Q&A Thread about the Com2uS Acquisition

[adion]

Will previously requested changes/updates be revisited with, or by, the new team? For instance, the experimental voice that is not in sync with the play on the field and adding a lexicon to go with it? There have been many other requests that I can recall just now.

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by phillyboy19

While I am not nearly as active as I used to be on the forums, I am still very much a dedicated OOTP player. However, selling full ownership to a foreign phone company worries me. I fear that perfect team and microtransactions will take over the game. It feels like within half a decade this could be a very different game for all the wrong reasons. This is a company that has focused on games that are very pay to win and I feel as if Perfect Team will take over. I trust you Markus and Andreas, but how long until they decide that the bottom line is all that matters?

Originally Posted by quillenl

Don't want to beat a dead horse, so will keep it short.

Com2us BBB Page

"Customer Complaint:
Com2Us came to BBB’s attention in June 2011. Complaints on file state accounts are hacked and consumers are unable to regain access.

Mail sent to the address BBB currently has on file for Com2Us at 2440 Sand Hill Rd. Menlo Park, CA has been returned by the post office as undeliverable. Without a local address BBB is unable to process complaints. According to our findings, this company is located in Seoul Korea."

1) There's not a great history of studios being acquired and continuing the quality they previously had. The history is even worse when we are speaking of acquisitions by Korean Market companies where the business models tend to be "different". Someone knows of a success story please enlighten me as I am open minded to being incorrect and would love a case study where a product continued it's success up to 5 years later.

2) There's zero indication anywhere I look that customer support is even relevant for Com2us. That might not matter in the short term when the current team is here on the forums... but it might not be a bad idea to consider steam purchases going forward. I'm not confident I'll be able to reinstall a license if I run into an issue down the line without these guys here on the forums helping out. With Steam you at least know you will have access to an older verision of OOTP in 2025 no matter what direction the game goes.

Com2us has seen increasing assets the last 3 years all while their revenue has been decreasing. They've been acquiring with an eye towards expanding to overseas markets. I can't imagine they are interested in long term growth in the PC market as there's ample opportunity to do that in Korea... so to me this is all about the potential of OOTP Go world wide for mobile and Perfect Team.

Mobile and Perfect Team fit their existing business wonderfully... the base game really does not.

No offense to Markus, but I've heard this exact press release from Bioware, Flagship Studios, Turbine Games, Westwood Studios, Lionhead Studios and others. People like to talk about how much this means for an increase in resources for a studio... but historically that has been anything but the case.

tldr version: Put serious consideration into buying a copy of this game on Steam if you expect to be playing it years from now.

I strongly believe that Markus and Andreas believe their assurances to the contrary but I cannot help sharing the pessimism expressed in these two posts.

What Markus and Andreas have been told and what they have negotiated may be true for now, but down the line, business will be business. I thank them for 21 versions of the best baseball simulation game that I have ever experienced but I cannot help the feeling that this is, as has been repeated several times here, "the beginning of the end."

[Déjà Bru]

As a matter of fact, as a parting gift (perhaps), I am about to follow the suggestion to "Put serious consideration into buying a copy of this game on Steam if you expect to be playing it years from now."

[chucksabr]

Congratulations on the sale, Markus. If any entrepreneur I have ever met deserves to cash in, it's you, and thank you for staying on board for however long you choose to and not moving to Tahiti or someplace else to retire.

I'm sorry if I missed this question, but I do not like Steam. I find the relentless marketing by their app through my Windows platform to be annoying, so I prefer to obtain the game and download it from OOTP directly. Will we still be able to do so, at least for a little while, or is that going away immediately and everything moving to 100% Steam sale/distribution?

[dodger300]

I hope you got stacks of cash, I cant think of anybody who deserves it more. I do hope things stay the course, but if they dont I could never begrudge a man for taking care of himself and his family. Well done sirs.

[Eugene Church]

Markus, I hope you and Andreas will benefit greatly from this new business arrangement... both of you richly deserve it.

Both of you have made my baseball dreams come true with OOTPB.

Whatever happens in the future... I hope it is all good for you and Andreas.

[ihatenames]

First of all congrats. You and the team deserve all the success in the world. I’ve been a fan of this game since Ootp4. I have bought every version since and helped beta test 3 versions. I learned first hand how you all work tremendously hard and I’m excited for you.

That said, this news makes me very nervous. Can you ease my worried mind?

[Giants44]

congrats - for many developers and even non tech companies I would be skeptical and concerned. because of your unbelievable track record I am extremely happy for you guys. I have said it many times, but no other product I have bought has so consistently delivered. no other company has been so responsive and worked so well with the community and myself personally to improve constantly. I really can't say enough great things about the company and have introduced the game to dozens of friends over the years. I hope this helps the game continue to grow and improve and for all ownership to achieve wild financial success. thank you, congrats and keep going!

now, about some of my wish list items like moving to 64bit and\or cloud based online leagues with live streaming....

[Markus Heinsohn]

Originally Posted by adion

Will previously requested changes/updates be revisited with, or by, the new team? For instance, the experimental voice that is not in sync with the play on the field and adding a lexicon to go with it? There have been many other requests that I can recall just now.

