Site Announcement! Battle Academy for iPad Out Now!

[IainMcNeil]

The next generation of wargaming has arrived!

We are proud to announce that our flagship product and award-winning strategy game Battle Academy has made the transition to mobile with the release on the Apple iPad! Available now, eager strategists can go on the Apple iTunes Store and download the game and play it on the go!

Get it here!

With the release of the 1.8.0 patch yesterday, players can now start or continue their multiplayer games of Battle Academy on their iPad. The award-winning PBEM++ system, the new generation of play-by-e-mail technology for turn-based games, has taken one step further to allow cross platform compatibility, so that a game can be started and continued on any platform.

Battle Academy can be downloaded from the Apple iTunes Store.

Iain McNeil, Development Director of the Slitherine and Matrix Games group of companies said: “This is not our first game for the iPad, but it’s definitely the first title that is fully focused to our core community of players. It’s a game like no other on the platform, with a technology that proves our dedication to the wargaming niche and a testament to our continued will to invest and innovate to grow the market”.

Get it here!

[moet]

If we have already Battle Academy for Mac, do we need to pay again to get it on the iPad ?

[pipfromslitherine]

I'll quote Iain on this

"The game is packaged the same as PC so you get exactly what you get for PC and the expansions are add ons. Unfortunately apple dont give any system for offering discounts, in fact they completely prohibit any price incentive linked to another purchase. It's something we'd like to do but there is no chance of apple adding any functionality like this in my opinion. You have to look at it like you would an X360 or PS3 game, getting the game on one format doesn't get you the game on another format."

Cheers

Pip

[jhkrischel]

Excited about it but...a little bit of sticker shock there. While Slitherine may certainly command some premium on reputation alone, it's so far out of line of some *really* good turn based strategy games already out there, that I just can't bite.

Put it on my wish list, and I'll pick it up when the price drops a bit.

[jdm]

Hi JH
The case for the defence We have been making these sort of games for some years and have gained a deal of knowledge about this market. It is not generally a mass market business, but is more driven by "real" gamers being pretty astute and knowledgable about the products that they like and being prepared to support the limited number of developers who create these products. If our audience did not support us we would have changed direction a long time ago.

We are entirely self sufficient and completely dependent on the profits from our games to go on creating these sorts of products, believe me creating apps is a darn site easier and a heck of a lot cheaper than creating games like BA and statistically we have a better chance winning on the lottery than making money out of apps at the prices that are currently being charged and sadly this truth will dawn on many as the weeks and months go by, or they simply wont make it.

Games like Angry Birds are a true phenomena and a rare occurrence, but really should not influence the sensible and balanced business decisions that we have to make in the Wargames world.

BA represents a pretty significant investment in both time and finance for us and the content we are offering is way beyond what you might expect in a typical "App" , this is a full game in every sense of the word with full cross platform compatibility and many hours of game play. This does not come cheaply and if you were to evaluate this it would work out at pennies per hour for your entertainment.

If we are to continue bringing this sort of wargame to the new platforms, economics dictate that we really do have to charge a realistic price. As I already indicated when you consider the hours of game play here it really is not expensive by any comparison, other than the unrealistic prices that are now being seen in the App store, but I have to say that those who are as much as breaking even there are few and far between.

In the last analysis we have to back our judgement (and our ability to calculate that it takes a heck of a lot of 99cents to pay for a game like this) and apply sound commercial governance to everything we do, there is no one around to bail us out if we get it wrong:-) So don't think to badly of us or that we are ruthless money grabbers out to make a fast buck, nothing could be further from the truth.

Best Wishes JDM

[CLAVDIVS]

Hi All,
will it work on I phone as well please

[pipfromslitherine]

It is iPad only - the UI wouldn't work at the size of an iPhone screen unfortunately .

Cheers

Pip

[Zhivago]

The next generation of wargaming has arrived!

We are proud to announce that our flagship product and award-winning strategy game Battle Academy has made the transition to mobile with the release on the Apple iPad! Available now, eager strategists can go on the Apple iTunes Store and download the game and play it on the go!

Get it here!

With the release of the 1.8.0 patch yesterday, players can now start or continue their multiplayer games of Battle Academy on their iPad. The award-winning PBEM++ system, the new generation of play-by-e-mail technology for turn-based games, has taken one step further to allow cross platform compatibility, so that a game can be started and continued on any platform.

Battle Academy can be downloaded from the Apple iTunes Store.

Iain McNeil, Development Director of the Slitherine and Matrix Games group of companies said: “This is not our first game for the iPad, but it’s definitely the first title that is fully focused to our core community of players. It’s a game like no other on the platform, with a technology that proves our dedication to the wargaming niche and a testament to our continued will to invest and innovate to grow the market”.

Get it here!

Isn't Panzer Corps your "flagship product"?

[jhkrischel]

If our audience did not support us we would have changed direction a long time ago.

I guess the corollary of that is that if you find that say, you'd make more from the App Store at $4.99 as a premium title, you'll change direction as necessary

Games like Angry Birds are a true phenomena and a rare occurrence, but really should not influence the sensible and balanced business decisions that we have to make in the Wargames world.

