One of the interesting things about press releases is how much they don’t tell you. They rarely tell you the whole story or complete truth. That’s OK, because at the end of the day, that isn’t their job. Once in a while you get a press release that has what you might expect, but if you actually read the fine print you get some things that either weren’t said before or not enumerated at the same level. Then again, it could be that you just straight missed it.
In the press release from 38 Studios that Shwayder re-posted over at Nerfbat, they finally announce the game engine that they are going to use for the upcoming fantasy MMO IP they are developing, code named Copernicus. They have settled on the BigWorld Technology Suite. I won’t bore you with the details, since they are just a click away over at Nerfbat.
What caught my eye was that they are wrapping a total marketing plan around this IP like no other company has, at least to my knowledge. I’ve often wondered why I couldn’t get action figures of my MMO characters directly from the company that publishes it. Comic books? Novels? A lot of companies have done some piecemeal marketing around their product but no one has ever brought to market a complete marketing solution, a la Hollywood. It appears that 38 Studios intends to do just that. Here, quoted from the press release is that intention…
38 Studios, a media and entertainment company founded in 2006 by Curt Schilling, is developing an original fantasy IP driven by the creative and artistic visions of pop-culture icons R. A. Salvatore and Todd McFarlane. Entertainment products will include a massively immersive online entertainment experience that transcends the traditional MMO genre, novels, comics, toys, movies, TV, and more.
Novels, comics, toys, movies, TV and more. More? What else are these guys planning. Well I know Schilling isn’t one to think small. They do have the opportunity to do something unique here. I’m hoping that they are not biting off more than they can chew. Many MANY companies have found it difficult enough to get a successful MMO out the door, let alone all these other products. I can tell you that if they can do it, and the game is great, I’ll be buying up a lot of that stuff. It makes total sense to me from a marketing perspective to do just what they intend to do. This is especially true when your competition is failing to offer the same complete package.
I wish them good luck with this, and hopefully none of the projects get in the way of the MMO IP. Because if all your stuff except your game is cool. You (the company) are going to end up owning a lot of dragons and novels and comics, because no one wants that stuff if you left the suck in your game.
So pipe up MMO players. Do you want an MMO with all that stuff available to go with it? I want to hear you loud and clear on this one.
“So pipe up MMO players. Do you want an MMO with all that stuff available to go with it? I want to hear you loud and clear on this one.” — Sure, why not. If the base product (game) is great, I’m all for ancillary products.
“More? What else are these guys planning.” — PJs & bed linen sets with pix of your favourite chars! Go on, you know you want one!
The MMO is, always has been, and always will be our main focus.
Being a MMO gamer on a budget, I probably won’t buy anything but I know many MMO players, especially younger ones, have much more disposable cash. Releasing Lore and other items in any form is a very good thing. I know when I was waiting for Vanguard, I had wished they had released alot more lore then the few scraps they gave out. A world history is good too, especially with a timeline. WoW did this. I hope AoC and War do something like this too. While I know a little bit about the Lore in those games, I doubt I will go out and find a novel (or several) to read.
Will Wright said once that Maxis is investigating the possibility of letting people buy models of their unique creatures and creations. I think they’ve settled on selling cards with creature pictures, but I’m guessing that the models venture is still a possibility.
Anyway, I’ve never bought a model related to a video game before (though I’ve been tempted). But I would jump at the chance if the model was not just some generic character, but an exact replica of my character! Hell, models like that would probably cover my desk within a year. Imagine having 8 models of the same character, all in different gear and aligned in order of his journey. That would work particularly well for Warhammer, since even a character’s shape and color can change from low to high levels.
Custom models aren’t cheap to make, I’m sure, but I’m also sure that plenty of people would buy them at pretty high prices.
And yes, I’m bitter about Spore getting pushed back to September. =/
“Custom models aren’t cheap to make, I’m sure, but I’m also sure that plenty of people would buy them at pretty high prices.”
Do a youtube search for CONTEX Z450 3D Printer. Sure they would be more expensive than a generic toy figure but its not like they couldn’t crank those things out on an assembly line if they wanted to.
Awesome. I wonder how much they cost, since their website only gives me the option of filling out a form to “request a quote” <— scary expensive!
There is actually a company that does make “prints” of your WoW character. The service is called Figure Prints (http://www.figureprints.com/). I believe they use a printer of that sort, and the process is pretty complex. Of note though is that this is a separate company from Blizzard, and is a licensee. If I understand correctly 38Studios is proposing to do things differently than that.
The reception to Figure Prints has been so good that they have a lottery every few weeks for the right to purchase one of their products. At least that is how they started, I’m not sure if they have increased their capacity enough to keep up with demand yet, but it doesn’t look like it.