There is no new team

[Markus Heinsohn]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

What Markus and Andreas have been told and what they have negotiated may be true for now, but down the line, business will be business. I thank them for 21 versions of the best baseball simulation game that I have ever experienced but I cannot help the feeling that this is, as has been repeated several times here, "the beginning of the end."

I am pretty sure you will be convinced of the contrary in 2-3 years

[Markus Heinsohn]

Originally Posted by chucksabr

I'm sorry if I missed this question, but I do not like Steam. I find the relentless marketing by their app through my Windows platform to be annoying, so I prefer to obtain the game and download it from OOTP directly. Will we still be able to do so, at least for a little while, or is that going away immediately and everything moving to 100% Steam sale/distribution?

Yes, as already answered in the top post, our shop system will not change.

[Markus Heinsohn]

Originally Posted by Giants44

congrats - for many developers and even non tech companies I would be skeptical and concerned. because of your unbelievable track record I am extremely happy for you guys. I have said it many times, but no other product I have bought has so consistently delivered. no other company has been so responsive and worked so well with the community and myself personally to improve constantly. I really can't say enough great things about the company and have introduced the game to dozens of friends over the years. I hope this helps the game continue to grow and improve and for all ownership to achieve wild financial success. thank you, congrats and keep going!

now, about some of my wish list items like moving to 64bit and\or cloud based online leagues with live streaming....

Thanks for the kind words!

Moving to 64 bit is the plan for the Windows version of OOTP 22, yes. The Mac version already is 64 bit.

[jnix0000]

Originally Posted by jnix0000

Through this Q&A, I was able to get your opinion well.

Now I wonder what kind of blueprint Com2us is drawing on this game through this acquisition.

Where should I contact to ask them these things?
I'm not a reporter, I'm just a fan of this game, so I'm a little reluctant to contact them personally.

I don't know if it's right to ask you this, but are they planning something like this Q&A?
It would be nice if they were planning it...

I want to hear the answer to this question. please

To be honest, there are many questions that haven't been solved clearly yet.

[WestCoastGuy]

Originally Posted by Markus Heinsohn

I can quote you one example which we will follow: SEGA's acquisition of Sports Interactive in 2006. Back then many Football Manager fans worried that the world was going to end. Guess what, it did not, and FM is in better shape and has more fans than ever before.

No question, just a comment. I played Football Manager in 2006, and I honestly really don't like the direction Sports Interactive has gone since then. Sure, it's more profitable/popular, but that doesn't mean that selling it to SEGA was the best decision as far as the actual quality of the product goes. It just seems like, in the years that have passed since, their focus has evolved from making the most realistic football simulation possible to making the most money possible, refocusing their efforts towards mass appeal.

However, obviously, your decision has been made, and I hope that you and OOTP prove me wrong as far as this game goes.

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by Markus Heinsohn

I am pretty sure you will be convinced of the contrary in 2-3 years

I fervently hope so. I will be keeping an eye on you fellows and, as always, I will be wishing for your continued success.

May Com2uS give you the necessary encouragement and resources to finally spearhead the development of an American football simulation game!

[dkgo]

Originally Posted by WestCoastGuy

No question, just a comment. I played Football Manager in 2006, and I honestly really don't like the direction Sports Interactive has gone since then. Sure, it's more profitable/popular, but that doesn't mean that selling it to SEGA was the best decision as far as the actual quality of the product goes. It just seems like, in the years that have passed since, their focus has evolved from making the most realistic football simulation possible to making the most money possible, refocusing their efforts towards mass appeal.

However, obviously, your decision has been made, and I hope that you and OOTP prove me wrong as far as this game goes.

Like what? I've been playing since early 2000s and put in another several hundred hours into FM2020 having as much fun as I've ever had.

[WestCoastGuy]

Originally Posted by dkgo

Like what? I've been playing since early 2000s and put in another several hundred hours into FM2020 having as much fun as I've ever had.

Maybe I'm looking at the past through rose-colored glasses, but it just seems like SI and the SI community were much more focused on being realistic than on doing what's best for overall sales in 2006 than in 2020. This relates to making things easier for the mainstream purchaser - making sure to not do things that might lower sales figures - as well as aspects of the game such as the complete non-improvement (regression even) of international management over the past several years, most likely basing that on fewer players playing that way when that likely wouldn't have entered their thinking in 2006, at least not to the extent it does today.

[icedragon15]

nvm got answer

[nutt]

This was my realtime reaction when reading the post....

My first initial reaction was 'OH NO! NO! I'M GONE!' Then I kept reading and realized "ALRIGHT! WE GOING TO INFINITY AND BEYOND!"

This just means a deeper thoughts for me now.

[rudel.dietrich]

Time will tell, but this is a little scary.
But I can understand. Andreas if he is nearing retirement was ready to cash out. And all of the non programming stuff was a headache to Markus.

I would feel better if there was some sort of 'buy back clause' where Markus could take back the IP for an agreed upon price.
But it seems like they sold the entire IP.

Looking at this from the Com2US side of things...
You don't buy an IP and expect the same level of sales. You want to increase sales. In todays market that does not really mean selling more copies. It means monetizing your game.
That is the part that worries me.
For them to have a ROI they have to monetize the game further.
Unless when they looked at the PT financials and thought 'wow, we want a piece of this'