WEBVTT

00:00:00.079 --> 00:00:01.539
OK. Hello, everyone.

00:00:02.572 --> 00:00:04.030
It's a pleasure being here.

00:00:04.192 --> 00:00:07.657
It was a really well-designed
presentation, so to say.

00:00:07.682 --> 00:00:12.175
I hope ours will not look badly,
compared to that.

00:00:12.200 --> 00:00:16.660
It will be hard to measure up
to a person that specializes in design.

00:00:19.084 --> 00:00:21.632
OK, so hopefully everything works, yes?

00:00:21.657 --> 00:00:24.123
We were just trying out
some remote-control software,

00:00:24.148 --> 00:00:26.153
that's why I'm holding this device.

00:00:26.781 --> 00:00:30.669
We would like to tell you a little bit
about the Black Sheep strategy.

00:00:31.851 --> 00:00:33.857
We'll try to keep it very simple,

00:00:34.028 --> 00:00:36.846
and we'll try to come up
with some practical cases,

00:00:36.871 --> 00:00:38.444
to make it all a bit interesting.

00:00:38.469 --> 00:00:43.619
And, of course, the black sheep
is really black here, actually.

00:00:43.644 --> 00:00:45.337
(Laughter)

00:00:45.362 --> 00:00:47.582
Yeah, it's so black
that you can hardly see it.

00:00:49.795 --> 00:00:52.502
I hope that Zynga --

00:00:52.527 --> 00:00:54.900
That's a black sheep
that I found on the Internet.

00:00:54.925 --> 00:00:57.308
It's from Farmville.
I hope they will not sue us.

00:00:57.333 --> 00:00:58.965
I didn't ask them for permission.

00:00:59.286 --> 00:01:00.835
There was not enough time for it.

00:01:00.860 --> 00:01:03.830
So actually, with Michał,
we started following this strategy

00:01:03.855 --> 00:01:05.917
unconsciously,
when we were in high school.

00:01:05.942 --> 00:01:07.995
So, it was the Black Sheep strategy.

00:01:08.426 --> 00:01:11.462
It didn't reflect well
on our grades, you know?

00:01:11.813 --> 00:01:13.551
We were the black sheep of the class.

00:01:13.576 --> 00:01:17.120
It was the two of us,
and we were apart from the herd.

00:01:17.466 --> 00:01:20.348
So, let's... (Laughter)

00:01:20.373 --> 00:01:23.175
Michał Kiciński:
What actually resulted was that I,

00:01:23.200 --> 00:01:25.537
for example, didn't finish high school.

00:01:25.562 --> 00:01:28.789
Marcin Iwiński: You did, in another way.
M.K.: In a sense, yes.

00:01:28.814 --> 00:01:29.868
(Laughter)

00:01:29.893 --> 00:01:31.843
M.I.: I did, but I had to
change the class.

00:01:31.868 --> 00:01:35.548
So, it's not easy,
what we're going to tell you about.

00:01:36.020 --> 00:01:38.329
So that's a flaw,
because you see it's very nice,

00:01:38.354 --> 00:01:41.550
it's warm, it's cuddly, you feel safe.

00:01:42.885 --> 00:01:45.940
Actually, we changed
the Farmville black sheep,

00:01:45.965 --> 00:01:47.975
as they have only black sheep, into white.

00:01:48.000 --> 00:01:50.670
So right now,
you'll see the black sheep...

00:01:50.695 --> 00:01:52.429
(Laughter)

00:01:52.454 --> 00:01:54.554
You just see the eyes of it.

00:01:55.504 --> 00:01:57.932
You just see the eyes
of this little sheep.

00:01:58.122 --> 00:02:01.539
But it means it's really not
a very cool place to be in,

00:02:01.564 --> 00:02:02.703
at least on the slide.

00:02:03.282 --> 00:02:04.986
So, how do we see that?

00:02:05.011 --> 00:02:09.580
we really see that there are two
main problems with the herd.

00:02:11.780 --> 00:02:14.367
Let's start with the first one.

00:02:15.213 --> 00:02:17.961
Following the herd is easy,
it's very easy for everyone.

