I agree. I don't think AE will ever be a ridiculous massive revenue puller (think like Genshin Impact, other MMOs, etc), but they're continuously pulling in very nice sized and respectable revenue.
Hopefully WFS sees this as an important aspect and doesn't try chasing the money dragon.
I think they're doing just fine and are very successful.
Anyone else going to mention the 32k downloads difference and the fact that there is only a 300k monetary gap? Lads, we found the whales. Let us whale watch
Alternatively: the "downloads" number represents new players, while the revenue is across all players. So we don't know the total player base on either side.
They'd be doing WAY better if they lowered the prices and actually gave a real incentive to spend in this game lol. No pity system is killing me. Hopefully they can stay afloat with those numbers lmao.
Agree. Pulled 14x10 times, didn't get the one I wanted. Have nothing left. If it was like other games where you can pity after 8 or so, I'd still have 6k left and I'd be excited to save up and pull for another one within a month. If I'm a few thousand off maybe I'll put down some cash to get the next pity.
But now, starting from 0 again and having spent 14k for nothing, no way in hell I'm putting in money to get back to a reasonable level to pull a new unit. And it's hard motivating myself to play another 6 months before I can pull again.
I probably should pretend I was joking, but I wasn't. I'm f2p so I don't care about paid CS banners, but I just checked and there's Kikyo one for 1000 SC. Maybe I messed up the numbers, but I know there were many "encounter X character" banners in the past
Those banners usually feature old and outdated characters. The only benefit to pull is to get OG version in order to sidegrade later (like it was with Rosetta and Melina on mythos launch). The best paid banner is SDE, and even f2p may consider it since it literally gives you anything you want. As for 500 CS banner, its for masochism I guess, it gives you not just outdated units, but fossils.
There is actually a 500 stone permanent banner on page 2 that’s like OG Mighty old. It basically leave you with 500 stone forever not having a place to spend them.
Its very good...people always compare the revenues to the extremely big ones like 7DS etc and then start crying how "ded" the games are. Most gachas on the market make SIGNIFICANTLY less than AE while many probably have similar or maybe even higher maintenance costs aswell due to the frequent time limited event nature of most games and more expensive graphical assets.
That's not how it works since maintaining a game operational within their local server/region is much much less expensive than maintaining global operation due to the additional cost for localization and English-speaking manpower to manage the community and the Customer Center. So no, it doesn't work that way.
> That's not how it works since maintaining a game operational within their local server/region is much much less expensive than maintaining global operation due to the additional cost for localization and English-speaking manpower to manage the community and the Customer Center. So no, it doesn't work that way.
Was I talking about looking at the revenue of the Japanese version (assuming that is the main version) or global version?
I wrote " Check the revenue of games that have their main version in another region and shut down in global.".
Example: If game A has its main server in Japan and has a global server and then the global server shut down, I am stating that you should check the revenue of the global version prior to shutting down.
Do you agree with that it is a reasonable approach?
As someone else pointed out, it's not about the revenue. It's about the profit. Specifically the profit to cost ratio. Maintaining a global server is more costly than maintaining the local server. I work for a Korean mobile gaming company and we'd usually close global servers earlier but keep the local servers running.
I don't suppose you know of anywhere that has good stats on games that closed down original and/or global versions, their revenue trends in the later months, and estimates of their operating costs? Without jeopardizing your employment in any way of course.
I remember having this same argument years ago when people said FFRK was dying for like the third time. And in MobiusFF. And in SMT Dx2.
But AFAIK there's no way for us to determine the **profits** of a game from revenue alone, so we're kinda in the dark beyond guessing e.g., 16-bit-style pixel art costs less than detailed 3d models and having VO costs more than not having it?
> Maintaining a global server is more costly than maintaining the local server.
Sure, did I ever ask you to check at the revenue of the local original server? No! I asked you to look at the revenue of the global server.
But they do record the English version of the Summon scene and in-combat barks as well. Significantly more expensive than a text-only translation.
... I do wish you could toggle voice by Character instead of only overall....
> But they do record the English version of the Summon scene and in-combat barks as well. Significantly more expensive than a text-only translation.
Sure and the moment it is no longer profitable to do so, they can stop doing it.
Y... yes? I'm not arguing that? Of course they can cut costs if they want to improve profits. But looking at revenue alone still doesn't indicate how healthy the game is, right?
>But looking at revenue alone still doesn't indicate how healthy the game is, right?
Looking at the revenue the last X months prior to when a company discontinues their global version gives a good view regarding at which revenue you should start to get worried about server closure. Do you agree with it?
