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ksv on 19 January 2010
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ioi said:

Well since this thread has been created, it makes sense to fill you in on some of the plans.

For VGC 3.0 we are planning 3 levels of access for data:

  • Free where you can see top 20 charts each week (top 50 rankings), top 10 per console (top 30 rankings), hardware, top 10 preorders (top 30 rankings), new features like milesones, weekly records. Will be enough to have an overview and to discuss trends.
  • Standard membership (~$99 per year) where you can see top 200 per week, top 50 per console, top 50 per publisher, top 100 preorders, extra comparison tools, maybe top level download charts, maybe no ads.
  • Premium membership (for industry) where you can see all data as well as some fancy tools for analysing revenues, year on year data, anticipation metrics plus much more.

So you won't HAVE to pay to view data but if you do subscribe it gives you access to more data. Unfortunately, the data-collection side to VGChartz has got to a point now where it is costing more to run than it is generating in ad revenue, therefore we need to move to a new costing model to continue to grow and improve the service. The data certainly won't be going anywhere but you'll only be able to see top-level data for free with the new site. It's more a case of adding new stuff and charging to use it than charging for what is already there.

I see where you're coming from, Brett, it's unfortunate that the current model doesn't work financially, but I think this model will be problematic. I think it will be hard to get a significant number of subscribers, atleast significant enough to make it worthwhile. After all, this site is primarily for entertainment/hobby purposes. It's doing a damn fine job at that, but enough for people to pay for extra access?

A couple of questions:

Will historical data be unavailable in the free access level? I'm particularly thinking about the weekly historical graphs that we currently can pull out on any game.

What if someone with access to the membership data want to discuss this in the forum (which is a big activity here). Will those forum threads be unavailable for non-paying members? Or will threads be moderated to remove any information taken from the membership data so that people cannot "freeload" through the forums?