Jump to content
  • Sign Up

NC Soft Q4 earnings report. GW2 25% decline over Q3


Margol.3267

Recommended Posts

Expected, that's what happens if words "expansions", "elite specs", "alliances" aren't even in the horizon. Sorry but since LS4E3 it's a big decrease of the overall quality. And those two last episodes prove it. In additions stupid decisions like locking raven armor behind unreachable rng ruins it even more. (Yeah a skin that has been there since 2013). They don't do expac for money and bringing back crowd? They are sadly facing the consequences.

You can't overhype peoples for "Expansion like mechanics", the only one I see is the new mastery. So your Saga is just an LS.At least release new elite specs to bring back hopes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 248
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

@zealex.9410 said:

@"maddoctor.2738" said:I expected a drop but to be fair not that big. 2019 was doing so well for the game and it was shaping up to be a good year comparable to previous ones even without an expansion. But Q4 seriously disappointed.

Thats certainly a subjective opinion. Based on youtube metrics from wp as well as general feedback from some players 2019 was fairly week and the icebrood announcement was the cheery ontop.

I meant a good year in terms of revenue. Quality is subjective and I agree that 2019 has been weakTake a look at the quarterly results:yUpsaI0.jpg

Before Q4, 2019 had better/equal results than both 2016 and 2017 if you ignore the obvious expansion bumps. Between Q2 2016 and Q2 2017 was the roughest time for the game's revenue and 2019 was going to be better than that time, until Q4 hit.

Otherwise 2019 is their worst year yet:rJBAhL4.jpg

Edit: it's also rather clear that the two Expansions were the best time for the game, revenue wise at least. But subjectively speaking, quality wise too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@"Psycoprophet.8107" said:Honest the whole releasing each unique skin or items in gemstone once every few years is bad design or at least the time frames their using are. I've been waiting on belindas sword for yrs and it's never available and never on trading post so there's a potential bit of revenue gone. There are a few more items I'd spend money on but they haven't been available for yrs as well so F it I don't bother anymore I just play all the free pvp content sporadically and call it a day. Not sure how a company who's game is free to play expects to make good revenue if half or more of the items they could be selling are unobtainable for years on end.

Rejoice!

Starting February 14, special skins for your favorite weapons are returning, including Belinda’s Greatsword, the Arcane Marksman Rifle, the Lightbinder Blade Sword Skin, and many more!

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/let-magic-flow-with-the-alchemist-backpack-and-glider-combo/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@maddoctor.2738 said:

@maddoctor.2738 said:I expected a drop but to be fair not that big. 2019 was doing so well for the game and it was shaping up to be a good year comparable to previous ones even without an expansion. But Q4 seriously disappointed.

Thats certainly a subjective opinion. Based on youtube metrics from wp as well as general feedback from some players 2019 was fairly week and the icebrood announcement was the cheery ontop.

I meant a good year in terms of revenue. Quality is subjective and I agree that 2019 has been weakTake a look at the quarterly results:
yUpsaI0.jpg

Before Q4, 2019 had better/equal results than both 2016 and 2017 if you ignore the obvious expansion bumps. Between Q2 2016 and Q2 2017 was the roughest time for the game's revenue and 2019 was going to be better than that time, until Q4 hit.

Otherwise 2019 is their worst year yet:
rJBAhL4.jpg

Oh i thought you meant in terms of content releases, player enjoyment etc.

Yeah i would assume 2019 would at least be better than 2016 considering it had the 9 month drought.

Honestly i think they need to have an expansion by the end of icebrood and after that an expansion every 2 or so years. If not wvery 2 years, for whatever reason at least confirmation that one is idd comming (like they did for pof pre se3).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Inculpatus cedo.9234 said:

@"Psycoprophet.8107" said:Honest the whole releasing each unique skin or items in gemstone once every few years is bad design or at least the time frames their using are. I've been waiting on belindas sword for yrs and it's never available and never on trading post so there's a potential bit of revenue gone. There are a few more items I'd spend money on but they haven't been available for yrs as well so F it I don't bother anymore I just play all the free pvp content sporadically and call it a day. Not sure how a company who's game is free to play expects to make good revenue if half or more of the items they could be selling are unobtainable for years on end.

Rejoice!

Starting February 14, special skins for your favorite weapons are returning, including
Belinda’s Greatsword
, the Arcane Marksman Rifle, the Lightbinder Blade Sword Skin, and many more!