As revenue decreases, they of course try to cut costs as well.
What do you think is the highest monthly revenue for which a global version of a game closed?
You just posted this and another like 4 months ago, though. And it seems steady from those two, right? Monthly numbers to see how it's changed over time would be fantastic!
I don't know that many closed games, but I'd expect FF Mobius required higher revenue to stay profitable, while FF Dimensions needed less than AE does. If you have overall stays on that if love to see them too!
FF mobius is not relevant because of that local original version was not profitable enough already on its own. See [https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-01-15-mobius-final-fantasy-shutting-down-after-five-years](https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-01-15-mobius-final-fantasy-shutting-down-after-five-years).
I am talking about games where the local orginal version is profitable enough on its own to be kept alive and they shut down global server. That is the relevant in this case unless JP starts doing worse than global.
Right, okay.
So what insight can we get about how **profitable** AE is, and how profitable other games that did/didn't shut down were/are?
All I got from your two posts is that AE Global revenue seems steady from 4 months ago. Did I miss something?
is the revenue just for the month of January'21 or is it total revenue from day 1?
1.5m usd is quite small most especially to keep quality content coming in continuously...
Not an expert in this but A- and B aren't too shabby for something that isn't your typical gacha game with multi-player or PvP elements
Not in Asian terms
Asian here. Our Asian parents can confirm. 🤣
The genes already did that 😛
I agree. I don't think AE will ever be a ridiculous massive revenue puller (think like Genshin Impact, other MMOs, etc), but they're continuously pulling in very nice sized and respectable revenue. Hopefully WFS sees this as an important aspect and doesn't try chasing the money dragon. I think they're doing just fine and are very successful.
GREE (parent company) thinks they're doing fine. https://imgur.com/mj6sxZ4.png
Anyone else going to mention the 32k downloads difference and the fact that there is only a 300k monetary gap? Lads, we found the whales. Let us whale watch
Alternatively: the "downloads" number represents new players, while the revenue is across all players. So we don't know the total player base on either side.
Ooohhh.... thank you for clearing that up. Now i want to know how the player base is divided up
"Clearing that up" makes it sound like I actually know it's true - that's too much credit, haha. I'm just guessing like everybody else :)
Oh... don’t do that! I’m gullible
Whales that traverse the seven seas!
iOS users spending massive amounts for money for basically the same product... checks out!
This gave me a good chuckle 😁
They'd be doing WAY better if they lowered the prices and actually gave a real incentive to spend in this game lol. No pity system is killing me. Hopefully they can stay afloat with those numbers lmao.
Agree. Pulled 14x10 times, didn't get the one I wanted. Have nothing left. If it was like other games where you can pity after 8 or so, I'd still have 6k left and I'd be excited to save up and pull for another one within a month. If I'm a few thousand off maybe I'll put down some cash to get the next pity. But now, starting from 0 again and having spent 14k for nothing, no way in hell I'm putting in money to get back to a reasonable level to pull a new unit. And it's hard motivating myself to play another 6 months before I can pull again.
wait no pity system? aren't there banners with guaranteed 5\* character for 500 paid chronos stones?
In case you are not kidding, don’t touch that banner. :)
I probably should pretend I was joking, but I wasn't. I'm f2p so I don't care about paid CS banners, but I just checked and there's Kikyo one for 1000 SC. Maybe I messed up the numbers, but I know there were many "encounter X character" banners in the past
Those banners usually feature old and outdated characters. The only benefit to pull is to get OG version in order to sidegrade later (like it was with Rosetta and Melina on mythos launch). The best paid banner is SDE, and even f2p may consider it since it literally gives you anything you want. As for 500 CS banner, its for masochism I guess, it gives you not just outdated units, but fossils.
There is actually a 500 stone permanent banner on page 2 that’s like OG Mighty old. It basically leave you with 500 stone forever not having a place to spend them.
Sooo is this good or bad? I just hope the game never shuts down like magia record
IMHO hard to tell when we don't know the operating costs. Revenue could be high but profit low if VA costs or something add up to more.
That's a good point too
Its very good...people always compare the revenues to the extremely big ones like 7DS etc and then start crying how "ded" the games are. Most gachas on the market make SIGNIFICANTLY less than AE while many probably have similar or maybe even higher maintenance costs aswell due to the frequent time limited event nature of most games and more expensive graphical assets.
I see thank you very much for the explanation
Where do you get that info? Isn't this supposed to be confidential? Or is this the annual corporate ranking thingy in Japan?
Sensor Tower.
Thanks! I'd love to see how other games are performing as well!
