Chapter 385 - 244: New Lowest Price? Just Free Giveaway!

Actually, the idea of an official game transaction platform is not uncommon in the gaming industry; many games support this feature.

For example, the most common "character trading"!

The official launches a trading platform where players can strip away the characters they want to trade, and other players pay money to buy them.

This is essentially an officially guaranteed account transaction, except the official retains the seller’s game account and only strips off the character separately.

Besides this, the trading of game items follows a similar format.

In "Speeding Frenzy," the rampant account trading and increasing number of players getting scammed inspired Chen Ba to create an official trading platform.

Better to channel than to block!

Control is bound to fail; as long as there is demand, there will be a market, and as long as there is a market, this kind of thing will happen.

Since it can’t be controlled, it might as well be brought under official regulation to provide players with credit guarantees and security assurances for their transactions.

Isn’t an official platform more reliable than the platforms you find online?

"We could make one..."

Yang Dong thought this was a good idea, especially because "Speeding Frenzy" players really needed it.

Moreover, it’s simple to make; just copy what competitors have done, the main concern for players choosing a trading platform is whether it’s "reliable" or not.

An official presence eliminates this concern, making it easy to implement.

You don’t even need to specially develop an app or software program; just make it a web model and embed it into the game client or Tianba Community.

How simple is that?

It not only saves trouble but also solves a major pain point for players, plus you could earn a bit in transaction fees.

Fun fact, every transaction on such platforms takes a cut, commonly known as a fee. Service isn’t provided for free, how could you think otherwise?

Fees might seem insignificant, just a small amount per transaction, but they add up over time.

Once the scale of transactions reaches a certain point, the money is substantial...

"The issue now is that if we only serve ’Speeding Frenzy’ players, it might not be worth much, nor is it necessary."

"So either we don’t do this, or we create a trading platform for all Tianba games," Chen Ba said seriously. "At least all our games should be included!"

Something similar to the Pig Factory’s Treasure Pavilion.

Cross-game is a must; only serving "Speeding Frenzy" doesn’t justify the platform.

After all, who knows how long "Speeding Frenzy" will stay popular? If it fades in two years, then wouldn’t the platform be built for nothing?

"That’s what I think too."

Yang Dong nodded, agreeing with Ba’s idea, that this official trading platform must cover multiple games.

The name also needs to be unique.

People at Pig Factory call theirs Treasure Pavilion; it sounds really fitting. So what should the Tianba Studio’s trading platform be called?

"How about ’Treasure Room’?"

Chen Ba joked, "Emphasizing skeptical of Pig Factory, understanding Pig Factory, and becoming Pig Factory!"

"Better not, what if they get upset and start a fight with us?"

Yang Dong timidly said: "Let me state first, if Pig Factory comes at us, I’ll be the first to surrender and distance myself from you."

"Spineless!"

Chen Ba scoffed: "Then you tell me, what should it be called? Treasure Vault? Treasure Cave? Pavilion Within the Pavilion?"

"Heaven-Dominating Mecha Library, how about that?"

Chen Ba: "..."

You rascal! You don’t want anything from Pig Factory, but then you turn around and steal from Tencent?

"If Tencent comes for us, I’ll surrender too, won’t say a good word for you, and you’re going to get pounded to death!"

Chen Ba rolled his eyes, realizing Yang Dong couldn’t come up with a good name, so he decisively said, "Jiangning is our blessed land, and the studio is called Tianba, so let’s call it Celestial Peace Pavilion."

"Celestial Peace Pavilion?"

Reflecting on this term, Yang Dong nodded quickly and said: "Alright, let’s go with this name! I’ll go arrange it and find time to set up this trading platform."

"No rush!"

Chen Ba waved his hand: "Before doing this, there’s something I want to discuss with you."

"What is it?"

"It’s about whether we should give away some of our older games for free."

Chen Ba explained: "The person in charge at Steam Platform asked if we want to join their Lunar New Year event. I think after all this time, setting a new low price feels too stingy and unappealing."

How many years old are these games, still pricing them at historical lows, isn’t that a bit much?

Come on!

These old games, even with an -80% or -90% green discount tag, not many new players would be interested.

Chen Ba also thought that this year, instead of offering new low prices, just give the games away.

Emulate Ubisoft’s good example!

Those old games without much hype, games whose sales wouldn’t go up despite discounts, just give them to the players. It saves them from complaining about Ba being stingy.

"Giving games for free?"

Yang Dong was taken aback, thinking Ba might follow E-Shop’s strategy to attract new users to the Nobug Platform by giving away games.

Only after hearing it did he realize it wasn’t about that. The free games weren’t to attract new users to the Nobug Platform, but rather to provide benefits across all platforms by giving away older games.

"Why not!"

Yang Dong had no objections.

Those old games really don’t sell well, and even discounts don’t attract buyers, so just give them away. It’s not like it’d cost much.

The key is how to give them away? Which game to give? How long will the event last?

"Limited time free claim on all platforms, just click to add to the library, no need to purchase!"

"The event lasts until the fifteenth of the first lunar month, ending after the New Year! As for which games to choose, it’s not just one game, but multiple games..."

Chen Ba isn’t that stingy; if he’s going to gift games, he might as well give more. It doesn’t matter when he gives them, there’s no difference.

Both "Cold Window Study Simulator" and "Living Under Someone’s Roof Simulator" are definitely going to be given away.

