# Releasing a game demo can cut your sales in half



## Deathbringerpt (Feb 11, 2013)

There you go folks, demos are killing the industry.

It's not even about the quality of said demo, it's the fact that you released it in the first place, period.

It's amazing how only Gabe and Spencer (to an extent) managed to say something actual credible in this year's DICE. This is some honky shit.


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## Buskuv (Feb 11, 2013)

> He cautioned developers that without a demo to test, gamers will have to buy a game in order to see if it’s any good or not, while demo downloads will often deter players from picking up the full release, rather than encouraging a purchase.



Oh my god.

I don't think people know what morals are.  I don't care if they're 'just video games.'  At least they've finally admitted, without any doubt for the layman, that they're less concerned about selling a game on its own merits and just hoping a bunch of goobers buy the game on hype and trailers alone, and after they have the money they couldn't care less what people think of the game.

It honestly blows my mind that people support these kind of companies.


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## Deathbringerpt (Feb 11, 2013)

Dr. Boskov Krevorkian said:


> Oh my god.
> 
> I don't think people know what morals are.  I don't care if they're 'just video games.'  At least they've finally admitted, without any doubt for the layman, that they're less concerned about selling a game on its own merits and just hoping a bunch of goobers buy the game on hype and trailers alone, and after they have the money they couldn't care less what people think of the game.
> 
> It honestly blows my mind that people support these kind of companies.



What this chucklefuck fails to mentions is that a demo is a good indicator of quality, so those who are scared of releasing demos are showing a lack of faith in their own product.

Movies have previews, books have excerpts, and shit, even software programs often comes with demo or free versions.

Stopping demos doesn't address the sales problem, it lazily tries to hide it under deception since demos have been a standard in the industry for years now which have helped a sizable majority of games. Remember when Human Revolution's demo was leaked and people went from "MODERN DEUS EX?! ANOTHER FRANCHISED RUINED" to "Holy shit, Day 1 pre-order". 

It's like they actually think they're entitled to our money right off the bat while practically misinforming/giving as little information as possible to the fucking consumer.

This is fucking putrid.


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## "Shion" (Feb 11, 2013)

Yeah bro?

For real bro?


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## Velocity (Feb 11, 2013)

Yeah, seriously the only way a demo will cut your sales in half is if your game is shit and the demo kills off any interest in someone purchasing the full game.


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## Malvingt2 (Feb 11, 2013)

Tell that to Ubisoft!!!


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## Buskuv (Feb 11, 2013)

Deathbringerpt said:


> What this chucklefuck fails to mentions is that a demo is a good indicator of quality, so those who are scared of releasing demos are showing a lack of faith in their own product.
> 
> Movies have previews, books have excerpts, and shit, even software programs often comes with demo or free versions.
> 
> ...



Oh, I thought that was obvious.

This is only true if your game sucks.  They all know it.  I've bought games on demos; plenty of people have.  EA makes bad games and they're scapegoating everything they possibly can to avoid saying that they eat up IPs, ruin them and shit out abortions and no one wants to buy those.


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## Krory (Feb 11, 2013)

I don't know what's more laughable.

This, or the prospect that anyone believes _anything_ Spencer said was credible.


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## Death-kun (Feb 11, 2013)

Ugh, what a terrible thing, really. If your game isn't complete shit, the demo will convince people to buy your game rather than drive them away. Demos have been part of the industry for so long now, they're meant to be an indicator of the quality of the game and what people can expect. "Hey, let's hide as much info about the game as we can so people have to buy our game to know if they get something shitty or not". 

Demos can cut your sales in half if you're a walking sack of crap pumping out shitfest games where the most exciting part of the game is the trailer.


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## Buskuv (Feb 11, 2013)

Krory said:


> I don't know what's more laughable.
> 
> This, or the prospect that anyone believes _anything_ Spencer said was credible.



Look up his resume.

It's hilarious.


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## Xiammes (Feb 11, 2013)

A demo is supposed to increase the amount of people buying your game, not decrease it. If your preorders decrease because of a demo, it should be a clear indicator that something is wrong on your end.

Honestly at this point, I hope the video game industry goes through another crash.


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## Overwatch (Feb 11, 2013)

Who needs demos when you've got pre-rendered cutscenes!


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## Malvingt2 (Feb 11, 2013)

It is a double edge sword tho.. RE6 demo killed a lot of sell


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## Whip Whirlwind (Feb 11, 2013)

Is there really a single person out there who was more likely to buy a game because it didn't have a demo?

I know there are games where the demo wouldn't make a difference, normally when it's an established series with a solid developer (ex: Bioshock infinite).

But in the scenario they are talking some magical fantasy land where I think "Huh there's no demo, guess I'll have to buy it to find out how good it is" instead of how things go in realitytown which is "Huh there's no demo, guess I'll have to wait for reviews to see how good it is / buy it used once the price has dropped"



Malvingt2 said:


> It is a double edge sword tho.. RE6 demo killed a lot of sell



RE6 being a bad game is what killed a lot of sell. The demo just made it easier to learn that.


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## Buskuv (Feb 11, 2013)

Malvingt2 said:


> It is a double edge sword tho.. RE6 demo killed a lot of sell



Because it sucked.

