kickstarter backers). If things are not so rosy for Larian I will certainly pay again for a good addin.
Some people (not me) complain at not fulfilled stretch goals -> Day/Night cycle, Mega dungeon.

 

[Arkeus]

Depends on how much profit Larian is going to make the next months - if the dollars are raining it would be a good thing to give some love back and make a free addin (for kickstarter backers). If things are not so rosy for Larian I will certainly pay again for a good addin.
Some people (not me) complain at not fulfilled stretch goals -> Day/Night cycle, Mega dungeon.

It could actually make good business sense to make a expansion focusing on day/nigh cycle, more companions and a single new dense map for level 21-30 stuff, and that this expansion is free for backers (and full price anywhere else).

 

[Darkzone]

Depends on how much profit Larian is going to make the next months - if the dollars are raining it would be a good thing to give some love back and make a free addin (for kickstarter backers). If things are not so rosy for Larian I will certainly pay again for a good addin.
Some people (not me) complain at not fulfilled stretch goals -> Day/Night cycle, Mega dungeon.

It could actually make good business sense to make a expansion focusing on day/nigh cycle, more companions and a single new dense map for level 21-30 stuff, and that this expansion is free for backers (and full price anywhere else).

A Expansion for 9.99 for normal users and 4.99 for Kickstarter backers (at Larian Vault) would be neat and enough. The day/night cycle only in that specific area / mod would be enough, and with a megadungeon for 21-30 levels as you have posted Arkeus should satisify the promise,
and silence any complaints. This would also keep the team busy while the next game would be prepared for the next kickstarter.

 

[Volourn]

If the game made lots of money they shouldn't need KS. Are they a business or a charity? FFS Then again, they tricked people into backing DOS when there was no need for it. It's easy to steal money from morans.

 

[Irenaeus]

I'd donate more than $100 to their next KS.

 

[imweasel]

I'd donate more than $100 to their next KS.

Look at the sales, Larian doesn't need Kickstarter anymore.

 

[Irenaeus]

More power to him!

 

[Zorba the Hutt]

Why wouldn't they do a kickstarter though? It makes sense, especially if they do it the same way they did DOS - ie self-fund to a decent state and then do a kickstarter towards the end.

Perhaps they've done well enough now to self-fund the entire project but the kickstarter also generated a lot of free publicity for them. Looking at the kickstarter comments there was a dedicated group of supporters who really loved the whole DOS kickstarter campaign/community and did a lot to spread the word. All these word-of-mouth sales with little initial advertising certainly benefited from that group of supporters.

 

[imweasel]

Why wouldn't they do a kickstarter though? It makes sense, especially if they do it the same way they did DOS - ie self-fund to a decent state and then do a kickstarter towards the end.

Larian could do that, but I don't think that starting a new Kickstarter solely for publicity and marketing would be well received by the community.

 

[Infinitron]

Why wouldn't they do a kickstarter though? It makes sense, especially if they do it the same way they did DOS - ie self-fund to a decent state and then do a kickstarter towards the end.

Larian could do that, but I don't think that starting a new Kickstarter solely for publicity and marketing would be well received by the community.

Publicity, marketing and stretch goals to make the game even better.

 

[Zorba the Hutt]

Larian could do that, but I don't think that starting a new Kickstarter solely for publicity and marketing would be well received by the community.

Well they wouldn't phrase it like that would they? They would describe it the same way they did this time - "we need your awesome feedback and support to help us make this game the best it can be".

Don't see any downside for them, especially after they proved themselves this time.

 

[Sitra Achara]

Thing is, unlike the previous KS, there is no actual financial reason for them to go that route. And more importantly, backers will know this.

If they want early feedback, they can do a regular public beta / founders program / steam EA.

 

[Paul_cz]

Kickstarter is always good thing to do if done responsibly, and Larian ran pretty much the best campaign ever, so it is obvious that they should do another one, and another, and another. Their audience will gladly contribute there after they proved themselves so well.

 

[Irenaeus]

Thing is, unlike the previous KS, there is no actual financial reason for them to go that route. And more importantly, backers will know this.

If they want early feedback, they can do a regular public beta / founders program / steam EA.

Fuck you, Sitra Achara, the faggot ignorer. I want to back them at Kickstarter.

 

[kaizoku]

So what's the latest official number on sales?

 

[tuluse]

Lots of ignorance itt.

If Larian doesn't kickstart their next game, they're fools.

You get a load of money upfront, this makes it easier to budget. You get a built in evangelizing fanbase convincing people to buy your game. You get 10% fees which is the lowest you'll find outside of building your own site (which means 5% + cost of building your site). You get all the people who like backing successful kickstarters who wouldn't necessarily buy a video game. You start a dialog with your fans to tune into exactly what they want. You build tons of good will with your fans.

 

[Darkzone]

Agree tuluse, but was it also not clear from one of the interviews with Swen that Larian wants to do another Kickstarter? Or was it just my arrogance and something that i have read into the statements from Swen. I'm confused.

 

[ZoddGuts]

They should do an expansion pack for D:OS and released it sometime next year, when there towards the end developing the game they should do a Kickstarter for their next new game that will take 2 years or so to develop. Might be that license that they've been going after.

Edit: It's back to the number 1 spot.

 

[Sitra Achara]

Thing is, unlike the previous KS, there is no actual financial reason for them to go that route. And more importantly, backers will know this.

If they want early feedback, they can do a regular public beta / founders program / steam EA.

Fuck you, Sitra Achara, the faggot ignorer. I want to back them at Kickstarter.

I do too but I still doubt they'd go that route again, unless they want to try some daring new direction whose viability is seriously in question. They just can't go 'we need your help to make this game happen / be bigger' (as they did in the DOS campaign -it was explicitly stated that wanting to increase the budget is the main goal, the feedback angle is after the fact), because everyone can tell they're swimming in cash now. If it'd be labeled as being about feedback instead, then they run the risk of being perceived as cynical, since they can easily get it via other means. Furthermore, the platform for playtesting will be Steam EA anyway (maybe GOG galaxy too now).

Re. Swen's attitude, he was indeed enthusiastic about crowdfunding as a platform for feedback, but he lumped KS and EA together. And the majority of prerelease player base was from EA, no?

Re. KS fee vs. EA, don't forget KS is usually discounted (for DOS it was about 26$ on average for digital copy compared to 40 on steam EA), so that evens out more or less. The higher tier rewards might make it somewhat more worthwhile on average tho (assuming fulfillment costs and shipping don't negate that advantage, which they often do).

 

[Shannow]

I've yet to read a single valid reason against KS. Which is funny cause I'm reading more and more "No they don't have to go KS...".
Of course a dev always needs more money to make a bigger and better game. And for many people KS has already moved away from finally getting the chance to make "niche" games happening to a cooler version of pre-puchase.
How many would have been in EA without the KS tiers and KS word-of-mouth? Exactly. Comparatively few. 70k sales @ 23,4$ is better than 7000 sales @28$...

But the whole discussion is moot, isn't it? Either they'll use KS again or they won't. If they do and it's a smashing success, we'll say "told you so". If they don't and it only goes so-so, we'll say "told you so".

 

[MasterSmithFandango]

I think the big argument against KS is a failed KS is awful PR, but at the same time, I doubt they have the funds to deal with a failed game, so KS is probably the only way to go and minimize risk.