Chapter 4. Marketing and Distribution Concerns: Retail Box, Download, or Both?

KEY TOPICS

• Downloading: Not (Yet) a Viable Option

• Buying Shelf Space

• The AOL Model: Do You Need to Actually Sell the Client?

Like any other computer game, the number one requirement for play (and to get paid) is to get the game's player component, the client, installed on a computer. This means distribution, and distribution reach is still king. Two major distribution models have emerged in the online game marketplace : selling the client at retail, as per other computer games , and offering the client for download via the Internet, either free or on a discounted basis.

Of the two, retail sales is still the best method for getting the disc in the hands of the players.