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[IbizaPocholo]

The DeanBeat: This player spent $2 million in a mobile game. Then he led a boycott.

Are you looking to showcase your brand in front of the gaming industry’s top leaders? Learn more about GamesBeat Summit sponsorship opportunities here. Gree, the Japanese game company that owns mobile games such as Modern War, hit the gold mine with Stephen Barnes of Houston. The 59-year-old...

venturebeat.com

Gree, the Japanese game company that owns mobile games such as Modern War, hit the gold mine with Stephen Barnes of Houston. The 59-year-old owner of an appliance store has spent more than $2 million in Modern War, as one of the leaders of a clan that has been around for more than four years. He also helped stage a boycott where 144 teams stopped spending and demanded that Gree make fixes in the game.

Welcome to the complicated world of VIP gamers, also known as “whales,” who spend what many of us might consider to be crazy amounts in their favorite free-to-play games. They are the best of customers, as perhaps 2 percent of players in free-to-play games (where you spend real money on virtual goods) spend any money at all. Those who spend amounts like Barnes has are the rarest of people, and they come to expect good treatment from the game company. How game companies choose to accommodate the needs of these players can be very important, much like the way that Las Vegas casinos court and coddle their high rollers who gamble away millions. If the game companies lose their whales, the impact can reach far beyond one person.

“When a player leaves, it’s clear that if they are well-connected and important — Social Value in our terms –that there’s a hit to the community in terms of revenue and of course in time and fun,” said Dmitri Williams, CEO of Ninja Metrics, a company that studies “social whales” and other game analytics. Williams notes that “social whales” are players who may not spend money but they cause other players to spend. In the case of the VIPs we are talking about here — the clan leaders who spend a lot of money — they spend a lot and they influence others to spend a lot.

Barnes came to my attention because the top clans in Modern War staged a boycott with perhaps 6,000 participants, including 22 of the top 25 player teams in the game. They sent a letter that demanded Gree address problems with the game and communicate with them about changes. Gree had modified the power and value of virtual items after players had purchased them, and it rescinded an item that teams had spent a lot of money to acquire.

For its part, Gree said in a statement, “Gree greatly values its customers and takes all customer complaints seriously. We are in the process of looking into and addressing each issue raised in the letter.” Gree refunded players for some of the controversial purchases.

Check the link for more.

 

[MMaRsu]

insane

 

[CuteFaceJay]

That's good bait.

 

[MiyazakiHatesKojima]

I blame both for this obscenity.

 

[GreatnessRD]

Talk about first world problems. I'd love to have the ability to spend 2 million on a game just for the hell of it.

Oh Mr. Stephen Barnes, teach me how to hit a lick! i'm trying to come up, too!

 

[Deputy Moonman]

Wouldn't it be nice to have 2 million dollars laying around to blow on a random mobile game? You know those home buyer shows and the couples are always like, "um well our budget is like just over a million dollars..." This dude was like yeah I spend that on video games.

 

[Bullet Club]

Spending $2m on a mobile game...

 

[SCB3]

I wish I could bring myself to make a game where I can attract these whales, I'd never have to work again!

 

[TLZ]

I wish I could bring myself to make a game where I can attract these whales, I'd never have to work again!

I know. So many idiots out there.

 

[alife]

 

[TeamGhobad]

i would usually ask how is this possible but i remember that we also have 86 different genders..

 

[Mista]

Give me two million and I’ll make them 5 million. What an idiot

 

[PhilipDoesMatter]

What a jackass. Donation would be such a better way to spend the money. I hope the new owner of the infamous $2M fixes that.

 

[nkarafo]

It's incredible that a game can allow you to spend that much though.

Even back in the day with the coin op craze, you could only spend as much before the quarters fill the cabinet and there is no room to squeeze another one. And even then it would be a few thousand dollars worth of coins.

Could it even cost you that much if you bought every game on STEAM? I read somewhere it has about 30.000 games. Even if every single one costs 60 bucks you still only need 1.800.000 to buy them all.

 

[gela94]

I never understood how it is possible to go into such a debt if you don't have this amount in the first place, are credit cards without limits or something

 

[Woo-Fu]

I never understood how it is possible to go into such a debt if you don't have this amount in the first place, are credit cards without limits or something

Read the story. Nowhere does it say he is in debt. In fact he loves the game and will probably keep putting his disposable income into it if some of their grievances are met.