U better not be messing with me my friend lol

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Ayrilana.1396 said:I wonder what their revenue would have been had they charged real world currency to unlock the LW episodes rather than give them out for free.

Well, probably Not much.May be Even worse since handing ist out for „free“ gives the gemstore much More possible customers. Which is the Whole intend of „free“ LS releases. Or you can choose to believe in „good guy anet“.

Sadly since POF Almost Every release felt More like a gemstore advertizing platform Then an MMO for Me.Sry for Format, im fighting autocorrect on a new device

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@maddoctor.2738 said:

@Ayrilana.1396 said:I wonder what their revenue would have been had they charged real world currency to unlock the LW episodes rather than give them out for free.

My guess is that it would've been much lower since the game would have far less players.

As opposed to a game that charges for content through expansions?

What I’m getting at is that people are making an expansion out to be some miracle cure which it isn’t. It’s nothing more than a single, large content dump versus piece-mealing it across multiple episodes. Any revenue obtained from an expansion could have easily been obtained through charging for the LW episodes. If people are so willing to pay for an expansion, surely they’d be willing to pay for the episodes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@maddoctor.2738 said:

@Ayrilana.1396 said:I wonder what their revenue would have been had they charged real world currency to unlock the LW episodes rather than give them out for free.

My guess is that it would've been much lower since the game would have far less players.

Theres lots of variable tbh to be able to tell. For one simply asking for a price creates expectations and anet will likely have to meet those expecations to some extend, i also would expect some drop off innitially and then growth and retention will either go up or down depending on how that first season is.

What we can gather atm is that except from wow which had a really bad expansion other major western mmos that charge for content have seen growth in recent years (some massive groth infact with ff14 boasting over 18mill acounts created). Even wow during its legion days was overall liked and very succesful and based on features, new and returning shadowlands seems to be following the same trend.

Theres both negative and positives in such an aproach and it deserves deeper discussion which i feel lile doesnt belong in this thread.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Diak Atoli.2085 said:While the drop in revenue is cause for concern, I must point out that all of NCSoft's western MMOs had negative quarters. Food for thought: Is this drop reflected in other companies?From what Square-Enix's saying, FF XIV is actually gaining, not only in general, but also specifically in US and EU. So, it's not some universal thing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Ayrilana.1396 said:

@Ayrilana.1396 said:I wonder what their revenue would have been had they charged real world currency to unlock the LW episodes rather than give them out for free.

My guess is that it would've been much lower since the game would have far less players.

As opposed to a game that charges for content through expansions?

Expansions are usually "worth" the money, LW episodes are not. I can't think of a single LW episode that I'd pay for.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@maddoctor.2738 said:

@Ayrilana.1396 said:I wonder what their revenue would have been had they charged real world currency to unlock the LW episodes rather than give them out for free.

My guess is that it would've been much lower since the game would have far less players.

As opposed to a game that charges for content through expansions?

Expansions are usually "worth" the money, LW episodes are not. I can't think of a single LW episode that I'd pay for.

Expansions and seasons are essentially the same thing. If I split HoT and PoF into episodes, would you consider them to not be worth paying for?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Ayrilana.1396 said:

@Ayrilana.1396 said:I wonder what their revenue would have been had they charged real world currency to unlock the LW episodes rather than give them out for free.

My guess is that it would've been much lower since the game would have far less players.

As opposed to a game that charges for content through expansions?

Expansions are usually "worth" the money, LW episodes are not. I can't think of a single LW episode that I'd pay for.

Expansions and seasons are essentially the same thing. If I split HoT and PoF into episodes, would you consider them to not be worth paying for?Depending how it got split, i'm sure there would be parts that wouldn't get bought.

Also, no, seasons are not "essentially the same thing". Or at least i haven't seen a single season yet that i would consider to be equivalent to HoT or PoF.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Astralporing.1957 said:

@Ayrilana.1396 said:I wonder what their revenue would have been had they charged real world currency to unlock the LW episodes rather than give them out for free.

My guess is that it would've been much lower since the game would have far less players.

As opposed to a game that charges for content through expansions?

Expansions are usually "worth" the money, LW episodes are not. I can't think of a single LW episode that I'd pay for.

Expansions and seasons are essentially the same thing. If I split HoT and PoF into episodes, would you consider them to not be worth paying for?Depending how it got split, i'm sure there would be parts that wouldn't get bought.

