I just don't get why WB is doing this. Here are all these (admittedly small-time) properties just sitting there, collecting revenue with pretty much no effort on their part. The only reason I can...
I just don't get why WB is doing this. Here are all these (admittedly small-time) properties just sitting there, collecting revenue with pretty much no effort on their part. The only reason I can fathom for delisting is if they intend to open their own distribution platform, but even that doesn't fit with what the devs affected have said. The devs largely own the rights to their games, and even if there was some provision in their contracts constraining them from distributing their stuff on their own, yanking the games from Steam has to represent a breach in some sense.
They're $40 Billion in the hole, for one. With their growth prospects looking bleak, they're resorting to penny pinching. As for how delisting these games would cut costs, hell if I know. You'd...
They're $40 Billion in the hole, for one. With their growth prospects looking bleak, they're resorting to penny pinching. As for how delisting these games would cut costs, hell if I know. You'd think shopping them around to new publishers or just cutting them loose would work fine.
I don't think it costs anything to keep them listed. About a billion low-effort Unity games with stolen assets suggest that, at least. I knew they were in the hole, I just don't see how this move...
I don't think it costs anything to keep them listed. About a billion low-effort Unity games with stolen assets suggest that, at least.
I knew they were in the hole, I just don't see how this move begins to address it.
Looking it up, I think there's a one-time registration fee to get a game published on Steam along with a 30% royalty rate on sales. The only cost I can imagine would be if they're running any...
Looking it up, I think there's a one-time registration fee to get a game published on Steam along with a 30% royalty rate on sales. The only cost I can imagine would be if they're running any servers for online games, but no clue if that would even be on WBD's side.
So if anything, they're making money by having the games for sale. Even if the division of profits would only give WBD 5%, it's still free income with zero effort on WBD's side. They're basically cutting off one of the few revenue sources, so this move is even more nonsensical. They're not gaining anything, but losing instead.
But, by letting it circulate that they're getting delisted, people will panic buy it resorting in a short term cash increase. Maybe? Then swoop in at the "last second" and leave the games up? I...
But, by letting it circulate that they're getting delisted, people will panic buy it resorting in a short term cash increase. Maybe?
Then swoop in at the "last second" and leave the games up?
I mean, so few of the games listed are involved in the Steam Spring Sale right now...
At this point, I can only think spite is the main motivator. I've ranted many times about Zaslav now, but this decision... I just can't see the logic. My one guess is that he's hoping for a panic...
At this point, I can only think spite is the main motivator. I've ranted many times about Zaslav now, but this decision... I just can't see the logic. My one guess is that he's hoping for a panic rush of people buying the games before they're pulled, but that wouldn't be nearly significant enough to impact the $40B debt. I don't know if it would even get $1 million.
So, at this point, only spite towards all those who came before him is left.
My thinking is that RT likely had a department or outsourced company to manage its publishing and they were dismissed without any handover or documentation. Like with that dev that asked for a...
My thinking is that RT likely had a department or outsourced company to manage its publishing and they were dismissed without any handover or documentation. Like with that dev that asked for a quick transfer of their games publishing rights, they were likely talking to someone that just didn't care to know the procedures and tools.
And keeping those games up would be a small revenue generator but there's also the small cost of having someone keep the publishing unit on life support. Someone still needs to read those emails, account for the keys/money or follow up on queries or claims. And with them being a couple of billion in the red, it's a case of packing deck chairs of the titanic.
I hate Zaslav for reducing an invaluable institution into the blue collar Kardashians network. He, and to a larger degree Jason Kilar, were stewards of countless people's livelihoods and their works. But near every decision made in the last decade was the "Shareholder Value" flavor of the month.
The whole DC cinematic universe was a MCU clone. A dedicated streaming service for CNN, HBO, Discovery, RT and Sports. HBO moving away from long form, long running series because short form content is more profitable. Rocksteady going all in on live services. Rooster teeth spending a crap ton of money on projects that could not possibly bring in more viewers because they peaked years ago. Every company under this umbrella was forced to compete in markets that were insanely profitable but completely saturated.
And it comes down to the people who want this change (shareholders) and the people directing it (executives) not giving a graph about the art. It's just product and property to the. There's no spite, apathy or even consideration from any of the people who made this mess. They cared about the art when it made them money, but that ment appeasing artists and making things that audiences actually wanted. But now it's all about IP and content after Disney signaled that you could slap Star Wars on a turd and audiences would be begging for seconds. It feels like the play is to strip away anything that isn't a high value franchise and pawn it off to Disney for a few billion.
