I think you just found a huge problem going forward.
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Shovel Knight XB1 Retail Release Cancelled Due To "Publishing Policies"
- Thread starter dancrane212
- Start date
I think you just found a huge problem going forward.
potatohead
Member
Did they try restarting the computer?
RowdyReverb
Member
I wonder how many people were actually going to buy this physical copy for XB1.
DR2K
Banned
They state they had a good number of reserves for that version.
Honestly I'm surprised that Shovel Knight would have trouble selling 50,000 physical copies. It is incredibly popular for an Indie game, but I guess it has been out for a while, and XB1 may not be the most popular market for the game. Oh, 50,000 for one region... Ok, that is a bit risky.
...Scatter...
Banned
The outrage! Maybe there is no profit in printing a few discs for a budget title? Maybe retailers wouldn't stock it? Who knows.
FullMetaltech
Member
Probably not alot but it caters to people who prefer physical over digital, people with data caps, or collectors.
EdReedFan20
Member
It's only a problem if there are any Kickstarters that have already promised physical versions of XBOX One games (that don't have a big publishing deal). I would assume, if this policy remains, Kickstarters will just not offer a physical option for XBOX One. It'll be very frustrating for XBOX One owners who want it as an option, though.
RowdyReverb
Member
Alternatively Yacht Club could upload a pdf of the cover art that can be stuffed into an existing XB1 game case. The disc wouldn't be in there, of course, but it could go on the shelf at least.
EYEL1NER
Member
I was planning on buying it.
Jason Frost
Member
Vita has come to.
I was
I have no idea what work on MS's side needs to be done to get these 50k or so copies printed, but I'm guessing they've done the internal calculations and probably the cost and time expense to their ID@Xbox team probably outweighs the minimal profits they would see from selling up to or even less than 50k copies of a game. We also have to consider opportunity cost - the time and money they spend on getting 50k of Shovel Knight printed, they probably feel could be spent on other things that will provide much more profit than these few physical copies will. Pleasing those <50k fans really is pretty insignificant to them and would gain them nothing.
EDIT: Anywhere I said 50k should be "Less than 50k" since Yacht Club doesn't seem like it even wants to print that many for an initial run.
I'm pretty sure that the game has sold less than 50,000 copies on Xbox One digitally. It accounts for 4% of total revenue. Steam accounts for 32% of total revenue. 270k copies sold on Steam (Steamspy). Assuming each was full price, that means 34k copies on Xbox One. The game has been on sale twice, so that messes the numbers up a little bit, and each copy sold on sale on Steam would actually lower the number of copies sold on Xbox One.
Or maybe you let the publisher figure it out and take the risk themselves on the quantity they want as they see fit?
Who knows? It says right there, publishing policies. Not lack of profit for the publisher, not problems with retailers, publishing policies. So we do know.
I personally consider it the "ultimate" version of the game because of the superior exclusive content, so yeah, I was going to buy it as my choice of physical copy to complement the other digital versions I already have.
Well, at the end of the day it's their decision. You are right, by itself their cut of the profits is peanuts.
But the future of multiple markets these days run through highly specialized, boutique products, and letting small content providers provide very specific content. Music, movies, art prints, posters, has all been converging to a prolific method of delivery with low print runs. One game doesn't make a difference. Dozens, hundreds, thousands might, and once again they are lagging on allowing for that kind of product as the market shifts.
They are saying their platform does not agree with that kind of approach, and I think it sucks.
If the problem is that approving and working with the publisher to print 3, 4, 5 thousand copies is too much work, then they need to rethink the bureaucracies of allowing physical print runs in the first place. If the competition can let literally ONE guy print 2000 copies of a PS4 game and 3000 copies of a Vita game because he felt like it, then there has to be a way to streamline the publishing process enough that it's costless for them.
Garcia el Gringo
Member
This makes all the waiting I did for a physical Xbox One copy pointless. I guess I'll jump on Shovel Knight during a nice digital sale on Xbox Live. Maybe I'll even get the physical Wii U version.
I really liked the idea of waiting on smaller digital exclusive titles to go physical for Xbox One, but revelation definitely gives me pause on that.
I really liked the idea of waiting on smaller digital exclusive titles to go physical for Xbox One, but revelation definitely gives me pause on that.
TemplaerDude
Member
This is an example of a stupid post.
Neuromancer
Member
Pretty fucking lame. It's no wonder so many devs seem to rather do business with Sony or even Nintendo.
J
Jotamide
Unconfirmed Member
By the time they do, it will probably be too late.
OrbitalBeard
Member
Ridiculous. I had every version pre-ordered. Sucks for XB1-only owners who wanted a physical copy.
SinCityAssassin
Member
If they had to wait this long to announce the indefinite hiatus, then I'm pretty sure they've been trying unsuccessfully.
Maybe they don't have enough Passion.
