Kickstarter Can Save Mid-Sized Developers, Says Brian Fargo

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Kickstarter has been used to great effect by certain smaller developers. Brian Fargo was particularly successful, raising $3 million for Wasteland 2 and convincing him of the viability of crowdfunding.

“I saw an opportunity with Kickstarter that this could be the thing that saves the middle-size developer,” said Fargo. “You’ve got this huge gap now. You’ve got the big triple-A developers, who typically have these housekeeping deals with the publishers where they’ll keep feeding them these 10-30 million-dollar projects and keeping them alive. Then you’ve got the small little indies doing their stuff, which is great, but they’re just two or three or four or five people. When I say mid-sized, I mean 15-20 people. I’m not talking about a huge company.”

“I saw [Kickstarter] as a way to save the mid-sized developer, us included, so I dropped everything and jumped on it,” he noted.

Source: Game Informer

Dota 2 Going Free-To-Play

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Valve has confirmed that Dota 2 will be a free-to-play game. While this isn’t a huge surprise, Valve also wanted to confirm that there will be no “pay-to-win” and that all items will be cosmetic and all heroes will be free of charge.

“We’re really excited about this,” wrote Valve. “As we’ve explored cosmetic customization for heroes, we’ve been finding that we can use it to broaden our lore, and expand on the characters. We’ve received a lot of positive responses to the unique hero voices in the game, and the window they give you into each hero’s personality. We think this will be another avenue where we can expand in that direction.”

Some people will want to play but not pay, and there will will be some customization options for them. “Players who don’t want to buy things from the Dota 2 Store will be able to earn them in a variety of ways, such as by simply playing the game, increasing their Battle Level, or by trading with other players,” said the Dota 2 FAQ adds. “All the items in the store are cosmetic, and don’t affect gameplay. The opening of the Dota Store is a big part of our final push to launch,”

Valve emphasized the importance of the community, and in order to support that, players will be able to contribute content directly. “So today we’re also announcing that Dota 2 is now part of the Steam Workshop,” said Valve. “If you’re not familiar with the Steam Workshop, it’s a place where fans can upload content they’ve created for a game, and other players can vote and comment on it. The development team then takes those uploads and releases them as official parts of the game itself, and the original fan creator gets a slice of the sales from the in-game store. In the first year alone over 3.5 million dollars was paid out to TF2 fans whose creations are now a permanent part of the game.”

“If you’re a Dota 2 fan with some artistic skills, here’s your chance to get in on the ground floor of what’s sure to be a vibrant community for years to come, and be able to contribute directly to the game you’re already playing non-stop. If you’re still working on your art skills, you can still contribute massively by looking over the submissions as they arrive, and giving the thumbs up to ones that you’d like to see in your games.

Source: blog.dota2.com

Twitter Working With Pepsi On ‘Live For Now Music’

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Twitter has announced that it has signed a new partnership with Pepsi. Called “Live for Now Music,” it will work with Pepsi’s current campaign and new global positioning and will span 52 weeks.

“This is the biggest initiative a marketer has done with Twitter to date,” said Adam Bain, Twitter’s president-global revenue. “It ranks as one of the smartest campaigns we’ve seen on the platform too. … This yearlong program takes full advantage of Twitter.”

The program will involve Twitter promoting pop-up concerts over the Summer one to two weeks in advance and will be streamed live on the platform through the @Pepsi handle. Twitter users will also be able to influence song choices at the concerts.

Pepsi also will be working with Twitter to determine trending topics related to music by analyzing the platform’s hundreds of millions of tweets that will be compiled into a short, weekly video digest, which will be embedded on Pepsi’s Twitter page every Wednesday. Finally, the brand will give away free music downloads via its @Pepsi handle.

Pepsi plans to use Twitter’s ad products to draw attention to the “Live for Now Music” program. “This further reinforces Pepsi’s position as being a curator, sponsor, creator, supporter and participant in pop culture and music, specifically,” said Shiv Singh, global head of digital for PepsiCo Beverages.

This is the second sort of program to come out of the group, preceded by AmEx Twitter Sync Campaign at this year’s South by Southwest Interactive. “We’d like to do more deals like this. … Any opportunity to get strategic with a marketer and agency is rare,” noted Bain.

