A Quick Note from Jenn Chan, Head of Studio, Darkpaw Games

Well, we thought Columbus Nova would axe the SoE franchises and close everything when they bought SoE up, and it didn't happen. At least this one it's a gaming company and, well, I'm going to wait an see.
It's nice to see actual numbers though.

I think a lot of people thought EQ2 subscribership was around 5k (10k max if you were optimistic) and not the whooping 20k+.

Daybreak deserves some serious street cred and respect now. Many people and the gaming media counted out the company and its IPs as backwater, has-been, and in maintenance mode.

The data dump by EG7 actually inspires quite a bit of consumer confidence.

Don't see any reason to be fearful. Not implying that Inception did anything bad(to the best of my knowledge), but EG7 seems like a step up over them from a consumer confidence perspective.

I think that's a misperception because people look at EQ1 and see it has way more servers than EQ2. I think what people fail to think about is that EQ2 is a newer game and the servers probably have a much higher capacity for players than what EQ1 could sustain. I think it's an unfair negative stigma because EQ2 only has a handful of servers compared to the wall of options that EQ1 gives you.

I mean, the report pretty much confirms that EQ1 has more players than EQ2, but I would argue that's because the Time Locked Progression servers drive in the nostalgia factor. And there seems to be a higher demand for the TLP servers than EQ2's TLE ones. (Usually why they launch in pairs.) I would bet almost anything there's either way more people playing the current expansion content in EQ2 than EQ1 or it's neck and neck. But EQ2 probably has more.

What I'd like to see instead of a 38th expansion for EQ2, would be the introduction of a 64 bit client with multi core support. Would be a very wise investment, possibly attracting new players. In the year of 2020 and almost 2021, with such modern hardware, its a total shame that a 16 year old game cannot be stitched up to adapt to our truly powerful systems nowadays.

I do not want shiny new graphics or fancy animations, I am simply willing to 'buy' a better performance than a new expansion with same bad performance and eye straining FPS fluctuations. Not having to disable a plethora of graphical options and still struggle with maintaining steady FPS and low CPU temps, rather than a new expansion with mostly reused assets and even more bloated numbers. Are we going to go into 500m health this time around?

I am very excited about this news overall and am keeping positive that the above changes will one day come. It is such a treat that both EQ and EQ2 are still around and still pushing out content.

True. And players are dispersed in instanced zones in EQ2 so you don't witness the population mass unless everyone gathers for a PQ.

I think EQ1 still beats EQ2 comfortably at 66k subscribers. I would reasonably put half of those subs on EQ1 TLP and the other half on EQ1 Live.

Money-wise, EQ1 can comfortably spread the cost (profit margins) among a wider base whereas EQ2 players are directed more towards transactions to make up for the smaller base.

We can hope the new owner believes in ADVERTISING EQ2!

We spend quite a bit of money advertising EQ2. It's just targeted in places you don't see. I also don't think people understand what advertising costs.

As someone who has loved EQ2 since the second day of launch, I look forward to the new things coming our way. Please though don't forget the many players who love to solo!

I can vouch for this. I have seen EQ1 and EQ2 ads on Instagram and Facebook. I suspect they are using my search/browser cookies.

It would be nice to see a 64 bit client for EQ2. It would be nice too if they could find a way to dig deep into the nuts and bolts of the engine to make it rely less on the CPU and more on the GPU. But I don't think these things would be worth sacrificing a yearly expansion. I think they should borrow a few developers from other Daybreak projects or hire a few temps to make those enhancements. New content still has to be flowing.

As far as the 500m health mark goes, I think that's a problem that both EQ games are running into now, where the numbers are super bloated. It's getting hard to pay attention to where commas are to figure out what the number was that just popped up on the screen. I think eventually EQ is going to have to do what WoW's done a couple times now and do an all-around number squish. But I imagine that's a hugely daunting project because it requires making sure all of the older content in the game is balanced to the new numbers. Then again, maybe they can do a cosmetic number squish and instead of seeing, "5,400,000" pop up on the screen, it'll say "5.4m" and that could be a nice workaround. Something should be done to make the numbers easier to read and manage.

You could argue it and bet on it but you'd lose money. As a player of both games (live and TLP on EQ1), multiple live servers remain healthy with stronger economies than I've seen in EQ2 in years. Holly mentioned TLPs for EQ make simmering like 30% of the yearly profits, so they certainly carry some mega weight but the bulk of consistent players remain on live year after year.

