Expansion Packs

A look inside the retail sausage factory

Published on April 17, 2006 By Draginol In GalCiv Journals

At some point we want to do an expansion pack. And by some point, I mean, we have a pretty good idea of what, when, and what would be in said expansion pack. But there's a lof of "Stuff" involved in deciding what will be in an expansion pack and when it would be launched and how it would be packaged.

First a little primer: Unless you're mega publisher, if you want to be in the stores for Christmas, you have to be released by September 30th. That's the magic date. Secondly, unless you're a large publisher, having both a boxed version and an expansion pack on the shelves is really really hard.

So if we want to do an expansion pack soon, we would have to release it either by the end of September (any earlier would be too close to the original release) OR wait until next year (February 2007).

There are also two basic ways of going about an expansion pack:

The Traditional Way. You release your expansion pack for $19.95 to $29.95 that requires users to have the original game. This is what big publishers tend to do because they can have both the mega selling original and the expansion. Civilization IV and Civ IV: Warlords would be a great example of this.

The Alternative Way. You release an expansion pack that plays on its own for $39.95 to $49.95. That is, you basically update your original game to include the expansion pack as an integral part of it. Disciples II did this.

I don't have a strong preference. If you take the traditional path, you risk losing shelf space entirely unless you are selling in significant quantity. If you take the alternative path, you need to find some way to enable people who bought the original game to get the expansion pack without having to pay full price (rebate in box for existing players, or direct download or something). It also has the problem of requiring the existing game be taken off the shelves first to be replaced by the "new and improved" version which can be a real bummer.

Or you could just bypass retail entirely and offer it direct and not mess with any of the problem and release on your own schedule.

Comments (Page 2)

Creston999

on Apr 17, 2006

While I understand the basic idea behind wanting to release for Christmas (people buy lots of games for Christmas!), in my opinion it is sheer MADNESS to try to sell anything in that cutthroat operation.

For years now, I've been sadly lamenting the fact that we (as a gameplaying community) get NOTHING to play between May/June and September, and then 20 top titles are released within one month of one another in September.
Do publishers/developers seriously still think that trying to compete against dozens of other A-AA-AAA titles is going to boost your damn business?? Sure, people may buy 30% more games at Christmas (fictional number), but if that 30% of extra buying potential gets divided over 30 possible games, what's the point? Is that really worth it?

Some publishers FINALLY figured this out the last holiday season, when they said, in Januari "Wow, we didn't really sell a lot of copies of game XYZ. Maybe that's because we were up against so many other titles?"
No, really, you think so Sherlock?

Oblivion sold 2 million copies in no time flat. Sure it's a great game. Sure it's got a massive fanbase. But do you think, maybe, that the fact that apart from Galciv2, there was nothing else worth playing out at the time? This actually goes for your game as well. Perhaps the fact that nothing to compete against helped boost your sales? You've said you were surprised at how many copies you've sold.
Now imagine yourself at Christmas time. How much do you think you would have sold? As an indy 4X game (your own words). I'm going to guess it wouldn't have even been HALF of what you sold now.

So why, WHY, would you want to sell during the Christmas season? With an expansion pack? I seriously don't understand it.

Every single year, this deluge of games comes out, ALL AT THE SAME TIME, and the gamebuying public chooses between them. Very few people buy them all.

Blizzard became the giant they are today when they, smartly, released Warcraft 2 at a time when everyone else was pushing their game back. Publishers weren't the omnipresent giants they are today, and they didn't always push games out the door just because it was Christmas. More and more developers delayed their release date for their games, said they weren't going to make Christmas. It looked bleak. Then Blizzard released Warcraft2, and it sold about 889 trillion copies.
Now, this may be misleading because they DID sell at Christmas, but the point is that they sold their game at a time when nobody else had anything decent in the stores. They were the only AAA title available.

The gaming audience typically has money for 1 game per period of time. For some this is per week, for most it is probably per month, or per two months or so.
Compete with 20 other games, and you'll see little of that money.
Release your game in a solitary timeframe, and people will spend that money on YOUR game.

Maybe, SOMEDAY the gaming industry will figure out how to spread the wealth. For crying out loud, even HOLLYWOOD figured this out!!! It isn't rocket science!

So, in summary, release your expansion in February 2007.

