To the topic starter:
I like the way the idea forms. It is indeed a 3-headed monster.
The games could be released in this order: WotLK, SCII, Diablo III, a couple months apart. They don't at all need to be released too close by. Even IF people do not buy all 3, they'll buy them later. Some people would never buy certain games: I would not get WotLK, someone may not get DIII, and someone may not get SCII but that's irrelevant.
This may screw up the market pretty seriously. The only big market it does not touch is FPS, and Blizzard merged with Activision for some reason, who released some big FPS titles in the past...
Or better yet, Project Hydra is the announcement of 3 games at the same time!
Diablo 3
World of Starcraft
Lost Vikings/Blackthorne
....I can dream :).
Did you just want to say that you want those games or did you seriously miss that we are saying Project Hydra is the announcement of three games at the same time?
Street date is when a game is allowed to be sold to the public - companies and stores get games like a week in advance to when they're actually released.
Did you just want to say that you want those games or did you seriously miss that we are saying Project Hydra is the announcement of three games at the same time?
The 3 games mentioned were Diablo 3, WOTLK and Starcraft 2. Two of those games have been announced already, the OP was suggesting that project hydra was having 3 titles announced as in development at the same time, not the unveiling of 3 titles at the same time (i.e. the WWI).
Edit: Actually, after re-reading the original post it was suggested that 3 games be released at the same time, so in fact it has nothing to do with announcements. I suggest you follow this advice:
Quote from "psyfect" »
If you're going to reply, please read the thread. Don't skim it.
The 3 games mentioned were Diablo 3, WOTLK and Starcraft 2. Two of those games have been announced already, the OP was suggesting that project hydra was having 3 titles announced as in development at the same time, not the unveiling of 3 titles at the same time (i.e. the WWI).
I am the original poster. We were suggesting that the games may be released within a similar time frame which we derived from the current street dates for supporting data (WoTLK and Star Craft 2).
Theoretically and in most cases, releasing all three games near the same time will have no effect on revenues. However, Blizzard does not fall in this category because it is not a typical company. It hold's only three major franchises, which we have experience with. I am saying 'we' because we represent a small portion of the target market Blizzard is selling to, the Blizzard followers and hardcore gamers. However, more sales will come from casual gamers, and that is who Blizzard wants to sell to. Don't think about what you would do, think about what the general population would do, because most people reading this forum do not belong in the casual gaming category.
World of Warcraft has over 10 million subscribers, and the population has started to plateau a little bit. By announcing WotLK expansion, it'll hold these subscribers and gain more until the expansion comes out. Because of WoW's dominance, market share conflict when WotLK releases will not be that prevalent when compared to a normal game. However, D3 and SC2 are not a normal games. These franchises hasn't been seen in over 5+ years. They're like Star Wars Episode 1. You already had a bunch of good reviews and history with the previous 3 movies, so the hype for the sequel will be extremely large. Now imagine that Star Wars Episode 1 is premiering on the same night as The Lord of the Rings III (WotLK), and both movies are produced by the same company, let's say Blizzard. Now, both movies are in different genres and lore, but they both hold large amount of common knowledge with the general population, however, because of their dominance, their market share will conflict with each other, and it is not in Blizzard's interest to let both of those premiere on the same weekend. Granted, there will be a segment of the market that will go see both, that would represent us. However, the mainstream or general population will most likely not see both movies.
Now back to the games. Blizzard is an extremely large company and basically all gamers have played or heard about their games. Given the fact that Blizzard's target market is the casual gamers (for SC2 and D3... WotLK is different since it depends on a current marketing segment owned by Blizzard), it is not in Blizzard's best interest to release the games at the same time.
As for when to release the games? Blizzard's marketing team has to do research on what other games come out, what time of the year is best, and etc. And as we can see, Blizzard's marketing team is already doing a great job with the viral teasers, so we can expect a good job in final marketing.
I have no problem with months apart, albiet, many months apart. But you're basing this entire discussion on release dates on BestBuy's website. Blizzard hasn't even said explicitly when they'll be releasing, as the games haven't even reached Beta testing yet. If these dates were on Blizzard's own website, I would believe you, but BestBuy is just pulling random dates out of their ass.
And by 'at the same time' i mean, for example, releasing all three games in one or two quarters.
Starcraft II and Diablo 3, purportedly, will not require a monthly subscription. It's a simple one time purchase. In fact, this could increase revenue as hardcore blizzard fans will continue their subscription while they play other games, thereby lengthing the amount of time a gamer takes to acquire a desired level.
I'm not attempting to banter over the logistics of such an imperial decision. It merely fits...exceedingly well.
Quote from "tripLe" »
I have no problem with months apart, albiet, many months apart. But you're basing this entire discussion on release dates on BestBuy's website. Blizzard hasn't even said explicitly when they'll be releasing, as the games haven't even reached Beta testing yet. If these dates were on Blizzard's own website, I would believe you, but BestBuy is just pulling random dates out of their ass.
The speculation does not merely revolve around the dates. We discussed the fitting nature of this theory far before we even thought to check the dates.
Okay, logically, what percent of the population will buy both of the games when the person knows, that they will only be playing one at a time? You don't go around buying two cars within months of each other saying 'Oh, I'll just drive this one while I'm not driving the other one." No. You can't do that. Most consumers will only buy one car and save the rest, and possibly spending the money on other things. Just like the cars, most consumers will only buy one game, save the rest of the money while they play that game and then buy the second one.
