RuneScape - A World Without Publishers?

Develop take a look at the commercial success of RS: Jagex - a 'poster boy' for a world without publishers?

The article, written by analyst Nick Gibson adds: "As an online games business, Jagex’s business model is very dissimilar to traditional computer and video games developers.
Its principal business partners are not games publishers but hosting and bandwidth companies, payment service providers, advertisers and distribution companies. Jagex operates with the sort of creative and commercial autonomy that most other developers could only dream of. It remains one of the quietest and least publicised developers in the UK (a stance taken deliberately by its management team).

"In addition to being one of the most profitable, Jagex is also the UK’s largest independent developer by staff level, and one of the biggest employers. Its commercial model should make it a poster boy for the disintermediation of publishers and the ‘direct to consumer’ distribution channel in which so many developers place their hopes."

Read the full profile here.

More information.

Why, is Gaute God.. Dog… whatever his name is - from Norway??

Geez, I guess if you live 6 sunless wintermonths in a fukking, boring Fjord EVERYTHING looks exciting to you. Totally overhyped game. But same as WOW it prooves the old saying: Eat shit, millions of flies cant err.

A world without publishers would render today's publishers useless (similar to the music business) and strongly believe that this is something they wouldn't want at all (costs).

I could even imagine some weird campaign AGAINST - in my example - musicians to NOT let them market everytthing themselves !
I could even imagine pressure … and I think I'll slip into the conspiration theorist ensemble with that.

Which in itself sounds like a very good plot for an adventure game … Oppression of market gigants who do not want the market to flow freely … And try to bind they "customers" in an most unhealthy way …