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Linux Users More Likely To Pay For Games?
Teppy writes "I noticed something unexpected the other day when reviewing the subscriber counts for our MMORPG, A Tale In The Desert. Of everyone who tries our game, Linux users are definitely more inclined to pay money to subscribe. In fact, overall, about 15.6% of Windows users who do the free trial will subscribe, while among Linux users the number is 19.3%. Furthermore, Linux users tend to remain subscribers for a longer time. Are we the only game company noticing this?" Is this down to loyalty, choice, or other mysterious factors?
Perhaps the higher subscription rate among the Linux crowd is because we're game starved. There are far more game choices when it comes to the Windows game market, thus more to draw away customers.
I dti'r na ndall is ri' fear na leathshu'ile.
You have to consider the fact that Linux users are usually far more technically minded, and probably have more money and be more willing to give their support, regardless of their wealth. That user base is still far less than the Windows user base, so while your numbers are probably correct, they fail to consider the number of users for each OS.
C:\>
Is that its due to the fact that there are a lot more available games for windows users to subscribe to, while not as much content, as far as games go, is put out for linux platforms.
Or could it be b/c windows sucks, and blue screens whenever users try to subscribe? We may never know.
Actually, this is related to the following reasons:
- A number of people would do so in order to encourage game companies to make games for linux.
- A number of Linux users do not have a large variety of games available. This makes them stick with what they got.
- The Linux community in general is supportive to companies that care enough to care about the community.
So it's loyalty, fewer varities, and paying back.
"Linux Users More Likely To Pay For Games?"
That's like asking if Mac users like music more than Windows users because they buy more iPods.
It's not a mysterious factor. It's a benefit of making a game in an under-supplied market.
"Derp de derp."
Is this down to loyalty, choice, or other mysterious factors?
Without any idea of the sample size, and where your hits are coming from, who knows? My guesses are that 1) anyone looking for Linux games is really into games and 2) the much smaller pool of Linux games means an identical game looks more attractive on Linux than on Windows.
I've never seen a game distributed as a 100 meg shell script before!
What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
As a person with a Windows machine, I have lots of choice for games. Hell, there are so many games released for Windows PC that I could take care of all of my entertainment needs entirely through free trials and demo downloads. This means that a game has to be really special for me to stick around and pay money for it. Linux users don't get as much choice.
I bet there is also an activist dollars aspect to it. I mean if you spend a lot of time championing Linux and complaining that there aren't enough cross-platform releases then when a company is finally good enough to make the effort, you'd better put your money where your mouth is and support the effort even if it isn't the best game available. If these companies don't see any return on their investment then they just won't do it next time.
It's kind of like those PC users who paid stupid amounts of money for the earliest PC games when consoles were offering much cheaper, much nicer looking games. Such is the sacrifice of pioneers, I guess.
I have a lot of opinions about Cyborgs and Architects
Your numbers are so close that i dont think you can easily pick a winner. Without having margin of error, or a total sample size how can we realisticly calculate whom is more likely to pay for your software.
Their are other factors to take into consideration as well. What is the target audience for your game? If you are advertising mostly on linux blogs or sites, then your going to have an audience that is more steeped in linux.
I think that the numbers show that on average 20% of your audience will pay for the game. This says only one thing to me, that your game is not very good. Instead of looking as to why linux users are approximatly 4% more willing to purchase the sofware; instead look at why 80% of your users wont. Solve that, and you have accomplished something.
"Once upon a time men were lions and machines were mice, but since it was so long ago, now its twice upon a time."
i'd think it'd be due to the fact that linux geeks are more likely to be part of the hard-core segment.
no offense to the poster, but their fairly good massmog is still fairly obscure. that's mostly due to independents having a hell of a time with marketing - and combines with no retail box on the shelf.
no box in best buy limits your exposure to the mass MS PC market, and all that's left is hardcore gamers who find most of their games through word of mouth or surfing.
then there's the gameplay. Atitd is really skewed toward the player-created-content segment (which is great) which one would expect is a natural fit for the linux/hacker mentality.
of course, given all that, i'm surprised the linux adoption rate isn't higher - though i'd bet that has more to do with the monthly price.
which imo, still intending no offense to the poster, is still a bit steep for anyone with only casual-gamer levels of free-time. linux fans being hardcore hackers - they could generally be expected to code just as much in their free time as play games. and then its all a matter of personal economics.
(naturally i know nothing of the actual economics of massmog production, so the price may be absolutely necessary. i do recognize that the price is on par with other massmogs, and combined with the no up-front box cost the game comes out dramatically cheaper - so its certainly reasonable.
but i do however know my personal economics. and $13/mo for ~20-30 hours of play isn't in the budget. of course, that's why no massmog is in my budget, but i digress)
// "Can't clowns and pirates just -try- to get along?"
