Well the game is just not going to happen. I spent the last 10 weeks talking with key people in the League and Player's Association. Initially a CFL game, the League passed on it and I then broached the CFLPA about making a PA-centric game much like NHLPA '93. Despite my efforts to serve it up on a platter, it was a no-go on both counts. The reasons (more or less):
1.)Madden. You guys already have a fix, and a killer one at that.
2.)No real business model.
3.)No real need. This means that market demand is just not measurable or very apparent.
4.)CBA and other priorities. A game is just not on the radar.
The only way this moves forward, is if I win the lottery and approach the CFL and CFLPA and pay licensing fees. It would be similar to the EA Sports arrangement they have with Pro leagues (except the lotto part).
Don't get me wrong, I appreciate being given the opportunity to make this a reality. I think all parties know the value and importance of creating a CFL video game. The risk, both financial and for their image, was probably too much.
I am disappointed, as this would have been a dream project, and a very patriotic one at that. I would have worked for a McSalary. :lol:
Here is the project in a nutshell:
Simply a core game: Exhibition, Season, Playoffs, Roster editing. Much like NHL Hockey 92.
Projected budget: $250, 000
Release for XNA (Indie Games channel on Xbox Live)
Probable release for Spring 2011.
Both the CFL and CFLPA wanted to keep an open dialogue. I have decided to move on, and in doing so I am able to divulge what transpired. I'd like to hear your take on it. Thanks!
I'm sorry to hear that Dave. This doesn't surprise me much though. The league, and its leaders are too timid, and now that the troubles of the mid 80s to the mid 90s are behind them, they don't want to take any risks (forgetting that risk drives growth). I wish you success and perhaps after you've made many, many millions in the near future, the League will come to you (not the other way around).
LTF
If 5000 people commit to "buying" the game at the price of $50. This price is fair because we are not grabbing a game at the local Walmart bargain bin. It's the price of ordering a game that doesn't yet exist. Anyway, no money is collected until we get the 5,000 commitments. At which point, you make the deal with those involved...funding in place.
I always take the example of www.myfootballclub.co.uk. They had the same idea of an internet group from around the world buying a team and running it. I joined for like 35 pounds a year ($70) just because I thought it was a great idea. No one paid until they had enough members at which time the pay pal payments were requested. We ended up buying Ebbsfleet United of the Blue Square division and it was a lot of fun to vote on things etc. I stopped renewing because I don't know anything about soccer etc.
Having said all that, start one up on facebook or something like that. 5000 is not very much at all, I guarantee you that there are atleast 5000 CFL fans who would want to be involved in making this happen. I'm in. I can't remember how many they wanted for Ebbsfleet United, but I think it was 25,000 or something like that.
Despite the overwhelming Canadian Content, best we could do is a 50% repayable loan from Telefilm/Canada New Media Fund/Canada Media Fund…obviously they are going through some changes in name and operation, and they don’t even know what their program will look like in the next few months! That’s pretty much the entire outlet for Government grants.
We would have also qualified for a 15-35% tax refund on labour, which the majority of the budget was intended.
I felt the game budget could have been entirely covered by sponsorships.
Certainly thought about doing a funding drive, which I feel would be quite successful. But I dare not solicit a penny without the approval or partnership of the CFL. The would probably frown on me raising capital in the name of the CFL.
Plus my facebook group hasn’t reached 200 yet…which is kinda closing in on the Eskimos group. Yay!
Looking forward to many more of your suggestions. The CFL is reading too.
Let's face it we live in an age where EA is the deciding factor regarding the sports genre in video games and despite that most of EA's studio's for sports games are in Canada NHL, Fifa, Rugby and a few others. There has never been any way to get this done. the CFL know that due to the small demographics it would need to fork out the development costs for a large publisher like EA or THQ to take this on and they simply are not willing to do it.
Its too bad Wendy's isn't interested in getting involved in this type of project instead of seeing a couple random jacks kicking a football in the stands in their contest. I think EA' sports Wendy's CFL2011 would be a lot more exposure than the Kick the footb all in the cheerleader section is...
Also your budget of 250k is way, way short of what it would cost to make such a game, even modifying existing code to Madden's would be more than 250k.
An existing IP was in play (not my place to comment on it) and people were willing to work for a hometown discount. Anything is possible. Costs to develop:
A Wii or DS game from scratch: $500K
An Iphone app, PSP Mini: $20K-100K, unless it is a big AAA app like Sims, then a few lotsa .
Also with XNA we didn’t have to deal with SDK costs.
People were willing to sacrifice their time and talents to make the game cost effective and appease the CFL.
You know, in any product, it's a simple matter of supply and demand. Without demand, no one cares to supply. If enough people demanded the return of buggy whips, someone would bring them back. If the CFL seen a massive demand, and they could realize profit, you bet they would make it real, provide the funding and licensinf, Madden be damned! And who has the bucks to perform a market survey? It's a pickle.......
Demand ! ? This has nothing to do with lack of opportunity.
Sales of EAMadden’s NFL game are 1.75 million copies a year (EVERY year) of which about 200k copies are sold in Canada.
In fact it is one of the ten best selling title EVERY YEAR, keep in mind the every year here. Even if the CFL could capture only 10 percent of football game sales in Canada it would represent revenues of 1.5 million dollars a year.
Here's the top 10 list (ranked by units, at the individual SKU level, and with collectors/bundles rolled up):
January 2009 to November 2009
1.Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - Xbox 360 - Activision Blizzard - 4.2 million
2.Wii Fit (w/ balance board) - Wii - Nintendo - 3.5 million
3.Wii Sports Resort (w/ MotionPlus) - Wii - Nintendo - 2.4 million
4.Wii Mario Kart (w/ wheel) - Wii - Nintendo - 2.2 million
5.Wii Play (w/ remote) - Wii - Nintendo - 2.1 million
6.Halo 3: ODST - Xbox 360 - Microsoft - 2 million
7.Pokemon Platinum Version - DS - Nintendo - 1.9 million
8.Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - PS3 - Activision Blizzard - 1.9 million
9.Madden NFL 10 - Xbox 360 - Electronic Arts - 1.5 million
10.New Super Mario Bros. Wii - Wii - Nintendo - 1.4
I wonder if you could release a "Rider Store" on X-Box Live and let people buy Rider Jerseys, helmuts, tattoos, etc for their avatar.
If the league is trying to measure the gaming market -- a CFL store would give them the opportunity to gauge market demand.
Rider Fans have proven time and time again they are willing to part with their hard-earned $$$s to show off their rider pride. If you're still interested, this would be the logical stepping stone.
Well, the names and logos are all trade marked, so you'd need permission from (and probably have to pay a license fee to) the mark owner to do this. I don't know if the teams own their marks or if the league owns them all.....
I guess my thinking was that enough people signed up saying they were interested and ready to spend the money, that you could take that to the CFL/CFLPA and get the permission and go ahead...at which time everyone who committed would send in the money and you proceed from there.