As for others, like "Divine Grace Continent" and "Love Advisor Department," Chen Ba is still hesitant.

"Shouldn’t ’Speeding Frenzy’ not be given away?" Yang Dong tentatively asked.

"What are you thinking?"

Chen Ba said speechlessly, "It’s at least our studio’s first game priced over a hundred yuan. Does it depreciate that fast?"

There’s no way we would give away "Speeding Frenzy"!

In the past, selling for over a hundred yuan, even though it’s been a while and the historical low price has dropped to the forties, it’s still not to the extent of giving it away for free.

"Let’s just give away ’Divine Grace Continent.’ The historical low price has fallen below 10 yuan, so it’s almost like giving it away.

"Yang Dong analyzed, "Ba, what you’re really hesitant about should be the ’Love Advisor Department’ game, right?"

"That’s right!"

Chen Ba sighed lightly.

The historical low price of "Love Advisor Department" hasn’t reached the point of being free; it’s still worth some money, and its sales trend is still okay. Giving it away for free now would result in considerable losses.

It’s obvious to anyone that this game hasn’t reached its "free giveaway" age, meaning it can still keep selling, even at a new historical low.

If it’s given away now, how will previous buyers feel? Wouldn’t they feel they’ve been ripped off?

But...

Chen Ba really wants to give away this game.

Don’t ask him why he doesn’t want to earn money; if asked, the answer is that "Love Advisor Department" is no longer just a game for him.

He’d love for more people to play it; earning money is a minor issue, even putting more money into it doesn’t matter, the game must live, and the better it lives, the better.

"I understand now!"

Yang Dong thoughtfully replied, "You’re worried that giving it away for free now would hurt those who bought it at its historical low or original price?"

"Exactly! That’s what I mean..."

Chen Ba thought of those players who like to comment, "Bought at full price, free the next day, am I an idiot?"

There are quite a lot of such people.

It’s hard to avoid feeling betrayed after buying a game not long ago, only for it to be given away for free right after.

Ubisoft?

Ubisoft’s strategy receives many complaints, but there are far more players calling them "big brother" than those feeling wronged by the betrayal.

"Just give it away!"

Yang Dong decided for Ba, "Since you want as many players as possible, just give it away! Just pretend you don’t hear a few complaints from players!"

Backstab? Just get used to it!

With single-player games, don’t you know the saying: "Buy early, enjoy early; buy late, enjoy a discount; don’t buy, and get it for free"?

In online shopping, even after buying with "price protection," you can get backstabbed by the manufacturer; what’s this price-drop betrayal in the gaming circle amount to then?

"You’re right..."

Chen Ba seemed to have made up his mind, saying with calmness, "A few complaints don’t matter; I’ve been getting complaints for years anyway."

So, let’s give them away!

Thus, Tianba Studio’s Spring Festival event plan was fully decided, and the game list finalized.

A total of four games, "Cold Window Study Simulator," "Living Under Someone’s Roof Simulator," "Divine Grace Continent," and "Love Advisor Department," would be given away for free across all platforms.

Please note, it’s all platforms!

Whether it’s the Steam Platform, E-Shop, WeGame, or Tianba Studio’s own Nobug Platform, they’re all free to be claimed with a single click.

The console platforms are not participating in the event.

This isn’t because Chen Ba is stingy or unwilling to offer benefits to console players, but mainly because discounts or free offerings require negotiation with the platform side on consoles.

Don’t ask why.

If asked, it’s because Tianba Studio recently signed a contract with the Xbox platform. It’s not an exclusive contract, but an independent "contracted sales" agreement.

The so-called contracted sales is somewhat like the relationship between traditional car manufacturers and their 4S stores.

Chen Ba is like the car manufacturing company, only responsible for producing and assembling cars. Once they’re delivered to the 4S store, how they’re sold are their own business.

Anyway, profits are split according to the contractual rates; it’s not a buyout operations model.

In simple terms, how Tianba Game is sold, discounted, and promoted on the Xbox platform is up to the console platform’s arrangement.

Chen Ba only participates in profit-sharing.

He provides the games, but promotions and marketing on the console platform are handled by the console side, he’s just a hands-off owner whose bank balance automatically increases over time.

"Poor console platform..."

Yang Dong mourned, "Games are mostly at their original price; let’s not talk about that, there’s no good thing for them, and the servers are still potato-based."

"Nothing can be done about it!"

Chen Ba said helplessly, "It’s because our Tianba Studio is rooted in PC, not on consoles."

If Tianba Studio were a console game developer, it would definitely treat console players better, always thinking of the good things for them with updates and optimizations being a priority for them.

But nothing can be done!

Tianba Studio has never really gotten close with console platforms; the PC platform is like a real child, while consoles are just newly recognized godchildren.

In such a situation, people naturally have biases, and Chen Ba is no exception.

When there are good things, the first thought is always PC players, not console players. Updates, optimizations, server configurations, and such, for consoles, it’s just picking up scraps.

Actually, everything else is negotiable, it’s mainly the server and updates and optimizations...

The potato server discussion is an old topic; the PC side isn’t that good, let alone the console side. Version updates are crucial, and consoles often lag one or even two months behind the PC.

The flowers have wilted by then!

By the time the new version has tired everyone out, the console side hasn’t even received the update notification; it’s really distressing.