Saturday, February 07, 2015

Massively OP and BlizzardWatch, Part III

More and more interesting things keep happening in the saga of Massively Overpowered (formerly Massively) and BlizzardWatch (formerly WoW Insider). In some ways, it's a microcosm of the issues faced by all media in the Internet Age. It's especially interesting that each site is pursuing different strategies for funding.

BlizzardWatch is relying on Patreon, where individuals pledge a small amount every month. They get less money upfront, but in theory they have a somewhat reliable income every month. They started out aiming for $8000 per month, and currently have about $13,000 per month pledged.

MassivelyOP opted for a Kickstarter to raise $50,000 upfront. This seed capital will go towards the site and give them time to actually generate income.

Both methods have advantages and disadvantages. I think MassivelyOP is betting, that as a more general site, it can generate enough revenue from advertisers, from all the different companies looking to make MMOs.

BlizzardWatch, on the other hand, really only has Blizzard and maybe a few other related companies as potential advertisers. So they are trying to be primarily supported by reader contributions.

In some ways, it is similar to the situation between public broadcasters like PBS versus the major networks like NBC. (Only the government isn't involved at all.) In television, the ad-supported networks basically won, having the largest number of viewers and the most content. The public broadcasters do survive, and often put out unique and different shows.

Of course, that's a very different medium. While MassivelyOP is more general than BlizzardWatch, they're still both very niche. The outcome here might be entirely different.

2 comments:

  1. >> BlizzardWatch, on the other hand, really only has Blizzard and maybe a few other related companies as potential advertisers. So they are trying to be primarily supported by reader contributions.

    I don't really believe that's true. When I started my last business the first keywords I setup in my Google Advertising account were my competitors' names. I would imagine every new MMO would want to advertise on a WoW Insider type site to attempt to draw the disillusioned away.

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  2. I don't know if I agree with that, Nicholas. Normally that technique works when the person is really searching for a generic solution, but using a specific brand.

    Like if I want a smartphone, but I search for "iPhone", putting up an Android add might work, because it's also a smartphone, and that's my real goal.

    But someone who goes to BlizzardWatch wants information on WoW, and not some substitute MMO. So I think adds for rival MMOs would be less effective on BlizzardWatch.

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