Also, no, seasons are not "essentially the same thing". Or at least i haven't seen a single season yet that i would consider to be equivalent to HoT or PoF.

Content-wise they’re pretty much the same. The only area that they’re difference is in features such as elite specs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

honestly, i saw this coming miles ahead, sadly it is the case that i never am taken seriously till it's to late.it happened in GW1 quite often that i saw a problem and no one cared, two years later there was a burst of players talking about the exact same problem and anet fixed it in two months, again way to late.i had this in several other games that i saw something simply not working but no one would listen, later on they ether changed it (by fixing or changing the system so it does work) or the game is closed down.

i really hate for this game to close, i see so many holes and problems but it is ignored for so long that Anet doesn't see them anymore.i don't claim to be all knowing, heck, i just say what i see and that's all there is to it.all i am saying is, for some reason i see problems before they happen, i have some kind of insight that allows me to see right trough cover-ups and detect problems others overlook.and believe me, it is extremely annoying to have that, it makes me look over critical and negative about everything and i don't want that.i really want to be positive like i was at launch, like i was about GW1, i really don't want to blame anyone or to talk anyone down.it's just that, when i see a problem i talk about it, i am kinda used to it that ppl don't listen but that's life i guess.

anyway, i really don't see how this is a surprise, GW2 is a game most gamers don't even know about and the majority actually left the game, saying to other just to not bother with GW2.if Anet really want to earn better they should pick up the pace, make actual DLC's with exiting new stuff, remove the failed stuff and redesign the game in a more global player-friendly way.GW2 could be so much more, we all know about this, the potential of this game is wasted on popular stuff while we could have a game they talked about way before beta.i am sure Anet has wonderful designers that could make this game even better then they could ever imagine, i just know they have it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Ayrilana.1396 said:

@Ayrilana.1396 said:I wonder what their revenue would have been had they charged real world currency to unlock the LW episodes rather than give them out for free.

My guess is that it would've been much lower since the game would have far less players.

As opposed to a game that charges for content through expansions?

What I’m getting at is that people are making an expansion out to be some miracle cure which it isn’t. It’s nothing more than a single, large content dump versus piece-mealing it across multiple episodes. Any revenue obtained from an expansion could have easily been obtained through charging for the LW episodes. If people are so willing to pay for an expansion, surely they’d be willing to pay for the episodes.

Lets ignore that expansions provide elite specs and masteries that mean something.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

low quality or no content = low revenue. Frankly after the build template fiasco I vowed not to spend a dime on this game again and I was averaging a couple hundred a month. though the post by Andrew Gray is nice I wonder how much of it was spurred by the low revenue because it seems to be timed to well .

easy fix is to get content out. ditch the ice brood fiasco and re evaluate and get a decent expansion out.

"drops Mic"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Alyster.9470 said:Well, I blame to the overhyped icebrood saga announcement which made some people quit if they were not even going to. Continuous letdown releases such as build templates and no mention of elite specs also made it worse. Abandoning most content and not communicating with the community in time to give people something look forward to is just another thing that makes most people lose their faith thus they dont want to spend more on the game as they think its death is coming. Some good communication were made in the last few weeks but I guess that was a bit late considering all the backlash and drama already hit the point of no return for some players.

I 100% agree with this. The game management has been evasive. They over hyped the Saga. The announcement was a disappointment. And overall, it is pretty similar to LWS4 in terms of quality (which is not a good thing) and a bit less on quantity. The masteries were a disappointment too. Little to no communication about what is upcoming, beside what is already known. PvP class balance is been like 5 month in development, and honestly, after the preview, I would rather it does not come at all.

It makes sense the revenues drop this much. This would probably be the trend in 2020 as well. The game will continue to lose players with limited to no impact of bringing back veterans or new players. I would not be surprised if the amount is cut in half in Q4 2020.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The gemstore's just.. not great tbh.

It was super good at the beginning of the game when the gameplay was alot more primitive and simple things like having a bag slot radically changed your experience, but that's no longer the case; what very few QoL items are useful to new players are extremely overpriced due to half a decade of farming, TP flipping, and investment and people using gold to gems conversion with now practically unlimited gold.

For example, take mounts, I love them. But the skins are way too expensive, ArenaNet may make a ton of money off a few skin sales for the top 10% of players, but they'd make alot more money if 90% of players would buy them at a cheaper price.

