Comments on: Gabe Newell Thinks Players Should Be Investors http://www.aeropause.com/2009/07/gabe-newell-thinks-players-should-be-investors/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gabe-newell-thinks-players-should-be-investors Aeropause is a video game blog that explores game culture, trends, technologies and innovations Thu, 09 Feb 2012 05:19:49 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= By: Levi Thornton http://www.aeropause.com/2009/07/gabe-newell-thinks-players-should-be-investors/comment-page-1/#comment-31580 Levi Thornton Tue, 21 Jul 2009 21:56:43 +0000 http://www.aeropause.com/?p=22999#comment-31580 @mclaszj ha ha. I don't blame him, that sounds good. @mclaszj ha ha. I don't blame him, that sounds good.

]]> By: mclazyj http://www.aeropause.com/2009/07/gabe-newell-thinks-players-should-be-investors/comment-page-1/#comment-31579 mclazyj Tue, 21 Jul 2009 19:40:00 +0000 http://www.aeropause.com/?p=22999#comment-31579 I think Gabe Newell saw what Bernie Madoff did with finances and wants to do the same thing, but with Quizno's sandwiches. If he can get $50,000 from the community, he can purchase at least 10,000 #25 Prime Rib and cheese sandwiches. And not just the sandwiches, but the full combo meal, half with chips and half with the cookie. I think Gabe Newell saw what Bernie Madoff did with finances and wants to do the same thing, but with Quizno's sandwiches. If he can get $50,000 from the community, he can purchase at least 10,000 #25 Prime Rib and cheese sandwiches. And not just the sandwiches, but the full combo meal, half with chips and half with the cookie.

]]> By: Joe Fourhman http://www.aeropause.com/2009/07/gabe-newell-thinks-players-should-be-investors/comment-page-1/#comment-31578 Joe Fourhman Tue, 21 Jul 2009 18:03:58 +0000 http://www.aeropause.com/?p=22999#comment-31578 How about if I pay $10 to be in the beta, under the proviso that my account has to log a certain number of hours of beta testing, and then I get a copy of the final retail release for free? How about if I pay $10 to be in the beta, under the proviso that my account has to log a certain number of hours of beta testing, and then I get a copy of the final retail release for free?

]]> By: Harshy http://www.aeropause.com/2009/07/gabe-newell-thinks-players-should-be-investors/comment-page-1/#comment-31577 Harshy Tue, 21 Jul 2009 17:41:42 +0000 http://www.aeropause.com/?p=22999#comment-31577 I think he's on to something in principle, but there are quite a few things to consider (especially in the light of the Ponzi schemes lately [see Madoff]). Leave it to the guy going to business school to be the only commenter on investing...<br><br>Problems:<br>1) Yeah, gamers do not have the capital to invest, and their expectations out what the investment entitles them to would probably be much greater than the developers would allow.<br>2) Investing means you get the right to see the company's books. I don't think many developers that are privately traded are interested, but EA and Activision/Blizzard are public...<br><br>So basically you have to setup profit sharing. So if a company raises $500,000 in investment to develop a game, the developers themselves must front their own share of the money or else they work exclusively for the investors. Let's presume they could front $1,500,000 in this case. This is why you have to show open books. The troubling thing here is figuring out which games are going to make money. If I invest $1000 on a game with a 3 year production, I would expect $1331 back in three years or consider my investment a failure. Lets presume they make $30 on each game sold. To re-coop $2M, they have to sell 67K games. To make my profit, they have to sell 89K copies.<br><br>I made up pretty much every number, but it sounds reasonable to me. The main problem for the developers is how much funding do they actually need. Thanks to Valve for giving me something to propose to niche market companies for work! I think he's on to something in principle, but there are quite a few things to consider (especially in the light of the Ponzi schemes lately [see Madoff]). Leave it to the guy going to business school to be the only commenter on investing…

Problems:
1) Yeah, gamers do not have the capital to invest, and their expectations out what the investment entitles them to would probably be much greater than the developers would allow.
2) Investing means you get the right to see the company's books. I don't think many developers that are privately traded are interested, but EA and Activision/Blizzard are public…

So basically you have to setup profit sharing. So if a company raises $500,000 in investment to develop a game, the developers themselves must front their own share of the money or else they work exclusively for the investors. Let's presume they could front $1,500,000 in this case. This is why you have to show open books. The troubling thing here is figuring out which games are going to make money. If I invest $1000 on a game with a 3 year production, I would expect $1331 back in three years or consider my investment a failure. Lets presume they make $30 on each game sold. To re-coop $2M, they have to sell 67K games. To make my profit, they have to sell 89K copies.