Having some one pay monthly is the most horrible thing a company can do ...
.. i relly have respect for almost any company that offers a linux version of thier software.. its really about time.. i think Nvidia and ID software are setting a good examples off releasing linux related version of their games/drivers
i mean why Go out and spend 80$ on a game and pay an aditional cost on top of that.. i understand its to maintain servers but its stuppid..
Personaly i am waiting for the next version of Planeshift
www.planeshift.it
its totaly free Massive multiplay Online RPG.. 100% free
In another note i would rather pay +60$ more of the game price just for a unlimited subscirption for a massive multiplayer RPG game.. then have to pay monthly
But, As a linux user
-"i come from a planet ruled by carots"
I think part of it has to be attributed to lack of choice. There's not a whole lot of other games for linux users to spend thier money on. Suppose you could play EQ, DAoC or FFXI on linux, would you see the same subscription and retentions rates then? Hard to speculate but I suspect not.
The other thing is the player themselves. It's no stretch to say that linux users are of a different mindset than windows users right? It may also be a case of this particular game just being more to thier tastes. Afterall ATITD is very different game, certainly very different than anything other MMOG you will find on windows.
BTW grats to the guys behind ATITD for coming up with something that's truly unique and refreshing in the MMOG, definitely something made from a different mold.
Just to toss this one out there --
Linux users, on average, are probably more educated than Windows users. (To avoid a flame war, note that I said "on average". Everybody and their grandmother uses Windows, thus driving the average level of education down. Whereas Linux users tend to pick it up either in high-tech jobs, implying advanced education, or in the secondary schools themselves. Although the delta may be smaller for the MMORPG market.)
More educated people tend to make more money than less educated people.
People that make more money have more money to spend on things like game subscriptions.
Hence the slightly higher subscription rate among Linux users.
Just one theory... Though my personal bet is that the driving factor is the limited competition for online games that support Linux.
Yeah they have extra money from not paying for an overpriced OS
Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
I am a very casual gamer, and there are a few reasons why I subscribed to the game. When MMORPG started to get popular, I wanted to give them a go, but when I got to the store, I found out you had to pay 50 bucks, and then a monthly fee. In the past I have bought games, and then never ended up playing them, and every time I see the box sitting on my shelf, I think, man I wasted 50 bucks. So if I was to pay 50 bucks for the game, and then 10 bucks a month, only to play it for a week, I would have blew 60 bucks.
The fact that the game is made available without a fee, and that you could even play online for a demo period pretty much sealed the deal. I played it, thought it was cool, and then when the demo expired, I registered so I could continue to play.
2) The nature of ATITD appeals to Linux users more than Windows users. It's a very high-brow academic game with very little violence (none, really).
What it's not? Has nothing to do with a lack of Linux games. Linux users probably all have access to PCs - maybe on a duel boot, and if there was a PC game they wanted to play they would play it.
I'm more into FPS than MMORPG so this is more about pirating or buying than signing up for a service. But since I completeley switched to linux a few years ago, i bought all the games i play rather than just copied them. One of the main reasons for me is that i think it is sexy not to have *ANY* pirated software on your system.
And let's be honest: It's really hard to pay for all the windows software you use, starting with little tools like winzip or stuff like that. So buying a single piece of software doesn't make it much better.
But with Linux there are only a few programs that you need to buy so it's very easy to reach a 100% 'legal' system.
Here's a breakdown of overhead costs. But that's not most of the $14.
We have a small company - 3 artists, 2 coders. We spend pretty much all of our time saying "ah, here's a cool new challenge to add to the game." My partner and I code it, the artists do their part, and we release a new skill, or new research, or a new event or Test. This happens at least a couple times each week.
I can't imagine being able to keep the game fresh and interesting working less than full time. There is *no way* we could pay the bills based only on an initial (box) fee.
Modern Egypt:
1>Get someone to give you a medium stone (they are cheap, often free)
2>Get some leather from a UWorship, or buy some (not cheap, but by no means expensive)
3>Walk 10 minutes in any direction and you'll trip over a public rock saw. Use it to make flystones.
4>A little oil, a few bricks, and bam. Pottery wheel.
Ancient Egypt:
1>Find a medium stone lying on the ground somewhere (long project, as most stones come from under the ground)
2>Gather flint. You need 70. You have a 5% chance of getting one piece of flint each time you gather clay. You must run to a water source each time you gather clay, as you only have one jug of water to soften the ground with. Use the flint to build a rock saw.
3>Get leather, which may or may not include inventing sheep ranching.
4>A little oil, a few bricks, &c.
Catching up is a lot simpler than many folk realize. All you need to do is make some friends. Most things are relatively deflationary, especially at a newbies tech level. Alternatively, you could join a guild and be instantly caught up.
It may not be just, but it is fair, and that is more important.