Crytek CEO Predicts the End of Free Game Demos
- Thread starter Andy Chalk
- Start date
So we pay a 1/4th of the price of a game for 1/20th of a game and then pay full price ontop of that if we actually decide to buy it?
I guess that for everybody actually interested in a crytek product, it'll be a trip to the pirate bay.
As for me, I can't be assed to waste my DL quota on a dumbed down console port of an already stupid game, official or otherwise.
I guess that for everybody actually interested in a crytek product, it'll be a trip to the pirate bay.
As for me, I can't be assed to waste my DL quota on a dumbed down console port of an already stupid game, official or otherwise.
Better for the gamers? Fairer for the gamers? What? How can any situation in which we have to pay MORE money be better or fairer? I swear, if everyone has to start paying for demos, I will become an enthusiastic pirate.
The Crysis "demo" was just a section from the opening level with the rest trimmed out. Someone needs to explain how that is 'prohibitively expensive' to make, cause I must be missing something here.Irridium said:
Is it just me, or does any time someone from Crytek run their mouth, it makes them seem like a bunch of fuckheads that don't really know what they're talking about?
I would respect his opinion if he wasn't already sinking prohibitively massive amounts of money into graphics. No wonder why you can't afford to make a demo, money-wise or time-wise. Yikes.
Why not just release the demo digitally? The consoles you release for have some virtual marketplace, so why not release for that? That'll save the cost of physical media. As far as the content of the actual demo goes, you can always spend some time not making "teh best graphics evar!!" even more ridiculously polished, and just have a small team work on it for a few weeks.
I'm sorry, you can still make game demos, and it's not necessarily dying out--publishers and developers are just making excuses.
Why not just release the demo digitally? The consoles you release for have some virtual marketplace, so why not release for that? That'll save the cost of physical media. As far as the content of the actual demo goes, you can always spend some time not making "teh best graphics evar!!" even more ridiculously polished, and just have a small team work on it for a few weeks.
I'm sorry, you can still make game demos, and it's not necessarily dying out--publishers and developers are just making excuses.
If they stop making free demos for pc games, they'd damned well better offer full refunds for games that won't run at a reasonable framerate, even when you meet the specs on the box.
As far as the argument about free demos being cost prohibitive is concerned, I'm far more likely to be believe that this is a marketing euphemism for "We lose money when people try our demos for free and find out the game was actually over-hyped crap so they don't end up buying it"
As far as the argument about free demos being cost prohibitive is concerned, I'm far more likely to be believe that this is a marketing euphemism for "We lose money when people try our demos for free and find out the game was actually over-hyped crap so they don't end up buying it"
This is the bottom line: demos prevent publishers from fooling consumers with marketing. All the positive press and explosive advertising in the world won't convince a guy to buy a game he's already tested and found wanting. For extremely large publishers, like EA and Activision, demos act in direct opposition to their own expensive hype campaigns. These companies are not interested in perfectly educated consumers. They want expectant, ignorant consumers who drop $60 before they realize it's another derivative rehash.ElegantSwordsman said:
It's an ugly truth, but that's where the economics take you. I am shocked, however, to see people actually talking about it to the press. Surprisingly arrogant, the notion that they could somehow spin this as positive for consumers in any way. For my part, I can't even think of a single person who would recognize the recension of try-before-you-buy as remotely beneficial. And I know some dumb people.
If I don't get a demo then I don't know whether a game is worth the full cost or not. If I am not certain whether or not a game is going to be worth it I don't buy the game.
That's stupid. A movie ticket is $10 while a game is $60. At minimum wage, you usually spend only an hour or two's worth of money to see an hour or two movie. You still spent about the same amount of time earning the money as you did consuming your movie ticket's value. With a game, $60 is closer to a full day's work, and it may only hold your attention for 15 minutes before putting it down.2012 Wont Happen said:
Also, reviews are always skewed, because you aren't going to have the same tastes in movies/games that the reviewer has. People LOVED Napoleon Dynamite, yet I'm still unable to find a movie I hated more after all these years.
This is rediclous, but this is what I imagine will probably happen.
Company Would you like a free demo?
Gamer Yes
Company Wait now you have to pay for it.
Gamer ok, but what If I don't like the game?
Company Well you don't have to buy the game its a demo.
Gamer I know but I just spent $15 what a waste of money.....
Company We are sorry you feel that way but you decided to purchase it..
Gamer you can't get away with this!
Company We just did.
Gamer this is so unfair!
Company Well you bought DLC and map packs in the past, they used to be free so we didn't think you would mind paying for this as well.
Gamer I' am so going to sign a petition to stopt this.
Company good luck with that but we have your money so we don't really care anymore.
That about sums up what gamers are doing right now, continue paying for DLC and maps and they will screw us for everything, who can blame them to, most people bend over trousers down and make it easy.
Open your eyes people.
Company Would you like a free demo?
Gamer Yes
Company Wait now you have to pay for it.
Gamer ok, but what If I don't like the game?
Company Well you don't have to buy the game its a demo.
Gamer I know but I just spent $15 what a waste of money.....
Company We are sorry you feel that way but you decided to purchase it..
Gamer you can't get away with this!
Company We just did.
Gamer this is so unfair!
Company Well you bought DLC and map packs in the past, they used to be free so we didn't think you would mind paying for this as well.
Gamer I' am so going to sign a petition to stopt this.
Company good luck with that but we have your money so we don't really care anymore.
That about sums up what gamers are doing right now, continue paying for DLC and maps and they will screw us for everything, who can blame them to, most people bend over trousers down and make it easy.
Open your eyes people.
It's too bad most games these days are nothing but demos for their inevitable sequel. It's too bad we have to pay premium prices to get those demos. As it is, I'm buying less and less games because the quality is getting less and less (despite most games getting "prettier") and support for those games disappear as soon as they are released (mainly to work on the next game in the series).
Now they expect me to pay for an even shorter version of something they are releasing? No thanks! Although, come to think of it, didn't they already do that with Gran Turismo V Prologue...?
Now they expect me to pay for an even shorter version of something they are releasing? No thanks! Although, come to think of it, didn't they already do that with Gran Turismo V Prologue...?
Read multiple reviews. Find a reviewer that generally agrees with your tastes. If you're that picky, only buy things that Yahtzee Crowshaw recommends (bit extreme maybe).Signa said:
As it is, I have never played a game demo in my life. However, excepting a few mistakes, I have never bought a bad game because I read reviews, and if those reviews lead me to believe the game will be very good, it probably is.
If I'm unsure as to how a game will play after reading reviews, I rent it and try it out that way. It's very effective.
Not only that, but you rent a game for like $10 now or so, I think. So, if you can rent the entire game for $10 who the hell is going to pay $10-$15 for only a small part of the game? I just can't make any sense of that.Novskij said:
How in the hell does he figure that NOT getting a demo, or having to pay for a demo, is a better deal for the gamer than what we have now? Ok, I get it, making a demo can be expensive. Cry me a river, it's advertising. Advertising is expensive, period. You don't charge someone to see your ad, you pay for someone to see your ad. That's the way it works.
Personally, when I come across a game that has no demo, I assume it must suck so much that the publisher didn't want to risk anyone seeing it before buying it. So that game now has an uphill battle to prove its worth to me.
Honestly, it really seems that game publishers and developers need to get their CEO's to shut up. Every time one of them opens their mouth, stupid comes out.