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Mark Rein, " Gears of Wars maps to cost at first, then free a few months later."

F

FrankT

Member
http://gearsforums.epicgames.com/showthread.php?t=567201&page=2

Here is a response to a thread over at EvilAvatar that I posted this morning. You can download the podcast at 1UPYours.com - this is the April 6th edition. The interview with Epic CEO and founder, Tim Sweeney, and myself starts a little bit after 38 minutes into the podcast.

Folks,

I think you guys are blowing this up into something bigger than it is. Please listen to the entire podcast before jumping to conclusions.

What we have here is simply a difference of opinion on how to maximize the return on Gears of War - something both Epic and Microsoft want to do. While we create products like Gears because we love games, and we have a passion for making them, at the end of the day this is a business for both companies and how we earn our living.

Epic thinks the way to maximize the return on Gears of War is to give the maps away for free and Microsoft thinks the way to maximize the return on Gears of War is to sell the maps. So what we’ve agreed to do is to put these maps on sale at a reasonable price then make them free a few months later. They did this with the original Halo2 map pack and it was a huge success. Lots of people bought the maps and lots of people downloaded them when they became free. That’s what is going to happen and it seems like a fair compromise for both companies and a win-win for Gears players.

Why does Epic not have control over this even though we created this content on our own time and our own dime? Quite frankly Xbox Live Marketplace isn’t our store. It’s Microsoft’s store. Like any retailer they have the right to figure out what goes on the shelves of their store and what price they sell it at. They spend the money to operate the store and deliver the content. They’ve also spent billions of dollars to create and build Xbox and subsidize it’s the price so you can afford it and we can make games for it. As our publisher, they also invested tens of millions of dollars marketing Gears of War, and have done an awesome job for us, so they have a right to a good return on that investment.

As Tim Sweeney and I said in the podcast, we want the download economy to work – it is something the industry needs, something we hope to use in the future, something that will help bring more variety to end-users and ultimately could help bring prices down for end-users. If we had to put this map pack on a disc and sell it in retail it would be more expensive to end-users and maybe we wouldn't have done it because of all the extra work and cost involved.

In the mean time we are planning to bring out an awesome new Gears of War multi-player gametype called Annex that works will all of the existing multi-player maps and the new pack we're talking about here. The 1UP guys who got to play it a few weeks ago left the office raving about how it could be our best Gears gametype yet and I think a lot of people will enjoy it. Best of all, it is totally FREE and will come in the new Gears update that we expect to see released this week.
Click to expand...

This was just posted today by Mark. Lock if old.
 
B

BudokaiMR2

Member
I still can't believe MS won't go along with just letting them be free. They just seem to love creating bad press for themselves...
 
The Faceless Master

The Faceless Master

Member
so i was wondering, with MS controlling marketplace prices, is it forseeable that a game would have content on the PSN that costs less than the XBLM counterpart?
 
V

Vyse The Legend

Member
BudokaiMR2 said:
I still can't believe MS won't go along with just letting them be free. They just seem to love creating bad press for themselves...
Click to expand...

Pretty much. Talk about failing to capitalize on their good position.
 
Tieno

Tieno

Member
Seems like a fair deal.
Wario64 said:
You people better not buy these maps.
Click to expand...
I wasn't going to buy them, but seeing you post this I think I'm just gonna do it to annoy you.
 
W

Wario64

works for Gamestop (lol)
Tieno said:
I wasn't going to buy them, but seeing you post this I think I'm just gonna do it to annoy you.
Click to expand...

Wow, didn't know there are people on here willing to pay money to annoy me
 
W

watership

Member
Bungie did this with Halo 2. Why are you guys saying.. "You better not buy this!"? Buy if you want to support Epic and play right away, or wait if your want them for free.
 
C

CrunchinJelly

formerly cjelly
You people are stupid.

You realise the more people who buy the maps, the more chance there is of more map packs, don't you?

Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face.

I'll be buying them.
 
S

Stat Flow

He gonna cry in the car
Ranger X said:
Why buy any game at launch? They all go down in price with time.
Click to expand...

Great point. Not to mention coupons and stuff that come out later. . .

I'll get the maps.

When they're free, unless it takes TOO long.
 
D

Diablohead

Member
If it's like a 3-4 month wait I think I can do so, but I doubt I will buy new gears maps unless they fix the host lag and the new game mode is mega fun.
 
G

GhaleonEB

Member
Perfectly reasonable. It worked for Halo 2, it will work for these maps. If you want to get them free, wait. If you want them and think the price is reasonable, buy.

Everyone wins.
 
W

Wario64

works for Gamestop (lol)
watership said:
Bungie did this with Halo 2. Why are you guys saying.. "You better not buy this!"? Buy if you want to support Epic and play right away, or wait if your want them for free.
Click to expand...

The princple of the situation. This is different from the Halo 2 maps. These Gears maps were intended to be free to begin with.
 
C

Core407

Banned
cjelly said:
You people are stupid.

You realise the more people who buy the maps, the more chance there is of more map packs, don't you?

Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face.

I'll be buying them.
Click to expand...

If you don't mind taking it up the bum from Microsoft, then sure.
 
X

Xamdou

Member
If the 4 new Gears maps are around 400-800 Points I'll buy since Gears needs some new content fast and there's no way I am waiting 2+ months until their free :lol
 
S

sega4ever

Member
are you sure your not the stupid one? epic wants to give you the maps for free, but microsoft wont let them and will charge you instead, and you will bend over and take it?
 
J

JdFoX187

Banned
I'll buy them. And I don't see it as "taking it up the ass from M$." I've always said I'll pay for quality. Living in an idealistic world where everything is free is dumb. Shit costs money. It's not anybody giving it to anybody up the ass. It's business.
 
J

Jewbacca

Banned
Ill buy it. I paid $60 for GOW not expecting anything but some fixes.

So ill dish out 400-800 points for a map pack. (assuming it is 400-800 points) If it is more I can wait... I enjoy the maps I have now.
 
Z

Zonar

Member
HomShaBom said:
Why do people still say 'lock if old'? As if it wouldn't be locked anyway.
Click to expand...
what does this have to do with
priceofteainchina.gif
 
V

Vyse The Legend

Member
JdFoX187 said:
I'll buy them. And I don't see it as "taking it up the ass from M$." I've always said I'll pay for quality. Living in an idealistic world where everything is free is dumb. Shit costs money. It's not anybody giving it to anybody up the ass. It's business.
Click to expand...

Yeah, except Epic said they wanted to give you this for free, but MS said, "No, BOHICA BITCHES."
 
C

CrunchinJelly

formerly cjelly
JdFoX187 said:
I'll buy them. And I don't see it as "taking it up the ass from M$." I've always said I'll pay for quality. Living in an idealistic world where everything is free is dumb. Shit costs money. It's not anybody giving it to anybody up the ass. It's business.
Click to expand...
This man speaks the Tru7h.
 
K

krypt0nian

Banned
Epic wants them to be free, and free they shall be. Paying for them is plain stupid. Play some other games until they are free.
 
B

Beer Monkey

Member
I think you guys are blowing this up into something bigger than it is. Please listen to the entire podcast before jumping to conclusions.
Click to expand...

Shit, I think he's talking to GAF! Next thing you know we'll find out that they aren't dying to jump ship and take Gears 3 to another platform. :lol

Kiriku said:
Exactly, and that's why I don't buy games at launch. :)
Click to expand...

I have a friend who doesn't buy any games until they hit $20. Ever. He thinks that people like me and most GAFfers who will pay $50-$60 for even some games are the biggest idiots in the world.
 
J

JdFoX187

Banned
Vyse The Legend said:
Yeah, except Epic said they wanted to give you this for free, but MS said, "No, BOHICA BITCHES."
Click to expand...
Everybody wins out on this situation. Microsoft gets some money from the maps and Epic gets to give them away for free. The people who are too stingy or idealistic to pay can wait a few more months. It's been a while since the last maps were released, a little while longer won't matter. And those of us who want to enjoy the content can go ahead and do it now.
 
S

swander

Member
Imagine how much people would love Microsoft if all game-related marketplace content followed the Halo 2 model - let's say a six month limit after which it becomes free to download. That would rock.
 
V

Vyse The Legend

Member
JdFoX187 said:
Everybody wins out on this situation. Microsoft gets some money from the maps and Epic gets to give them away for free. The people who are too stingy or idealistic to pay can wait a few more months. It's been a while since the last maps were released, a little while longer won't matter. And those of us who want to enjoy the content can go ahead and do it now.
Click to expand...

You're getting the Legendary edition of Halo 3, aren't you?
 
B

beelzebozo

Jealous Bastard
sounds like a reasonable compromise. it's better than microsoft saying outright that they'll never be free, which was the way i felt things were leaning.
 
M

Muppet345

Member
I won't buy it. Epic has been giving away great content for years and while I'm sure it is 100% worth the cost, it is horseshit that Microsoft has forced them to charge for it, and I won't support that.
 
J

JdFoX187

Banned
Vyse The Legend said:
You're getting the Legendary edition of Halo 3, aren't you?
Click to expand...
If it comes with the artbook, yes. If not, no. What is so wrong with paying for something if it's worth it? Are you one of those guys who steals ketchup packs out of restaurants to fill his ketchup bottle? I'm not going to pay for shit that unlocks content on discs like EA has done sometimes. But I'm going to pay for a set of maps that Epic has made for my favorite online game. And I'll pay for a special edition of a game if I like what's in it. What does it matter to you?
 
Y

Ynos Yrros

Banned
Good that I'm not using Live. Paying 50$ a year for a matchmaking service is stupid, and Microsoft seems to be happy with that.

How is it that I can download lots and lots of stuff for PSP games, people can download lots of stuff for free for PS3 games, and X360 users have to pay for stuff that THE DEVELOPERS want to be published as free items? Let's just wait for other companies to bite on that strategy and start charging for everything.
 
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