Upcoming eroge se.kirara to be distributed free
Max Factory’s upcoming eroge se.kirara will apparently be distributed for free online, this is a full complete game too, with an anime opening, over 100 CGs (not including variations), and over 15 H-scenes.
That is enough volume to rival other games that are selling at full price, and would completely shame those other full price games that were released incomplete, or that other recent eroge that had no actual sex scenes.
The game was originally announced to sell at full price, but they made the surprise announcement recently that the game will be released free instead.
The limited edition of the game will sell at 2,800 yen and will come with a figma figure, and they also plan to have a series of figma figures for the game, but of course none of that will sell if people end up not liking the game too much.
February 9th, 2010 at 1:03 pm
It’s MF, the plan is to push merchandise. Not sure why anyone should feel ashamed over a competitive free incentive when the project has other ways of making money. Fans will most likely resent promotion of this type of arrogant attitude. As for makers releasing incomplete games and all, they should be ashamed for the merit of their own actions, not how some other maker operates. False logic there.
February 9th, 2010 at 1:20 pm
Hey, even if their plan is to push merchandise, if the game is good the merchandise will sell.
It’s a surprisingly bold, and awesome, move! Instead of releasing complementary products to fill the gap in sales, the eroge, in a sense, becomes the complementary product, the gateway that leads you to buy the game.
I, for one, applaud this decision. It’s ballsy!
February 9th, 2010 at 1:48 pm
Wow. I always thought this kind of promotion was still in the far off future. Ballsy indeed.
February 9th, 2010 at 2:47 pm
I’ll be surprised if MF decided to cough out an English version.
February 9th, 2010 at 3:01 pm
I like the odds of a fan sub happening for this.
February 9th, 2010 at 4:34 pm
This is like treating the game nearly identically to an anime where it’s aired, and hopes, by virtue of its quality, to sell merchandise for a profit. I’ve got a feeling that this might catch on.
I wonder how they’ll make the download available if the game is intended for ages 18+?
February 9th, 2010 at 5:23 pm
^ Leisure Suit Larry style quiz of course.
February 9th, 2010 at 5:24 pm
The same way they make checks for everything else.
‘Are you 18 years of age or older?’
Yes / No
The opening animation’s apparently done by AIC too.
>competitive free incentive when the project has other ways of making money.
Those people hired to make the game itself didn’t do it for free. The cost of producing a figure isn’t free either. Selling figures for 2,000 yen is going to make back the cost of something, but it isn’t going to be both.
My guess is that they ran into some reason they couldn’t sell the actual game, and this is about the only way to save face yet pull back some money.
February 9th, 2010 at 7:46 pm
i will bet 25 wendys chicken nuggets that hardly any of the “fans” of this site even knows what sekirara means WITHOUT consulting an online dictionary or the first japanese person they can ask.
February 9th, 2010 at 7:54 pm
They have another purpose behind this. But the advantage is they won’t be blamed if it’s going bad.
February 9th, 2010 at 8:24 pm
probability they’ll try to sell 10-15k yen hug pillow covers: 99% and rising
February 9th, 2010 at 10:30 pm
looks like they actually put money into this, too, production values are above average.
February 9th, 2010 at 10:50 pm
Actually I’ve thought about this sort of model before. The game itself is free, and just sell all the dakimakura covers, figures and all the other physical merchandise. Knowing nothing about the business of eroge, I simply put it in the corner of my mind reserved for interesting but unverifiable thoughts. I’d be interested in seeing how well this turns out.
February 10th, 2010 at 4:28 am
This reminds me of the free MMO models where they sell you in-game items/perks/whatever to make money. It’s just they plan to sell physical items instead for this game.
Too bad the game doesn’t interest me much. Since it’s free, I would give it a try, but it’s not like the lack of money is what’s stopping me from playing more eroge. I need more time to clear the backlog of games I already bought…
February 10th, 2010 at 6:49 am
Smart Move. If it works, that is.
February 10th, 2010 at 4:39 pm
>They have another purpose behind this.
Really. Care to tell us that purpose?
February 11th, 2010 at 7:25 am
I am not impressed. If they really want to get into the spirit of Free, why haven’t they made this Open Source? And I bet this will only be for the monopolist operating system Windows. Haven’t they learned enough from the product failure that was Vista? Offering this game for free will only line M$ and Ballmer’s pockets with money. Ubuntu is so much better — no viruses, no security holes, no bugs. Windows sxxcks!
Release this game for Linux! If you want to be truly Free!
February 11th, 2010 at 9:39 am
Open Source eroge: LOL
Just use WINE.
February 11th, 2010 at 9:51 am
this is like how some of the band release their music for free and makes money by concerts and merchandises.
i wish a good success.
February 11th, 2010 at 2:03 pm
WINE? just use ReactOS.
February 12th, 2010 at 10:27 pm
Just use VMBox.
February 12th, 2010 at 10:28 pm
Marketing model of the future, ditching the issue of piracy completely!
February 15th, 2010 at 2:56 am
FUKKEN AGREED