Hey, folks—just dropping in to let you know we’re reading your feedback. We have always been transparent with our development plans and we will continue to do the same by keeping you fully informed about how we’re planning to produce and deliver content.
From the beginning, we’ve shared that our past experience with transitioning StarCraft II to free-to-play was the starting point for how we will sustain Stormgate’s ongoing development. The tentative price point we shared on Kickstarter is similar to the StarCraft II: Nova Covert Ops campaign, which was also sold in packs of three missions for $7.50 USD.
F2P was very successful for SC2—development was sustainable and it greatly increased the total number of players enjoying the game.
We love storytelling at Frost Giant and have high hopes for our episodic campaign content. Direct comparisons don’t really fit here, though—we aren’t making a box model game like Wings of Liberty, which launched with a lengthy campaign that took many years to make.
If you love campaign, we believe our approach should still be very exciting. We are not only planning on getting to a similar number of missions, but eventually exceeding it (though that will take us some time). We have no plans to abandon our dedicated campaign players and leave them huffing Copium, praying for the day that we’d return with more story missions.
As for pricing, it’s no secret that making AAA-quality games is incredibly expensive. Modern budgets at the bigger studios are upwards of $100 million USD and their marketing budgets can go even higher. Our marketing budget is almost non-existent as we have poured nearly every cent of our funding into making the best game possible.
Long story short, Frost Giant Studios will not exist for very long without a certain level of financial support from our players. The response to our Kickstarter has been awesome and we are optimistic that the support we need will be there if we continue to prioritize making a great game.
We think Stormgate has the greatest chance of success if it’s a social experience that is fun to play with your friends. So, if you don’t have the means to purchase our content, you will still be welcome to play Stormgate for as long as we’re around.
To that end, we are making Stormgate free-to-play so that everyone can be welcome in our community. This includes our plan to make it so that paying for story content will allow you to invite friends (who may not be able to purchase it themselves) to experience it with you for free (with some limitations, like unlocking saves, achievement progress, and the ability to play solo.)
We are also going to continue to offer bundle pricing, like we are with our Kickstarter, so that players can receive additional value vs. purchasing single pieces of content a la carte.
Ultimately, we aim to produce new story content at a steady cadence that is healthy and sustainable for our team and that feels fun and worthwhile for our players.
We hope you enjoy getting your hands on our upcoming open beta playtest this February 5-12 (or earlier if you’re a KS Founder) during Steam Next Fest and please continue to let us know what you think. Your feedback is always valuable and we are incredibly grateful for your support.
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