00:02:18.311 --> 00:02:20.350
And what we really see,

00:02:20.375 --> 00:02:22.468
as we are in business,
we are entrepreneurs,

00:02:22.986 --> 00:02:25.086
it's all about delivering value.

00:02:25.298 --> 00:02:27.702
With the herd, people just follow.

00:02:28.004 --> 00:02:33.100
So whenever there is a certain solution,
they just follow, because...

00:02:33.837 --> 00:02:36.637
They feel safe,
and that's the second thing.

00:02:37.467 --> 00:02:40.070
M.K.: You can see that everywhere
on the market.

00:02:40.095 --> 00:02:44.856
For example, Marcin has an iPad here,

00:02:45.036 --> 00:02:48.326
and right now everyone is doing
pads on the market, right?

00:02:48.351 --> 00:02:51.058
And it was very difficult
for the first company,

00:02:51.083 --> 00:02:52.880
in this case Apple,

00:02:53.211 --> 00:02:56.711
quite often being the black sheep,
in our opinion,

00:02:56.933 --> 00:02:59.400
to invent this device.

00:02:59.425 --> 00:03:03.847
But now, every hardware manufacturer
is doing some kind of pad.

00:03:04.026 --> 00:03:09.127
So it's pretty easy to follow
the one who set the trend.

00:03:09.861 --> 00:03:13.663
M.I.: Yeah, that's really funny,
because, I mean,

00:03:13.936 --> 00:03:16.770
in our 15 years in business,
we talked to a lot of experts,

00:03:16.795 --> 00:03:19.733
a lot of analysts,

00:03:20.032 --> 00:03:22.770
a lot of, so to say, knowledgeable people.

00:03:22.795 --> 00:03:24.248
But they just follow the trend.

00:03:24.273 --> 00:03:26.208
So, in our opinion, they follow the herd.

00:03:27.439 --> 00:03:29.839
When something is set in stone,
there is a standard,

00:03:29.864 --> 00:03:32.968
industry standards,
a certain way of [doing] certain things,

00:03:32.993 --> 00:03:34.898
the most convenient way
is just to follow.

00:03:35.212 --> 00:03:37.859
Because it's easy, and you feel safe.

00:03:38.095 --> 00:03:41.993
If you work in a big company,
if you don't cross the line,

00:03:42.018 --> 00:03:44.378
you'll most probably not be fired,
you'll be safe.

00:03:44.403 --> 00:03:46.924
Until the company
runs into some big trouble,

00:03:46.949 --> 00:03:49.839
and then there's massive firing,
but that's another story.

00:03:50.043 --> 00:03:55.281
M.K.: It's visible in very big companies,
where people are afraid to take decisions.

00:03:55.306 --> 00:04:00.086
If they go the way
everyone else is going, they are safe.

00:04:00.111 --> 00:04:01.516
Nobody can accuse them

00:04:01.644 --> 00:04:03.869
that they're doing something
the wrong way,

00:04:03.894 --> 00:04:06.694
because they are doing it
the way everybody else is doing it.

00:04:06.719 --> 00:04:09.863
M.I.: So if you look at the herd,
it's a really nice place to be in.

00:04:09.888 --> 00:04:11.230
It's warm and safe.

00:04:11.255 --> 00:04:12.292
(Laughter)

00:04:12.839 --> 00:04:18.962
And, you know, we wanted
to ask you this question:

00:04:18.987 --> 00:04:20.695
"Do you dare to be different?"

00:04:21.086 --> 00:04:24.773
We think that first of all,
it's a way of life,

00:04:25.338 --> 00:04:27.522
and there is a big reward.

00:04:27.547 --> 00:04:29.558
I mean, whatever you do,
it can be business,

00:04:29.583 --> 00:04:32.246
it can be just, you know, things in life.

00:04:32.476 --> 00:04:35.435
M.K.: Being in high school. M.I.: Yeah.

00:04:35.460 --> 00:04:37.815
In high school, it's kind of cool,
people like you.

00:04:37.840 --> 00:04:38.762
(Laughter)

00:04:38.763 --> 00:04:40.254
Because you don't really care.

