We have gotten a lot of great response since we announced last week that Emperor of the Fading Suns is finally coming to Steam on April 4 (Wishlist it now at https://store.steampowered.com/app/2799350/Emperor_of_the_Fading_Suns_Enhanced/). In fact, really the only negative response I have heard has been from fans worried about us launching our game during an economic downturn, or a “correction” as it is currently officially named.
However, this is not the first time I have faced this. When we launched “Vampire: the Masquerade,” it was during the 1991 recession brought on by the Gulf War. We worried about how this would impact our fans, but it proved to be an advantage. The base rules were $20, and they offered a huge amount of entertainment value for the dollar.
As opposed to a movie, that you would go to a theater and watch once, this game offered hour after hour of fun. Many of our players who bought the book figured it ended up costing them less than 10 cents per hour of fun, and of course many people played the game without ever buying the book. I love that social component.
Of course, it did not hurt that the tone and themes of the book echoed issues that were on everyone’s mind at the time – exploitation, remaining human in the face of inhuman acts, abuse of power, and so on.
Emperor of the Fading Suns Enhanced offers much the same. I have logged more than 700 hours playing the game and demo – JUST ON STEAM! We have testers who have played even more, and are still having a great deal of fun with it. Add the unlimited amount of play available in multiplayer, random maps, modding and so on, and for many players, the true cost will end up as less than a penny per hour played.
We used to claim that games are recession proof, but the 2008 financial crash proved they are not. However, they still offer a great deal of value to their buyers. If this economic downturn continues, I anticipate seeing more people turn to games for relief.
