Reading this forum gives me the impression that most people seem to assume that this game will continue and be updated throughout the 2015 season, am I the only one that thinks there will be a new app? Aside from the fact that many people have gotten to the point where their teams are either great or the best possible, Glu could potentially make a lot more money by releasing a tap sports baseball 2015. Along with this, the fact that most sports games have new games each year leads me to beleive that, assuming this game made enough money to warrant another game(which is likely because they are still actively updating it in February), there will be a Tap Sports Baseball 2015 coming out in late March or early April. Although some of you may be angry at this thought, hopefully they would use some of the money they made to invest in making an even better game for 2015. What do you guys think about this?
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I'm not sure what the future holds for this game, but am fairly confident GLU will not abandon this platform. To create a "new" game would require a lot of work from programmers, licensing agreements with MLB, additional Customer Care Specialists, etc.. Based on what I've seen with this game, it takes a long time to resolve certain issues and launching updates. Does GLU want to expend further resources, when it appears they are possibly spread too thin already?
I'm not sure that GLU would want to take market share away from themselves with a different baseball game. Perhaps a different sport such as football, basketball, or soccer might be in the works. Let me ask you, if GLU created a 2015 version of baseball, would you adopt it instead of the current game? In all honesty, I would not. I agree with my friend Amused, that I have spent too much time, effort and yes money to start all over. I'm very interested in what the board consensus will be on this topic.
One of the reasons I like this forum, is the exchange of ideas. I think you have brought up an interesting topic, and it's one I did not give much thought to. In spite of my own viewpoint, you very well could be right. I would be of the opinion, that if GLU wanted to change things up (for lack of a better phrase), it would incorporate updates into this existing platform. I guess time will tell.
Moreover, I even think GLU will not improve this game.
If I am the game company owner, I will invest the most in the game which gives me the most revenue.
According to "Think gaming" revenue estimation, "Kim Kardashian: Hollywood"'s daily revenue is 105,409 but TSB is only 10,303.
So which game you will choose to make the new app?
The answer is quite clear after you review the income statics of GLU and this is also one of the reason why customer service is always late.
(Version 1.0.0 came out August 5th, which included the MLB players and the bulk of the game we know today) I understand what you are saying, but why start a beta on a all new game when you already have a fan base on an existing platform. They can still make the current TSB fresh for next year. There have been many ideas expressed by fellow forum members of ideas for improvement and expansion. I'm probably a bit older then most of the guys on this forum, but most games that had new games every year, had a one time price for the game. No in app purchases. You bought the game and earned your way up through playing. It seems most in app purchase games that are free stay around on their original game. I do not think that Kardashian game will come out with a whole new game. (Or other similar games like Clash of Clans, Game of War, etc...) The idea being an in app purchase games is that people will spend more on those then a 1 time fee. But like I said, I'm a bit older and used to gaming from a few years ago. So maybe your right. Maybe this is how it's done now. I hope not. But if it is then, all I can do is enjoy this version while it lasts.
No! It's simply the desire to build your fantasy team. Once it's done, people are not going to spend any more money.
Glu has two options.
(1) They can update the stats for this app. Users will spend to adjust their team. The problem is a lot of users already have a great team and a lot gold saved by the time they fresh the stats (at most twice a year). They are not going to spend a lot of real money.
(2) They can release a brand new app. This will sure drive another stream of revenue since everyone starts from zero. The problem is that users realize the app won't last too long so they won't spend as much as they did in the first app.
Glu basically has to evaluate which option can potentially generate more revenue. That's it. All the other concerns, license fee, programming cost, fan base, and etc are not an issue. Look at Glu's track records (iOS only), the following games are all free, offer in-app purchase (red indicates active):
Amused, I am sorry to burst your bubble. They have no problem to discontinue it and build a new one. Losing fan base? Nah... They probably will lose a few die-hard users but comparing to the revenue they'd get from the new app, it's well worth it. And trust me, the die-hard users will eventually jump ship anyway. This game is essentially a multi-player game. When there is no other player playing, what's the point staying there?
And the cost to build a new app is minimum. They basically refresh the stats and re-brand it as TSB 2015. The only difference is that your progress gets wiped out.
With all that said, I certainly don't want a brand new app. I have never spent so much time playing a game (console or mobile) so to start over is going to be exhausting. But if I were Glu, I would for sure take a serious look at releasing a new app instead of updating this one.
Question, why do you think a TSB 2015 would make more money than the current version? This app has a very simple concept, you are the batter and swing at pitches. Other than some "managerial" dynamics, and tweaking some features, what could be changed which would make the game so different and generate more revenue?
