Tennogen transfer concern and questions.

[(XBOX)elementXGHILLIE]

What I understand:

Console tennogen will be limited to console versions after the account merge, and if acquisition is after today an hour ago. The reasoning is solid, console tennogen is paid for in platinum and therefore cheaper if not free. If it was available on PC, why would anyone ever buy steam tennogen? Then the artists behind Tennogen would suffer.

What I don't understand:

Why is Pc tennogen limited in the same way? PC tennogen is paid for in cash. You can then only use it on Pc, why? If transfer was allowed to all platforms, PC would become the dominate place to buy tennogen. If anything this would increase Revenue to the artists.

For players, who wish to play on different platforms why would they buy something on console if it's useless on PC, they wouldn't they would buy it once, on PC.

What needs to be considered:

Console already gets the better end of the deal, since they get the better monetization system, and since more platforms are considered console. If you buy on PC, you get the skins on PC and maybe mobile. If you buy it on console, you get all the consoles. If mobile is considered console, where is the value for PC buyers?

The reason given is this:

Quote

Why don’t Steam PC purchases also give you the console version of the item?
We explored this option, but it, unfortunately, is not an avenue that is available to us. 

This is an answer, but not a reason. The only reason I can think of is that a platform, didn't want to allow the transfer, if that's the case why is any transfer allowed post merge? 

Questions:

Question: Does mobile count as PC, and everything else counts as console?

Question: If Mobile doesn't count as PC, and counts as console, for the gamer who uses different platforms, what is the purpose of buying on PC, at all? Buying on PC becomes the worst deal.

Question: Why are PC purchases limited in this way?

[GovernmentSecrets.gov]

This is a question I'm curious about as well. In another thread there was some speculation that it was Microsoft/ Sony/ Nintendo interference, but it makes little sense. If I bought a Tennogen item on PC those companies aren't losing anything as I was never going to buy it from their storefront in the first place. I can understand wanting to protect the income of the artist's but doubling it is unnecessary if it means we have to buy stuff we already paid for multiple times.

Edited November 24, 2023 by Sierra

[Katinka]

The fact that this only applies to Tennogen and doesn't apply to any other cosmetic purchase (neither Platinum deluxe skins nor real money Heirloom skins) makes me think it has to be something unique to Tennogen.  As you say, letting PC purchases be shared cross platform would make it the best place for the consumer to buy it, if they are happy with paying cash instead of Pt, which would increase the artists' revenue as they'd get more of those 30%s instead of just getting the one-off licensing fee for it being available on console.  The only reason I can think for this choice, and this is speculation, is that DE want to maintain a profit margin on console Tennogen which means they need to get at least enough console sales to cover the one-off license fee.  If console Tennogen sales were to drop, because most players would rather buy on PC to be able to use cross-platform, then DE wouldn't be able to justify licensing skins on console as they'd be paying the artist more in that one-off fee than they'd get in return from console Pt sales.  This would then mean either they'd have to stop putting Tennogen on consoles, effectively taking away the cross-platform use of PC purchased skins anyway, or they'd have to reduce the one-off license payment to artists, which is both reducing the support of artists and risks those artists refusing to allow their design on consoles.

TL;DR:  Allowing PC purchased Tennogen to be used cross-platform could hypothetically have a knock-on effect that would make it economically unviable to have Tennogen on consoles at all, which would ironically kill cross-platform Tennogen.

Edited November 24, 2023 by Katinka

[(XBOX)elementXGHILLIE]

1 minute ago, Katinka said:

The fact that this only applies to Tennogen and doesn't apply to any other cosmetic purchase (neither Platinum deluxe skins nor real money Heirloom skins) makes me think it has to be something unique to Tennogen.  As you say, letting PC purchases be shared cross platform would make it the best place for the consumer to buy it, if they are happy with paying cash instead of Pt, which would increase the artists' revenue as they'd get more of those 30%s instead of just getting theone-off licensing fee for it being available on console.  The only reason I can think for this choice, and this is speculation, is that DE want to maintain a profit margin on console Tennogen which means they need to get at least enough console sales to cover the one-off license fee.  If console Tennogen sales were to drop, because most players would rather buy on PC to be able to use cross-platform, then DE wouldn't be able to justify licensing skins on console as they'd be paying the artist more in that one-off fee than they'd get in return from console Pt sales.  This would then mean either they'd have to stop putting Tennogen on consoles, effectively taking away the cross-platform use of PC purchased skins anyway, or they'd have to reduce the one-off license payment to artists, which is both reducing the support of artists and risks those artists refusing to allow their design on consoles.

TL;DR:  Allowing PC purchased Tennogen to be used cross-platform could hypothetically have a knock-on effect that would make it economically unviable to have Tennogen on consoles at all, which would ironically kill cross-platform Tennogen.

Licensing the skins on console actually increases the value players get, therefore it may actually increase overall sales.

Even if there is cannibalization of revenue going on, if DE subsidizes the console port, with the extra sales. It may actually still be bonus.

There is also the difference in price, Tennogen is always bought in cash on PC, Tennogen is bought with platinum on console so a certain % of sales is actually not real income, because platinum absorbed from market won't equal revenue from platinum sales.