Let's look at this another way. What is Blizzard's point in selling all three games close to one another? To gain additional publicity? Blizzard is selling three sequels of franchises with long gaming histories. There is no reason to advertise the games for publicity any more than Blizzard already has. That's why you probably won't see ads flying around on the internet announcing the new titles. Why? Because a large population already knows about the releases, and therefore, advertising like that is just a waste of money. You don't see that many Mercedes commercials on TV as compared to Kia commercials. Why? Because people know that Mercedes is good. Just like that, the names of the three franchises are common names in the world of gaming, so publicity is not the goal here. The goal here, since Blizzard already has control of the market segments, is to maximize profits. And if Blizzard wants to do so, it shouldn't release the games so close to each other.
Edit: Actually, after re-reading the original post it was suggested that 3 games be released at the same time, so in fact it has nothing to do with announcements. I suggest you follow this advice:
I suppose you haven't notice I am the author of these things you're refering too?
We are proposing that project Hydra is the entire campaign surrounding and fully encompassing three major games, from creation to release. Start to finish. These simple annoucements included. There plan is to take over the gaming market and to do so by releasing three very different games as quickly as possible.
It had everything to do with the announcements and the resulting time frame for release was merely speculation based on empirical knowledge.
Okay, logically, what percent of the population will buy both of the games when the person knows...
Now usually I'm fair and will read an entire post, but I stopped reading here. You better have only one video game in your collection or you're a hypocrite. Additionally, if you purchase a new game, I expect you to throw the old one out immediatly.
I like the way the idea forms. It is indeed a 3-headed monster.
The games could be released in this order: WotLK, SCII, Diablo III, a couple months apart. They don't at all need to be released too close by. Even IF people do not buy all 3, they'll buy them later. Some people would never buy certain games: I would not get WotLK, someone may not get DIII, and someone may not get SCII but that's irrelevant.
This may screw up the market pretty seriously. The only big market it does not touch is FPS, and Blizzard merged with Activision for some reason, who released some big FPS titles in the past...
Did you just want to say that you want those games or did you seriously miss that we are saying Project Hydra is the announcement of three games at the same time?
Street date is when a game is allowed to be sold to the public - companies and stores get games like a week in advance to when they're actually released.
CyberPunk RP Nexus
I know it sounds crazy ... but ... Starcraft could make a pretty badass FPS if done right.
CyberPunk RP Nexus
Edit: Actually, after re-reading the original post it was suggested that 3 games be released at the same time, so in fact it has nothing to do with announcements. I suggest you follow this advice:
World of Warcraft has over 10 million subscribers, and the population has started to plateau a little bit. By announcing WotLK expansion, it'll hold these subscribers and gain more until the expansion comes out. Because of WoW's dominance, market share conflict when WotLK releases will not be that prevalent when compared to a normal game. However, D3 and SC2 are not a normal games. These franchises hasn't been seen in over 5+ years. They're like Star Wars Episode 1. You already had a bunch of good reviews and history with the previous 3 movies, so the hype for the sequel will be extremely large. Now imagine that Star Wars Episode 1 is premiering on the same night as The Lord of the Rings III (WotLK), and both movies are produced by the same company, let's say Blizzard. Now, both movies are in different genres and lore, but they both hold large amount of common knowledge with the general population, however, because of their dominance, their market share will conflict with each other, and it is not in Blizzard's interest to let both of those premiere on the same weekend. Granted, there will be a segment of the market that will go see both, that would represent us. However, the mainstream or general population will most likely not see both movies.
Now back to the games. Blizzard is an extremely large company and basically all gamers have played or heard about their games. Given the fact that Blizzard's target market is the casual gamers (for SC2 and D3... WotLK is different since it depends on a current marketing segment owned by Blizzard), it is not in Blizzard's best interest to release the games at the same time.
As for when to release the games? Blizzard's marketing team has to do research on what other games come out, what time of the year is best, and etc. And as we can see, Blizzard's marketing team is already doing a great job with the viral teasers, so we can expect a good job in final marketing.
And by 'at the same time' i mean, for example, releasing all three games in one or two quarters.
I'm not attempting to banter over the logistics of such an imperial decision. It merely fits...exceedingly well.
The speculation does not merely revolve around the dates. We discussed the fitting nature of this theory far before we even thought to check the dates.
Let's look at this another way. What is Blizzard's point in selling all three games close to one another? To gain additional publicity? Blizzard is selling three sequels of franchises with long gaming histories. There is no reason to advertise the games for publicity any more than Blizzard already has. That's why you probably won't see ads flying around on the internet announcing the new titles. Why? Because a large population already knows about the releases, and therefore, advertising like that is just a waste of money. You don't see that many Mercedes commercials on TV as compared to Kia commercials. Why? Because people know that Mercedes is good. Just like that, the names of the three franchises are common names in the world of gaming, so publicity is not the goal here. The goal here, since Blizzard already has control of the market segments, is to maximize profits. And if Blizzard wants to do so, it shouldn't release the games so close to each other.
We are proposing that project Hydra is the entire campaign surrounding and fully encompassing three major games, from creation to release. Start to finish. These simple annoucements included. There plan is to take over the gaming market and to do so by releasing three very different games as quickly as possible.
It had everything to do with the announcements and the resulting time frame for release was merely speculation based on empirical knowledge.
But let me ask you, what is Blizzard's purpose to releasing all games at once? I read on your first post that it's aim was publicity. Is that correct?