You're right, and it's a tough market out there - there are quite a few great TBS games (Ravenmark, Lead Wars, to name a few), that may never reach the point of sustainable profitability, even though they're fabulous titles, no matter *what* they charge. The App Store is, for the most part, a lottery, and the vast majority of developers just won't scale to maintain even a small indie dev shop.

BA represents a pretty significant investment in both time and finance for us and the content we are offering is way beyond what you might expect in a typical "App" , this is a full game in every sense of the word with full cross platform compatibility and many hours of game play. This does not come cheaply and if you were to evaluate this it would work out at pennies per hour for your entertainment.

Funnily enough, I don't judge by pennies per hour - I have more money than time, really The tricky part for me is more about how much *I* want to invest, which includes both the front door cost, and the time spent later. I've got a backlog of probably, oh, sixty or seventy excellent A-list titles on my iPad that I simply haven't had time to play...and so when I see something priced generally out of the range of the App Store economy (which tops out at around 9.99, and hovers mostly between 2.99 - 4.99 for some *really* great work), my tendency is just to wait for the inevitable sale. Heck, I've probably spent more money on impulse buys of games I *haven't* played - although, I *do* like the idea of tip jars for indie devs I truly appreciate...or Kickstarters (for example, a tabletop RPG called "Legend" - http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dvr ... ing-legend).

If we are to continue bringing this sort of wargame to the new platforms, economics dictate that we really do have to charge a realistic price.

Well, I don't know how open you're willing to be about your books, but it would be interesting to see how things actually stack up for you, based on # of units you expect to move, versus the amount of $$ invested, versus amount of profit expected. The IA Writer team had a really interesting posts on pricing recently: https://plus.google.com/115711522874757 ... Bn6UjDiDLU and https://plus.google.com/115711522874757 ... oPTYdVFYyt)

The long and short of it was that they found that regardless of the price chosen, overall revenue pretty much stayed the same. Half price, double the units. Double price, half the units.

Now, to put a twist here, since your games are so incredibly dependent on community, you might see why, even if I have plenty of money to spend (even picking up Fields of Glory expansions every time they come out even though I haven't played in 8 months), I actually have a vested interest in seeing the *biggest* audience possible for your games

So don't think to badly of us or that we are ruthless money grabbers out to make a fast buck, nothing could be further from the truth.

I wouldn't dare think such a thing

However, let me make a humble suggestion that might suit the needs of both baseline economics and the idea of expanding community wherever possible:

1) Set a target revenue goal for the app based on your internal analysis.
2) Announce that you'll charge your starting price at $X until you hit your target revenue goal.
3) Report on progress (in either absolute terms or in % to goal) on a regular basis
4) Promise that after you hit the target revenue goal you'll cut the price in half
5) Promise that after you hit 2x the target revenue goal you'll cut the price in half again
6) Promise that after you hit 4x the target revenue goal, you'll turn it to "pay-what-you-want" ala "Humble Bundle"
7) Promise that after you hit 100x the target revenue goal you'll release it for free, or opensource it, or do something equally wonderful for humanity

Now, if this was the deal, as someone with more money than time, I'd be incredibly happy to pick up a few copies at full price just to get the ball rolling, knowing that my additional $$ bring us closer to a goal that will expand the community. For those people that have more time than money, they just wait on the sidelines, like they always have, until you've made your economic goals, and then the provide another little bump for you as a bonus.

Anyway, thank you again for your well thought out defense, all of your games, and for your consideration of my crazy suggestions

[MrsWargamer]

Colour me pleased to have a long ballyhooed lament fully justified Ian, yes, I am claiming victory in that I said it over and over, the wargaming community needs to cut the crap about real wargames requiring a PC.

Bullshit

I'm a bit sad I don't have an iPad, but a friend of mine (that recently experienced quite a bit of hell trying to buy and install the PC version) might like to know of the iPad option (as he has an iPad).

Envious as hell that there is no Android version.

Sympathetic about no real control over the pricing (but that's Apple for you eh, everything is over priced and under serviced). Hey if you can afford the iPad, stop expecting me to care if you can't afford the best wargame made in 10 years eh. Pay the price, stop crying, don't want to hear it.

Again congrats Slitherine and your team on this release.

[jdm]

Hi Again JH, we are always listening and there is certainly no monopoly on good ideas, so thanks very much for your comments.

A funny story is that they left me last night with no access code so I went to the app store and bought it, as I really wanted to see how I get on against a PC and MAC player Nuts I know but you already suspected that:-)

Best Wishes
JDM

[Slowbius]

Rightly or wrongly it's provoked quite a stir in the wider community:

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/8 ... le-academy

[CLAVDIVS]

Looks like I will have to get ipad for my birthday now

[gortwillsaveus]

Rightly or wrongly it's provoked quite a stir in the wider community:

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/8 ... le-academy

Just read some of the comments at that link.
I guess with all the money they shelled out for their eye-pad, they have no money left for anything else and only want $0.99 apps.
I do like the one comment made where the guy says that he's got 20+ top-rated apps that cost $0.99 and only played them once, and then actually deleted them.

