PC format

[karmek]

Are there going to be plans for this to be released as a PC format too? If not why not?

 

[Getofmeland]

The only formats that have been confirmed are Xbox 360 and PS3...

Have a quick look at the FAQs for further answers

 

[karmek]

I was hoping that wasn't going to be the answer. Had seen the FAQ's and was hoping I'd just missed a side note or something...

Thanks for the reply.

 

[me_savage]

Not everyone owns consoles.

Well, there goes my hopes for a new PC rugby game.

Thanks HB for dashing my dreams.

Yours Sadly,

No-More-HB-Studio-Games-4-Me

PS: come to think of it, think i have cricket 02-07, rugby 04-08, nhl 08 and fifa10, it is just a sad sad thought.

 

[TRF_Cymro]

Not everyone owns consoles.

Well, there goes my hopes for a new PC rugby game.

Thanks HB for dashing my dreams.

Yours Sadly,

No-More-HB-Studio-Games-4-Me

PS: come to think of it, think i have cricket 02-07, rugby 04-08, nhl 08 and fifa10, it is just a sad sad thought.

PC games are not that profitable.

 

[gingergenius]

I completely understand why they wouldn't make a PC game, financially. But not having a PC version means that HB needs to come up with some serious plans for how the game can be sustained, purely for the fans.

1. Interest in the rugby series, with nothing from the developers since 2007, has been maintained almost exclusively by modders on TRF who keep the game as aesthetically up to date as they can. This occurred because the PC version is moddable. With no PC version, this won't happen again.

2. One way round this is to release a game every year. I don't know what HB's plans are, but I'd guess unless this one is a huge success, there won't be another rugby game until 2015.

3. Another way would be downloadable content - roster, kit and league updates. There would probably have to be two of these every year. Would this be financially worth it? Probably not, although if someone told me that EA had made 2010/11 update for Rugby 08, I'd buy the game in a flash. Updates could keep the game 'on the shelves' when it would otherwise be out of date.

4. The final option I see is for the developers to make Rugby 11 easily editable in-game - with options to edit/ create teams, players and competitions. This wouldn't help keep kits up to date, but it would tick every other box.

If none of these situations happen, then we'll be left with a rugby game that will quickly begin to feel old and outdated, no matter how much we might like it when it first comes out. Whether or not efforts are made too keep the game up to date will be indicative of how much HB values its fans over the prospect of making a quick buck every four years on the back of world cup fever.

 

[TRF_Cymro]

I completely understand why they wouldn't make a PC game, financially. But not having a PC version means that HB needs to come up with some serious plans for how the game can be sustained, purely for the fans.

1. Interest in the rugby series, with nothing from the developers since 2007, has been maintained almost exclusively by modders on TRF who keep the game as aesthetically up to date as they can. This occurred because the PC version is moddable. With no PC version, this won't happen again.

2. One way round this is to release a game every year. I don't know what HB's plans are, but I'd guess unless this one is a huge success, there won't be another rugby game until 2015.

3. Another way would be downloadable content - roster, kit and league updates. There would probably have to be two of these every year. Would this be financially worth it? Probably not, although if someone told me that EA had made 2010/11 update for Rugby 08, I'd buy the game in a flash. Updates could keep the game 'on the shelves' when it would otherwise be out of date.

4. The final option I see is for the developers to make Rugby 11 easily editable in-game - with options to edit/ create teams, players and competitions. This wouldn't help keep kits up to date, but it would tick every other box.

If none of these situations happen, then we'll be left with a rugby game that will quickly begin to feel old and outdated, no matter how much we might like it when it first comes out. Whether or not efforts are made too keep the game up to date will be indicative of how much HB values its fans over the prospect of making a quick buck every four years on the back of world cup fever.

All fair points, id like to see it on the PC but financial and piracy issues surely will have played a part in deciding why not to release it on the PC.

 

[Getofmeland]

As I said No release has been announced YET! It may be they go down the route, but only time will tell...

 

[gingergenius]

All fair points, id like to see it on the PC but financial and piracy issues surely will have played a part in deciding why not to release it on the PC.

yup, so i'd suggest they might want to make up for that elsewhere...

 

[beerholder]

All fair points, id like to see it on the PC but financial and piracy issues surely will have played a part in deciding why not to release it on the PC.

I don't see how piracy is worse than not selling at all for the PC platform. And the game is not even hard to mod it, if you look at Fifa11 you'll see that they hardly even tried to optimize it for PC. And yet, it sold!

 

[TRF_Cymro]

I don't see how piracy is worse than not selling at all for the PC platform. And the game is not even hard to mod it, if you look at Fifa11 you'll see that they hardly even tried to optimize it for PC. And yet, it sold!

Really?

Football has a bigger market that Rugby and does sell well on PC, thats why you always see FIFA released on the PC. Piracy is also theft, on the forum we have had to deal with numerous people who have tried to use the patches with illegally downloaded games. Sales for the EA Rugby Game series has probably played a factor in the decision, was mentioned in one of the FAQs that for the time being its being released on consoles only. Its tough but at the end of the day most things now can be pirated.

 

[d1e1m]

Yea no offense Cymro but I'm going to have to call bullshit on your assumption that PC games are both riddle by piracy and that they're not profitable. Your negative experiences on this forum have colored your opinion a little too strongly. You only have to look at games like World of Warcraft and Minecraft and any game on the Steam network to see that while yes there are the Halos and Call of Dutys that may spike the for consoles occasionally, the biggest market is on PC and mobile devices.

