Want an early look at Starkcraft II, widely expected to be one of the year's hottest PC games? You can -- but it's going to cost you.
Starcraft II, a highly anticipated game.
Considered by many to be the best real-time strategy game ever made, Starcraft has racked up nearly 10 million sales since its 1998 debut. It's a stalwart of the professional gaming scene at home and abroad -- and especially in South Korea, where televised Starcraft tournaments continue to attract millions of viewers, and the game's still something of a national obsession.
Analysts expect its sequel, Starcraft II, to sell as many as 8 million copies when it's released later this year -- but a select, invite-only group of fans are getting to test out the game early, aiming to help its developer Blizzard squash bugs and address gameplay problems.
Access codes to the "beta test" were handed out for free, with many thought to have come from giveaways at a 2008 fan festival organized by the game's developer, Blizzard. But a few enterprising fans promptly put theirs up for sale on auction sites like eBay-and the going rate is as much as $400.
Impressed? It's certainly a high price for a few months' play. Typically, beta accounts stop working shortly before the game's release, and testers need to purchase the game just like everyone else, if they're not already sick of it. It's also of questionable legality -- it's not clear whether recipients of the keycodes actually "own" them -- and Blizzard would be entirely within its rights to cancel any beta accounts it deems to have been acquired in ways it considers inappropriate.
All that said, the prices are far from a record for Blizzard. Beta keys for the most recent expansion to its hit online game World of Warcraft were changing hands for over $1000 in 2008.
Many people say that we are still in a recession, but this proves that people will find a way to obtain money to purchase this game simply for entertainment when they can have something else. Do you think this game will have as much success as people think it will during these hard economical times?
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I really do think this game will be very close in sales to the numbers predicted. Although there are hard economic times at hand, some people are still doing fine from an economic standpoint and the "die hard" gamers will do whatever they can to get the game they desire (within their reasonable price range of course). Maybe the predicted numbers above compensate for the hard economic times already. (A)
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jason that the game sales will be at or possibly above the predicted numbers. With such a worldwide following of the game, people will be curious of all the hype which will bring new consumers into the market.
ReplyDeleteAs for the beta keys being sold on eBay, I think it's an intelligent move on the part of the people who have the keys. Since they got the keys for free from giveaways, everything will be profit except for eBay fees which I have no prior experience with. This is like the Superman comic article yesterday, with a huge demand for a sneak peek and a limited supply of these beta keys, people are willing to pay a far greater sum than if the beta keys were plentiful. A, T
I think people are still willing to come up with the cash for entertainment. People still want that escape that comes with video games, going out to a movie theater, going to clubs or bars, or buying dinner. Even though people are budgeting their money and being more attentive with what they put it towards, I think they are still factoring in highly anticipated games.
ReplyDeleteAlso, my friend is always on his computer paying games. Instead of going out he sits there on his computer and talks with people he's never seen, leading raids and improving his hand-eye coordination. I think the recession will have to hit gamers (like my friend) a lot harder for them to stop playing. E, T
I also agree that people are going to be willing to pay for a highly anticipated game. Games on other platforms like X-Box, PS3 and Wii are still selling well so I am fairly certain that sales will be high even in tough economic times. Difficult economic times have not affected other forms of entertainment, such as movies, in a negative way. In fact sales for movie theatres have risen since the recession began. Sources of entertainment like videogames and movies are seen as a nice way to get free from troubles for a short time.
ReplyDeleteAs everyone else said, I feel get as many sales as it's predicted to have, even with this harsh economic times. I think it's really interesting on what some people will buy and what some will sacrifice.
ReplyDeleteWow, this is really interesting. I've never heard of anyone paying for a beta account. Especially since, by definition, the game isn't even complete yet and that the only real reward for playing a beta version is perhaps the knowledge of what the game looked like immediately before its release and the bragging rights (but really, who would you brag to about it? The people who didn't have $400?) of saying you had a beta account.
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