The only cost I could think of for them as someone not knowledgeable in game distribution is refunds. I would imagine that would be negligible compared to income from sales for products as old as...
The only cost I could think of for them as someone not knowledgeable in game distribution is refunds. I would imagine that would be negligible compared to income from sales for products as old as these.
I just don't get why WB is doing this. Here are all these (admittedly small-time) properties just sitting there, collecting revenue with pretty much no effort on their part. The only reason I can fathom for delisting is if they intend to open their own distribution platform, but even that doesn't fit with what the devs affected have said. The devs largely own the rights to their games, and even if there was some provision in their contracts constraining them from distributing their stuff on their own, yanking the games from Steam has to represent a breach in some sense.
Does anyone have a clue what is driving all this?
They're $40 Billion in the hole, for one. With their growth prospects looking bleak, they're resorting to penny pinching. As for how delisting these games would cut costs, hell if I know. You'd think shopping them around to new publishers or just cutting them loose would work fine.
I don't think it costs anything to keep them listed. About a billion low-effort Unity games with stolen assets suggest that, at least.
I knew they were in the hole, I just don't see how this move begins to address it.
Looking it up, I think there's a one-time registration fee to get a game published on Steam along with a 30% royalty rate on sales. The only cost I can imagine would be if they're running any servers for online games, but no clue if that would even be on WBD's side.
So if anything, they're making money by having the games for sale. Even if the division of profits would only give WBD 5%, it's still free income with zero effort on WBD's side. They're basically cutting off one of the few revenue sources, so this move is even more nonsensical. They're not gaining anything, but losing instead.
But, by letting it circulate that they're getting delisted, people will panic buy it resorting in a short term cash increase. Maybe?
Then swoop in at the "last second" and leave the games up?
I mean, so few of the games listed are involved in the Steam Spring Sale right now...
At this point, I can only think spite is the main motivator. I've ranted many times about Zaslav now, but this decision... I just can't see the logic. My one guess is that he's hoping for a panic rush of people buying the games before they're pulled, but that wouldn't be nearly significant enough to impact the $40B debt. I don't know if it would even get $1 million.
So, at this point, only spite towards all those who came before him is left.
My thinking is that RT likely had a department or outsourced company to manage its publishing and they were dismissed without any handover or documentation. Like with that dev that asked for a quick transfer of their games publishing rights, they were likely talking to someone that just didn't care to know the procedures and tools.
And keeping those games up would be a small revenue generator but there's also the small cost of having someone keep the publishing unit on life support. Someone still needs to read those emails, account for the keys/money or follow up on queries or claims. And with them being a couple of billion in the red, it's a case of packing deck chairs of the titanic.
I hate Zaslav for reducing an invaluable institution into the blue collar Kardashians network. He, and to a larger degree Jason Kilar, were stewards of countless people's livelihoods and their works. But near every decision made in the last decade was the "Shareholder Value" flavor of the month.
The whole DC cinematic universe was a MCU clone. A dedicated streaming service for CNN, HBO, Discovery, RT and Sports. HBO moving away from long form, long running series because short form content is more profitable. Rocksteady going all in on live services. Rooster teeth spending a crap ton of money on projects that could not possibly bring in more viewers because they peaked years ago. Every company under this umbrella was forced to compete in markets that were insanely profitable but completely saturated.
And it comes down to the people who want this change (shareholders) and the people directing it (executives) not giving a graph about the art. It's just product and property to the. There's no spite, apathy or even consideration from any of the people who made this mess. They cared about the art when it made them money, but that ment appeasing artists and making things that audiences actually wanted. But now it's all about IP and content after Disney signaled that you could slap Star Wars on a turd and audiences would be begging for seconds. It feels like the play is to strip away anything that isn't a high value franchise and pawn it off to Disney for a few billion.
These are two essays are far more articulate about these issues:
https://youtu.be/VICD-3t3MrA?si=rTyUJqcabbxpf95H
https://youtu.be/hAtbFwzZp6Y?si=h-4pGnqrYyf-D6x1
The only cost I could think of for them as someone not knowledgeable in game distribution is refunds. I would imagine that would be negligible compared to income from sales for products as old as these.