Do you see the auto industry saying that test driving is ruining the industry?


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## Malvingt2 (Feb 11, 2013)

Dr. Boskov Krevorkian said:


> Because it sucked.
> 
> Do you see the auto industry saying that test driving is ruining the industry?



Yeah it did suck... And I get your point.


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## Krory (Feb 11, 2013)

Despite my feelings on the game, RE6 was going to flop demo or not.


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## Cromer (Feb 11, 2013)

Its a double edged sword in that it means the quality or otherwise of your product is clear for the world to see.


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## Death-kun (Feb 11, 2013)

I still don't think RE6 was a bad game. It was just a bad RE game, which is why people didn't eat it up as much as Capcom wanted. But when you make your fanbase mad things like this are bound to happen. It's no wonder they're porting Revelations now, the only good RE game they've made since 4.


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## Krory (Feb 11, 2013)

Death-kun said:


> I still don't think RE6 was a bad game. It was just a bad RE game, which is why people didn't eat it up as much as Capcom wanted. But when you make your fanbase mad things like this are bound to happen. It's no wonder they're porting Revelations now, the only good RE game they've made since Code: Veronica.



Fixed that for you.


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## Death-kun (Feb 11, 2013)

Despite RE4 being the beginning of what made RE go the way of typical third person action shooter game with mutants, I think at the time it was the best blend of horror and action, kinda like Revelations except Revelations has more horror than action. Then Capcom decided that since RE4 they should add more action and less horror.


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## Sephiroth (Feb 11, 2013)

It sure killed the sales of DmC.


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## Krory (Feb 11, 2013)

Death-kun said:


> Despite RE4 being the beginning of what made RE go the way of typical third person action shooter game with mutants, I think at the time it was the best blend of horror and action, kinda like Revelations except Revelations has more horror than action. Then Capcom decided that since RE4 they should add more action and less horror.



That'd make more sense.

If RE4 had _any_ "horror."


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## Xiammes (Feb 11, 2013)

RE4, has to be one of the finest gaming experiances I have ever had. I blame the fall of Resident Evil on this.

Resident Evil 1 - Shinji Mikami 
Resident Evil 2 - Shinji Mikami 
Resident Evil 3 - Shinji Mikami 
Resident Evil Code Veronica - Shinji Mikami 
Resident Evil Remake - Shinji Mikami 
Resident Evil 0 - Shinji Mikami 
Resident Evil 4 - Shinji Mikami 
Resident Evil 5 - No Shinji
Resident Evil 6 - No Shinji



> That'd make more sense.
> 
> If RE4 had any "horror."



It still had a excellent atmosphere, unlike Resident Evil 5 and up, you didn't feel like you were untouchable.


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## Krory (Feb 11, 2013)

Xiammes said:


> It still had a excellent atmosphere, unlike Resident Evil 5 and up, *you didn't feel like you were untouchable*.



I certainly did since the game essentially drowns you in herbs, first aid sprays, ammunition, overly-powerful weapons, and money to make your overly-powerful weapons unstoppable. One of those few games where going through with just a handgun is not only possible, it's beyond feasible - the Red9 was one of the most broken weapons in video game history.

People think all of this is excusable because the first half was ripped from the film-version of _Dagon_, perhaps one of the worst movies ever conceived.


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## Sephiroth (Feb 11, 2013)

You can beat all the REs with just a knife.


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## Malvingt2 (Feb 11, 2013)

Hmm, I didn't do Knife run in Revelations, I don't know if you can..


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## Krory (Feb 11, 2013)

Sephiroth said:


> You can beat all the REs with just a knife.



True. The knife also made RE4 piss-easy.


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## Death-kun (Feb 11, 2013)

Krory said:


> That'd make more sense.
> 
> If RE4 had _any_ "horror."



Quit being so abrasive. 



Krory said:


> One of those few games where going through with just a handgun is not only possible, it's beyond feasible



Knife only or gtfo.

But yeah, Red9 was broken. Exclusive upgrade being it having the power of a basic shotgun.  Then there's the stuff like the Striker which, if fully upgraded at the right time, means you don't have to worry about ammo for the rest of the game.


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## Krory (Feb 11, 2013)

Oh God, the fucking Striker. Once you exclusive that you basically go through the game laughing until you fucking cry.


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## Xiammes (Feb 11, 2013)

> I certainly did since the game essentially drowns you in herbs, first aid sprays, ammunition, overly-powerful weapons, and money to make your overly-powerful weapons unstoppable. One of those few games where going through with just a handgun is not only possible, it's beyond feasible - the Red9 was one of the most broken weapons in video game history.



All Resident Evil games can beat with just a knife only once you know the games well enough. Resident Evil 4 achived a good balance in my honest opinion, in later Resident Evil games it just felt like a grind to the finish while there was a good amount of suspense in RE4.



> Knife only or gtfo.
> 
> But yeah, Red9 was broken. Exclusive upgrade being it having the power of a basic shotgun.  Then there's the stuff like the Striker which, if fully upgraded at the right time, means you don't have to worry about ammo for the rest of the game.



