A simple thank you

[alexti]

Arryn said:

If Brad's intention in selling retail was solely advertising, that's still a valid reason. Making a profit from doing so would be a bonus in that case. However, I sincerely doubt he'd go through the effort of getting hitched with Ubisoft if he didn't intend to seek a profit from retail. Seems to me that the possible "reward" from using that as an ad technique wouldn't outweigh the effort involved. I'd think he'd get a better bang for the buck advertising in other ways. Which leaves the profit motive, since Brad doesn't strike me as the vain type.

So, we're coming to the conclusion that it didn't work for Stardock. Though "advertisement" effects and increase in "brand name recognition" are somewhat hard to estimate. And the way their Online purchases and patch downloads were organized, it was hard not to notice their other products, so I suppose that was part of the plan.

Arryn said:

Has he said, anywhere, that he has actually lost money on GalCiv sales? Or that GalCiv's Online sales aren't profitable?

I haven't seen any statement from him on that. Surely, Online sales are profitable. But whether they have made enough to offset development costs, I don't know. But I remember him saying that if not for Online sales, GalCiv would be a total financial failure. Which just probable says that they've got very little from the retail deal.