Turned-Based Conquest Games Are Not Mass-Market

Turned-Based Conquest Games Are Not Mass-Market

I liked UC , but I seem to have been in the minority. Nor does this surprise me; in a niche market, turn-based conquest games are a niche within a niche. Like the war game market, turn -based strategy players are small in numbers , but they are usually willing to pay a premium to play.

On a mass-market game portal such as The Zone, this practically the guaranteed financial failure of UC . Even during the free Beta campaigns , it was tough to get more than 5,000 or so of The Zone's well-publicized two million plus subscribers (then) to try a campaign. After UC converted to $9.95 a month for unlimited play, this dropped to about 1,800 players, and slowly slid to about 800. Even the most recent campaign, which in an uncharacteristic fit of generosity and common sense by Microsoft was offered free to the community, only attracted about 1,500 players.