THQ Has It’s Own E-Shop, Metro 2033 Exclusives Via New Online Store
THQ is making a move that in my opinion is just the beginning of many more developers/publishers taking the “Download it here not there” approach, why pay ridiculous royalty fees with another service when it can be distributed in house?
Jon Rooke, UK & European Marketing Director id quoted making these statements:
“Digital distribution is clearly becoming a widely accepted way for consumers to transact their PC purchases. THQ has some of the industry’s best known and critically acclaimed franchises and we are very pleased to be able to offer our consumers the ability to purchase these titles direct from THQ.”
“We plan to offer consumers added value on our key franchises with exclusive content such as the Librarian Wargear Pack, only available through the THQ E-Shop, and a range of other promotional offers on an ongoing basis so users are encouraged to check back regularly.”
Continue for the full details……
The Press Release:
THQ E-SHOP LAUNCHES WITH EXCLUSIVE OFFERS FOR METRO 2033™ AND WARHAMMER® 40,000™: DAWN OF WAR® II – CHAOS RISING™
E-Shop Offers Exclusive In-Game Content for Upcoming Titles as well as Massive Savings on THQ’s PC back catalogue
AGOURA HILLS, Calif. March 9, 2010 – THQ Inc. today announced the launch of the European E-Shop allowing gamers to buy, download and play a wide range of THQ PC titles including the award winning Warhammer® 40,000™: Dawn of War® II, Company of Heroes® RTS range, and explosive new titles like Red Faction®: Guerrilla™.
In addition to these time honored classics the E-Shop will also act as a distribution channel for THQ’s upcoming PC titles allowing consumers to pre-order and pre-load their games. As an added incentive in the UK any users who pre-order the atmospheric Metro 2033™ will receive a digital copy of the ground-breaking Red Faction: Guerrilla for free, while the first 6,000 pre-orders of Relic® Entertainment’s upcoming Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II – Chaos Rising will receive the exclusive Librarian Wargear Pack for free.
There you have it, we will be seeing more and more companies distributing their downloadable games and game(s) content directly to their customers versus selling them with in a third party E-Store or brick and mortar retail chains in the near future.
Peace..!
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hawkie007
Sounds all well and good but in reality the whole thing is currently a joke. I’m not sure what people like THQ are smoking. Do they think gamers are idiots? It appears so.
Why would anyone in their right mind pay £39.99 for a digital copy (with no resale value) as opposed to a retail copy (with resale value) for £24.99?
Not to mention the fact that Steam were doing exactly the same deal (“free” RFG) for @£27.00 or so. THQ is not the only example of a developer/publisher doing this and for the consumer there is absolutely no benefit to buy directly from developers/publishers when they are charging a massive premium for the “privilege”.
Are developers/publishers really that stupid that they are trying to charge @50% more than 3rd party digital resellers and actually make any sales?
If you are seriously suggesting, SocialGamer, that this a move to avoid “ridiculous royalty fees” then it shows quite clearly that publishers/developers such as THQ hold gamers in contempt and are only trying to increase profit margins by ridiculous amounts through overcharging and blatant profiteering. It also suggests that you haven’t actually looked into the matter very seriously and noticed the HUGE price discrepancies between 3rd part services (like Steam) and developer/publisher E-shops. The real question you should be asking and attempting to answer is why are developers/publishers acting in this way? To me these sort of moves have a certain ring of the Bobby Kotick’s about them and are also a clear vindication of the popularity of 3rd party services such as Steam (2m users online currently as of writing (mid afternoon in Europe)) which offer gamers great value and great service which developers/publishers are quite clearly unwilling and unable to provide.
Social Gamer
Hey hawkie, thanks for your incite. You make some good points, but in all reality. If people actually start buying directly from the publisher I will, as an example I buy my mobile phones from corporate stores and never go to the 3rd party privately owned mobile shops, even when they offer me a better deal. I just like dealing directly. But that’s just me an old guy set in his ways with millions more that feel just like do.
I would dump steam in a hot minute if I could just download my PC games directly from publishers website.
I am not the norm, so my thinking is beyond influence and can’t be changed “ever”..rotfl
But thanks for your comment. Peace
P.S.
Once these companies get a stable and solid online distribution setup, you can say goodbye to all of the 3rd party exclusives. I’m sure people will be allowed to buy from Amazon DL, Gamestop DL, Direct2Drive and Steam among a ton of others…But with little to no exclusive DLC. Trust…!
I’ve been following the industry now for over 2 decades and I see the future……
hawkie007
Good discussion although I find it extremely hard to believe that there are “millions” of gamers willing to pay 40-50% markup on the same product from an inferior service currently and certainly not as gesture of goodwill to these publishers/developers.
I also find it extremely hard to ever see individual publishers/developers, outside of a few huge behemoths, ever being able to compete with the Steam powerhouse (for example), who can afford to run loss-leaders (which developers/publishers cannot afford to do), but if people like yourself are happy to pay over the odds to line certain company pockets then fair play to you. Me, personally, I’d rather be buying 3 new games from a 3rd party than 2 games direct from a developer/publisher source with or without “exclusive” DLC.
As for following the industry I guess that gives me an advantage over you of at least a decade from following and working within it
Just as a testament though to your psychic powers, can I have the weekend lottery numbers? Cheers
P.S
Just as a point of interest, I’m sure you have Metro 2033 pre-ordered for PC (as do I) and where have you placed your pre-order?
Also you may be interested in this tech article on the Metro 2033 engine: http://ow.ly/1giZv