1C is the biggest European-owned games publisher outside of Ubisoft. So why have most English-speaking gamers not heard of it?
In 2009, after years of publishing boxed titles through the likes of Ubisoft and Atari, the PC specialist decided to retain the digital rights of all of its titles. Fed up with unspectacular High Street sales and uncooperative retailers, it was ready to put its eggs in Steam's basket.
It was a ballsy strategy; letting concerns over how visible its games were in the likes of GAME slide - and instead concentrating on Gabe Newell's Brave New World.
Here, former EA and Nvidia man Still - who launched the Atari ST, Lynx and Jaguar in the past - offers CVG his extremely forthright views on the emergence of the digital market, why Steam proves that PC gaming is far from dead - and why retail "short-sightedness" means you're often more likely to find pink plush toys than bright new games on UK High Street shelves...
As a veteran of nearly 30 years in the industry, is the digital market one of the biggest revolutions you've seen?
I think of it as less a revolution, more a filling of a void. A new government coming into a territory that has been pretty much ungoverned for the previous few years.
The PC has been at the forefront of most technology shifts in the market. I was very aware of this at Nvidia. Most breakthroughs in console technology have their roots in the PC market. Most leaps in games development come to the PC first and then work their way into the SDK's of the console manufacturers. But for the longest time we've been told by retail, in the UK and US especially, that PC games is a dying market.
It has been getting less and less shelf space and less and less focus in store, but in all that time we, as a PC publisher have seen absolutely no drop off in demand. In fact the dichotomy between us being told by retail there is no demand for our product and us being asked by customers - by e-mail, phone etc. - where they can find our games is quite shocking.
You committed to digital and Steam early. What benefits did you see in it?
Well once again, PC was the driving format, with XBLA and PSN now following. The fact that the guys at Valve, who created the Steam digital client, are a bunch of top quality games developers meant that the format was designed perfectly with both the gamers and the developers/publishers in mind.
Do you have any examples of this 'bottleneck'?
Many, but my favourite example is when one of our UK publishers came to explain why they had only managed to get 30 copies into the UK's largest retail chain. He passed on: "They told us there was hardly any demand for the title".
At that time I had my digital sales reporting tool open, which tracks download sales instantly as they happen, I hit refresh and informed our partner: "In the few seconds that's it has taken you to explain there is only demand for 30 units in the UK, we have sold twice as many as that digitally."
Comments
10 comments so far...
PS360MAN on 20 Jun '11 said:
Interesting read - and good for them. Don't play much on PC these days but love having a look about on steam now and again for things you dont find in the shops. loads of bargains there too.
roynluc on 20 Jun '11 said:
I'm guessing that you work for Future Publishing. Either that or you're stealing their internet?
Jimmy Luxury on 20 Jun '11 said:
So games should cheaper on digital, yes? Hello?
LiqzZ on 20 Jun '11 said:
Steam <3
PS Rob stop stalking me
FlacidDonkeyGuy on 20 Jun '11 said:
About time C&VG thank you, will the console crowed take heed, no not in the slightest.
freds1 on 21 Jun '11 said:
Well I wasn't a fan of Steam in any way shape or form, I wouldn't even have it on my comp if Metro 2033, AvP and Fallout NV fell into bed with it, but I am warming to it, grudgingly.
There are some great deals on it I have to admit, and I have to stop myself from downloading stuff willy-nilly because it's just too easy. Only cheap games though, there's no way I would buy the newest games on Steam for example Witcher 2. That's at 35 smackers whereas on Play.com it's 10 pounds cheaper, and you get all the goodies with it, I paid less and got more.
Also if you can't get them anywhere else it'll probably be on Steam.
jdkoke on 21 Jun '11 said:
^^^ I bought Witcher 2 from Game 'cus the special edition was a tenner cheaper and I bought DA2 cus EA had a hissy fit wi Steam and pulled some version from Steam.
Anyway apart from that I pretty much buy all my PC games from Steam and I love every thing about it. It's one of the brand I recommend to everyone like Sky, Jack Daniels and Marlboro lights! Oh and the sales are amazing, if nae a f**kin killer on ma wallet
wasted-again on 22 Jun '11 said:
It's a bit unfair on retailers, they have to ship copies of a game to every one of their stores, and then hope that people at those locations will want to buy that game, otherwise they end up with thousands of unsold copies sitting on shelves. And consoles games are a much easier sell, customers know they'll work with their hardware, and if they don't like that game they can exchange it for something else. On PC you have to be that bit more confident that that game is what you want, and that your PC can run it. So of course 1c don't get as much support from retail as they do from Steam.
plightstar on 22 Jun '11 said:
Still makes me laugh when Retailers blame Digital distribution for the decline in their PC sales. At the end of the day retailers moved PC space over to the consoles and handhelds before Digital became big, all you could get from stores like Game were 3 for £20 for old PC games and the new PC game shelves were full of WOW and Sims expansions.
wasted-again on 22 Jun '11 said:
That's because that's what sells the most, all the rest just sit on shelves gathering dust. Retail is cut-throat, if it don't sell it don't get stocked.