I know, I used to always think how this site was financially viable for ioi. I for one am happy he is going for this.

VGChartz is still the definitive sales site for us though, as we will STILL get weekly hardware sales & weekly software sales (albeit just the top 50)

but did any of you ever go past the top 50 page anyway? (I really didn't, except for when MGS4 released & I wanted to see where it ranked for months on)

We will still have excellent forums!

And if the subscription based system can make this site more popular & reputable, it will only be better for everyone imo.

I changed my mind. Charge for the data.

Kidding

But some more clarification from ioi would be nice. I think the only reason he hasn't provided it is because it's not set in stone yet.

I like loadestatement's suggestion.

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.

Well I though my original post was fairly clear but just to address a couple of points.

• We will have the option to run standard membership for just a month if people want to just try it out or find a yearly subscription too cost-prohibitive
• The cost of a standard membership isn't set in stone yet - $99 is there as a rough idea and I'm keen for feedback. Maybe $70 or $50 would seem more appropriate ($6 or $4 per month really isn't a lot)
• The cost of premium membership is in the many hundreds of dollars per year and is aimed at industry clients
• Standard membership will be everything you have now, plus new features such as weekly records, milestones, pre-order charts, more advanced comparison tools
• Free membership will be limited to only top-level data each week, with rankings for games below that. The actual cut-offs we use have not been decided yet, but will be along the lines of what I said in the original post.
• On game pages, you will still be able to see the first ten weeks of sales (free membership) or all weeks of sales (standard / pro membership) along with LTDs for all. So you can still see, even with a free membership, how many copies have been sold in total.

It's no different really, to only being able to see the top 200 games now in a given week and the top 50 per console or platform (we track 5000 skus per week). Any data for games outside of those filters is still there and will still show up in LTDs and on game comparison charts etc but you can't easily get to them in the weekly charts.

By paying for a standard membership (or ultimately a premium membership) you make the data more accessible and also add lots of new features that are not available at the moment. I see it as a forward step, not backward.

• On game pages, you will still be able to see the first ten weeks of sales (free membership) or all weeks of sales (standard / pro membership) along with LTDs for all. So you can still see, even with a free membership, how many copies have been sold in total.

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.