If HB decided to release on Steam, something a lot of developers are now doing because they are one of the best, if not the best in the publishing business, at helping small studios with good games make a shiteload of money with very little effort. And if it's not soccer, basketball or Madden, EA Sports spends frak all promoting a sports game, plus they don't even have the Rugby PC for download off their store anymore so i've had to save my image repeatedly so if I were to ever lose it in a crash, boom, my only recourse is to pirate it (a game I already paid for). You're operating according to the old industry rules but you still have time to adapt and make a shiteload of money that smaller developers are seeing by tailoring their plans to better suit todays PC customer. While you might not like it, PC is the biggest and most lasting system.

 

[TRF_Cymro]

Yea no offense Cymro but I'm going to have to call bullshit on your assumption that PC games are both riddle by piracy and that they're not profitable. Your negative experiences on this forum have colored your opinion a little too strongly. You only have to look at games like World of Warcraft and Minecraft and any game on the Steam network to see that while yes there are the Halos and Call of Dutys that may spike the for consoles occasionally, the biggest market is on PC and mobile devices.

If HB decided to release on Steam, something a lot of developers are now doing because they are one of the best, if not the best in the publishing business, at helping small studios with good games make a shiteload of money with very little effort. And if it's not soccer, basketball or Madden, EA Sports spends frak all promoting a sports game, plus they don't even have the Rugby PC for download off their store anymore so i've had to save my image repeatedly so if I were to ever lose it in a crash, boom, my only recourse is to pirate it (a game I already paid for). You're operating according to the old industry rules but you still have time to adapt and make a shiteload of money that smaller developers are seeing by tailoring their plans to better suit todays PC customer. While you might not like it, PC is the biggest and most lasting system.

Great another who just likes to have a foul mouth ...

Wow hang on, Ive read it on this board and also on the EA Sports Boards and its been mentioned on this board long before you joined that was a problem with the EA Rugby Series regarding piracy. Also what are you on about negative experiences?

PC may have steam and what not. PC has lasted, thanks for pointing that out to me Z_Z. Really the console market is were games are now making money for companies.

 

[Teh Mite]

TBH you're not comparing apples with apples when you Say World of Warcraft (an MMO) or Minecraft (a shareware piece of crap) with an action-sports ***le aimed at single and 2-player experiences.

FPS, RTS and MMOs work on the PC (and sell buttloads), Sports ***les however don't unless they're in the £3.99 bargain bucket being sold under the "Sold Out" range.

It's a shame but true. It's also a lot less ******* about to use an Xbox on a big screen with friends to play a game then it is setting up a PC, through a box, into a TV and then calibrating and configuring umpteen million different controllers.


One of HBs chief reasons for what they said about PC development when we did the first linked up in Q&A No. 1 with them was because torrents of Rugby 08 were out within hours of release.

 

[beerholder]

Really?

Football has a bigger market that Rugby and does sell well on PC, thats why you always see FIFA released on the PC. Piracy is also theft, on the forum we have had to deal with numerous people who have tried to use the patches with illegally downloaded games. Sales for the EA Rugby Game series has probably played a factor in the decision, was mentioned in one of the FAQs that for the time being its being released on consoles only. Its tough but at the end of the day most things now can be pirated.

I don't see how your post has any relevance with the subject I was aiming at... In my post it was stated that the PC with all it's piracy is still a selling platform that must be exploited. Even if you sell 1 copy for 5 pirated ones there are still money being made instead of not selling it in the first place at all. And seeing how developers give so little effort to mod the game from consoles to PC there's no real expense in making one (i.e. FIFA).

 

[TRF_Cymro]

I don't see how your post has any relevance with the subject I was aiming at... In my post it was stated that the PC with all it's piracy is still a selling platform that must be exploited. Even if you sell 1 copy for 5 pirated ones there are still money being made instead of not selling it in the first place at all. And seeing how developers give so little effort to mod the game from consoles to PC there's no real expense in making one (i.e. FIFA).

Got the facts for that to prove it?

If there are more pirated copies and purchased copies the game is making a loss.

 

[The Juice]

Yes game piracy is a problem but i don't think its enough to simply boycott a entire player market. If this is the first game of many for HB then they want to try and get its name out there as nuch as possible and seeing as many people don't own consoles it would be a mistake to just outright ignore the PC gamers, sometimes despite the risk of piracy and other threats its good risk to take in order to get the name of your game out there.

 

[Shimon]

Piracy is becoming too much of a scapegoat.
If a company says the game didn't do well due to piracy the game was probably crap.

 

[beerholder]

Got the facts for that to prove it?

If there are more pirated copies and purchased copies the game is making a loss.

Not necessarily. I don't know how it is's the same in the software business, but the music industry has something called "the piracy buffer" in the price of a CD. Meaning that if 5 people buy a CD they also pay for 10 people who never bought the thing. It's how the companies survive piracy.

Besides, there are ways to counter piracy. Like make the game available for PC 2-3 months after it's initial launch. Or put it on steam, or establish a pre-order and send the game only for the people that bought the thing....

As I said, selling for PC with all the piracy is a lesser loss than not selling at all.