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[tearsintherain]

yeah got the game free on PS+ told everyone I know everywhere about it, double dipped on PC and convinced a lot of friends who are PC only gamers to buy it. None of it would have happened without the PS+ free initial bit, and I know I'm not the only one who got hyped for the game that way.

Steamspy shows it at slightly below 3m owners which is damn impressive, peak 36k concurrent players.

 

[Hamster Plugin]

but I thought people didn't buy games on PC

That only applies to single player games, because you can't pirate multiplayer games.

 

[cactrotofrbc]

What a Save!

 

[zma1013]

I got it on PS4 during the free month then a month later bought the PC version too. I hurt and helped!

 

[Alucrid]

I mean, we will never know, but how many people would have bought it on steam or plus but didnt because it was free? Sales might actually have been higher.

Word of mouth is word of mouth. Minecraft didnt need psplus or gold to spread. Most of the games that launch on psplus or gold dont catch on like rocket league. This game would have been a hit regardless, imo (via hindsight, clearly). Perhaps it would have spread slower but perhaps not. Almost certainly Psyonix would have made more money if they didnt launch on psplus and instead put it on there later.

did you even read the article?

"Reddit was absolutely massive for us," said Davis. "The PS4 subreddit picked our game up during the beta and that's what blew us really wide, we think. The GIFs took over. We think that's where it all basically started."

"I think there's a big question mark on whether this is the right decision for a particular game," said Davis. "It was, we think, for us. Ultimately this was the big spread. We had all this publicity on Reddit and Twitch, but PS Plus broke down those barriers. It allowed us to stay a premium game and have the reach of a free-to-play game."

 

[Ozium]

What a Save!
What a Save!
What a Save!
What a Save!
What a Save!
WHOOPS!
What a Save!

fixed

 

[Omnistalgic]

Too much success can kill ya it seems.

Glad it turned into a big success story

 

[GrantDaNasty]

That only applies to single player games, because you can't pirate multiplayer games.

I'm pretty sure they were being facetious, as something like Stardew Valley is at 750k+ copies sold as far as Steamspy shows, and that game is single player only.

 

[TheSeks]

But I got it for free with my Steam controller. So...

 

[shotgunbob04]

PS Plus was definitely a good decision, since most people I've spoken with said they'd never have given it a chance if it wasn't free. Most of those people have gone on to buy the DLC. I want to buy the PC version when I get a nice PC.

 

[CountAntonius]

To reiterate what I said before. I don't think people are understanding the article. PS+ was a huge .part of the games success but they weren't making money off PS players till Sony paid for the downloads and their first DLC launched.

They were hoping to hit 10k concurrent and ended up with hundreds of thousands and needed to rent a ton of dedicated servers to accommodate them. They are a small indie developer. The Steam money helped cover it.

This isn't about regretting PS+ or any console wars bullshit. Don't make it into it.

 

[GrantDaNasty]

But I got it for free with my Steam controller. So...

Time to buy a PS4/XB1 copy to off-set that!

 

[manzoman96]

Not only did I buy my copy on ps4 but I convinced others to buy it too. You're welcome psyonix.

 

[BananasWithGuns]

This is kind of surprising. I thought PS+ money would be pretty substantial.

I guess it all worked out in the end though.

 

[The Dear Leader]

Between the PS+ moochers and all the PC pirates, how did they make any money?

But seriously though, I wonder if a demo on PS4 and PC would have had some of the impact that the PS+ version had in terms of word of mouth and popularity.

 

[Nzyme32]

PS+ success was probably still a good win for marketing. The good impressions and easy spread of the game through PS+ subs had the knock on effect of bringing it forward more with streamers and alike than most games would at an early stage unless they were f2p, which was part of the reason it was more visible to PC folks. I suspect the same thing would have happened at a slower rate if PS+ was not involved regardless.

but I thought people didn't buy games on PC

You don't get it man. The pirates stole all the doubloons to pay for all the Rocket Leagues. That's still piracy.

 

[AudioEppa]

I had the game for free through plus, stopped using that account and then I actually I bought it because I wanted to show support to the dev. I haven't got any dlc yet. In the future I will.

 

[Floody]

I've never thought about how the massive hype PS+ got it could have been a death sentence, it's a double edged sword I guess, get an instant audience, but at the risk of biting off more than you can chew. I'm glad it turned out for the best in the end , and I'm sure they are pretty comfortable now.

 

[KingdomHeartsFan]

Too many sales on console, they can't handle it.

 

[A Grizzly Bear]

Yeah, it seems a bit bizarre to complain that without Steam the game might not have been a success seeing how the passionate word-of-mouth from all the PS+ subscribers helped get the game off the ground.

Except they're not complaining or saying it wouldn't have been successful. They're just stating that the revenue from Steam helped them to expand their infrastructure when the demand far exceeded their expectations.

 

[Steiner84]

What a Save!

should have been first post

 

[Crimsonclaw111]

Imagine if 90 percent of PC users weren't pirates.

I still need to get a copy, maybe next time it's on sale.

 

[Wereroku]

This is kind of surprising. I thought PS+ money would be pretty substantial.

I guess it all worked out in the end though.