In my opinion, TSB is still in its infancy and has yet to see its true upside. If you are correct in that there is a TSB 2015, we probably would see it before the start of the MLB season. If we dont, then I think it is highly unlikely for this colander year. I don't have a crystal ball and your opinion is just as valid as mine, since we are both just guessing.
To start from new, it forces you to spend again to build your ultimate fantasy team.
Sure, you'd say "I'm not going to play the new app or spend a penny on it. I've already spent too much on this one".
OK. Does Glu lose anything by giving up on you? No. You won't spend another penny on this app anyway, right? So if Glu won't get another penny out of you from either this app, or the new app, what do they lose?
But there may be other players that haven't invested much in this app and may be willing to get a fresh start on the new one. Glu is counting on them.
Which one will generate more revenue for Glu? I don't know. Glu must have their own marketing analyses team to do that. But based on their past track records, it does look like they make more money by releasing a new one. Just saying.
Based on the hypothesis presented, whats the sense of following GLU to another venture? If the only reason is to try a newer game from them is the answer, why bother. According to the revenue philosophy, they will just stop updating that app and let it die a slow death until TSB 2016 comes out, and then TSB 2017, and so on .... Let's see how things unfold. Interesting topic though!
This is exactly what happened to Glu's other games: Contract Killer, Deer Hunter, and Eternity Warriors. They let the prior version die and release a new one.
After all, I am not saying this is what will happen to TSB. This game is very much different than the other ones. But don't be surprised if Glu chooses to follow a similar path.
As the game stands right now, there are some that have "tapped out" in terms of upgrades and players. However, There are many different things TSB could do to change the current status. If other options were presented to me that would enhance game play, I would be willing to pony up. I think the vast majority of players are not completely upgraded, nor have the ultimate team, so pulling the proverbial plug seems premature.
The fiscal argument does make sense, as does the track record of the company. The niche TSB has is interesting, as I know of no other game quite like it. Room to grow, I think so.
Here are few slides that may give us some clue:
1. TSB is their sport engine that they will release a similar TSFootball in 2015.
2. TSB revenue in Q42014 is 2.1M, dwarfed by Kim Kardashian, but not bad comparing to the others. So this game will likely continue.
3. Finally, this is the scariest one, 2015 roadmap!!! I'll let you guys decide what that first Half roadmap means!
I was asleep and seemed to miss a lot of great points. I agree that it is a small minority that have already spent their money and have reached the end goal. That's what I like about this game, is that there are new players starting all the time. And those that started a month or two ago, are now entering Legends, creating a larger group there. I too, Lawman, would spend money if they expanded on their current franchise on this platform. If there was a season mode or another level to get past I am definitely not opposed to cracking open the wallet.
Wow solermen! That is some great research to get that information. It is extremely informative. I wonder if they will get the NFLPA approval. I think Madden franchise has that locked up. But I have seen other games that use the players names. The last part where it shows TSB 2015 is left up to interpretation in my book. They can still use the same game and rename it TSB 2015 with the upgrades without creating an entirely new game. I think it depends on how many new players they are still attracting. If it's still generating revenue, which it looks like it still is, then I do not think they would "reboot" the franchise with a new game. I have a few apps that stay the same every year, but do rename themselves with the current year and upgrades. That is my hope. But I can defiantly see the other side if this signaling a new game. Very interesting.
Next time GLU announces earnings, and they have a subsequent conference call, I will try and get through. So, if you tune in and hear a caller identify himself as Mr. Lawman, it's me!!!
i honestly wouldn't mind if they make a new game (TSB 2015) but i would want some kind of way we could bring some of what we have now to the current game. i doubt they'll give us anything, but losing everything and starting over sucks. i don't know if i would.
If this one is ditched for an entirely new one, I'd be pretty upset.
If I know up front that a new game is coming in a year, there is no way I am going to pony up half the cash I would normally.
The only other micro transaction game I really played, I sunk $2000 or so into, and I know for a fact that I would never have been so invested if I knew the game was going to be let out to pasture a year later. I went on to play it for about 4 years, until the company finally stopped caring and let cheater bots take over.
In TSB 2014: Legends, beat playoffs fourteen times (RETIRED)
In TSB 2015: Greatest of All Time (GOAT) (RETIRED)
In TSB 2016: Recently returned and rising!
I have come back to play TSB 2016, so you can join me and others in a general TSB 2016 chat using Discord: https://discord.gg/t9yTMgx
Look forward to chatting with everyone!