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Icculus Ports Prey Game Client To Linux

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  • #41
    Originally posted by RobbieAB View Post
    But if you are a publisher, you don't care how many Linux copies you sell, you care about how many extra copies you sell by providing a Linux version, even if they are windows copies. Don't underestimate the friend effect.

    The people who have already paid for a windows copy don't matter as a Linux customer, the publisher already gets those peoples money, so really couldn't care less if those people want a Linux version.

    The number that matters is not how many Linux players there are, but how many sales a Linux client generates. These are NOT the same number. A Linux client could generate extra Windows sales, a lack of a Linux client will cause some Linux users to buy the Windows version.
    This would be all true under ideal circumstances where the linux and windows version were released at the same time, but that extremely rare. Plus you have the added issue of distribution where the boxed linux versions are simply not readily available to everybody or refusing to pay a "linux tax" in the increased cost of the title. To get true potential market you have to look at the number of users that are using the product in said environment. Sales after a 2 year waiting preriod just reflects people that will puchase a new box just so they can say they bought the linux version and don't mind paying the "linux tax". It in no way reflects the potential sales they could have had they been released simutaneously. Plus lets face it after 2 years the motivation to purchase/re-purchase a old title diminishes greatly.

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    • #42
      heheheh, funny to hear that, "linux tax".

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      • #43
        Originally posted by RobbieAB View Post
        It depends what they want to measure....

        Two metrics come to mind: 1) How many people play it on Linux, and 2) How many extra copies will a Linux client sell.

        Realistically, they don't care about 1, they care about 2. For 2, download numbers are irrelevant, they don't care how many people are playing it on Linux. What they want to know is how many extra sales a Linux version will generate. If you already have a copy, you will clearly buy the game without a Linux client, so they don't care about the fact you would like a Linux client, you will buy without a Linux client being available.

        What I was suggesting was that they want to measure is how many extra sales providing a Linux client will generate, irregardless of the platform those sales will be run on. Don't forget that a Linux client may generate extra windows sales, due to the friend effect. That wouldn't show up in the download numbers. At the end of the day, they don't care what you do with the little piece of plastic once they have your money, and they are in the business of selling you little pieces of plastic.
        I'm inclined to agree with this one. Ultimately, it boils down to if a company can see a benefit in their balance sheets by having to recognize Linux in some form, though in most instance that would mean recognizing Linux sales independently from Windows.

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        • #44
          Originally posted by niniendowarrior View Post
          I'm inclined to agree with this one. Ultimately, it boils down to if a company can see a benefit in their balance sheets by having to recognize Linux in some form, though in most instance that would mean recognizing Linux sales independently from Windows.
          But to do so you would have to "strike while the iron is hot". Not 2 years post release of the original version.

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          • #45
            Originally posted by deanjo View Post
            But to do so you would have to "strike while the iron is hot". Not 2 years post release of the original version.
            Well, if you consider that Mac ports also took a while before they were released, I think companies "still see the iron hot" many years after the Windows release, otherwise, we'd not get any port whatsoever (Mac nor Linux).

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            • #46
              Originally posted by deanjo View Post
              But to do so you would have to "strike while the iron is hot". Not 2 years post release of the original version.
              Put that way, it would sound like a low risk justification for assesing the Linux market, and even justify with a "we tried and the market is just not ready" (not telling you tried with a 2 year-old game that could be way out of its hype)

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              • #47
                Originally posted by niniendowarrior View Post
                Well, if you consider that Mac ports also took a while before they were released, I think companies "still see the iron hot" many years after the Windows release, otherwise, we'd not get any port whatsoever (Mac nor Linux).
                I can tell you with great confidence that the games for Mac that are released at the same time as the PC version experience far greater (and I mean by a great margin, not just 200% - 300% more) sales then old titles enjoy.

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                • #48
                  Originally posted by deanjo View Post
                  I can tell you with great confidence that the games for Mac that are released at the same time as the PC version experience far greater (and I mean by a great margin, not just 200% - 300% more) sales then old titles enjoy.
                  I don't think there's any dispute it would have a larger effect. For companies I think, they just probably wonder if it's even worth pursuing. I doubt they even plan for Mac/Linux ports while building their ultimate cash cow Windows game. They tend to be after thought products, and they just build it and release it trying to benefit from the popularity of the product to get extra.

                  I do suppose by chasing the extra dollars, it makes the entire endeavor completely optional.

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                  • #49
                    EA and iD certianly plan for Mac nowdays.

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                    • #50
                      Originally posted by deanjo View Post
                      EA and iD certianly plan for Mac nowdays.
                      That is a refreshing change indeed.

                      Tell that to Epic... oh wait, they are still busy trying to sell the company. *snicker* j/k

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