As for me,..I'd be happy to pay the $20,...if I had an iPad.
I'd be happy to support the dev team as long as they continue to support and enhance this or any other game for more than 12 months.
This is one such game!

[MrsWargamer]

Rightly or wrongly it's provoked quite a stir in the wider community:

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/8 ... le-academy

hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe

Ian IGNORE the whining.

Fact 1 the iPad costs 200 bucks more than it is worth.

Faxt 2 just about every Apple product user is in some fashion in love with fact they have an iPad not that 'other' cheaper device.

Fact 3, the most important fact, if you gave it away as a free download, a wargamer would only gripe you were costing them expensive bandwidth because wargamers are inherently cheap. They're never happy with the price.

YOU know Battle Academy is the best wargame made in years. And I sure as hell know it. And they might as well get used to that fact too.
Second place is almost certainly Panzer Corps regardless of the Gary fan club's opinion

But don't worry Ian, you don't need to risk getting the penny pinchers irked agreeing with me in public, you can snicker privately in your office, I won't mind

20 bucks, they are actually griping about 20 bucks.
Anyone carrying around an iPad and griping about 20 bucks for the best non 'Angry Birds like silliness' to come to a tablet needs to be slapped around.
Preferrably with a stack of yuppy food staps.

I've seen plenty of games released for tablets, they are often brainless programs not worth a real price tag.
If I DID have an iPad, 20 bucks wouldn't even get the slightest indication of complaint from me.
And it wouldn't matter if a 100 or a 1000 other schlock no acocunt easy to forget games could be bought for a buck.

We invented the term 'schlock' for a reason you complainers.

[scarfacetarraff]

Great news, but I too was a bit shocked by the pricing. I was expecting $9.99. Since I already have it for the Mac, I'll likely wait for a sale. You guys planning an Easter Holiday sale?

Best of success! Do let us know if you're planning 'Commander: The Great War' for the iPad.

My .02 ~ many developers offer a lower price for a limited time when releasing a game. It is a small way to connect with fans who follow you closely. An opening day, 24 hour sale, for example.

[scarfacetarraff]

20 bucks, they are actually griping about 20 bucks.
Anyone carrying around an iPad and griping about 20 bucks for the best non 'Angry Birds like silliness' to come to a tablet needs to be slapped around.
Preferrably with a stack of yuppy food staps.

Correct, we all know no one saves up to purchase devices like the iPad. Everyone who owns an Apple product is made of money. ::rolleyes::

You really wish to alienate members here?

[MrsWargamer]

20 bucks, they are actually griping about 20 bucks.
Anyone carrying around an iPad and griping about 20 bucks for the best non 'Angry Birds like silliness' to come to a tablet needs to be slapped around.
Preferrably with a stack of yuppy food staps.

Correct, we all know no one saves up to purchase devices like the iPad. Everyone who owns an Apple product is made of money. ::rolleyes::

You really wish to alienate members here?

I have no official position with Slitherine. I'd be amused if anyone dropped getting the perfect wargame all because of my opinion.

Every person I know of that has an Apple anything thinks with their wallet. My sister great example, thought an iPod was a good idea for my tech challenged 78 year old mother who knows nothing about anything older than tech from the 70s. The 'right' choice would have been a cheapo dvd player like her savvy brother told her. 40 bucks for a machine that could play anything including a pizza. But nooooo she had to spend 400 bucks on the iPod, because it cost more.

Some people actually equate price with quality. It's inaccurate, but it's the truth.

YES, I do NOT think of Apple users as being cash starved. I DO think they have more money than brains.
The iPad is both well made and capable, but you COULD have bought the other tablet for a lot less.
And Apple service is an oxymoron.

My Asus ePad Transformer cos me a fraction what an iPad would have. It can do ANYTHING the iPad can, my tablet has a larger screen by the way. It can also run a few things an iPad can't. I'd like the game to run on Android, but in reality, with Splashtop, I can run virtually anything my computer can run. I have already run Battle Academy on my Asus ePad Transformer via Splashtop. But I have to be within wireless reach (granted, if I am on the internet, and my PC is on, I don't need to actually be at home).

One of the nicer things about Asus products, is their accident warrantee. If I spill coffee on it, if I drop it off the balcony, or in some fashion destroy it out of sheer ineptitude the first year, they will replace it. For all the over the top price tag of an Apple product, they will charge you a fee just to answer the phone.

I AM happy for Slitherine for launching to the tablet market, it's a pity they picked the iPad, not Android. But I suppose that might be in recognition of how the Android user has more options too.

Funniest thing I saw on the boardgame geek link though, was someone asking if it would run on a phone.
No you moron, it isn't a teensy tiny microscopic game needing only a 2x2 inch screen.

I think the only real challenge for Slitherine in selling Battle Academy on the iPad, will be making it clear, this game was designed for a 10inch screen or better and shouldn't be confused with garbage games meant for bored people with phones wanting to kill 10 minutes.

[scarfacetarraff]

You obviously are motivated by your dislike for Apple. Which is ironic, because you're such a Nintendo fan.

[IainMcNeil]

Right, lets keep this on topic guys. I don't want to hear any apple or Nintendo bashing. This thread is to get people info about BA on the iPad!