Chapter 231: Transformation of the Nebula Games Platform
On the official blog, Alex also announced in advance the mobile and VR versions of Minecraft. Their launch will be on March 31. This was mainly due to the special nature of April 1.
As it would have been very significant to celebrate the launch of Minecraft two months later, the price also surprised many players.
The VR version costs $29.60, while the mobile version is automatically activated when you buy the PC or VR version. However, if players prefer to play the mobile version instead of the PC or VR version, they can buy it separately.
The price is $5.60. Those who have already bought the mobile version only have to pay the remaining balance if they want to buy the PC or VR version. This pricing strategy has received numerous praises from players.
Similarly, after the announcement of the VR and mobile versions, Alex did not pay much attention to them. After all, given the sales figures of the PC version, the sales of the VR version could not be worse. And compared to the price of VR games, Minecraft, at $29.60, is a bargain.
However, compared to Alex's indifference, the rest of the video game industry, including designers and media, was closely following the situation, paying close attention to the data.
The next day, Nebula Games did not publish the relevant data as it had previously announced for the PC version of Minecraft. However, a third-party statistics company immediately published the figures.
The VR version of Minecraft sold 2.41 million copies.
The mobile version sold 1.52 million copies.
April Fools' Day!.
Many industry designers and media were a little stunned. These figures were truly unexpected. The VR version, however, was not particularly surprising.
According to the statistics of the Games Department, the number of VR users in the country is currently around 30 million. However, this number is certainly higher. The reason for this is that these figures reflect the number of activated VR game capsules, that is, the number of VR game capsules that are currently in use.
But the key point is that not all players have bought a game capsule. Places like VR experience stores also account for a significant portion of this. While the number of game capsules in these experience stores remains constant, the players who play them vary. Therefore, the actual number of potential users is much higher than this figure.
Minecraft on PC was a success and is still incredibly popular to this day. The VR version, which offers a superior experience and is inherently affordable, has sold so many copies, which is not surprising.
But the real surprise is the mobile version. This statistic reflects sales, not the number of players!. This means that there are still more than a million players who have not bought the PC version, a completely new player base.
However, compared to the doubts that revolve around the industry, Alex at Nebula Games is currently contemplating more important matters.
In addition, the screen in front of Alex shows the current titles of Nebula Games.
Mirror, Undertale, To the Moon, Overcooked, Three Kingdoms Tactics, Fall Guys, Outlast, Dark Souls, Valiant Hearts: The Great War, It Takes Two, Dark Souls: First Flame, Don't Starve, and Minecraft... well, Alex has temporarily discarded a certain mallet.
So far, the Nebula games platform has a total of twelve games available. These games are also very well known among the gaming community.
As for game stores, Nebula Games already enjoys great success, just like Blizzard's Battle.net in its past. But Alex clearly has no intention of stopping there. To be simply a platform to integrate his own games has never been his goal. He has always aspired to comprehensive digital platforms like Steam and GOG.
102 million registered users, 23 million daily active users, 77 million monthly active users, and a maximum average of 8.17 million simultaneous users.
This is mainly due to the recent popularity of Minecraft, which has boosted Nebula Games' active user figures.
In any case, these figures clearly demonstrate one thing: Nebula Games has become a very influential game store. It is already fully consolidated, and the launch of Minecraft was initially part of this plan.
Alex and John had already dealt with this matter with the marketing department. Now, taking advantage of the influence of Minecraft, Nebula Games can finally take this step.
April 15.
Although it was Sunday, all the employees of Nebula Games were in their respective positions today.
In the main media and video game communities, Minecraft was initially the hottest topic. But quickly, the term "Nebula Games" took over the first place.
Many players opened the Nebula Gaming platform, ready to immerse themselves in Minecraft. Upon opening the platform, countless players were stunned by the pop-up message.
From now on, Nebula Game Store will be transformed into a comprehensive digital game platform, which will allow all designers to publish games in the store and offer the corresponding promotional services.
This includes features such as cloud saving, user comments, creative workshops, and connections with store partners. The game designers on the platform will have enough autonomy, of course, within the rules.
Of course, these games must first undergo a proper review and obtain the publication certifications before they can be released online.
In short, Nebula Games will go from being an independent platform that manages its own games to a comprehensive distribution platform.
Even more exciting for game designers in the video game industry are the sales conditions of the Nebula Game Platform.
In this parallel world, as in most game stores of the past, the official store takes a 30% commission. But this is an official store, and for large distribution channels like Aether Games and NetDragon, the situation is completely different.
The best game designers and some powerful manufacturers will, naturally, receive a 30% commission.
But what about the treatment of common game designers and manufacturers?.
In my past life, many people said that the 30% commissions that Steam and Google took were excessive. But some mobile app stores, for example, usually start with a 50/50 split.
Do you want a 30% commission? No problem! Publish your application on my platform, but I will not promote it, so I will take 30%. But if you promote it and use the server, I will take 60%. But don't complain, because some even more outrageous splits are 70/30.
Seven for the developer, three for the channel? What are you thinking! Three for the developer, seven for the channel!.
Even worse, you can't even control the marketing methods that are used for your game.
What? Isn't that like begging for food?
That's right! If you put it that way, it really is begging for food. Even so, how many people would want to beg for food?.
Compared to the main national application platforms of my past life, the main platforms in this parallel world are no different.
Why are so many designers willing to do this?.
Because they have no choice but to create their own platforms and official websites, without the expense of promotion.
As for the official game store, although it has a large number of users, as for the recommendation positions and the rotation, although there is some exposure, the algorithm is quite retrograde.
After all, it is the official store, and due to market limitations, it cannot be closed. Therefore, unless it is a truly popular game, it is rare for it to become a big hit on the official platform.
However, in reality, most games do not have the characteristics of a big hit and are more likely to satisfy the appetite of a certain group of players.
So, even if the channel distributors take a high commission, they can still ensure exposure.
The situation is stronger than the people, so you can only gnaw on the bones yourself and let the channel eat the meat and drink the soup. After all, making money is not shameful.
Now, what surprised game designers in the video game industry was that, in the Nebula Game Store, Alex's profit-sharing conditions reached a staggering 25%.
Whether it was a large game manufacturer or an individual designer, they all received a uniform 25% commission for the daily operation of the platform.
As soon as this news was known, it caused a great stir in the video game industry.
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