Quoted from jeffspinballpalace:Blueberry has become the man of the month with his sleuthing. Thanks for posting and including links.
Only way I can see this concept working for deep root is adjusting the terms now. First, $50 per month or $550 annually is too much for a subscription. Reduce amount to $21 per month and the plan might work. Base price of game $5k + $100 shipping + $250 per year to include upgrades and new modes is a small pill to swallow. Second, limit # years required to pay for support to 3 years, when it becomes free for life. So if you keep the game, the cost is capped and it is a known amount $5,850, which is very competitive with Stern. Third, they could switch from subscription to dlc model and that means changing what your payment buys from access to new modes to a recorded license fee. The license stays with the pin. So a Seller loses their rights to purchased upgrades and Buyer gains these rights. Making these rights transferable. Other concerns voiced include what happens if DR stops supporting any of their own games? In that case, I agree that all upgrades should be given free to current game owners and it should be perpetually available on a server. The code needs to be there forever. Any of the above changes would be welcome and might help deep root to survive for another day.
If they make it that far, all they’ll need to figure out is how to manufacture a game. I am thinking RAZA might be delivered by late 2021 and Goonies to follow late 2022. Nothing fast happens in pinball. It will be hard for Robert to hold the company together until then, in my opinion. Ten years to release one title with a second pinball game queued up is no way to run a successful business.
This is all well and good if Deeproot wants to focus on the home market however it seems like they want to get the operators to buy this game. Getting operators to buy a untested machine with a original IP, a non high traffic tested machine with alcohol and kids around that if it breaks cant be simply replaced by mechanical buttons that have existed for decades and a monthly subscription is a tough sell.
Also, the argument about xbox live only works because you can use your own computer or get an xbox for half the price with a 2 year commitment and isnt $5000.
Sell a complete game to people with no strings and DLC and if they put in the time to make a new game addon thats worthy of a purchase then people will do that. Who has confidence to blindly pay for a subscription without a proven track record?
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