Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Pay what you want...

Hey Guys,

Yesterday saw Eidos launch Championship Manager 2010 on their Champmanstore, but this is no ordinary launch!!
Taking inspiration from Radiohead, who released their album 'In rainbows' in 2007 as one of the first download models to try this approach; Eidos have released this game on a limited 'pay what you want' basis. General Manager Roy Meredith says,


“This is the best Championship Manager the studio has ever made and we want as many people as possible to try the full new game,”

I'm not sure how many of you out there will be leaping to take advantage of this particular deal but I was compelled to post about this and wonder how this is going to affect the industry.

Should this initative work out for Eidos (as apparently it did for Radiohead) then how will this shape future projects? In a world where Kotick is pushing for the RRP of games to be raised it is refreshing to see a company take a wholy different approach. Especially when considering the global recession we are in.

I think this is a smart move by Eidos and I applaud their bold venture into the murky waters of something new.

To be fair the Championship Manager series has played second fiddle to the 'Football Manager' games, with veterans of the football management sim following the staff that left Champ Man to make up the Sega team behind Football Manager (confusing eh!?). Launching the game at this 'pay what you want price' (ok, I should point out there is a minimum £2.50 transaction fee) will push the Champ Manager series into people's minds and grab their attention.


It will be interesting to watch this unfold. The game will go on general release come September 10th at the typical price of £24.99 in the shops. How many people who pre-order the game for just a few pence or pounds will determine just how much money this gamble will cost Eidos. Still, if you funnel your marketing expenses into this approach then how much difference is there really, and would you grab the headlines in quite the same way?

I for one am very likely to take them up on their offer and that's at least a penny more than they would have got out of me this year ;-)

If you're able and if you're interested I encourage you to go take a look. You have until September 10th to grab this deal. Watch this space for any news and opinon on how this goes, will any other company dare to take up some innovative way to sell their games?

Emeny.

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