Not An April Fool's Joke

Submitted by peterb on Sun, 04/01/2012 - 18:55

When I first saw the launch announcement (including the tutorial video) for Combat Mission Touch, my first inclination was to believe that it was yet another stupid April Fools' joke. But it seems to be real, as the above screenshot shows -- it's already on the Australian iTunes store.

Things are getting hot and heavy for wargames on iPad all of a sudden. We live in glorious times. I'll be buying this the moment it hits the US Store, and will have a review up shortly thereafter.

Interestingly, they're taking a different path from Slitherine - make the app fairly inexpensive, but sell additional scenarios as in-app purchase. And I predict they're soon going to sitting on top of a freaking bathtub full of gold doubloons.

Talk amongst yourselves in the comment thread below (registration required, but they're processed promptly), or in the forums. Anyone in Australia want to take one for the team and try this out today?

Comments

Michael Dorosh's picture

Michael Dorosh

Sun, 04/01/2012 - 20:33

The announcement itself is certainly nothing unusual; anyone who has been following trends in the gaming industry is aware of the popularity of tablet and handheld games, and as well the business model of microtransactions in order to make those "bathtubs full of gold doubloons" you mention. When a favourite PC-based MMORPG of mine went free to play a couple of years ago, I thought they were insane, but little did I realize they were going to make up the difference by selling items in their online store - at every opportunity. The fanbase has not revolted; indeed, the model has propelled them into record profits by all accounts.

Which brings us to this app; I thought years ago that another possible business model for the PC version of CM would be to sell 3-D models of unique real-world terrain (i.e. the Reichstag, the Grain Elevator in Stalingrad, etc.) and scenarios to utilize it by renowned authors via the official website. The games have benefited from a community of talented scenario authors continuing to provide their work for free - so much so that some earlier titles are still being enjoyed years later.

The idea of microtransactions for scenarios isn't a bad one - though one wonders if a 5-dollar "time waster" can really support a multiple scenario format to the degree that multiple scenarios will be something that prove popular. The appeal of the PC version has been the access of the community at large to the scenario editor and the ability of that community to create for each other. Closing it off to a select few, the labours of which the others will now have to pay for, may be risky, though that seems to be mitigated by the fact there seems to be little competition in the way of "deep" tactical wargame treatments for the iPad. If BFC can keep the competitors at bay, and the scenario format remains proprietary, it may be lucrative, though how long it remains a novelty is open to question.

It also naturally presumes the game is any good. Will look forward to the word from down under, and for 6 bucks, trying it out myself if I can wrestle an iPad away from a family member. Shall continue watching this space with interest.

peterb

Wed, 04/04/2012 - 17:59

Michael,

You bring up a good point. My personal take on this is that the PC game developers massively underestimate the number of people who want to play their games. People have tried to make them work on PCs for years, but they never really took off (outside of the MMO genre, and I think we can agree that those users are exceptionally motivated).

For microtransactions to work, there has to be no friction, or at least as close to zero friction as possible. Think about if I wanted to buy individual Battle Academy scenarios for my PC or Mac:

  • First, I'd have to register for Slitherine's web site. At this point, 98% of your potential customers have already clicked "Cancel."
  • Next, I have to give them my credit card info again (potentially).
  • Third, the likely scenario is that I have to either download the scenario, figure out where it went, and stick it in a directory somewhere, or else type in a license key.

Compare this to the typical microtransaction on in the app store context: tap the button that says "buy". Type in your password. Done.

It is true, i think, that the community is a big part of the success that Combat Mission has had, but I wonder whether that's out of necessity rather that anything else. I mean, sure, some people love designing scenarios, and I certainly love playing scenarios, but at the end of the day I don't think that I as a user particularly care whether those scenarios were created by eager users or the guy who sold me the game.

Michael Dorosh's picture

Michael Dorosh

Thu, 04/05/2012 - 09:31

Interesting, and apt, point about friction. I've been having a similar conversation about the interface on a discussion forum, and whether or not user log-in would dissuade membership. Even on blogs like this, administrators wrestle with the question of whether to pre-moderate, in hope of catching spam and abusive posts, or just letting people freely reply, in hopes of encouraging participation.

The app will definitely benefit from a seamless interface as far as that goes.

It would be interesting to see some hard data - or as close as one can get - on what scenarios people play. A poll among some of the users would be interesting in that regard. For a game like CM on the PC, I got the impression there were definitely followings for certain scenario designers, who established a reputation for quality/popularity.

Cults develop, though, where you let them. If you don't attach names to individual scenarios, then you don't develop cults. I notice at least a few of the official release scenarios on the CMX2 products don't have names attached. I always thought this was an oversight, though now on reflection, perhaps this was intentional.

For a product like CM: Touch, I could see getting wrapped up in the cult of personality as being something of a distraction.