The first shotgun was perfect for me, the upgraded range I could use it for long range shots.


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## Death-kun (Feb 11, 2013)

Krory said:


> Oh God, the fucking Striker. Once you exclusive that you basically go through the game laughing until you fucking cry.



100 SHOTGUN SHELLS, LET'S BLAST EVERYTHING THAT MOVES

Rocket Launcher on the final boss? lolno, let's Striker until it dies.


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## Krory (Feb 11, 2013)

RE4 was never suspenseful - the boss fights were predictable and easily topped with QTEs and half the time enemies just stood there. The only thing that came close was the hedge maze and it was more annoying than tense or suspenseful. 

@Death - Nevermind its 12.0 firepower over 10.0 and 8.0 for the Riot Gun and Shotgun respectively, with a reload speed only .17 of a second slower than the two of them (as if you even need to reload the beast), and a firing rate that is double.


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## Deathbringerpt (Feb 11, 2013)

Krory said:


> I don't know what's more laughable.
> 
> This, or the prospect that anyone believes _anything_ Spencer said was credible.



Hey, the guy actually had a decent point about different demographics demanding different types of games.

Until his own argument kinda fell apart and he started saying that we should stop making games for specific demographics. But I took that as frustration for the dudebro tween aspect of industry than anything else.  



Dr. Boskov Krevorkian said:


> Look up his resume.
> 
> It's hilarious.



Toy Story Midway Mania?!

TELL US MORE OF HOW WE SHOULD RUN THE GAMING BUSINESS, OH MESSIAH OF VIDEO GAMES. GABEN DOESN'T HAVE SHIT ON YOU.



Krory said:


> Despite my feelings on the game, RE6 was going to flop demo or not.



To be fair, it only flopped in Capcom Jew Dreamland where near 5 million sales is "under-performing".



Malvingt2 said:


> It is a double edge sword tho.. RE6 demo killed a lot of sell



Of course it's a double edged sword, that's the whole point of a demo. If the game is shit, the demo is going to be shit which is only going to chance consumer perspective. 

A demo is only bad if the fucking game is bad. Which is a concept completely outside of this idiot's mind.


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## zenieth (Feb 11, 2013)

more bullshit being shoveled into the industry

more going unchecked.

seriously this media is like monopolies during the late 19th - early 20th century

they can get away with whatever the fuck they like.


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## Krory (Feb 11, 2013)

For a game that scale, yeah, 5 million _is_ underwhelming and underselling. It's not like a Call of Duty game's production, or Gears of War where you have less than a hundred people working on the game.


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## zenieth (Feb 11, 2013)

oh yeah 6 had a stupid huge amount of people on its staff didn't it?


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## Malvingt2 (Feb 11, 2013)

zenieth said:


> oh yeah 6 had a stupid huge amount of people on its staff didn't it?



600 people.


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## Deathbringerpt (Feb 11, 2013)

zenieth said:


> oh yeah 6 had a stupid huge amount of people on its staff didn't it?



They included people working every single department outside actual game development, they were just blowing their own horns. They only had around 200 actual developers which granted, is still a pretty big development team but not the sensationalized number they threw at first.

You can't expect me to believe that this game wasn't profitable at the end of the day for them, regardless of not selling as much they thought it would. Capcom always has idiotic, unreasonable sale numbers for their franchises regardless of public opinion. And I personally liked RE6.

And they're still supporting the game with all bunch of online events and free/paid play modes.

Fuck, they initially thought that DmC was going to sell 5 million units. Just because they were pitching the word "western". Now they're lucky if it manages to sell 1 mil.


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## Krory (Feb 11, 2013)

Six hundred, _and_ they localized it in six different languages. That's six different sets of voice casting. That shit doesn't come cheap (Square-Enix most recently is shelling out the big bucks to do the same).

@Deathbring - I've never seen them claim five million for DmC. Their initial reports were always two million.


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## Deathbringerpt (Feb 11, 2013)

Krory said:


> @Deathbring - I've never seen them claim five million for DmC. Their initial reports were always two million.



Fluttershy finally gets to show her stuff in Fighting Is Magic.

It was a pretty old statement but I shit you not when I say it was the original sales prediction. The whole point was to sell more than 4, remember?


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## WolfPrinceKiba (Feb 11, 2013)

Krory said:


> Fixed that for you.


REmake came out after Code Veronica


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## Krory (Feb 11, 2013)

That doesn't say they _thought_ it was going to sell 5 million. That's what they _wanted_. Entirely different.

@Kiba - Point taken.


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## Deathbringerpt (Feb 11, 2013)

I'm pretty sure I saw the initial forecast at 5 mil at first, though. Can't find it at the moment. If they honestly expected 2 million at first with the reboot, that only shows how inane the whole project was.


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## Charlotte D. Kurisu (Feb 11, 2013)

this just cements the theory that devs just don't give a darn anymore.. this has become a quick cash grab rather than long term loyal relationship with the consumer.. which is what gaming should be all about..


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## NeoKurama (Feb 11, 2013)

I expected no less. Demos give the player a taste of the game & if they don't like that, they don't buy. Simple.


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