Are we at the beginning of the end with MPQ ?

aesthetocyst

Great, now everyone has to DRINK (again).

IceHockey333

The rockett said:

Yes the game is making money, but not like it was. 

That's the case with every game ever made, I would imagine.

Speaking of imagination and the sky NOT falling, does anyone have any insight into the actual financial health of the game in actual industry terms?  I don't follow that stuff but I am sure someone does.  There must be tracking data about income vs. age when it comes to games like this.

bluewolf

IceHockey333 said:

The rockett said:

Yes the game is making money, but not like it was. 

That's the case with every game ever made, I would imagine.

Speaking of imagination and the sky NOT falling, does anyone have any insight into the actual financial health of the game in actual industry terms?  I don't follow that stuff but I am sure someone does.  There must be tracking data about income vs. age when it comes to games like this.

The game developers are the ones that would share any info like this and have little incentive to do so unless it’s going fantastically.  Any entertainment that depends on continual repeated engagement (tv, comics, games with ongoing transaction model) will never publicize information that shows reduced interest/spending.  No consumer wants to get in (spend) on a fading game at the end.  Sometimes independent sources can track that and make it public (comic stores have good order number information that is collected monthly, for example), but that’s about it. I believe there are resources one could pay for to see historical tracking of things like the Apple store charts, which would give some indication of where this game sits compared to other free to play games.

The vet advantage + dilution issues in this game, to me, makes it hard to make a strong case for new players to jump in deep as spenders, but some do anyway (but in lesser numbers than before). So as high spending vets get bored and move on, revenue from those types of players will drop. If the game can somehow evolve to ramp up lesser player spending and sustain itself that way, it can continue.

But that probably ends up meaning something other than the model of new releases goosing spending. We shall see how that works out.

IceHockey333

bluewolf said:

IceHockey333 said:

The rockett said:

Yes the game is making money, but not like it was. 

That's the case with every game ever made, I would imagine.

Speaking of imagination and the sky NOT falling, does anyone have any insight into the actual financial health of the game in actual industry terms?  I don't follow that stuff but I am sure someone does.  There must be tracking data about income vs. age when it comes to games like this.

The game developers are the ones that would share any info like this and have little incentive to do so unless it’s going fantastically.  Any entertainment that depends on continual repeated engagement (tv, comics, games with ongoing transaction model) will never publicize information that shows reduced interest/spending.  No consumer wants to get in (spend) on a fading game at the end.  Sometimes independent sources can track that and make it public (comic stores have good order number information that is collected monthly, for example), but that’s about it. I believe there are resources one could pay for to see historical tracking of things like the Apple store charts, which would give some indication of where this game sits compared to other free to play games.

Yes, that's the actual data I am interested in.  Someone surely tracks that stuff.

IceHockey333

I have seen monthly sales data for games like this on a few different sites.

aesthetocyst

IceHockey333 said:

bluewolf said:

IceHockey333 said:

The rockett said:

Yes the game is making money, but not like it was. 

That's the case with every game ever made, I would imagine.

Speaking of imagination and the sky NOT falling, does anyone have any insight into the actual financial health of the game in actual industry terms?  I don't follow that stuff but I am sure someone does.  There must be tracking data about income vs. age when it comes to games like this.

The game developers are the ones that would share any info like this and have little incentive to do so unless it’s going fantastically.  Any entertainment that depends on continual repeated engagement (tv, comics, games with ongoing transaction model) will never publicize information that shows reduced interest/spending.  No consumer wants to get in (spend) on a fading game at the end.  Sometimes independent sources can track that and make it public (comic stores have good order number information that is collected monthly, for example), but that’s about it. I believe there are resources one could pay for to see historical tracking of things like the Apple store charts, which would give some indication of where this game sits compared to other free to play games.

Yes, that's the actual data I am interested in.  Someone surely tracks that stuff.

Yeah, the devs.

As far as industry estimates or stats specific to a platform, google for them.

The industry watchers require subscriptions to get deeper than the superficial overview of their estimates.

IceHockey333

aesthetocyst said:

IceHockey333 said:

bluewolf said:

IceHockey333 said:

The rockett said:

Yes the game is making money, but not like it was. 

That's the case with every game ever made, I would imagine.

