victorchopin: 4) It's a matter of choice, afterall. Those prince increases won't be the rule of thumb from now on even for these AAA indie ones or whatever the heck they are. Think about >observer and many many more ;)
groze: Sorry for nitpicking, here, but >observer_ is a straight up indie game. It's published by Aspyr, and I wouldn't exactly say Aspyr is a major publisher, they're mostly known for their Mac and Linux ports. Sure, they ported a lot of big-name games, but when it comes to actual publishing, they mostly focus on actual indie titles.
And the only "AAA indie" game that I can think of is Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice. Ninja Theory are the only ones claiming the "indie AAA" moniker, I don't know what are the "many many more" you mention. You're either indie or AAA. Or AA, I guess; AA is a thing, to some... the whole "medium studio/publisher" thing.
The danes behind "Interstellar marines" called their game "Indie AAA". Things haven't exactly worked out so well for them so far.
bhrigu: EDIT: As the game is/will be DRM free would it have been much trouble having the games in those collector's editions?
But then I am just a passer-by who is not even remotely interested in collector's editions.
Good luck for the future of the game. Hope working under a publisher won't negatively impact the devs.
Manywhelps: It does add a small amount to manufacturing costs, but the main issue is that if you add a PC version you'd be expected to have PS4/Xbox One as well. Suddenly you've got three skus to manage. So it's a bit more complicated.
Klumpen0815: For that much money, it wouldn't only have to be the best game ever with 100h of not procedually generated and not repetitive playtime, It would certainly have to be multi-platform. 51€ for a Windows only In-Dev Early Access whatever.... no. Just no.
Manywhelps: Well, you can always take a look at reviews for whether the hours spent and content is worth it to you, but it is multiplatform. Windows, Mac, Linux, PS4 and Xbox One.
Tequila: DAMN... Wasn't expecting the final finished game to be out in April 2018!?
How much is left to do?
Manywhelps: Still quite a lot. Early Access slows down development, which is why today is the last update.
tropit9: to manywhelps- just to make sure, i bought it before the price incress. will i be qualified for the jolly brolly weapon? also, will you realese the season pass on gog as well? with gearbox being owesome for borderlands but not so awesome with no drm stance. i was on the fence for a long time about this game, but ultimatly after reading the blog decided to purchase.
bioshock meet 1984.
Manywhelps: Yup you will be. Season pass on GOG I actually don't know 100% but I can't see why not.
Mjauv: Honestly, I don't wanna be spewing negativity (I've already bought WHF on GOG by the way) but I have very little trust in Gearbox. They have a less than stellar record if you look at their dealings with Sega and 3D Realms.
Also: while I do really hope you guys are succesful and rake in huge profits, the parts in your announcement regarding "retail practices" leaves a bitter taste. Basically, it sounds like Gamestop got you guys by the balls and now you have to adjust. Maybe that's a good thing (I'm not personally affected by it) but I'm certainly skeptical.
Manywhelps: It's cool man - I'm actually trying to talk openly about these things, so please do ask away.
In this case it's not so much about being pressured as it is about "it's just the way things are done now". It's like having to deal with ratings agencies. I have to be calmed down every time I talk with most ratings agencies. The only nice ones are the Germans over at USK (they're super nice). But we do it because you just end up raging against the machine otherwise.
Well, kudos for the transparency and the fact that you actually take time to answer all questions.
I have personally always longed for more AAA-releases on GOG so I'm happy about things and the fact that WHF is having more narrative focus.
And since you are so transparent, which people would you say bitch the most in the comment sections on average, GOG-players or Steam-players? ;-)