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TL;DR: To my understanding, this article makes no sense because Skyrim's re-releases funded Starfield. > You play it, you have a great time with it (or not),

TL;DR: To my understanding, this article makes no sense because Skyrim's re-releases funded Starfield. > You play it, you have a great time with it (or not), and you move on with your life. There are series with fans who will play and buy multiple times. Bethesda's own actions prove this: they re-released Skyrim for a decade. That's not hyperbole. The trademark was registered in 2013 [1]. Bethesda used a decade of Skyrim (2011)[2] re-releases to fund Starfield. > For context, Elden Ring had less than 5 percent of its peak player base six months after release. Elden Ring and souls games have an enduring fanbase. I don't know if Bethesda has good will left for that. First Fallout 76 went poorly, then Starfield. Now? Bethesda is Microsoft property. To me, that reads as a practical way of dealing with what Todd and others probably saw: there's not enough long tail left, and game studios without strong culture seem to fall apart after a while. Bethesda is no exception. [1] https://www.gamespot.com/articles/zenimax-entering-starfield/1100-6406229/ https://www.gamespot.com/articles/zenimax-entering-starfield... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Elder_Scrolls_V:_Skyrim https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Elder_Scrolls_V:_Skyrim

justinclift 3y ago
> Fans will buy multiple copies of a game they love. Why would someone do that? Asking because I've bought many games over the years. Not sure why I'd need to re-buy something I've already bought though.
- jerlam 3y ago
  Usually it's on different platforms, but re-releases can also have graphical upgrades, extended plot options, or even total engine remakes.
- mdekkers 3y ago
  I have bought Skyrim a few times, for different platforms and some special edition stuff
  - justinclift 3y ago
    Thanks, that makes sense. :) -- I remember Skyrim releasing a "Special Edition" of some kind on Steam a few years ago, which (from rough memory) the owners of the existing edition on Steam were supposed to get automatically upgraded to if had some kind of pass. Or along those lines, I don't remember the exact details any more. I do remember that even though I had the required pass, they never gave me the Special Edition version of Skyrim that I was supposed to be upgraded to. Typical Valve. :/
    - pushfoo 3y ago
      In addition to what jerlam and others said, simple bug fixes can tip nostalgic fans over into purchasing again for a low price. As to Skyrim, there's a chance that's on Bethesda's side rather than Valve's. I haven't used their publishing tools, but it's possible someone specified the upgrade criteria incorrectly. Even if it's late, you could try reaching out to Valve's support. They might say no, but it's worth trying.
      - justinclift 3y ago
        > Even if it's late, you could try reaching out to Valve's support. Generally that's good advice, but I've had enough negative experiences with Valve Support that my policy now is "Valve can fuck themselves sideways". Thus only buying things from GOG or anything-other-than-Valve these days. Not going to bother contacting them for this. :)
        pushfoo 3y ago
        > I've had enough negative experiences with Valve Support That's surprising to me, but your reaction is understandable. GOG's business model also caters exactly to the type of fan and scenario I was talking about in my top-level comment. For example, GOG has Daggerfall, an early TES game from Bethesda [1]. > from GOG or anything-other-than-Valve How do you organize your games for launch? I've heard of people using Steam as their main UI, but it seems you probably use another option to browse and launch. [1] https://www.gog.com/en/game/the_elder_scrolls_chapter_ii_daggerfall https://www.gog.com/en/game/the_elder_scrolls_chapter_ii_dag...

justinclift 3y ago

> Fans will buy multiple copies of a game they love. Why would someone do that? Asking because I've bought many games over the years. Not sure why I'd need to re-buy something I've already bought though.

jerlam 3y ago
Usually it's on different platforms, but re-releases can also have graphical upgrades, extended plot options, or even total engine remakes.
mdekkers 3y ago
I have bought Skyrim a few times, for different platforms and some special edition stuff
- justinclift 3y ago
  Thanks, that makes sense. :) -- I remember Skyrim releasing a "Special Edition" of some kind on Steam a few years ago, which (from rough memory) the owners of the existing edition on Steam were supposed to get automatically upgraded to if had some kind of pass. Or along those lines, I don't remember the exact details any more. I do remember that even though I had the required pass, they never gave me the Special Edition version of Skyrim that I was supposed to be upgraded to. Typical Valve. :/
  - pushfoo 3y ago
    In addition to what jerlam and others said, simple bug fixes can tip nostalgic fans over into purchasing again for a low price. As to Skyrim, there's a chance that's on Bethesda's side rather than Valve's. I haven't used their publishing tools, but it's possible someone specified the upgrade criteria incorrectly. Even if it's late, you could try reaching out to Valve's support. They might say no, but it's worth trying.
    - justinclift 3y ago
      > Even if it's late, you could try reaching out to Valve's support. Generally that's good advice, but I've had enough negative experiences with Valve Support that my policy now is "Valve can fuck themselves sideways". Thus only buying things from GOG or anything-other-than-Valve these days. Not going to bother contacting them for this. :)
      - pushfoo 3y ago
        > I've had enough negative experiences with Valve Support That's surprising to me, but your reaction is understandable. GOG's business model also caters exactly to the type of fan and scenario I was talking about in my top-level comment. For example, GOG has Daggerfall, an early TES game from Bethesda [1]. > from GOG or anything-other-than-Valve How do you organize your games for launch? I've heard of people using Steam as their main UI, but it seems you probably use another option to browse and launch. [1] https://www.gog.com/en/game/the_elder_scrolls_chapter_ii_daggerfall https://www.gog.com/en/game/the_elder_scrolls_chapter_ii_dag...