Thar Be Sales On Steam, Landlubbers!


Updates:

  1. The sale is over. Go home.

↓ – “Activation and download may take up to 48 hours after purchase.”
♣ – Paypal is not accepted if paid in pounds or Euros.
♥ – 30 days only applies to new Station accounts.

Darkfall Price Reduction, Coming To A Store Near You!


Kill the carebear! Now At a Reasonable Price!

Darkfall has been reduced to $29.95 Euro/USD, and no I did not make a typo there. Those of you buying the Euro edition will be happy to know that Aventurine has reduced the price of the Euro edition to match the US edition, pre-VAT.

But the news gets better for our fledgling one year old MMO: Darkfall will be coming to more retail outlets and online shops. Where does this mean? In all likelihood, we will probably see Darkfall on Steam, Direct2Drive, or ImpulseDriven (or any combination of the three) as well as Wal Mart, Target, Play.co.uk, Game (for you UK’ers), Gamestop, and various other locations and localized game retail shops.

With Darkfall on digital distribution services, the game is likely to see a whole host of newbies flying in from all around the world. Hopefully the current servers will accommodate, and by servers I of course refer to the “Newbie Population Control” guild.

With the free trial, newbie protection program, and new player guild, as well as the lowered price for the game itself, there has never been a better time than now to dive into Darkfall if you have not give the game the opportunity.

Guild Wars Five Years: Steam Sale This Week


Here at MMO Fallout, we work diligently to make sure that you have available to you, all of the information and best ways to get your hands on titles for the lowest prices possible. With the fifth anniversary of Guild Wars, Steam is offering the title on sale this week with the following prices, all in USD:

Games are on sale this week, so pick them up!

Star Trek Online/Global Agenda/Aion Tops Sale Charts


You will be assimilated...with three packages to choose from.

MMOs sell better than you would think, but in the realm of hundreds of competing, non subscription based games, making it on to the best selling list at any medium is a feat taken almost exclusively by preorders and World of Warcraft.

So despite what people may be saying about the Star Trek Online open beta, the majority appears to disagree. Coming in at #3 on the Steam best seller list: Star Trek Online, digital deluxe package. On Direct 2 Drive, Star Trek Online is taking the #1 and #2 spot in terms of sales. Star Trek, which just recently went into open beta, and launches early January, offers players a large variety of pre order exclusives depending on which retailer they purchase from.

Coming in at #5 on the Steam sale list: Global Agenda. Global Agenda will feature a Crimecraft style subscription program (The new, not the old) from the get go, with the regular online game being free to play, with the persistent more MMO-esque parts of the game requiring a subscription fee.

Finally, at #9, the only title on the list that has already been released: Aion! Even though Aion is so 2009, it still makes its way onto the top sales charts.

Very Much Good Stuff Cheap: Steam

[Update] The Steam Sale is over as of January 3rd. Better luck next time!


If Funcom's money was gold-backed...

It’s time again for the Steam Holiday sale, and that can only mean one thing: MMO Sales to be found all around! Here is a list of the games you can find on sale at Steam this week, all of which should be on sale until January 3rd. You have a week and a half, so don’t put it off too long!

Please remember that all of these price are in USD.

[Update] The Steam Sale is over as of January 3rd. Better luck next time!

Mega Packs:

More sales after the break!

Continue reading “Very Much Good Stuff Cheap: Steam”

Microsoft G.O.D Announced: Good Luck With That


Microsoft aims to crucify Steam

Delusions of grandeur are funny and all, but they are a sign/warning of deeper issues, especially in a company that looks to do business. For starters, how many self-proclaimed “Wow-killers” have you seen that ended up being disappointments? Aside from virtually all of them. Yes, it seems that by the time a product (WoW, Steam, Ipod,  Windows, etc) gets to the point of success where other products use it as a focal point of sales (___-killer), the product has become so successful that it has rooted itself in the number one spot, at least for the time being.

