Since StarBlood Arena saw a price drop last Friday on the PSN Store (NA) there have been several posts and conversations popping up on the topic. I thought I'd let the dust settle over the weekend, collect some data and feedback and then chime in to provide some insight and info to the ever sexy PSVR community about our price reduction
First of all, it's TRUE! In the NA store it's now permanently listed at $19.99. This isn't a sale, that's the new price. Since the reduction, I've been chatting with Sony and learned that each region is responsible for it's own pricing, so EU and Asia have not seen a permanent reduction yet, but I'm keeping on top of it to find out if/when that will happen and reddit will be the first to know
Many have speculated about the reason for the price drop. Is the game a failure? Are we giving up? Is this a play to get more players into the arena?
Here's the answer for you. We are committed to building this multiplayer community - not only for StarBlood Arena but for the PSVR as a platform. We care about that over profit, sales or anything else. I personally take it as seriously as being my life's work right now. Anyone in our Discord channel, Twitter or on reddit threads can attest to that. I spent my Saturday night on reddit, PMing people and working with the community on a new event until about 2am. That's my own weekend, my own time - but there's nothing more important to me. I think I even pissed my girlfriend off, but she eventually fell asleep - and you can't be pissed off while you're sleeping, so I won that round
Offering the game at a lower point of entry and releasing our demo, which is coming out soon, are small steps towards making the game more accessible to the existing PSVR player base. The current players love the game and go to bat for it every chance they get - and we want to make sure they have matches running for a long time to come, with new players to teach, beat up on and call family.
I've posted on the topic of community building many times, but this is a brand new platform and the community starts HERE, with each person who decides to play games together. We're all trying to build something major, TOGETHER! WhiteMoon Dreams and StarBlood Arena are a small piece of that puzzle, but it will take every developer, player and publisher coming together to make that happen.
The price reduction is also just a piece of the puzzle. The good news is that most of our hardcore players have WELCOMED a price drop and some even wish the game was free, even though they've already paid. They love the game and community that much, that they'd be willing to pay and let others get it for free just to ensure that servers are full and everyone is having a good time. That kind of shit brings a tear to my eye. The amount of work I've put in has been mirrored by the players - they organize game nights, they create parties and add new players to their friends list. They defend and promote SBA online everywhere - and most importantly, they tell us areas that we need to improve in to earn the right to call them a fan.
I could go on forever about my love for the community and this subreddit, but everyone leads busy lives and there's pictures of cats and shit to look at, so I won't take any more of your time.
We really hope that you'll give StarBlood a chance and be a part of the movement that makes PSVR a viable option for online multiplayer, if not now - maybe in the future when we've made more progress. This is something we're dedicated to for the long haul. It's my personal goal to make SBA the game that players know they can come back to, month after month. Other games will keep coming out and getting attention, as they should! There's a ton of great PSVR games that come out all the time, but my goal is that StarBlood has that feeling of home, that we're always here when you want to come back and kick some space ass with your friends.
See you in the arena,
LOVE AND ROCKETS.
Matt
tl:dr Confirming that StarBlood Arena's price has reduced in the NA PS Store to $19.99, other regions to follow - not sure if/when but I'm keeping my eye on it and will let you know ASAP. Trying to build an epic mp community on PSVR, TOGETHER <3