Schrademan2006

on Apr 18, 2006

What seems like the most popular way for putting out expansion packs these days is to first do it the traditional way and put out the expansion pack by itself. Then around 4 months later put out a Gold Edition, which includes the original game, patched to it's latest version, the expansion pack, also patched to it's latest version, and a pdf manual that explains both the original game and it's expansion, and which is updated to explain all the changes to the game and it's expansion since the original manuals were printed.

GreatInca

on Apr 18, 2006

Oh Please don't think of charging $30+ for any expansion unless it totally ROCKs. Not even GalCiv2 will have me falling for a crap-hotair-expansion. SE4-Deluxe is a good 'alternative way' expansion, borderline for 'alternative' though. SWG-Jump To LightSpeed is a really good expansion. I will not be buying Civ4-warlords. I fell for Rage of the wookies (SWG) but it sucked and wish i didn't buy it. NWN-HOTU wasn't a very good expansion and the only reason I bought it was the ability to level up to level 40 (it should've been unlimited or sint8 127 / uint8 255). A Map Editor at the same level of SEIV-deluxe - or just exceptional XML-hacking support at the functionality level of SE-4 (nitpick everything - but SE4 can't to scenario-y stuff such as colonies and ships - including use of the random generator to make random maps to use as a base) with extensive documentation - would be such a feature to make me buy a GalCiv2 expansion even if the rest of it sucked.

Drengin

on Apr 18, 2006

From my point of view i would be quite happy to pay $20 - $30 for an expansion pack as long as it carried enough new material to warrant the expenditure.

Option 1 where you release the expansion on its own would probably be more advantageous to those of us who have already purchased the game. Why not use this method as well as utilizing SDC's direct download capability for those, like myself, that purchased the game online as a download...

Using option 2 could result in major headaches for you as the people who have already purchased the game stand up and shout "money grabbers" at the prospect of having to buy the whole game again!

My $0.02

DG

GreatInca

on Apr 18, 2006

Oh yeah, I don't do 'mail in rebates'. Make it cheap up front or give an 'instant rebate'. I still like the hybrid full-game in an expansion labled box that requires either an install of the original game or the serial numbers of both the original and the expansion (of which the 2nd optio will install the base+expansion).

LoneWolf0912

on Apr 18, 2006

I would probably go with traditional. That way you dont have to deal with multiple versions of the game in circulation.

And as to trying to rush it out for Christmas.....I know I may not be in the majority on this....but I am a poor college kid and I will buy the expansion no matter when it comes out. I just have to plead that you guys wait and get the expansion DONE like the origional was. The number of games that come out and just don't work or have serious flaws....it was so nice to be able to pick up a game and PLAY it without many issues.

So, be it Christmas or next year I'll be there to get the expansion.

whismerhill

on Apr 18, 2006

another idea if you wish one :
include a stripped down version of the original game inside the expansion box

(for example : galciv2 with a limited number of races available , or a limited number of opponents... or any combination)

VladTheImpaler

on Apr 18, 2006

I wuold also go with the Traditional way. Either download only or buy the CD. To echo what other people said here, the Alternative way means I have to pay again for the game that I already payed once. I own GalCiv and it's expansion pack, and GalCiv2 and most probably get the GalCiv2 Exp Pack. But please do not makes us pay the same sum again, for the same game.

Quitch

on Apr 18, 2006

As stated earlier, an "expansion" using the alternate method only works if it's basically GalCiv 2 version b i.e. The same, yet different. Guild Wars is doing this, and by making ANOTHER game, yet one that's similar and having the two interact, you can justify full price. Their "expansion" is in fact a stand alone game that plugs into their previous game. That's the only way the alternate method will work.

Go traditional, you don't have the time frame for anything else.

BladeVenom

on Apr 18, 2006

How about offering the Alternative way at stores for those new to the game, and the traditional method at your website for those already in the know? Those who still buy the alternative way but already have the first one can get some credit to spend at Stardock.

Martimus

on Apr 18, 2006

It also has the problem of requiring the existing game be taken off the shelves first to be replaced by the "new and improved" version which can be a real bummer.

That is funny, because Neverwinter Nights, Neverwinter Nights Gold, and Neverwinter Nights Platinum are all the same price, and sell side by side at Best Buy. I always found this strange, since the gold and platinum versions have everything that the original verison has, and the platinum has everything that the gold version has plus more. No one in their right mind would buy either of the other versions, but they still have them in the store - side by side.