Holly's most recent statement about it was on The EverQuest Show when she said that progression players were about half of the playerbase at that time. Which, reasons to say, that the EQ1 progression playerbase grows with each TLP release. Two more servers have launched since she made that statement. And also speaking as someone who plays both EQ games, I stand by my statement; I firmly believe that the bulk of EQ2 players are focused on current expansion releases and less than half of the EQ1 playerbase plays the current expansion.

I strongly suspect the reason for that is because there is a huge uphill battle to get to the EQ1 end game if you weren't already there for years. It's much easier to jump into a TLP and start at the beginning and stay on that cycle with each new TLP release, since the majority of the server leaves as soon as the next one releases. Whereas in EQ2, you can realistically play Solo and get to the max level. Then you can play the current content, without needing years of investment or people to carry you along the way.

Short summary... A brand new player can pick up EQ2, play mostly solo, and be playing the most recent expansion content in a matter of weeks. In EQ1, a brand new player is very unlikely to be able to ever see the current expansion without intervention from other more experienced players.

EQ2 has changed hands before and is still here. So IMHO, we can choose to be optimistic or pessimistic. I prefer optimism.

Optimist: The glass is half full
Pessimist: The glass is half empty
Me: Whee, room for more wine!

Since all 3 of us are EQ1 and EQ2 players, you will appreciate the fact that EQ1 only accounts for 17% of the portfolio population but 30% of the EBITDA. (Slide 16).

Quite a bit of EQ1 players are now feeling like we have been subsidizing Daybreak's other games (EQ2, Planetside 2).

With EQ1 accounting for 30% of portfolio EBITDA, I believe it is a very healthy assumption that there is RoI (return on investment) on EQ1 Live. I don't think EQ1 TLP revenue alone can sustain 30% portfolio EBITDA. (By comparison, DCUO accounts for 28% of portfolio EBITDA).

I know exactly how much advertising cost, IT SUCKS, that's why we can't afford to advertise our business either. But actually word of mouth has worked very well for us.

I'm not sure if you're primarily a Live player or TLP player on EQ1. But from my experience playing on Mangler, the TLP community pours cash into EQ1. People don't even want to go XP if they don't purchase a ton of XP potions. As soon as Luclin launches, everyone buys mounts with Daybreak Cash. Plus, people buy and trade Krono for the best tradeable gear. I know when I was playing on Mangler, I felt almost obligated to spend $100-200 per month on Krono (and XP pots if the level cap just went up) just to stay competitive. Plus, on EQ1 I was running 7 accounts (~$105/mo) at once because... No mercs. On EQ2, I run 1 account and it's a lot less stressful. I like the fact that I don't feel like I have to multibox here to do anything. I alone was spending $350-500 per month on EQ1, and there were a ton of people in just my guild that were doing the same. And that's not even counting the market of people that buy Krono and pay them to people for powerleveling because they don't want to level up themselves. That's the main reason I didn't jump on Aradune or Rizlona for the next cycle and I came back to EQ2 instead; the cost of staying relevant.

My point is, I think EQ1 makes a lot more revenue off of individual TLP players than Live players. The XP rate on a TLP server is brutal, and you don't have things like Lesson of the Devoted giving you a free daily boost. I have no doubt that the majority of TLP players are sinking in at least 2-3 subs worth of money each month. So I'm not surprised that EQ1 rakes in money hand over fist. lol. I'm not by any means saying that EQ Live doesn't fund its fair share of the cash (because if it didn't, they wouldn't still get expansions) but I don't think EQ Live is much more profitable than EQ2 Live. I think TLP is the majority of the difference and the "quality of life" sales there.

I main on EQ1 Live but I don't disagree with you for the most part. As toxic as EQ1 TLP can be (I think you may agree with this characterization), it's Daybreak's cash cow. I've played on some TLPs and it is the Wild West (almost crypto-currency like). I've even heard of some players carrying north of 2000 Krono.

I think the revenue split is much more even than you think but we can agree to disagree. There is also cross-over (where EQ1 Live players play TLP and vice versa) to muddy the waters.

That's fair. I think you summarized the TLP experience fairly well. It started to get disenfranchising when I started seeing people selling the best loot for an amount of Krono + an amount of plat. I immediately missed the good ol' days when we could buy all our loot with plat.

Believe me, I would love nothing more than to be able to "catch up" to the end game on EQ1 and continue my old mains (which linger around level 70) but from all my attempts and research, it seems a daunting and nearly impossible task without already having a solid foundation of friends. I would never argue that EQ1 isn't a major cash cow. But, for me, it was time to take a break and come on over to EQ2.

I'd hope you guys advertise in exactly the places *I*, and lots of people like me, WILL see, though. And sadly, yeah I know about advertising costs.