Considering how appliance stores rip people off on a daily basis I'm not surprised he has that sort of money to throw around. There is a sears franchise here that will charge you $150 for a part you can order off of amazon for $25, then charge you $150 for the 5m it takes to install it.

 

[KorbinDallas]

Bullet Club Thanks, I hate it.

Crazy whales are crazy. Glad though they fund some FTP games.

 

[JimiNutz]

This dude got more money than sense.

I'M RICH BIATCH!!!!!! honk honk

Company that makes the game: Man the harpoon boys, we eatin' tonight!

 

[Fbh]

And here I've been thinking for days if I should get that nice humble monthly deal...................... for $12

 

[#Phonepunk#]

a fool and his money are soon parted

 

[SweetShark]

I would preferred at least use this money to bring to reality characters I created in different Kickstarter Videogames I love.

 

[Endless Fluff]

I mean... if I had Jeff Bezos money I'd run around and throw it in peoples faces. If the 2 million don't hurt him, then I don't see what's wrong with spending 2 million on a game.

It's absolutely stupid, as stupid as buying a Bugatti for 2 million, though.

 

[Nero_PR]

I mean... if I had Jeff Bezos money I'd run around and throw it in peoples faces. If the 2 million don't hurt him, then I don't see what's wrong with spending 2 million on a game.

It's absolutely stupid, as stupid as buying a Bugatti for 2 million, though.

This is worse. Let us say that the company one day just say: "Well, good work guys. We will be shutting down our servers in one month. Thanks for your time and MONEY spent in our game". Goodbye to your "investment" hahaha. At least a car you can still sell it, even with depreciation playing its part. Not counting that some of these sports cars can get better value with time.

 

[alabtrosMyster]

So they had them buy stuff, then they toom it away and tried to sell them more new stuff - they were so nice as to refund some of the money spent after they did a play strike... So much generosity, it's hard to find words to express how impressed I am.

That's what a 100% online future is all about.

 

[Cravis]

So they had them buy stuff, then they toom it away and tried to sell them more new stuff - they were so nice as to refund some of the money spent after they did a play strike... So much generosity, it's hard to find words to express how impressed I am.

That's what a 100% online future is all about.

Yep. You would have thought that after $500K they’d be like damn this guy gets a free pass on everything for like. Once he spent $1 million it’s like damn we’re greedy. Spending $1.5 million, yep we are heartless and evil. When total spent hit $2 million the developers realized they were Satan incarnate. I heard next week they’re planning to sacrifice babies for all Hallow’s eve. Just another day at the office for them.

 

[alabtrosMyster]

Yep. You would have thought that after $500K they’d be like damn this guy gets a free pass on everything for like. Once he spent $1 million it’s like damn we’re greedy. Spending $1.5 million, yep we are heartless and evil. When total spent hit $2 million the developers realized they were Satan incarnate. I heard next week they’re planning to sacrifice babies for all Hallow’s eve. Just another day at the office for them.

So this guy is an adult that clearly has too much money on his hands, the amount of money spent was not his main concern! His main problem seemed that he spent some money on an expensive item that was taken out of the game soon after (which is not only greedy, it's completely unfair FOR THAT KIND OF GAME) - the game must be awesome, I'm almost scared to install it, just in case I have to sell my house, kids, wife, cat, car, TV, an arm and a leg, a kidney so I can truly enjoy it to its fullest.

 

[gela94]

Read the story. Nowhere does it say he is in debt. In fact he loves the game and will probably keep putting his disposable income into it if some of their grievances are met.

Considering how appliance stores rip people off on a daily basis I'm not surprised he has that sort of money to throw around. There is a sears franchise here that will charge you $150 for a part you can order off of amazon for $25, then charge you $150 for the 5m it takes to install it.

Oh yes you are right, I must admit I read the headline and assumed. I mean at the end of the day everybody can spend their money how they want but it is pretty crazy.

After finally reading the article, I can just say, good thing I stay away from these trashy ftp gamesand all kind of mobile and multiplayer stuff.

