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Mortal reports more losses for Q1
psykobilly
Member Posts: 338
http://www.aktietorget.se/NewsItem.aspx?ID=62207
A loss of 621,000 SEK (86k US$) reported.
[mod edit]
The quick math: 86k dividied by 3 months is roughly 28.6k$ loss per month.
28,600 a month loss requires roughly 1,906 additional subs to reach break even.
Welcome to reality people.
Comments
You have to admire the loyalty and tenacity of this kid's dad, or his incredibly well endowed bank account.
"Look at me when I'm hitting you!"
26k a month loss that is a hell of alot.
Maybe if awakening had released in q1 like it should of it mgiht of reduced that but no way it would put them in the + even with awakening. but it isnt clear i mean they have -700,000 profit but is that more or less than last q.
yet the report does state they recieved more monthly payments 1st quarter than last years 4th quarter, so there most likely was more subs, so the fanbois arent exactly lying.
cash and cash equivalents at the beginning 135754 728547
cash and cash equivalents at the end 117808 739292
there are 2 types of mmo, imitators and innovaters.
Well, no surprise there. Will take them some time to achieve breakeven with this pace.
Anyone else notice this "The number of monthly payments during the first quarter of 2012 increased slightly compared with the fourth quarter of 2011. * The sale of licenses in the first quarter 2012 has increased by 68 percent compared with fourth quarter 2011."
So its confirmed again that Mortal Onlines population is increasing.
They stated that they plan to reach a break even point in terms of finances around July or August.
Never trust a screenshot or a youtube video without a version stamp!
Because it's extremely difficult for an MMO to attract 2,000 new players. LOL..
Seriously though, All Star Vault would have to do to get 2,000 new players would be to start a advertising campaign on MMORPG.com like World of Tanks does...
If SV advertised, or maybe allowed Mortal to be sold on Steam we would see tens of thousands of new subs. 1,906 subs is nothing.
Never trust a screenshot or a youtube video without a version stamp!
Getting them to stick around would be a different story though. Personally I feel MO, darkfall and the likes opened my eyes to how shallow those type of games are and how bad their communities tend to be. From my own experiences with the game I wouldn't be willing to bet money on it turning those numbers with advertising. Atleast not in the long run.
See, the only time it will be confirmed is when it says in plain text "number of active unique players have increased". Henrik is good at playing with numbers and words, as he did now. The increased sale of licenses could be due to people getting second accounts because of the low population so they can sustain themselves, and increased subs is a direct outcome of that.
I too can play around with words :P
They have been stating that every half a year since release. I'll believe that when I see that.
Yep.... Population is definitely on the rise. I mean it's a matter of fact the more customers you have the less money you make.
Henrik said on an IRC chat yesterday that they are going to do marketing with The Awakening - he didn't go into what type.
"In MO, even the haters are hardcore!" - ltank
Anyway why in hell do you care..
I was playing MO a few months ago and it was an awesome game and when i was playing the population was getting bigger each day..
Sadly i dont have the time to put into it at the moment but when i was playing i had 2 account subbed and could not get enough.
Sure not everyone will like Open world FFA pvp with full loot but for me its the only way MMORPGs should be..
The difference is in execution, not in concept.
What each MMO - DF and MO - set out to do would have actually created a very rich and engaging gaming experience.
The problem is, very generally speaking, both developers failed to provide enough "tools" for the players to work with.
As far as the community goes, that's a failing of the developers to understand and prepare to deal with the people they would attract.
Both companies seemed to have the naive notion that players would just pour in and play the game exactly the way they intended. Players hardly ever do that. The way developers intend others to play their game, and the way others actually play it seldom overlap.
Anytime you see percentages instead of hard numbers, someone is sheltering an inconvenient truth.
It is NOT confirmed that Mortal Onlines population is increasing: If the number of monthly payments is relatively stable, but more license sales happened, that means new accounts came in, but enough new or old players left the game to keep subscription numbers roughly the same.
You are of course right that they have been saying break even is just around the corner every few months since release. Was supposed to happen last year, was supposed to happen the year before.
I would actually gain some respect for Henrik if he came out and reported real monthly subscription numbers, instead of misleading investors with percentages and 'slight increases'.