It probably was but Sony wouldn't pay until they actually know how much it would be if the contract was per unit. However I am sure they could have worked something out but they didn't need to since the steam version was such a success. However this is also a good example of why p2p is still so popular with developers. Dedicated server costs can get quite large if your game is popular enough.

 

[JCX]

Honestly ignored it until it was PS+. Not sure if I would have played if not for PS+.

 

[The Dear Leader]

Imagine if 90 percent of PC users weren't pirates.

I still need to get a copy, maybe next time it's on sale.

I bet about 9% of that remaining 10% are just uncles who accidentally bought it on their Steam accounts.

 

[StriKeVillain]

The PS+ version was so addictive I needed it on my PC so I could play it away from the tv. Glad to see it helped out so much.

 

[Dreams-Visions]

thanks, PC gamers.

 

[epmode]

It's so bizarre that Sony charges devs for server access on top of a flat pecentage per sale.

 

[Hale-XF11]

thanks, PC gamers.

No Problem.

 

[toythatkills]

Except they're not complaining or saying it wouldn't have been successful. They're just stating that the revenue from Steam helped them to expand their infrastructure when the demand far exceeded their expectations.

Yeah, it's this thread title/OP that is kind of misrepresenting the story, really.

 

[Alucrid]

It's so bizarre that Sony charges devs for server access on top of a flat pecentage per sale.

what are you talking about? we don't even know the agreement they had with sony. psyonix was paying for their own servers

 

[Dennis]

Why doesn't Sony behave like Steam?

Should we ring the Shame Shame bell?

 

[OrlanisWorks]

I'm happy I bought into it almost as soon as I discovered the thread about it. And also bought some of their dlc.

 

[Dr.Acula]

It's crazy how many Japanese pubs have been porting things to PC lately. Capcom always ports as much as they can, and SEGA has been bringing over a lot of stuff too. It seems even despite the PC space being "niche," and having the stigma of piracy -plus the fact that PC gamers tend to look for deep discounts- PC is a viable platform. Consider that the used/trade-in PC market is essentially non-existent, and not having to press physical discs and share profits with retailers makes PC a big deal for publishers.

Ubi being able to offer The Division on its own storefront on PC probably is the difference in why it was the biggest new IP launch ever.

 

[Stumpokapow]

The issue here isn't the popularity of the game on PS+, it's that the PS+ payment was lagged relative to the demand so they didn't have enough liquid money in the mean time to cover the costs.

 

[dave is ok]

I got it for free on PS4 but then made sure to buy all the DLCs and get it on PC with the Steam Controller promotion.

I remember how impossible it was to find games that first week or so when they clearly underestimated server demand

 

[Disaster Nebraska]

Except they're not complaining or saying it wouldn't have been successful. They're just stating that the revenue from Steam helped them to expand their infrastructure when the demand far exceeded their expectations.

I'm referring to the comments being made in this thread, not implying that the devs were the ones complaining.

 

[tearsintherain]

That explains why all the PS+ games since then have been awful, Sony is thinking of all the developers financial health

 

[_machine]

The issue here isn't the popularity of the game on PS+, it's that the PS+ payment was lagged relative to the demand so they didn't have enough liquid money in the mean time to cover the costs.

This. Some platforms simply process payments faster (or more accurately, have shorter payment schedule cycles) and this can lead to problems when you have to pay for the stuff quickly, but will be liquid in a few months.

 

[JaseC]

This. Some platforms simply process payments faster (or more accurately, have shorter payment schedule cycles) and this can lead to problems when you have to pay for the stuff quickly, but will be liquid in a few months.

Yeah, Valve pays out monthly. If I were to guess, I'd say Sony pays out quarterly, as MS does (judging from the XBLIG agreement).

 

[Kayant]

The issue here isn't the popularity of the game on PS+, it's that the PS+ payment was lagged relative to the demand so they didn't have enough liquid money in the mean time to cover the costs.

Reading is too hard!

Still I would bet they probably got more money from their first pay out from steam than Sony.

 

[Dusktildawn48]

I bought it on pc, xbox, and ps4 (after it was free) The game deserves all the praise it gets. Fun everytime I play it, which is quite a bit.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

I bought it on PC. I was prepared to buy it on PSN as well. And surely they're getting even more people buying it on PS4 now since the plus promo has been over for a while.

 

[NinjamicWZ]

PS+ is console peasant welfare. Build a firewall and make Sony pay for it.

 

[shiftplusone]

Got it for free on ps+, then got it for free with my steam controller.

I had to buy a friend a copy of it just so I could support them.

 

[Pankratous]

This is why we should be allowed to buy our PS+ games for like £5 or something with the entire £5 going to the dev.

 

[Mechazawa]

Steam.

Opa!

 

[Nabbis]

Sony does not pay server costs? Why the fuck am i paying for online multiplayer.

 

[CountAntonius]

Sony does not pay server costs? Why the fuck am i paying for online multiplayer.

This game uses dedicated servers rented by Psyonix and used for all platforms.

 

[Sephzilla]

If it wasn't for PS+ I probably wouldn't have played this game. That said, I should really buy the PC version to help support these guys (maybe the XB1 copy, too!)