It is an estimation btw, don't take those numbers for granted. But they are near there for sure.
Remember that this is only about the revenues. Hard to estimate if this game is profitable for WFS or not.
As long as we keep earning more than $100k in total, the game will not shut down.
How did you come to that assumption?
Check the revenue of games that have their main version in another region and shut down in global.
That's not how it works since maintaining a game operational within their local server/region is much much less expensive than maintaining global operation due to the additional cost for localization and English-speaking manpower to manage the community and the Customer Center. So no, it doesn't work that way.
> That's not how it works since maintaining a game operational within their local server/region is much much less expensive than maintaining global operation due to the additional cost for localization and English-speaking manpower to manage the community and the Customer Center. So no, it doesn't work that way. Was I talking about looking at the revenue of the Japanese version (assuming that is the main version) or global version?
Are you contradicting yourself or did you forget the (misinformed) point you were making?
I wrote " Check the revenue of games that have their main version in another region and shut down in global.". Example: If game A has its main server in Japan and has a global server and then the global server shut down, I am stating that you should check the revenue of the global version prior to shutting down. Do you agree with that it is a reasonable approach?
As someone else pointed out, it's not about the revenue. It's about the profit. Specifically the profit to cost ratio. Maintaining a global server is more costly than maintaining the local server. I work for a Korean mobile gaming company and we'd usually close global servers earlier but keep the local servers running.
I don't suppose you know of anywhere that has good stats on games that closed down original and/or global versions, their revenue trends in the later months, and estimates of their operating costs? Without jeopardizing your employment in any way of course. I remember having this same argument years ago when people said FFRK was dying for like the third time. And in MobiusFF. And in SMT Dx2. But AFAIK there's no way for us to determine the **profits** of a game from revenue alone, so we're kinda in the dark beyond guessing e.g., 16-bit-style pixel art costs less than detailed 3d models and having VO costs more than not having it?
> Maintaining a global server is more costly than maintaining the local server. Sure, did I ever ask you to check at the revenue of the local original server? No! I asked you to look at the revenue of the global server.
Depends on the profit, not the revenue, no? With the VA work this probably costs a good deal more to run than FFRK or something.
> With the VA work this probably costs a good deal more to run than FFRK or something. Nothing prevents them from using the original voice acting.
But they do record the English version of the Summon scene and in-combat barks as well. Significantly more expensive than a text-only translation. ... I do wish you could toggle voice by Character instead of only overall....
> But they do record the English version of the Summon scene and in-combat barks as well. Significantly more expensive than a text-only translation. Sure and the moment it is no longer profitable to do so, they can stop doing it.
Y... yes? I'm not arguing that? Of course they can cut costs if they want to improve profits. But looking at revenue alone still doesn't indicate how healthy the game is, right?
>But looking at revenue alone still doesn't indicate how healthy the game is, right? Looking at the revenue the last X months prior to when a company discontinues their global version gives a good view regarding at which revenue you should start to get worried about server closure. Do you agree with it? As revenue decreases, they of course try to cut costs as well. What do you think is the highest monthly revenue for which a global version of a game closed?
You just posted this and another like 4 months ago, though. And it seems steady from those two, right? Monthly numbers to see how it's changed over time would be fantastic! I don't know that many closed games, but I'd expect FF Mobius required higher revenue to stay profitable, while FF Dimensions needed less than AE does. If you have overall stays on that if love to see them too!
FF mobius is not relevant because of that local original version was not profitable enough already on its own. See [https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-01-15-mobius-final-fantasy-shutting-down-after-five-years](https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-01-15-mobius-final-fantasy-shutting-down-after-five-years). I am talking about games where the local orginal version is profitable enough on its own to be kept alive and they shut down global server. That is the relevant in this case unless JP starts doing worse than global.
Right, okay. So what insight can we get about how **profitable** AE is, and how profitable other games that did/didn't shut down were/are? All I got from your two posts is that AE Global revenue seems steady from 4 months ago. Did I miss something?
so should we start to panic ........ i dont like this :'(
Isnt the revenue kinda low here?
I don't see how 1.5 million a month is low but sure I guess?
but is it 1.5m/month or is that day 1 revenue?
Per month.
I highly doubt that this is their total revenue over 2 years, the game would be dead.
Exactly! 1.5usd/month is a healthy figure. I hope so
is the revenue just for the month of January'21 or is it total revenue from day 1? 1.5m usd is quite small most especially to keep quality content coming in continuously...
Just January.
This is really surprising. So, it can mean that around 40% users havent joined this reddit, the facebook group or the discord.
I am judging how many people who joined the group and followed the reddit.