I made up pretty much every number, but it sounds reasonable to me. The main problem for the developers is how much funding do they actually need. Thanks to Valve for giving me something to propose to niche market companies for work!

]]> By: Levi Thornton http://www.aeropause.com/2009/07/gabe-newell-thinks-players-should-be-investors/comment-page-1/#comment-27445 Levi Thornton Tue, 21 Jul 2009 14:56:43 +0000 http://www.aeropause.com/?p=22999#comment-27445 @mclaszj ha ha. I don't blame him, that sounds good. @mclaszj ha ha. I don't blame him, that sounds good.

]]> By: mclazyj http://www.aeropause.com/2009/07/gabe-newell-thinks-players-should-be-investors/comment-page-1/#comment-27444 mclazyj Tue, 21 Jul 2009 12:40:00 +0000 http://www.aeropause.com/?p=22999#comment-27444 I think Gabe Newell saw what Bernie Madoff did with finances and wants to do the same thing, but with Quizno's sandwiches. If he can get $50,000 from the community, he can purchase at least 10,000 #25 Prime Rib and cheese sandwiches. And not just the sandwiches, but the full combo meal, half with chips and half with the cookie. I think Gabe Newell saw what Bernie Madoff did with finances and wants to do the same thing, but with Quizno's sandwiches. If he can get $50,000 from the community, he can purchase at least 10,000 #25 Prime Rib and cheese sandwiches. And not just the sandwiches, but the full combo meal, half with chips and half with the cookie.

]]> By: JoeFourhman http://www.aeropause.com/2009/07/gabe-newell-thinks-players-should-be-investors/comment-page-1/#comment-27443 JoeFourhman Tue, 21 Jul 2009 11:03:58 +0000 http://www.aeropause.com/?p=22999#comment-27443 How about if I pay $10 to be in the beta, under the proviso that my account has to log a certain number of hours of beta testing, and then I get a copy of the final retail release for free? How about if I pay $10 to be in the beta, under the proviso that my account has to log a certain number of hours of beta testing, and then I get a copy of the final retail release for free?

]]> By: Harshy http://www.aeropause.com/2009/07/gabe-newell-thinks-players-should-be-investors/comment-page-1/#comment-27442 Harshy Tue, 21 Jul 2009 10:41:42 +0000 http://www.aeropause.com/?p=22999#comment-27442 I think he's on to something in principle, but there are quite a few things to consider (especially in the light of the Ponzi schemes lately [see Madoff]). Leave it to the guy going to business school to be the only commenter on investing...<br><br>Problems:<br>1) Yeah, gamers do not have the capital to invest, and their expectations out what the investment entitles them to would probably be much greater than the developers would allow.<br>2) Investing means you get the right to see the company's books. I don't think many developers that are privately traded are interested, but EA and Activision/Blizzard are public...<br><br>So basically you have to setup profit sharing. So if a company raises $500,000 in investment to develop a game, the developers themselves must front their own share of the money or else they work exclusively for the investors. Let's presume they could front $1,500,000 in this case. This is why you have to show open books. The troubling thing here is figuring out which games are going to make money. If I invest $1000 on a game with a 3 year production, I would expect $1331 back in three years or consider my investment a failure. Lets presume they make $30 on each game sold. To re-coop $2M, they have to sell 67K games. To make my profit, they have to sell 89K copies.<br><br>I made up pretty much every number, but it sounds reasonable to me. The main problem for the developers is how much funding do they actually need. Thanks to Valve for giving me something to propose to niche market companies for work! I think he's on to something in principle, but there are quite a few things to consider (especially in the light of the Ponzi schemes lately [see Madoff]). Leave it to the guy going to business school to be the only commenter on investing…

Problems:
1) Yeah, gamers do not have the capital to invest, and their expectations out what the investment entitles them to would probably be much greater than the developers would allow.
2) Investing means you get the right to see the company's books. I don't think many developers that are privately traded are interested, but EA and Activision/Blizzard are public…

So basically you have to setup profit sharing. So if a company raises $500,000 in investment to develop a game, the developers themselves must front their own share of the money or else they work exclusively for the investors. Let's presume they could front $1,500,000 in this case. This is why you have to show open books. The troubling thing here is figuring out which games are going to make money. If I invest $1000 on a game with a 3 year production, I would expect $1331 back in three years or consider my investment a failure. Lets presume they make $30 on each game sold. To re-coop $2M, they have to sell 67K games. To make my profit, they have to sell 89K copies.

I made up pretty much every number, but it sounds reasonable to me. The main problem for the developers is how much funding do they actually need. Thanks to Valve for giving me something to propose to niche market companies for work!

]]>