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Originally Posted by Burns11
In this case Activision is risking a lot with relatively little to gain. A free game will devalue the IP (the last one was free, why pay $40-$50 for the next one). A bad game will devalue the IP. Without control of content, an inappropriate easter egg or off color comment in the game could devalue the IP.
Could a free fan created game foster a huge resurgence in demand for a new game? Possibly, I guess, but there hasn't been anything even close to a precedent for that, so hanging your hat on that is even a risk. I find it hard to believe that a fan made game that seemingly is very retro, would generate any renewed interest outside of the core adventure game audience who already has enough interest in another KQ game.
So where is the reward here for Activision to make it worth the risk?
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The free rerelease of Beneath the Steel Sky heightened considerably the interest for a sequel. Publishers release quite often former series titles to promote an upcoming one. So it's definitely not without precedent. It seems to work quite well, otherwise they wouldn't do it.
I can't tell how Broken Sword 2.5 affected the sales of the commercial Broken Sword titles, but the release of a Director's Cut for the first part makes me assume that it could have heightened the interest for the older 2D titles.
Anyway, your argument makes zero sense to me. Why? Well, let's take a look at the situation out of the eyes of fans of and newcomers to the series.
Fans who already own the games are probably delighted by the fan adventure. They'll be reminded of the good times they had with the oldies and so may be more fond of them again. Even if the game might be bad they might think "nah, the old ones were much better" and may also take another look at them. So, a fan adventure may be good advertisement for an upcoming title. Or even just for a rerelease!
Some players may not want to bother with reconfiguration of the old DOS games under their modern operating system, so they shell out some bucks for the preconfigured versions on Steam or GOG.com. If Activision was clever, it would use The Silver Lining as a marketing tool to promote their old titles.
And newcomers? Well, without the fan adventure they wouldn't know anything about the games in the first place and wouldn't buy them. Thanks to the fan adventure, though, they may take a look at the older titles if they liked it. They may want to find out how everything started, what the roots of the story are.
I could understand if Activision had an interest that the fan adventure is of good quality, but I think there's no doubt about it that it is, otherwise Vivendi wouldn't have granted the license in the first place.
I see no risk at all. What damage could even a bad fan adventure do? If it's bad, it wouldn't feature prominently on download or to the genre devoted sites.
So even from a sole commercial perspective Activision shoots itself in the foot here. Like I said, they just want to be jerks, as with the latest incident with the bouncers at Infinity Ward.
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Originally Posted by Intense Degree
I hate to agree with this, but I think you're right. To be honest, I wonder if the team in general are quite releaved this has happened. I know a lot of work has gone in but I think this project has come to hang over their heads and in some ways it has been disappointment after disappointment in the face of a lot of support and enthusiasm. Definitely sorry to see this one go.
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They were ready for release, that's why they sent it for approval, right? So I don't know how you can assume that the team members might be relieved...
