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Special Reserve

Port Plexus COO Marko Hein explains why Special Editions have a strong future at retail

Phil Elliott avatar
Feature by Phil Elliott Contributor
Published on
GamesIndustry.biz I got into Europa Universalis III with the Special Edition, thanks to the strategy guide that was included... So who is currently putting Special Editions together - is it publishers internally, and is it expensive?
Marko Hein

Well, that's the point - there's not currently an agency that really provides the full service. Normally it's triggered by the marketing guys who want to do something special from the marketing point of view. They come up with the idea, and have some sense about what they'd like to have in the package - they go to the production guys in their company, and there's a certain overlap between the disciplines within that company.

They might come up with a figurine, or other wilder ideas, and a price range - but the marketing guys, those people that came up with the idea in the first place, often have little idea about the costs of the materials. So they come up with wild ideas that could never be achieved...

We see our role therefore as providing a certain service - the publisher would come to us, because we have the expertise on price of materials and strategy, while they have the product or brand. We would then work on a plan that we think would be valuable for that brand or strategy.

In the best case the publisher would come to us with a strategic goal, and we go back with a briefing of the product, and different ideas on an 'edition strategy' that fits within the price range the publisher would like to invest per product.

We'd throw around some ideas, work on designs and maybe make up a prototype - and then suggest those ideas to the publisher. We've done that already - we went to one of our second meetings with six boxes, which was what their Collector's Edition could look like.

GamesIndustry.biz One of the recent games that stood out for extras was Modern Warfare 2, with its night vision goggles... but that was a high price point, although offset by the dedication of the Modern Warfare 2 fanbase. Will that core, dedicated gamer remain the main portion of the Special Edition customer?
Marko Hein

I think it's the most obvious one - but everything is obvious when it's standard. Nintendo used to be about hardcore until Miyamoto came along and made something like Wii Fit - the whole market changed.

I think something similar could happen when it comes to the design of physical product. Currently when you think about Special Editions you immediately think about the hardcore users and how to provide something for them that can go on the shelf.

But the ideas we bounced around for new consumers, like the life cycle extension for example - there are some strategic ideas you can come up with. That's why I don't like the term "Collector's Edition" too much, because it pigeon-holes these products. We think there's a lot more to it than just doing something for collectors.