JAW Interview: "I don’t want to release PC and Mac the same day as console"

[Varrok]

I personally don't mind the idea of buying a game twice.

Cool. Buy me one!

[Phylum]

It wouldn't be difficult to implement technologically. But it would probably require all sorts of negotiation and contracts with Sony and Valve that just aren't worth it for any small developer.

It isn't worth it for anyone, given that they would be putting effort in to effectively setting themselves up to lose money.

[Crashpunk]

If it's your birthday or it's Christmas, then sure.

But I meant I don't mind buying the same game twice for myself on different platforms. In the case of NnT, I want to play and buy as many copies as possible to support JAW and the fact i'm genuinely interested to see the difference.

[Varrok]

Jokes aside, I think that's totally okay to support companies that way, though I rarely got enough money to buy multiple copies. Also, it might not be that easy to implement cross-platform multiplayer of any sort for a game that wasn't initially intended to have one. Also, I don't think Unity supports that either so It'd have to be done from scratch, and require a few programists knowing stuff like how networks work etc. and I don't remember JAW doing any multiplayer stuff. I may be wrong, I don't pay much attention

[JennyGenesis]

I was expecting us all to be bouncing on our chairs in our pyjamas, waiting for the Steam clock to tick into launch. Then all post frantically to confirm that yes, the puffy bladder thing is beautiful in HD.

This may be irrelevant but does Steam allow you to download things at exactly midnight?

My experience with demos on the Xbox 360 is that they never come out at midnight, they are realised sometime around midday, the exact same thing happened with GTA 5 when the update came out to let you play multiplayer.

For myself, I will just buy one copy, firstly because if I wanted to see the difference between platforms I'll check youtube, and secondly, the only system I have to play the game on is a PS4.

[Phylum]

Steam has a countdown timer for games that are pre-purchaseable.

[Nate]

It isn't worth it for anyone, given that they would be putting effort in to effectively setting themselves up to lose money.

I'd disagree with 'anyone'; a big dev like Valve might see the goodwill arising from the gesture as worth more than the lost sales. But you're right in 99% of cases.

[Varrok]

What about the cases like:
"
-Hey, I got Portal 2 on PC. Wanna buy it so we can play it together?
-It's no point for me buying it. I have only PS3.
-But it features cross-platform multiplayer!
- D: Okay, I'll buy it, then
"

[Phylum]

We're not talking about cross-platform multiplayer. We're talking about cross-platform purchases, ie buy it PC and be able to download it to your PS3/4 whatever.

[Varrok]

Boy, do I look silly right now

[Havoc]

Can you imagine how much money JAW (or any other indie company) would lose?

I personally don't mind the idea of buying a game twice. Especially if it's by a developer or game franchise which I love. I do understand that people can't afford buying it twice, but surely then you'll just buy it on the platform you want it on.

Like I said, money makes the world go round and I understand why things are done the way they are done. But from a customer standpoint it makes no sense that you can buy a digital copy that only works on a particular platform. It's like buying a DVD and only being able to play it on a particular brand DVD player. If you want to watch it on your PC you'd have to buy another version.

Customers wouldn't accept that kind of stuff with DVD's so why is it accepted with video games? Though I'm sure that if the movie industry could get away with the above scenario they'd jump on it in a heartbeat.

In case of indie developers like JAW I also have no major problem buying the game twice, and I probably will. As long as it's reasonably priced. I just hope that, in the future, this sort of thing is slowly going to go away.

[MeechMunchie]

Aside from that fact I'm buying a PS4 just for Oddworld. We can still do all that. Just a month later

Yeah, but it won't be the initial launch. The communty's been split.

[Job McYossie]

Boy, do I look silly right now

Not quite, because your point is still slightly valid. Portal two had crossplatform buying, if you bought the PS3 version, you got a free steam copy too.

[Nate]

Like I said, money makes the world go round and I understand why things are done the way they are done. But from a customer standpoint it makes no sense that you can buy a digital copy that only works on a particular platform. It's like buying a DVD and only being able to play it on a particular brand DVD player. If you want to watch it on your PC you'd have to buy another version.

That's a false analogy. It's more like if you bought a bluray disk and got pissed off that it wasn't playing on your DVD player.

[Havoc]

That's a false analogy. It's more like if you bought a bluray disk and got pissed off that it wasn't playing on your DVD player.

The analogy I was making was referring to digital copies of games, not physical discs. You'd expect a digital piece of software to be independent of platform, just like a DVD. Especially if the game is designed for multiple platform to begin with.

