TF2 is currently undergoing the last of it's class updates. According to wikipedia, TF2 was released on October 10, 2007. So almost 3 years after it's release Valve are still adding new content for free. And not just map packs, but new weapons, game types and so on.

While I'm glad they are, I'm genuinely curious as to how the economics of this work for them. Even a relatively small team of developers must cost a significant amount to maintain, for a product which has essentially already made it's money. I mean, most people who were/are going to buy the game surely already have at this point?

So what's the plan from this? Is it a massive loyalty building exercise? Should other developers learn from this or maybe Valve just have so much money at this point that they can pretty much do whatever they want for the fun of it?


Thoughts?

edit:
Full disclosure: I am unashamedly a Valve fan. I'm writing this wearing a Mann Co. tshirt, and I've played more TF2 than any other game I can think of.

My guess would be that TF is aimed at the most hard-core and that crowd is fairly sensitive, so a little goodwill can't hurt.

Quote: product which has essentially already made it's money

It's repackaged and resold, so it's not pure loss. And it might be dog food test for the engine.

Quote: so much money at this point that they can pretty much do whatever they want for the fun of it

For an individual, there is a sum know as "FU money", where you have enough to never need to work again. No company has this luxury, especially since decisions made today will not show effect till 2-5 years in the future.

Valve is listed as 225 employees, so having a few modders on board isn't all that expensive. They add a lot of value for what is probably a very low key position. It appears they also recycle a lot from other developments.

The most risky and most costly thing in business is figuring out what works. The stuff people will be loyal to, spend money on, and such. Figure that out, and throwing a few full-time developers on it is just a minimal sunk cost for long-term profits. TF2 works, is constantly resold, and likely generates revenue.

Quote: Should other developers learn from this

The reason big companies abandon products is due to life cycle - support is planned ahead, and unless it becomes a boom, they are not reallocated. Once it's done, it's done, ROI has been known in advance.

But most companies (in absolute numbers) do not operate on this principle but adapt as they go. On spreadsheet, it tends to look worse. Which is really better model universally is hard to say. Former is fairly predictable and has high ROI, but also suffers from volatility (trends change, and whole pipelines will never recover costs) and tends to be conservative. The latter allows for more organic approach, adapting to what works, but at likely lower ROI.

I guess its a mixture of the two things you brought up;

Firstly, I'm going to guess that the game is still selling. It keeps ending up in the x% off sales after all and while it might not be at its highest sales level I imagine a few still trickle out the door.

Secondly it keeps people loyal to Valve as they think 'hey, these guys give us free stuff!'. Of course, as L4D showed us this can back fire a bit when your head guy goes on record as saying 'TF2 levels of support' and then you release a sequal a year later with only a single (pretty poor) extra map having been released for the first.

TF2 and its level of support is a marketing tool. Pushing TF2, and getting people to play it means people using steam. More people using steam is more people buying off of steam. So even if they have already sold a copy of TF2 to someone, keeping them playing is a way to sell more games to them.

It also is used to sell other Valve games. It gives customers a sense that they are cared about, and that they will get their money's worth. TF2 helped to breed the image in many gamer's minds that Valve could do no wrong, and that they would always put out a great product and keep it supported.

Now of course with Left 4 Dead kind of blew that out of the water. I know at least 30 gamers who, before L4D2 was announced, were prepared to buy just about any Valve game without question. "New valve game? Here's my credit card number,..." Now however it is "New valve game? I'll get back to you in a month or two to see how this one pans out."

L4D2 released as a stand alone game, not as a premium expansion pack on top of big updates for L4D1 was Valve's way of shooting themselves in the foot.

I don't know about that, they made a hell of a lot of money from l4d2. The way I like to think of it is that after l4d1 gave them a taste of the consoles they were lured by the incredible golden console profits and so they turned their back on the PC community for that title. It remains to be seen whether this is the first of a trend or whether they'll stay true to their PC roots. With Portal 2 on the PS3 it's clear that somebody at Sony got to them. But you can't say they shot themselves in the foot quite yet, because either they'll continue to be the only stronghold of PC gaming, or they just made themselves a hell of a lot of cash with a new crowd of console gamers. I think it's more of a win/win situation for them, especially if they can manage to fight on two fronts and please both crowds.

I play TF2, many times have I logged into play and saw a current special and purchased a different game. Case in point, mass effect, grand theft auto 4, HOMM, and about a dozen indie games. Always be good to your customers, it will pay off in the long run.

Quote: Original post by BSVino
I don't know about that, they made a hell of a lot of money from l4d2. The way I like to think of it is that after l4d1 gave them a taste of the consoles they were lured by the incredible golden console profits and so they turned their back on the PC community for that title. It remains to be seen whether this is the first of a trend or whether they'll stay true to their PC roots. With Portal 2 on the PS3 it's clear that somebody at Sony got to them. But you can't say they shot themselves in the foot quite yet, because either they'll continue to be the only stronghold of PC gaming, or they just made themselves a hell of a lot of cash with a new crowd of console gamers. I think it's more of a win/win situation for them, especially if they can manage to fight on two fronts and please both crowds.

Yes, but they could have played things differently and NOT pissed off their loyal fans who are now going to be wary of future titles from them, and be more likely to give them a pass. Out of around 30 people who I know were die hard Valve fans and bought L4D1, only about 20 bought L4D2, and having talked about this to everyone, only about 3 of those are not disappointed that they spent the money on L4D2.

Valve is going to keep selling games, but now they're just another game company. They've stripped their shining gold armour of perfection in the eyes of a sizable part of their formally loyal fan base, and made their game sales just another tossup.