Hey all, since we've had various people inquiring about whether we'd do a bigger sale down the line, just thought I'd write a little here about our steadfast decision not to go beyond 40%, the reasoning behind it specifically.
When we first launched the game, selling via our paypal account and manually sending out keys, and for a good year or two afterwards, the price was £5/$8. Even though apparently people thought the game well worth the price for what we offered at the time, it didn't have 1/10th of the features the game has now. It was really really buggy and early.
We also weren't on Steam, and a lot of people purchased before we were even on Desura. People have expressed concerns about Early Access games now, but just imagine dumping money straight into our paypal account. That's some massive trust and faith placed in us that we really really needed at the time. We were broke, literally unable to pay the rent the following month. These people made our dreams come true and set us on our way to where we are now.
Those people put faith in us and bought in early. They could have waited until the game was more developed, but if everyone did that we wouldn't be here today.
As such it was a decision we made very early on that we would not under any circumstances let anyone else who purchased the game during development, or for a good period after it was completed, get the game for equal or cheaper than those original supporters paid for it. Truth is we could probably make a lot of money by doing some crazy sale, or going on a bundle, but its important to us that we reward those who helped us on this path and make their purchase a good saving for years to come. It's a matter of ethics to us.
As such 40% takes us to just above the price they paid for it. We won't go below that.
Once NPCs and Vehicles go in, possibly when we go to 1.0 but its possible it'll happen before, we will increase in price one final time to our release price. That will be the final 1.0 price of the game. At this point we will perhaps consider going beyond 40% in sales, but again, we will only go as far as to keep the original alpha price the cheapest the game has ever been, so it'll be a bigger % of a higher price that will likely amount to the same price it is now during the 40% sale anyway.
Then when enough time has passed, PZ is in its twilight years, we will probably do bigger sales, or consider bundles. This is a long way off though.
We're aware that when buying a 4-pack during a 40% sale this technically does take it below the original alpha price per copy, however considering the investment of purchasing 4 copies at once this still seems fair, buying in bulk and all, and it would be way too difficult to arrange this otherwise.
So if you're on the fence about buying, or holding off for a cheaper price, then just bear in mind that it will be some considerable time. I would be amazed if you could get the game cheaper any time next year. Perhaps the year after.
Hope this explains the situation and makes people aware we're not being greedy or cocky for refusing to discount any further (though we honestly and proudly feel it is well worth its current full price). Steam is all about the sales, for customers and devs alike, so while its counter-intuitive to say we're putting ourselves out of pocket with this decision to keep the price up. I also want to make it clear that it's not specifically the 40% that's our ceiling but the price it takes it to, so people don't see a bigger % sale down the line when the game's price is higher and think we've gone back on our word.
But its an assurance that the price it is now is certainly the cheapest you'll be able to get it this year or next. We may do 40% again, but I find it unlikely we will this year. We don't know this for certain though. If this prices anyone out of purchasing then we apologise, and hope to see you some time in the future when the game is complete.
Hope this fills people in on the situation :)
Thanks everyone for your support, We're always really proud when we step in here to see what a positive and friendly Steam community we have <3