anybody out there?

Hi Sam & Ruben,

It's been an interesting couple of months for us. I think 3 Cards to MIDNIGHT stirred up a lot of interest because it was the first game Chris and I had done for a long time. People tried it out and, while a lot of people liked it (some even LOVED it :-)), it wasn't as close to a Tex Murphy game as some had hoped (even though we'd tried to make clear that it wasn't going to be).

We've learned some important things in the past year, the biggest one being that, while the casual games market is huge, it's not good for 3rd party developers like Big Finish, Inc. We've had literally hundreds of thousands of people download our games for the free 60 minute trial; of those, less than 5% actually purchase the game. And that's TYPICAL. As far as I know, games rarely get even close to a 10% attach rate.

Then, when you factor in the tiny cut we get from the distributors - usually 30% or less of the discounted purchase price - the "huge" casual game market does not pay off at all.

Our hope with the 3 Cards series was to create a game that would be casual enough to appeal to casual gamers, but offer enough story and challenge to please the more core adventure gamers; after making these two games, I'm not sure it's even possible. Many casual gamers aren't patient enough to get into the story and think even the easiest difficulty levels are too hard, while many adventure gamers find the structure too restrictive and repetitive. We used to think that there was some crossover there (and maybe there will be in the future), but what makes a successful casual game is mostly a direct contradiction to adventure design.

At this point, Chris and I in deep discussions about our future. Unless something significant changes in the casual market, it's just not viable for us as a 3rd party developer. The only way to make any money at all is to do contract work (which we are doing) and get paid to develop a game for a publisher. It doesn't pay much, but it's guaranteed income and that keeps us in business.

In the near future, expect to hear an announcement about a return to our roots: a traditional (though updated and contemporary) adventure game. This may be our swan song, but we're not going to die on the vine without shooting off all our ammo in one last attempt. We feel a bit like Butch and Sundance down in Bolivia...let's just hope for a happier ending!

To everyone who reads this: Thanks for your support - we're doing this for you guys!

Aaron

Sorry to hear that Aaron. Much love brother.

It is sad to hear Big Finish plan didn't work, I hope this is not the end of the 3 Cards series. On the other hand, a real adventure game would be even better, and MUST be a complete success, I really hope so. And we stil have project Fedora (Fingers crossed)

About the game, I also think Daniel had little time and it seemed he knew more than what we've been told. I don't know if he survives in the other path, but I have the feeling he was going to appear in the next game.

I have been thinking lately that 3 cards to dead time has died, & this forum is dead also. Casual gamers don't seem to care about a story they just want to click on objects. everyone just wants a tex murphy game & with the renewed interest from gog it has enabled a new range of players. I wonder what the stats are from people who have downloaded from gog. Beleive me a few years ago there wasn't much around about tex murphy but now everyone is talking about it.

Really sorry to hear that news. Personally I loved the game. Yes there was a lot of story in it, but I felt it was a big improvement on the first installment in a lot of ways - it looked and felt smoother and the pictures and graphics to me just felt better. The word links were much easier for me as a brit to get (though one or two things I'd never heard of) but on the whole I really enjoyed it.

The only thing I did think was that the characters' faces looked quite large, in that a couple of them had big cheeks that didn't look quite right. But really, if that's my only criticsm, it's a tiny tiny thing.

As for the next game, I'll buy it whatever it is, and I'm sure the other loyal fans would too. I'll also do whatever I can to help drum up support if there is anything that can be done.

The high drop out rate on those who buy the games and those who just download the demo is mad. It's so cheap to buy the game I haven't even looked at either demo.

All I can say is good luck with the next game, and you have my support and no doubt everyone else from UTM with you. If there is more I can ever do let me know.

DL

I noticed the game is currently in the top 20 at Big Fish Games. And I don't remember the previous game 3CTM having ever been in the top 100. To the developers: have you gotten paid more?

Aaron & Chris: having just lost a weekend playing both 3 Cards titles, I'm really sorry to hear that the games haven't been more successful. I'm a big adventure game fan, although I only caught up with the Tex Murphy games last year. I hunted them down on eBay then used an emulator that crashed constantly and made the mouse near impossible to control - now that's dedication, but I stuck with it because I agree with you guys that story (plus character!) is king and the story was worth it.

I'd managed to miss the news that you'd set up a new company, so when Chris Jones's unmistakable voice came out of the speakers I nearly fell off my chair. What a bonus! I loved the unusual gameplay, particularly with Dead Time (I spent a bit too much time in Midnight shouting at the screen when the game wouldn't allow perfectly reasonable word combinations, although some of that was because I'm not American) and the story. Thanks for the glimpse into the difficulties of third party development in casual gaming - I'm really surprised to hear that most casual gamers aren't interested in story, as the trend in casual gaming had seemed to be moving away from straight seek and find to incorporating more story (as with the Jane Jensen/James Patterson Women's Murder Club games).

However, I'm thrilled to hear you're giving the adventure genre another shot. Telltale seem to be making a go of episodic adventure, and God knows I buy everything they release, so maybe there's a bright future for you guys there too? Whatever you release, I'm thirsting to hand over my cash. And thanks for all the great games.

Gavrielle,

Thanks for the nice post! It has been a bit discouraging the past few months, but nothing renews our motivation like hearing how much people enjoy our games.

Keep checking back here - and register, if you haven't already; when we have official announcements about upcoming projects, this website (and also at http://www.unofficialtexmurphy.com) will be the first place you'll get the news.

Thanks for playing!

Aaron