This is 100% correct, and it should be drawing the ire of every member of this forum.
But let's think about it for a second. Over the past year and a half of its existence, has Battle Bay been a commercial success? We can only really guess on how well the game is doing... but based on how nobody that I know or have ever met has ever even heard about this game, I would personally guess that the answer is 'no'.
Sure, the profits that Battle Bay earns on a day-to-day basis would satisfy 95% of other dev teams. But this is Rovio we're talking about here - the creator of the once-wildly-popular "Angry Birds". Rovio doesn't settle for mediocrity. If Rovio is going to seriously invest in a game, then it better be worth their time... it better stick to the front page of the App Store... and it better rake in massive dollars. Unfortunately, Battle Bay has not done that.
I believe that the latest series of updates has been the manifestation of the dev team's realization of this situation. The "Agility update", which was poorly received by much of the community (I might've also been a bit critical of it
), along with other massive changes to the game's structure, was a panicked response from the developers to the lack of incoming players. I saw it as something of a last-ditch effort to expand the player base by roping in more casual players.
Now, with the addition of a slew of premium ships, the devs appear to be laying the groundwork for them to press forward with the game in one of two different directions, depending on what happens to their player base in the upcoming weeks/months.
- If the rate of new players picks back up, and the new ships stoke a renewed interest in the game by other players, then I believe the devs may make the premium ships more accessible for F2P players, and life will continue as normal for the foreseeable future
- Alternatively, if the rate of new players remains stagnant, then I believe the devs will continue releasing new ships, and other premium features, at the same price points in order to bleed out the existing player base (and drive the game into the ground in the process), all for the purpose of spiking their short-term profits as much as possible
I think we're going to see the second scenario play out - the player base will die off, and the F2P players will quit. Finally, the loyal P2P players - with no casual players to be better than - will also lose interest in the game. At this point, either Rovio will axe the game and haul away any remaining profits, or it will simply fade into obscurity with no community presence or loyal player base.
Sorry to take up a doomsday attitude with this new ship release, but I really think keeping the game alive has become a secondary goal for the dev team.
Click to expand...