Microsoft’s Games on Demand (Or GOD) was just recently announced, and is essentially a digital download addition to Games for Windows Live. The company aims to take a chip off of Steam’s 70% hold of the digital download market, and I say good luck with that. Good luck in the same manner you tell your friend “good luck” as he dons his helmet, cape (bath towel), and proceeds to jump off the roof of a building to prove he can fly.

Continue reading “Microsoft G.O.D Announced: Good Luck With That”

Pirates of Burning Sea 75% off


Been wanting to give Pirates of the Burning Sea a try, but don’t want to fork down a whole bunch of money for it? Boy does Steam have your back this week! You can grab Pirates of the Burning Sea, the naval MMO, at 75% off, only $4.99 US! If you’ve been hesitating to grab your cutlass and join in the action, now might be the best time.

And for those of you who have asked: I am following the Direct 2 Drive December Sale, keeping a lookout for MMO sales. There has not been a single one yet.

Steam Sales: MMO Sale Rundown


For several days now, Steam has been running a weekend sale on a slew of video games, so I decided to run the MMO sales here on MMO Fallout. Two days ago, Fallen Earth and Champions Online were on sale, however those sales have ended and today’s have just begun.

The only MMO on sale today is City of Heroes: Architect Edition. This version includes both City of Heroes and City of Villains, and allows players to take part in the Architect (creating your own missions). Players will also enjoy the 14 major updates to the game since launch, as well as several bonus items for free.

Eve Online is 75% off

Guild Wars Trilogy is 50% off

City of Heroes is 50%

Fallen Earth is 50% off

Champions Online is 50% off

Steam Deals: Good Stuff Cheap


 

Pictured Above: WalMart on Black Friday

With all the hubbub going around on Thanksgiving in the United States, and more importantly World of Warcraft hitting five years old alongside a slew of giveaways from Wow.com, it is understandable if you missed Stardock’s nod last week to Steam holding 70% of the PC sales market. Unsurprising, as many PC gamers you ask today will tell you that they make much of their purchases through the digital distribution system.

That share is set to go even higher, as Steam announced a sales extravaganza with Thanksgiving on its way. Each day brings new sales to the table, and what better to focus on for MMO Fallout than, say, MMOs on sale?

Day 1 of sales brings in 50% off of Champions Online and Fallen Earth. Champions Online is now $19.99, while Fallen Earth has been reduced to $24.99. Other non-MMO titles such as Arkham Asylum, Dragon Age, and Grid are also on sale today. Remember: Each sale lasts only 24 hours, and then it is gone. Think of it as a Black Friday sale, but it’s Wednesday and there’s no risk of being trampled by a mob of angry shoppers.

If you have not picked up either Fallen Earth or Champions Online, both are certainly worth a look.

 

Aion: Still Gaining Momentum


screenshot01

A couple days ago I talked about retention rate being more important than simply the number of people who preorder an MMO. The fact that Aion has brought over three hundred thousand preorders means nothing if you can’t keep those people playing after their initial month of free game time is up. Aion’s success will not be decided by the number of people who buy the boxed copies, but in the long run, where subscriber numbers mean everything.

I will admit I’ve taken a look at Aion with a little more skepticism than the title deserves, even though everything I have said is true. Success in the Eastern market means nothing when referring to how the West will respond to the game, and attempting to gauge the success of the game based off of forum hype will produce equally inaccurate results.

So here I notice that, in the past few days since Aion announced that three hundred thousand copies were preordered, today comes another announcement: The number has hit four hundred thousand, bringing the title to be the most preordered MMO of 2009. This news comes in conjunction with news that will directly please the company: Aion will not ship with Game Guard, the controversial anti-cheat software. While Game Guard may be used in the future, NCsoft has promised that should the software return, it will be tweaked in response to criticism.

In finding discussion-worthy topics for MMO Fallout, I do a lot of traversing over various forums, and I can say without a doubt that the lack of Game Guard will be well received within the community. If NCSoft can prove, using methods such as this, that they are indeed listening to the community, they will have a major edge over critics in the long run. For those who are unfamiliar, Game Guard is widely panned for inefficiency, and false positives.

Nothing but good news for Aion this week. Aion goes live on September 22nd, with preorders gaining early access.

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