I think at this point, almost no one will disagree that many Japanese developers and publishers are finally realizing the value of releasing their games on Steam. However, one question that arises is how to go about doing so, especially if you have a large library of formerly console-only games.
We've seen a few options so far:
1) Port everything starting from some early point, in smaller intervals than the original in order to eventually catch up.
This was (and is being) implemented by Idea Factory International and Arc System Works, and it looks like Nippon Ichi might also try this given the DIsagea 1 announcement and Phantom Brave leak.
The advantage of this approach is that you can gradually introduce players to your franchises, and that you can sell a lot of different games. However, I think there are some real risks here: for one, since you realistically need to sell those earlier titles at a discount, it might devalue your property which might affect your future day-and-date releases. Secondly, some of these games are huge, and by releasing them at a far faster pace than originally the case you might create an over-saturation effect.
2) Port your back catalogue, but only selectively/discriminatingly.
This is often what happens when a separate company acquires PC distribution rights (e.g. Ghostlight) but Sega seems to do it as well. Same goes for Square Enix really.
It prevents the oversaturation effect to some extent, but still might have a devaluation effect, and obviously as a gamer its annoying to have series available only partially.
3) Port your latest games day-and-date.
Namco-Bandai went this way with Tales, and also some Naruto games and quite a few others really. Another example is MGS5. You basically forget about the past and just forge straight ahead. The advantage here is that your releases benefit from all the hype you generate for new entries in a series, and you can certainly achieve far more full-price sales this way than with any other (as evidenced by e.g. Tales of Zestiria and MGS). The disadvantages from a publisher perspective are that you don't really benefit from your back catalog, and from a gamer and preservation perspective there's obviously something missing.
Between all these options, I personally think the best and most sustainable way to go is 3) - in order to get people used to thinking about your franchise in full-price terms and introduce new games with a single marketing push - combined with some of 2) to fill out the back catalog over a longer time period. I'm a bit concerned with all the publishers which are seemingly going for 1) and the medium-term viability of that. Steam gamers have deep wallets and capacities for building up a backlog, but not unlimited ones.
We've seen a few options so far:
1) Port everything starting from some early point, in smaller intervals than the original in order to eventually catch up.
This was (and is being) implemented by Idea Factory International and Arc System Works, and it looks like Nippon Ichi might also try this given the DIsagea 1 announcement and Phantom Brave leak.
The advantage of this approach is that you can gradually introduce players to your franchises, and that you can sell a lot of different games. However, I think there are some real risks here: for one, since you realistically need to sell those earlier titles at a discount, it might devalue your property which might affect your future day-and-date releases. Secondly, some of these games are huge, and by releasing them at a far faster pace than originally the case you might create an over-saturation effect.
2) Port your back catalogue, but only selectively/discriminatingly.
This is often what happens when a separate company acquires PC distribution rights (e.g. Ghostlight) but Sega seems to do it as well. Same goes for Square Enix really.
It prevents the oversaturation effect to some extent, but still might have a devaluation effect, and obviously as a gamer its annoying to have series available only partially.
3) Port your latest games day-and-date.
Namco-Bandai went this way with Tales, and also some Naruto games and quite a few others really. Another example is MGS5. You basically forget about the past and just forge straight ahead. The advantage here is that your releases benefit from all the hype you generate for new entries in a series, and you can certainly achieve far more full-price sales this way than with any other (as evidenced by e.g. Tales of Zestiria and MGS). The disadvantages from a publisher perspective are that you don't really benefit from your back catalog, and from a gamer and preservation perspective there's obviously something missing.
Between all these options, I personally think the best and most sustainable way to go is 3) - in order to get people used to thinking about your franchise in full-price terms and introduce new games with a single marketing push - combined with some of 2) to fill out the back catalog over a longer time period. I'm a bit concerned with all the publishers which are seemingly going for 1) and the medium-term viability of that. Steam gamers have deep wallets and capacities for building up a backlog, but not unlimited ones.