3rdamention
Member
I assume we will hear a Microsoft PR statement about some type of misunderstanding in the next day or two..
J
Jotamide
Unconfirmed Member
Hahahaha I'm gonna start quoting this post whenever digital-only people downplay why it is important for physical copy collectors to have options when buying games.
Not disagreeing with you at all. It definitely does suck for the people who wanted or already preordered the physical Xbox One version. I was just trying to guess and explain why MS would not allow it or bend to allow it.
I wouldn't be too sure about that...
Naoki Yoshida has already stated that the Nintendo NX could get a port of FFXIV, the door's wide open. The only thing he is waiting on is what the spec will be and Nintendo's policy for the console. The reason it's not out for Wii U is because they don't want to target the old consoles. He's already said that down the road the PS3 support will be phased out so that future expansions that bring new features and improvements doesn't get hamstringed by hardware that can't handle it. It's out there already that the game could be on Nintendo consoles already, but Phil still had no problem blaming exclusivity.
TemplaerDude
Member
So my digital library of games is a figment of my imagination? Pretty sure I own those.
In the same way people owned their 'copies' of Ghost Trick on iOS.
You own a non transferable, revocable license.
You own a license.
It's really simple really. They can take your license, they can't take your discs/carts.
"Possession is 9/10th of the law" theory: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Possession_is_nine-tenths_of_the_law
EDIT: Technically when you buy a disc, they also tell you "you only own a license to use the product", but in reality there's no way for them to enforce that since there's no way for them to rip the license from you to make that disc stop working.
Dyson Industries
Banned
First class treatment all the way.
This. We've seen just in the past couple of weeks exactly what that digital "ownership" is worth when the rights holders make a unilateral change.
Pretty sure people thought they owned those capcom games on ios also.
Stop Trolling
Calm Killer
In all media, only true fans who consume every book, film, game, or pog collection deserve to know what's going on.
Forgive my ignorance. Everyone here is upset that a physical copy of a game isn't coming out, but they can currently buy the digital version? So the uproar is because of no physical?
Can a mod give another mod the banhammer? =p
Pretty much. There are lots of people who want the choice of having physical copies because of the benefits it provides that digital does not. Add to that, other consoles are getting physical copies. Add to that, at least some people already preordered the physical copies and you've pretty much got the entire reason why some people would be mad.
In this specific case a physical release still doesn't really solve the digital problem because there's still a substantial amount of content that has yet to be delivered that isn't and won't be on the disc, which is kinda irritating.
Yup the physical copy in this case isn't a perfect solution, but at least the base game is better than nothing. And any DLC they release for the game will last as long as the download version of the game will.
Some people also like having it to display on their shelf, maybe next to their Shovel Knight amiibo.
Calm Killer
In all media, only true fans who consume every book, film, game, or pog collection deserve to know what's going on.
Okay, Thanks. Personally I wouldn't think it would be an issue since the game is available in some form or fashion. I could understand if it was totally canceled for a platform. But obviously there are many of you that disagree.
TemplaerDude
Member
I wasn't asking about the licensing legal bullshit, I was talking about the concept of ownership. I gaze now upon my digital library of game, do I not own those games? Is this "concept of ownership" not satisfied? I feel pretty satisfied. I don't see how this doesn't extend to digital games, and trying to confuse the issue with legal mumbo jumbo isn't going to fly. Everyone should know by now that EULA crap, I'm talking the meta-fucking-physical idea of ownership.
RiccochetJ
Gold Member
That sucks. I thought it was the publisher that should worry about that and not the platform holder.
Funny choice of words.
This isn't simply about legal mumbo jumbo as you've stated. Like people have already pointed out to you, there are very real, not just academic, examples of how your digital ownership can be taken away. Sure of course you are satisfied with the ownership of those games now; I'm quite satisfied with many of the digital games I own right now too. In an abstract manner of speaking yeah you do own the games even if you have nothing physical to own; you paid for it, you have the ability to download and redownload the game, you can hit a button and play it when you feel like, all in the here and now. But what happens if the true owner of the game (by that I mean the publisher or developer who owns the IP or the platform on which you play it) decides it now wants to take your ability to play the game from you? Will you still be satisfied then with this "concept of ownership"? By the very terms you agreed to when you purchased the game, you have no right to claim ownership anymore if they terminate your license.
You're of course free to consider whatever you want as ownership.
Neuromancer
Member
Danger, Will Robinson!
Anyway, hopefully Phil Spencer and the Xbox team will flip a switch and this will become just another 180. Because this sucks for Yacht Club Games, it sucks for Xbox customers and I don't even know that it's helping MS in any way.
That was very much real life for every single owner of Ghost Trick on iOS.
It was there and on the morrow it was poof gone, like it never existed.
You own it until you don't own it anymore and that moment is when the copyright holder or when the platform holder see fit, not you.
In most cases you can't also choose to not own it anymore when you don't want it anymore.