And this is on top of the fact that players have suggested literally hundreds of gemstore items that could be added, even without giving a gameplay advantage, that ArenaNet avoids designing for whatever reasons they have.

I just don't think the game has very good marketting tactics anymore.

Oh, and then there's the fact that the game has no viable UI design, and that using the store is a mess because of it; if not for the search feature you probably couldn't find anything in there that's not being promoted at the time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Ayrilana.1396 said:

@Ayrilana.1396 said:I wonder what their revenue would have been had they charged real world currency to unlock the LW episodes rather than give them out for free.

My guess is that it would've been much lower since the game would have far less players.

As opposed to a game that charges for content through expansions?

Expansions are usually "worth" the money, LW episodes are not. I can't think of a single LW episode that I'd pay for.

Expansions and seasons are essentially the same thing.

Only if you look from far, far away.

It is not only, that drip-feeding very small content drops every 2-3 months for a year (or so) is quite different than delivering one big chunk of content to explore, but also that HoT and PoF were "game changers" for GW2 and had lots of new and fresh ideas and they laid the groundwork (there it is, the "g"-word :) ) that seasons 3 and seasons 4 used and build upon.

I do not yet see this kind of "game changer" or quality in the Saga / Season 5. Would I want to pay for the Saga? From what I have seen until now: I would not.

However, when we had in the past LW releases every two weeks, I would have happily paid a subscription fee. so, yeah, I would have payed for LW.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Ayrilana.1396 said:

@Ayrilana.1396 said:I wonder what their revenue would have been had they charged real world currency to unlock the LW episodes rather than give them out for free.

My guess is that it would've been much lower since the game would have far less players.

As opposed to a game that charges for content through expansions?

Expansions are usually "worth" the money, LW episodes are not. I can't think of a single LW episode that I'd pay for.

Expansions and seasons are essentially the same thing. If I split HoT and PoF into episodes, would you consider them to not be worth paying for?Depending how it got split, i'm sure there would be parts that wouldn't get bought.

Also, no, seasons are not "essentially the same thing". Or at least i haven't seen a single season yet that i would consider to be equivalent to HoT or PoF.

Content-wise they’re pretty much the same. The only area that they’re difference is in features such as elite specs.

Let's do a comparison.Heart of ThornsHeart of Thorns has 16 story steps.Added 4 new maps, one of them a big meta event, but still a new map.A way to "compare" maps is by the amount of exploration options (points of interest, vistas and waypoints)VB: 39, AB: 35, TD: 33, DS: 42, Total: 149 exploration points plus 40 hero challengesVB has 45 events that are part of the five main chains (the outposts), plus the 5 Night Events for a Total of 50 "story" Events. There are 17 secondary events.AB has 41 events as part of the four chains (the outposts), 4 challenges and 4 Octovines for a total of 49 "story" events. There are 13 secondary events.TD has 30 events as part of the four chains and the 5 events at the Chak Gerent fight for a total of 35 "story" events. There are 33 secondary events in TD.DS has 46 events as part of the three chains plus the fight with the Mouth of Mordremoth. There are 5 secondary events in DS.180 "Story" events, 68 secondary events.

Heart of Thorns added 15 Adventures. Revenant Profession, 9 elite specializations, 3 Core Tyria Mastery abilities with 13 steps, 4 Mastery abilities with 23 steps.1 new PVP Mode (Stronghold) with 3 Mist Champions. 1 new WVW Map (Desert Borderlands), 1 new WVW Siege weapon.2 Guild Halls, 1 new crafting discipline (Scribe). Defiance bar mechanic, Action Camera mode.

Season 3Season 3 has 36 story steps.Added 6 new maps. BFe: 14, EB: 34 + 5 hearts, BFr: 20 + 4 hearts, LD: 28 + 6 hearts, DM: 30 + 4 hearts, SL: 22 + 5 hearts, 148 exploration points + 24 heartsSince there aren't always very clear meta events in Season 3 maps, I will count all of their events:BFe: 24, EB: 20, BFr: 14, LD: 36, DM: 23, SL: 24, Total Events: 165 events, all combined less than the "story" events in the expansion.1 Mastery with 6 steps, Ammunition mechanic

14 Legendary items, 4 Raid Wings, 3 Fractals, 3 PVP Maps. Not sure if these you want to come bundled with the Season episode or not, as they are not unlocked by the episode.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...