Steam Strategy Fest Sale 2023

[BornGinger]

There is now a sale going on at the Steam website and none of the Combat Mission games are being sold at a discount.

In August 28 to September 4 is the Steam Strategy Fest which could give players the chance to buy the Combat Mission games on Steam a bit cheaper and with at least a 30% discount.

Considering how old the game engine is and all the issues it has, which often have been mentioned in different posts, the Steam Strategy Fest is a good opportunity for Battlefront to be able to sell some of these games being run by their old granny engine.

Not that I'm going to buy and more games on the old game engine but it could be good for Battlefront to show players that it isn't a too greedy company.

What do you other forum members think? Isn't the Steam Strategy Fest a good opportunity for Battlefront to get some new customers so they finally get the thumb out and begin making a more up to date game engine with new WW2 and modern(ish) day games connected to it?

Edited May 1, 2023 by BornGinger

[Simicro]

The sale ongoing right now on Steam and advertised in the headline is done by the 'Devolver' publisher only, so it is normal you don't find discount on CM. Then you have sales by theme, as the one you mentioned (Strategy Fest). And finally the 'general purpose'/seasonal sale which will be from June 29 to July 13. In my experience in those seasonal sales there are generally discounts on CM titles.

I've noticed that with every CM release on Steam, there is always many complaints regarding the price and the old graphic engine, to the point that 'pricing' sub-forums for each game were created. I rarely see that...

What do you mean by 'good opportunity for Battlefront to be able to sell some of these games being run by their old granny engine?' Are you talking about CM1 games (that are already sold on GOG), or CM2 games with an engine version lower than 4? People are already complaining about the current outdated engine, why would they buy, even for a lower price, a game with even an older game engine?

I think that the partnership, or whatever it is called, between BFC and Matrix/Slitherine, aims of course at increasing the revenues through new target audiences and new marketing actions... but without changing the base price... except during sales. My assumption is that it works to some extent (but not massively), otherwise they would have stopped, unless they are tied by a contract. You are probably aware that the plan is to have all CM2 games equipped with engine 4 or so on Steam by the end of the year. I think that the price (compared to the game engine, and more specifically from a graphics and fluidity perspective) remains a strong barrier to a better popularity of CM. Now from BFC perspective, I can understand that lowering the base price is also a matter of financial risk.

Edited May 2, 2023 by Simicro

[A Canadian Cat]

20 hours ago, BornGinger said:

What do you other forum members think? Isn't the Steam Strategy Fest a good opportunity for Battlefront to get some new customers

I'll let BFC and Slytherine figure out the optimal marketing decisions.

 

20 hours ago, BornGinger said:

so they finally get the thumb out and begin making a more up to date game engine with new WW2 and modern(ish) day games connected to it?

Well that's a bit graphic or silly I'm not sure which:-). Sorry that BFC have not moved fast enough to satisfy you /s

 

29 minutes ago, Simicro said:

I've noticed that with every CM release on Steam, there is always many complaints regarding the price and the old graphic engine

Indeed. My favourite marketing expert had some insight on prices that he shared with my one day over lunch. He said, if you price your product so that no one decides not to by or complain about the price - its too low. His heuristic is that you maximize your revenue if you price your product high enough so that some people just walk away. The theory is that the rest of the people do see the value at the price will more than make up for those that walk away.

The thing that happens is those that walk away never accept that. Just watch what the reaction to my saying that will be

I think the evidence that a came company, BFC, are still alive and well speaks to the fact that they might just understand how to set their prices, despite what all the game playing complaining experts have to say . Having said that I so expect there will be a few changes since Slytherine is now participating in the discussion. I have no idea if they will be big changes or even any changes in price. We'll just have to wait and see.

[Codreanu]

I'm always pro-sales, who doesn't like getting something for cheaper than they normally would? Something that BFC really needs to do is to update all of the demos to the latest engine version and add them on Steam. I'd imagine that there are more than a few people out there on Steam who thinks the entry price of CM is too steep but would maybe change their mind if there was an easily accessible demo for them to try.

[Redwolf]

12 hours ago, Codreanu said:

Something that BFC really needs to do is to update all of the demos to the latest engine version and add them on Steam.

Word. @BFCElvis

[BFCElvis]

3 hours ago, Redwolf said:

Word. @BFCElvis

Yeah......It has definitely been discussed. Not necessarily for Steam but updating all of the demos. What keeps getting in the way is that there aren't enough hours in the day. Heck, the Cold War demo hasn't been finished. 

Does Steam do demos? None of the games that I ever purchased on Steam had them. I also have access to every Slitherine/Matrix title and, although I haven't been through them all, I haven't seen any demos in those games. 

[Simicro]

2 minutes ago, BFCElvis said:

sed on Steam had them. I also have access to every Slitherine/Matrix title and, although I haven't been through them all, I haven't seen any demos in those games. 

The 'demo functionality' does exist on Steam. If you have not seen one it's because the developer/publisher made the choice to not propose a demo.

[BFCElvis]

On 5/1/2023 at 1:43 PM, BornGinger said:

There is now a sale going on at the Steam website and none of the Combat Mission games are being sold at a discount.

In August 28 to September 4 is the Steam Strategy Fest which could give players the chance to buy the Combat Mission games on Steam a bit cheaper and with at least a 30% discount.

Considering how old the game engine is and all the issues it has, which often have been mentioned in different posts, the Steam Strategy Fest is a good opportunity for Battlefront to be able to sell some of these games being run by their old granny engine.

Not that I'm going to buy and more games on the old game engine but it could be good for Battlefront to show players that it isn't a too greedy company.

What do you other forum members think? Isn't the Steam Strategy Fest a good opportunity for Battlefront to get some new customers so they finally get the thumb out and begin making a more up to date game engine with new WW2 and modern(ish) day games connected to it?

Whenever Matrix and Steam have had sales we managed to stamp down our greed long enough to match their pricing.  

[BornGinger]

On 5/2/2023 at 2:38 PM, Simicro said:

What do you mean by 'good opportunity for Battlefront to be able to sell some of these games being run by their old granny engine?'

Compared to other games the current game engine for the Combat Mission games is just as old as your next door granny. That's at least what it seems like considering all the complaints it gets.

We'll find out what kind of "wonder" Battlefront is making with the update of the engine we were supposed to have in November 2022 but now maybe will have in the Autumn this year.

I'm fairly sure that the coming update won't be enough for most, or many, players.

Edited May 5, 2023 by BornGinger