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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.
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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."
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 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.
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.