Wings Over Europe on sale at Steam

[+streakeagle]

I saw a tweet about this on the home page of Third Wire and looked into it.

It appears that Strategy First cut a deal with someone to put Wings Over Europe on Steam for $9.99 and is currently on sale for $8.49.

I am not sure why they would do that or who they made the deal with, but it leaves Third Wire hanging in the wind with its online store price of $14.99

 

Is there a glut of WinXP users that need this one particular older release but won't pay $15 for it?

I know Strategy First never stopped selling SFP1 so maybe their market experience taught them they could make a bit more with WOE?

Does TK get a cut this time?

 

I don't see where this is going to make anyone any money, but good luck to all parties involved.

Maybe the Steam exposure will help stir up new interest in the SF2 series.

[+MigBuster]

Got to be Strategy First being only 1 of the series put up - would TW even get a say? 

[+streakeagle]

As far as I know Strategy First never had any rights to distribute anything after SFP1.

WOV and WOE were backed by Bold Games, but obviously TK retained some sort of distribution rights because he has them for sale at his online store.

But maybe Strategy First bought rights from Bold Games or TK? But why now?

Apparently, the version being distributed is the same as the online store: 083006.

This has caused problems since it is inherently incompatible with WinVista/Win7, but it is still a good patch level to start at since it gives you the option to maintain compatibility with all of the old mods.

While it may not be selling like a new game, the Steam user base is so large that it has sold some copies: there are a few posts in the Steam forums.

The posts involve how to patch WOE to get rid of the CTD after exiting a mission in Vista/7 and to check out CombatAce and Capun's site for mods.

Of course, they also include comments like "it looks and plays like a 1999 flight sim" and about the limitations of multiplayer.

 

If TK had bit the bullet and jumped through the legal and financial hoops to put the entire SF2 series on Steam, would the exposure have generated enough sales to justify the costs?

Is it too late for TK to put SF2 on Steam and make any profit?

It is sad that TK can make a better living with a free-to-play ad-supported mobile version of SF than the original PC game. 

Although, TK is probably happier with the game play of the mobile versions since it leans way more heavily towards the arcade "fun" game that could be played and enjoyed by anybody that he wanted SFP1 to be.

[+MigBuster]

If TK has finished with SF2 why not put them on Steam - ED have put DCS there.

[+streakeagle]

TK doesn't want to even try to jump through the hoops Steam requires and appears not to like their business model anyway.

After having been burned by his experiences with old school big-name distributors, I am sure he likes the end result of being an independent:

Every single penny you earn goes back to you.

But Steam provides a great way to access a much larger audience, so any losses in profit per unit sold might be corrected with volume.

[Lexx_Luthor]

Its the old version, so steamers may discover Old SF, hear about New SF, and then goto thudwire.

 

2006 always worked on Win~7 for me from the start.

[+streakeagle]

The water shader caused CTDs when exiting missions, and people are still having that problem.

The final patch theoretically fixed that and some people are doing okay, others still have problems.

Of course, DX9 has to be installed, which Win 7 does not have by default.

[FA515]

I have no problem running any 1 series game on win7, install location C:\Program Files(x86)\Stadegy First\ Strike Fighters or C:\ Stadegy First\ Strike Fighters. As long as you < Right-Click >,<Properties>,<Run as Administrator>, when installing game or patches. Be sure to close AV or any other programs running in the background,and you should enjoy a trouble-free install.