Roarck

on Apr 18, 2006

Traditional with download option would be my choice.

Of course it could be sold with game updates. (As in when folks log in to update to latest version if they don't have the expansion they could be prompted to purchase it if they so desire. Of course limit the times folks would need to answer this! Or you could simply place an ad on their screen while they update.)

Knute112

on Apr 18, 2006

my choice is do away with expantions totaly and just make it all one game with a fixed PP of ohhh $60

im fast becoming fed up with buying a game, and then an 'expantion' a few months later. ESPECIALY when the original game is clearly left unfinished just so we can get an 'expantion' that does nothing really but simply finish the 'original'

i think, no i KNOW that game makers need more cash for what they do, the days of cheap budget NES/Sega/PS1 type games with low grafix and not alot of detail are gone. even a 'basic' game like GS 2 that isnt really that deep into grafix is still light years ahead of say Super mario brothers, or the old zeldas. but the price is still expected to be the same? crazyness.

whats going on now is the publishers need to get the funds from someplace so they have decided to milk us of every dime by offering what SEEMS to be an 'improvment' and thus worth more cash, whats really going on is that the industry is just setting up a milking machine and we the consumers are blindly falling for it. (the sims expantion version 2,889 anyone?)

i give you a 3rd option (atleast for GS 3) give us the WHOLE game right from the start at a reasonable price. atleast with me and people like me you will get a bunch more cash, i and most gamers i know dont even bother with expantions unless the game was totaly amazing. in fact the last game i bought an expantion for was the warhammer dawn of war series and the expantion for that was a classic example of what im talking about. all you got was a few more classes of troops per race and a new race that clearly should have been included in the original. due to that ill never buy another warhamer expantion since i refuse to support either stupidity OR greed, and im all but certian i wont buy another 'expantion' for ANY game, that follows their same business modle.

the whole idea of 'expantions' sets my teeth on edge, for two reasons, either they are full of stuff that basicaly makes a totaly new game out of the original, in wich case its not an 'expantion' at all but a sequil. or its full of pre meditated greed, where things are left out or unfinished in the original for the express purpose of milking more cash out of the buyers to in essence finish/compleat the game for us with the expantion.

if we keep on following the industry down this expantion road it will come a day in the not too distant future where we are buying basicaly a demo of a game for $40, and then have to make payments in the form of 'expantions' for the next year or two. to get a compleat game. indeed, we are doing that NOW with alot of games. and i for one am tired of it.

im not suggesting that you dont make money, im just suggesting that you offer the best you can do, and set a fair price. not start out with PLANED extortion in mind, having your 'expantions' allready planed out if not outright MADE when the 'original' ships , and follow the sims business modle. there WILL be a lashback from this, mark my words.

as for this 'expantion' i say it doesnt really matter what you do, the BEST choice is to have made it all one game to begin with at a $60 pp imo. but you allready missed the boat on that one

Alstein

on Apr 18, 2006

Why not do it this way

Release the "gold" version retail (full game+expansion) for $30 (You'd not lose money selling it at the expansion price, since you wouldn't get that many more GC2 sales by September or Feburary)

Release the expansion itself through SDC, or through mail-order? I don't think anyone who has bought GC2 does not access this site at all, for $20.

That being said, if you go full stand-alone expansion, I'd expect a TON. There are a ton of things that can be improved from GC2- moreso then I imagined when I bought it- so there is a lot of expansion material- since the core game is great.

The five big things I want:

- UP entirely reworked (it's the one area of the game I consider garbage)
- Events not just alignment, but done in a more "Paradox"-like style (play Europa Universalis 2 to see what I mean)
- The other races to get ship designs (that's more of a patch thing really, but I want the Korx to have their own design)
- Fleet Admirals (with traits similar to Victoria- I hate to keep listing Paradox games, since I haven't liked any of them since EU2, but they have some great ideas)
- Expanded Espionage/Destabilization system.

And of course, the continuing AI improvements. Despite its flaws, this is one of the strongest AI's I've ever played, especially for a game as difficult as this to design the AI for.

pdesrivieres@yahoo.com

on Apr 18, 2006

I say bundle the expansion with the original game for $10 more than the original game price. Allow current customers to download the expansion from SDC for $10. This solves the retail space problem of not having to stock both the original and expansion without leaving existing customers out to dry. Also it will prevent potential customers from waiting until the expansion comes out before buying by making it easy fro them to upgrade.

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