 

[Saruhashi]

Yep. You would have thought that after $500K they’d be like damn this guy gets a free pass on everything for like. Once he spent $1 million it’s like damn we’re greedy. Spending $1.5 million, yep we are heartless and evil. When total spent hit $2 million the developers realized they were Satan incarnate. I heard next week they’re planning to sacrifice babies for all Hallow’s eve. Just another day at the office for them.

I'd be suspicious we are not getting the full story here to be honest.

The article reads almost like an ad for the game.

This guy would have been spending approximately 685 bucks per day on the game to have spent 2 million in 8 years.
The biggest in app purchase possible on a single item seems to be 100 bucks so I wonder if it's possible that some of his 2 million is spent on other players, not himself. Like maybe he is gifting people in his clan gold or something?

From the games forum it seems that you can donate to your faction:
How and what can I donate to my faction, and what can my donation be used for?
Players can donate cash or concrete to their faction bank. The money can then be spent to buy fortification or faction bonuses. Only the guild leader/founder can use the faction bank to purchase fortification or bonuses. If a member leaves a faction any cash or concrete they have donated remains in the faction bank of their previous faction.

An estimate I found for the game says it is bringing in 50k per month. Over 8 years that's 4.8 million bucks.
So this one guy alone is responsible for over 40% of their revenue?
Something stinks here, in my opinion.

He's more like an owner of a sports team or something than just a mere "player".

I think Dean Takahashi is kind of omitting that or at least skirting around it.
It would be like describing the owners of Manchester City or Chelsea as "this football supporter spent 500 million dollars watching his team".
I mean, it's not completely false but it's also not 100% true either.

I know dudes who invest in local soccer clubs, running clubs etc with no return on their investment at all other than community recognition so maybe it's not so strange to see this kind of thing playing out in a game where you can be the leader of a faction, the best faction that always wins, if you are prepared to invest.

It's kind of framed like he is just a guy playing the game, though.

 

[Liftplus]

I'd be suspicious we are not getting the full story here to be honest.

The article reads almost like an ad for the game.

This guy would have been spending approximately 685 bucks per day on the game to have spent 2 million in 8 years.
The biggest in app purchase possible on a single item seems to be 100 bucks so I wonder if it's possible that some of his 2 million is spent on other players, not himself. Like maybe he is gifting people in his clan gold or something?

From the games forum it seems that you can donate to your faction:
How and what can I donate to my faction, and what can my donation be used for?
Players can donate cash or concrete to their faction bank. The money can then be spent to buy fortification or faction bonuses. Only the guild leader/founder can use the faction bank to purchase fortification or bonuses. If a member leaves a faction any cash or concrete they have donated remains in the faction bank of their previous faction.

An estimate I found for the game says it is bringing in 50k per month. Over 8 years that's 4.8 million bucks.
So this one guy alone is responsible for over 40% of their revenue?
Something stinks here, in my opinion.

He's more like an owner of a sports team or something than just a mere "player".

I think Dean Takahashi is kind of omitting that or at least skirting around it.
It would be like describing the owners of Manchester City or Chelsea as "this football supporter spent 500 million dollars watching his team".
I mean, it's not completely false but it's also not 100% true either.

I know dudes who invest in local soccer clubs, running clubs etc with no return on their investment at all other than community recognition so maybe it's not so strange to see this kind of thing playing out in a game where you can be the leader of a faction, the best faction that always wins, if you are prepared to invest.

It's kind of framed like he is just a guy playing the game, though.

Seems he spent most of his cash on his clan, as it said in the article, he's one of the clan leaders.

 

[flacopol]

meanwhile I using GameGuardian ...... and I fell great , if the game has predator BM .... GG is my guy

 

[Nero_PR]

Seems he spent most of his cash on his clan, as it said in the article, he's one of the clan leaders.

It is like a sponsor for any other team in sports. The guy liked the game so much and saw that he had the money, decided to found a clan and support it to be "one the best" out there. It is an eccentric way of spending your money? I guess so. But he is just enjoying the ride and felt great being in the leadership of one of the game's greatest clans. More power to the guy.

Still, in my honest opinion, it is not something I see as smart to do, because the game someday will end and be forgotten in the middle of millions of other games out there, and that money will be gone. For the guy, it must be like a hobby of sorts, and for that what it counts it is the journey until the inevitable day that the game ends. The guy is having the time of his life while being the owner of a big appliance store.