NEWS - Friday, August 14, 2009
Wolfenstein Dev Offers Reimbursement
There’s a fine line between "creative promotion" and "certifiably insane," and Raven developer Manveer Heir seems to be straddling it. On his Twitter page, Heir made a bold promise: "if Wolfenstein outsells Madden 10 in August I will personally pay for your copy (keep your receipt)." Though he’s been sticking to his guns that the offer is legitimate, he’s since made a few points of clarification. NPD numbers will be used for the official tally, of course. You need to follow him on Twitter, and keep a copy of your receipt. And, only one free copy per follower.
It’s a smart promotional idea. The offer is attention-grabbing, but there’s an extremely low chance he’d actually have to pay up. After all, Madden is always wildly popular, and it’s releasing on twice the number of platforms of Wolfenstein. The offer is also sure to grab a few new followers on Twitter, which then increases the base for promotion for the future.
Then again, if Wolfenstein does by some miracle outsell Madden, Heir is on a fast track to the poor house. Last year over 2 million copies of Madden were sold in the first month. At $60 a pop, Heir would need access to $120 million just to hedge his bets. Even if he only had to pay out his current Twitter followers it would amount to over $100,000. It’s a nice offer, but we can all hope it doesn’t come true -- for his sake.
Source: http://www.1up.com