I agree, if awakening turns out to be all it's cracked up to be then putting out a nice video to some gaming news sites like this one showing off the cool new things like AI with a dragon and trolls eating peoples faces and a smooth UI revamp coupled with a welcome back weekend to all former subscribers and trial users and I think they could put a big dent in the road to profitability if those people decide to stick around. I personally think the revamped PvE alone with bring in a lot of players.
Assuming Awakening is good like I said.
all MO has to do really to get a shit load of new subs is.. add a toggle option for nudity which in turn will alow MO to be added to Steam. Then market the game correctly as an mmo version of TES and subs would roll in. Of course it would be technically lying since MO isnt really likr TES but almost every game ive ever played was a disapointment after listening to the developers and watching the trailers. Most likely they would drain subs faster and faster each month but for those first 2 months the game would make ahell of alot.
but has mo lost more money than last quarter? since it isnt clear to me are they in more - or slightly less?
there are 2 types of mmo, imitators and innovaters.
I seriously question your reading comprehension skills. Never in the document did it say Mortal Onlines population is "relatively stable" it said there was a slight increase in subscriptions which means there's more people paying a monthly sub, which means more players.
Keep in mind that when you buy a "license" you don't need to pay a monthly subscription for the first month. The 68% increaes in license sales largely represents users who played the free trial and decided to buy the game. Most of these users will buy another montly subscription. Many of these new monthly subs will not show up until the next financial quater report.
It seems StarVault has already outlived larger game companies with 100 million dollar plus investments like 38 Studios. They must me doing something right. Just like in Eve Online Mortals online improves over time, and it's subscriptions grow.
Never trust a screenshot or a youtube video without a version stamp!
I seriously question your reading comprehension skills. A 'slight increase' could mean +1 sub, or anything above that. In other words - it doesn't say a damn thing meaningful. People subbing does not even always translate to active players in game.
You have absolutely no factual data to make statements like 'most of these (trial) users (who bought the game) will buy another monthly subscription'. Everything I have seen is quite the opposite: Very few people can stand the absolutely horrible new user experience, and quit the first month even if they bought the game.
What they are doing right is getting unseen funding from somewhere to cover the 28k per month loss they are taking.
But you can necro this thread in August when "Henrik is going to reach break even" and tell me that you told me so.
You really have no idea how business work, do you.. Comparing indie company with no publisher to a multimillion investment (and its 75m, not 100m), publisher, obligations and loans.
You should read the actual report as well (not just the summary). The last section is particularly interesting.
All time classic MY NEW FAVORITE POST! (Keep laying those bricks)
"I should point out that no other company has shipped out a beta on a disc before this." - Official Mortal Online Lead Community Moderator
Proudly wearing the Harbinger badge since Dec 23, 2017.
Coined the phrase "Role-Playing a Development Team" January 2018
"Oddly Slap is the main reason I stay in these forums." - Mystichaze April 9th 2018
Getting it on Steam in its current form would be bad.
Have you seen angry steam users? Hell hath no scorn...
Last thing MO needs is an even more popular Mortal Online forum lightly moderated on SPUF.
I think someone has played the "population is increasing!" card about every other day.
It should be about World of Warcraft levels by now.
They're still at a loss, but quarter-over-quarter it is an improvement.
nice, at least it is going up now. With awakening almost guaranteed to release this quarter i suspect they may very well break even for the next report.
there are 2 types of mmo, imitators and innovaters.
I really would like to see some real numbers instead of the PR spin that Henrik puts on these things. If I recall correctly, there were big cuts in January and SV has less full-time employees than I have fingers on my left hand. (Anyone remember Henrik talking about using more consultants and less actual staff?). How can Henrik keep making cuts and still be losing money? Honestly, the population is so low that one new subscriber could amount to "a slight increase in subs". If box sales in the 4th quarter were 5 and this quarter they actually sold 8 copies of the game, that would account for the 68% increase. Since no one here (including username) actually knows the numbers, the statements made by Henrik give us very little actual information.
I do think we will see a good size increase in subs when awakenings comes out. I also believe it will be short-lived just like it was for the last expansion.
Short lived? There are players who have been playing since launch, as well as many newer players who came in afterwards.
Just like the other major expansions this one will create a permanent bump in population. Yes, many people will play after the expansion and leave, but many more will stay.
Look at the chart above your post. You don't make 600k net sales by selling 8 copies or increasing your subscriber base by one.
Never trust a screenshot or a youtube video without a version stamp!