Source: Creativity Online

E3 May Move Away From Los Angeles

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Reports are that E3 organizers ESA is displeased with plans to remodel the Los Angeles Convention Center to make room for a new sports complex called Farmers Field on the current site of the West Hall of the convention center. With floor space always at a premium at E3, there’s talk that E3 could relocate to San Francisco, New York, Chicago or New Orleans since the ESA is not committed to the L.A. Convention center after this year.

“We’re still in discussions with the city of Los Angeles,” said ESA president Michael Gallagher, “but we have a number of issues that still need to be resolved. If we can’t resolve them, we are preparing to go elsewhere.”

“We need assurances on things like square footage, the quality of the space, the ease of loading and unloading equipment, signage throughout the convention center for marketing and sponsorships,” added Gallagher. “We love being in Los Angeles, but we also have a show to put on.”

Source: L.A. Times

Crytek CEO Sees End To Game Consoles

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Disruptive market forces have affected the traditional gaming market over the past few years. To Crytek’s CEO Cevat Yerli, he thinks that’s going to have a serious impact on the long term viability of game consoles.

“The console will displace the PC, you hear it again and again. On the contrary, I suspect that the next-generation of home consoles will be the last one,” said Yerli. “Of course there are still hardcore gamers who sit for an hour to install and then play for eight hours. But these consumers are becoming the minority. Today’s gamers buy a game for 99 cents, download it and play it for 15 to 20 minutes per day over a period of two months – and then they move on.”

Source: VG247

Street Fighter Gets Extensive 25th Anniversary Collector’s Set

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Capcom has taken the wrapping off of the Street Fighter 25th Anniversary Collector’s Set, and it’s quite extensive. Each individually numbered set will be available for sale on September 18 for PS3 and Xbox 360.

The set includes four full games in Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, Street Fighter III 3rd Strike Online Edition, Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition with all costume DLC, and Street Fighter X Tekken including all character and Swap Costume DLC. There will also be two DVDs, with an extensive documentary on the series, Street Fighter IV and Super Street Fighter IV Anime movies as well as all episodes of the Street Fighter V animated series and Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie.

It does not stop there, as there will be a Light-up Ryu Statue 8″ tall in mid-Shoryuken and a full-size martial arts black belt is a replica of the one Ryu wears and even includes his classic “Furinkazan” in kanji. There will also be a 64-page Hardcover Art Book including fan pieces submitted by professional and aspiring artists alike, and an 11-Disc Soundtrack spanning the full history of Street Fighter game music in addition to remixes and fan-created music inspired by past Street Fighter games.

Demon’s Souls Servers Live On

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Atlus has previously planned to shut down the servers for Demon’s Souls on May 31, 2012 after postponing it once in the past. Fortunately, the company has announced that the service will continue in perpetuity.

“We’re incredibly excited to be able to announce that the Demon’s Souls online experience will persist for a while longer,” said Atlus VP of sales and marketing Tim Pivnicny. “While it originally seemed as though it would be unfeasible for us to continue to sustain the servers, a number of developments have made it possible for us to continue to invest in and support our fans as they have continued to invest in and support us and Demon’s Souls. For all the gamers who have yet to discover the game’s amazing online experience, we’re happy to say you can still log on and find out why Demon’s Souls is still regarded by many as one of the finest games of all time.”

MLG And Turtle Beach Team Up For Licensed Headsets

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Turtle Beach and Major League Gaming (MLG) have announced a multi-year product and marketing partnership. The agreement will see Turtle Beach develop the official headsets and audio equipment of MLG, the first will be MLG versions of the all-new Ear Force XP7 and Z7 MLG Pro Circuit Programmable Surround Sound Headsets for console and PC play, along with the Ear Force TM1 Tournament Audio Mixer.

“At Major League Gaming, our mission is to create the most competitive environment in e-Sports,” said Sundance DiGiovanni, CEO of MLG. “We look forward to working with Turtle Beach and to utilizing the XP7 and Z7 headsets and TM1 mixer at our Pro Circuit events and offering exciting new audio products to our fans.”

“Quality audio is a competitive advantage whether you play at home or in a tournament,” said Bob Picunko, Turtle Beach’s Chief Marketing Officer. “This partnership allows our audio engineers and MLG’s tournament experts to work closely to deliver the best possible, high performance tournament equipment for professional competitors and gamers at all levels.”