The Pilot Paradigm

Mark Dygert · Feb 2011

Peter Kojesta wrote a great article on Gamasutra about how to launch a new IP more effectively, and cheaper

There has been a lot of talk going around about how the industry needs to reinvent itself and for the most part its been pie in the sky theories and talk about burning pirates with hot pokers, none of it has really been all that useful or practical. Most of it calls on the big movers and shakers to drastically change their business model and most aren't going to do that, but what Peter talks about are pretty common sense methods coupled with some very practical things a company of any size can seize on.

"To understand this model, we must consider "Pilot Games", similar to "Pilot TV shows"; a proof of concept at final quality; released in order to gauge consumer interest. The idea is to release a series of smaller games via XBLA/PSN/STEAM and Facebook, in order to establish a baseline with your audience. Since development cost for these platforms is orders of magnitude less than developing for boxed retail, it's much easier to test your new IP."

Article: http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/PeterKojesta/

Nice article Peter! Keep em' coming!

We're talking about here in our forums also: http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=81502

Lazerus Reborn · Feb 2011

Very good business idea, easier to test the water and/or float a larger project off the smaller ones. But have'nt indie dev teams been doing that anyway?

Nilix · Feb 2011

I was reading this the other day. Definitely worthy of the polycount front. And while Indie devs have been doing this, there's definitely a benefit for larger companies to push this kind of mentality as well. The big names spend less money on new IPs while pushing out more games. At the same time, the consumers get more options, and also spend less money out of their pocket. I read somewhere that the most pirated game of last year was Dante's Inferno and it probably became that way because people were interested in it, but just not captivated enough to spend $60 on it. In this stage in the game, the consumers are deciding between $60 for something that hasn't been proven to be worth it yet, or $25 for 3-5 games that seem really interesting and easy to get into.

The Pilot Paradigm

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