Speaking of imagination and the sky NOT falling, does anyone have any insight into the actual financial health of the game in actual industry terms?  I don't follow that stuff but I am sure someone does.  There must be tracking data about income vs. age when it comes to games like this.

The game developers are the ones that would share any info like this and have little incentive to do so unless it’s going fantastically.  Any entertainment that depends on continual repeated engagement (tv, comics, games with ongoing transaction model) will never publicize information that shows reduced interest/spending.  No consumer wants to get in (spend) on a fading game at the end.  Sometimes independent sources can track that and make it public (comic stores have good order number information that is collected monthly, for example), but that’s about it. I believe there are resources one could pay for to see historical tracking of things like the Apple store charts, which would give some indication of where this game sits compared to other free to play games.

Yes, that's the actual data I am interested in.  Someone surely tracks that stuff.

Yeah, the devs.

As far as industry estimates or stats specific to a platform, google for them.

The industry watchers require subscriptions to get deeper than the superficial overview of their estimates.

I have seen those subscription sites, just wondering if anyone here has the data.  And, when it comes to Apple Top 100 and such, I think they are actual sales figures not just estimates.

IceHockey333

Another thing I have always wondered...

Why do people always insist on claiming that the sky is falling like this? Paranoia? Negative thinking? Trying to drive players away toward another game?

I just don't get it.

IceHockey333

But I do love the drinking part.

optimus2861

As a (soon to be former) Marvel Future Fight player there's been a lot of discussion around this topic in the FF world, because it's apparent to all of us that FF is withering. Freemium games go through four distinct phases:

1. Question mark. The game is brand new. Will it be a hit? Or will it die a fast death?
2. Rising star. The game is growing rapidly. New players join regularly. As do new whales. Income is rising. New content is generated regularly to continue drawing new players and hook them. The game generates very strong profit for invested development.
3. Cash cow. The game has reached saturation. Fewer new players are joining, and veteran players are just starting to leave. Development time slows down because the ROI has reduced. Updates begin shifting or have shifted from new, exciting content, to sales packages (watch for increased 'gacha' mechanics). The game's still profitable but it won't be a rising star ever again.
4. Dog. The game is declining. New players are all but absent and those who check it out don't stay long. Veterans are leaving in increasing numbers. There's little incentive to continue development beyond basic maintenance activities and pushing sales packages to squeeze whatever cash is possible from the remaining players. 

After phase 4 is complete the game will be shut down.

Future Fight, to those of us who've played it for some time, is either already a Dog or just about to become one. Many of suspect that Infinity War will mark the last major update, though we also fear it will largely be a cash grab with little of substance. After that the game will limp along for some time squeezing what cash it can out of the players. It doesn't help that FF is only responsible for ~5% of its company's revenue and they have several more profitable games in their lineup. They no longer feel a need to push it like they once did.

I'd say Puzzle Quest is still a Cash Cow and has been for quite some time; it's not a Dog yet. One telltale sign that Dog status has arrived might be a plethora of new token stores instead of new characters. Another will be the absence of any new Story events, game modes, etc. for several months nor any hint that the developers are working on one.

bluewolf

IceHockey333 said:

Another thing I have always wondered...

Why do people always insist on claiming that the sky is falling like this? Paranoia? Negative thinking? Trying to drive players away toward another game?

I just don't get it.

Partly the desire to stop playing but being unable to stop. Lots of people enjoy it, but lots keep playing due to sunk costs.  The game ending would free up a lot of players’ free time. Look, anyone willing to tap a node for hours should be reconsidering their relationship with the game.

And when it seems stale (like now) people wonder if it’s just drifting to a close.

Calnexin

bluewolf said:

The vet advantage + dilution issues in this game, to me, makes it hard to make a strong case for new players to jump in deep as spenders, but some do anyway (but in lesser numbers than before). 

I think the cover odds and power creep have gone a long way towards diminishing vet advantage.  I don't have the best gauge of the current meta at all tiers, but at the top you've got Gambit reigning supreme, and if you have him, he's the key piece at that tier.  Newer players could have spent to get him and be only slightly less competitive than vets with deep rosters who've been playing for several years.  On the 4* tier you've got Rocket, America, Vulture - all relatively recent characters that dominate oldies like Hulkbuster or Elektra.  3* are easier to get than ever, and they've been pushing out packs for relatively cheap that can bring a new player up to par in a hurry.