[Nate]

The digital bit and bytes of the PS3 version are different to those of the PC. It's an entirely different format, so to speak.

Not to mention the fact that porting to the various formats cost JAW extra money.

[Steamer_KING]

Since NNT has been pressed to be on the PS4, maybe they're trying to get "funds" so they can launch more stably on PC, you know. If something wrong happens, they already have money backed.

[Scrabaniac]

I wonder if anyone has ever thought of a donation option for PSN.. for example you have the default price e.g. £20. There could be a drop down list for prices such as £25, £35 etc. That way its optional and supporters who are willing to give more actually can.

[Xavier]

Well there are "pay what you want" humble bundles, but honestly I can't see an extra donation option having a lot of success.

Personally I'd rather have overpriced special editions.

[Nate]

I think he was drawing a comparison to music sights like Bandcamp that allow pay-what-you-like with a set minimum fee. I don't see it being all that successful in the games industry. People don't generally feel the same emotional connection to devs (even indie ones) that they do towards singer-songwriters.

[Xavier]

My point still holds. I'm prepared to pay a lot more then what they are asking for the base version of the game, as long as they add something extra that would make it stand out of that version. I just don't like the idea of paying more with no additional benefits.

[Manco]

I think he was drawing a comparison to music sights like Bandcamp that allow pay-what-you-like with a set minimum fee. I don't see it being all that successful in the games industry. People don't generally feel the same emotional connection to devs (even indie ones) that they do towards singer-songwriters.

There’s at least one early example of Patreon being used to fund a game developer, though. From this GiantBomb article:

Giving away games for nothing, however, is obviously at odds with the idea of being able to support yourself for a living though game development.

"I just really want people to be able to access it in every possible way," she said. "I’ll probably make things that cost money in the future, but it’s really important to me to have a lot of stuff be free and be a gift. Part of how I’ve been supporting myself is that I have a Patreon account."

Patreon is an interesting, relatively new service stemming from the term "patron."

"a person who gives financial or other support to a person, organization, cause, or activity."

Through Patreon, you can support creators, even if you're not totally sure what you're paying for. Porpentine's patrons collectively pay her $650 per game. She's averaging one release per month, but it's not like being a Kickstarter backer. Porpentine is not required to provide "updates" on what's happening, though if she stopped producing games, people could theoretically pull their support. But that's not the case right now, and it's working out for her.

"It’s really good to have that confidence as an artist, and have this material support," she said. "You can’t support marginalized artists only through singular acts of recognition or through praise. You have to give them jobs, you have to reform their day-to-day systematic existence, you have to make it worthwhile and healthy to be them. Money is a concrete thing that is very helpful to marginalized artists. Rent and food and clothing--these are all concrete needs. I’m just really glad to have that support, and it allows me to make free games."

And Kickstarter has handed over money to quite a few developers now, with Double Fine as a good example.

I don’t see a “give us extra money” option seeing widespread adoption any time soon – although Mac app CodeKit gives the option to pay at a different price tier depending on how much you feel it’s worth. So it is possible, just not necessarily in an industry as massively commercial as games.

[OANST]

The analogy I was making was referring to digital copies of games, not physical discs. You'd expect a digital piece of software to be independent of platform, just like a DVD. Especially if the game is designed for multiple platform to begin with.

Havoc has heard tell of this thing called 'technology', but has yet to encounter it. Once found he will send all of us a Polaroid to be used in our Beta Max players, allowing for full color spectrum enjoyment.

[Xavier]

I kinda hope OWI never does a kickstarter, somehow I'm sure I will end ruining myself by pledging for the highest package.

Well they could also only have low price packages, but where's the fun in that

[V_O_T]

I kinda hope OWI never does a kickstarter, somehow I'm sure I will end ruining myself by pledging for the highest package.

Well they could also only have low price packages, but where's the fun in that

You and me both. But I kinda hope they dont have to resort to it. If they make a decent profit from this, then it shows that they can make it on their own and it'll be a huge achievement on their part. I dont mind if they do a kick starter, but I know they are strong enough to get back up there with the big companies.

[STM]

It would be a bit weird for them to do a Kickstarter. I'm sort of of the opinion that everyone and their grandma is trying to run a campaign at the moment for anything they can think of and they're basically rattling their plastic cup at you asking for a handout. Kickstarter is supposed to be a place for people who have a good idea but don't have the funds for execution of that product. OWI/JAW don't fall into that category I feel, unless they can prove me wrong.