Point is, I don't think it's as hard for a new player to start and become competitive as it was in the game's early life.  You don't need every character to play well. You just need the right characters, and the right characters are significantly easier to get to a playable level, and are changing/updating at a fairly regular pace.

IceHockey333

bluewolf said:

IceHockey333 said:

Another thing I have always wondered...

Why do people always insist on claiming that the sky is falling like this? Paranoia? Negative thinking? Trying to drive players away toward another game?

I just don't get it.

Partly the desire to stop playing but being unable to stop. Lots of people enjoy it, but lots keep playing due to sunk costs.  The game ending would free up a lot of players’ free time. 

That is a brilliant observation, I had never thought of that. Its hard to quit, so they want it to die!

bluewolf

Calnexin said:

bluewolf said:

The vet advantage + dilution issues in this game, to me, makes it hard to make a strong case for new players to jump in deep as spenders, but some do anyway (but in lesser numbers than before). 

I think the cover odds and power creep have gone a long way towards diminishing vet advantage.  I don't have the best gauge of the current meta at all tiers, but at the top you've got Gambit reigning supreme, and if you have him, he's the key piece at that tier.  Newer players could have spent to get him and be only slightly less competitive than vets with deep rosters who've been playing for several years.  

It’s true that Gambit erased the 5* vet advantage. And now he’s Vintage. So if you are coming into the PVP5* tier without a finishable Gambit now - woe to you.  Pain awaits. And power creeping past Gambit won’t lead anywhere good for the game. Hence, finally, the devs acknowledging that a rebalance is being considered.   (Not trying to turn this into a Gambit thread.)

It’s also true that any specific Vintage 4 or 5, while being very hard to champ at this point due to dilution, also matter less than ever due to dilution.  I suppose the approach of a new player has to be ignore a lot of older characters, despite the game continuing to encourage the “need” to get and champ everyone.

Arphaxad

According to Google Play, MPQ is now the 145th grossing android game, well behind two other marvel based games. MPQ used to be in the top 20 all the time, so things don't look good for a sustainable future.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/collection/topgrossing

randomhero1090

I can see why some vet players (those 1000+ day players) create a new account and start over.  I am enjoying the game but I am on day ~100.  There is a long way to go for me.  This upcomming event has Vulture available.  That gets a guy like me interested as I have a 2 cover Vulture.

But with any moblie game, once you've literally done everything and you are at that point where things just take "forever" to progress, it's hard to stay interested.  I played Forge of Empires for over 2 years, and it just got to the point that progression took FOREVER.

evade420

This game has a 10 year plan if I remember correctly 

Wonko33

I've stopped playing about 2 months ago or something, I come over here once in a while to see if they come up with something interesting .

I don't know if this game is dying (we've had so many of these posts for years) but I do think it is in a lull, a rot if you may. Haven't seen great new features in a long while, just same old same old ; dishing out the 4* and diluting the pool, no more character re-works that were so cool there for a while,

Anyway I guess I still like the concept of the game but it got boring and it felt pointless to progress anymore.

maltyo9

Arphaxad said:

According to Google Play, MPQ is now the 145th grossing android game, well behind two other marvel based games. MPQ used to be in the top 20 all the time, so things don't look good for a sustainable future.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/collection/topgrossing

That list is for all Google Play apps, not just games.  While MPQ may be lower than it once was, it's a bit unfair to compare their sales numbers to Netflix and Pandora.

jym010

The rockett said:

As Colog said this question gets asked a lot. I think the Pinnacle of the game was in year 2.  Yes we had the “you are suppose to lose” but after the tweak it was fine.  If I would say there was a time of downfall, it was after Boss Rush. That time frame seems to be a downturn in people leaving.  Some of the vets are handing on, but I can say that if the Infinity War tie-ins are subpar, I would be worried about the player base.  

Yes the game is making money, but not like it was.  They get a massive push a few times a year during sales, but the biggest one is Amazon Digital Days.  Anybody that knew what was going on can attest to how crazy that day was.  

I am a bit more hopefuly knowing some of other devs are back here and I am hoping there is something big coming.  We will know in a few weeks. 

I agree with this statement in terms of Infinity Wars.  With this being such a big event in the MU, the needs to be something coming down the pipeline in 49 days.  My hope is that is it drastic and will maybe get back some vets that are starting to feel the grind, myself included.