00:04:40.279 --> 00:04:43.035
But actually, you do,
because you have to change the school,

00:04:43.060 --> 00:04:44.729
but it gets all complicated, so...

00:04:46.021 --> 00:04:50.042
So, as we are entrepreneurs, in business,

00:04:50.151 --> 00:04:51.236
there is a big reward.

00:04:51.261 --> 00:04:53.737
Because if you don't take the risk,

00:04:53.762 --> 00:04:57.726
if you don't try to come up with something
that really delivers the value --

00:04:57.751 --> 00:05:00.884
And what is important to stress here is,

00:05:00.909 --> 00:05:03.634
you have to try to be different
for a reason.

00:05:03.659 --> 00:05:06.172
We are not talking
about rebels without a cause.

00:05:06.331 --> 00:05:09.477
The high school example
taught us a lesson, you know.

00:05:09.680 --> 00:05:12.149
"We're just rebels and, um..." Yeah.

00:05:12.526 --> 00:05:14.172
We were penalized for it.

00:05:14.197 --> 00:05:16.050
It didn't really make [so much] sense.

00:05:16.075 --> 00:05:17.674
But in business, it does.

00:05:17.699 --> 00:05:19.894
It does if you have a cool idea.

00:05:19.919 --> 00:05:21.907
You have to go against the herd, you guys.

00:05:21.932 --> 00:05:26.871
You have to go against certain trends
which are set in stone,

00:05:26.896 --> 00:05:28.863
and it's really hard
to break through them.

00:05:28.888 --> 00:05:30.438
M.K.: So, it's important.

00:05:30.463 --> 00:05:33.955
It's not "to be different
for the sake of being different,"

00:05:33.980 --> 00:05:35.205
just like that.

00:05:35.941 --> 00:05:38.361
M.I.: So let's move to the next slide.

00:05:38.535 --> 00:05:40.948
And that's actually a practical example.

00:05:40.973 --> 00:05:43.111
"Black Sheep makes a computer game."

00:05:43.411 --> 00:05:48.122
So on the left
we have the flock, or the herd.

00:05:48.147 --> 00:05:50.582
On the right,
we have the very black sheep.

00:05:51.022 --> 00:05:56.726
And that's the example
of the first game we've developed,

00:05:56.751 --> 00:05:58.151
"The Witcher."

00:05:58.564 --> 00:06:04.186
So at the time
when we started the process,

00:06:04.576 --> 00:06:06.951
the main trend
was the gaming consoles, so...

00:06:07.419 --> 00:06:09.803
Everybody who was talking to us
was saying,

00:06:09.828 --> 00:06:14.279
"Hey, you have to make a console game,
or it will not make money.

00:06:14.304 --> 00:06:17.568
You will go bust with the company."

00:06:17.696 --> 00:06:19.217
Then, the second trend was:

00:06:19.242 --> 00:06:22.340
"If you don't want to make a console game
you have to make an MMO."

00:06:22.365 --> 00:06:25.141
A Massive Multiplayer Online game,
like World of Warcraft.

00:06:25.166 --> 00:06:26.414
At a certain point in time,

00:06:27.060 --> 00:06:30.434
almost everybody in the world
was doing World of Warcraft clones.

00:06:30.708 --> 00:06:35.815
That's a very "flockish" approach,
I would say.

00:06:35.840 --> 00:06:38.665
And there is no reward at the end.

00:06:38.969 --> 00:06:41.133
A lot of these guys really went bust,

00:06:41.158 --> 00:06:44.466
and that was happening during the crisis,

00:06:44.491 --> 00:06:45.844
and a little bit afterwards.

00:06:46.315 --> 00:06:49.811
M.K.: So when we started
the development of The Witcher,

00:06:49.836 --> 00:06:54.139
somebody [calculated]
that there were 200 projects,

00:06:54.164 --> 00:06:56.866
MMO projects, started in the world.

00:06:56.891 --> 00:06:59.038
So everyone was doing MMOs,

00:06:59.063 --> 00:07:01.616
because analysts, consultants,

00:07:01.641 --> 00:07:04.171
everyone was advising
that that's the future of gaming.

00:07:04.196 --> 00:07:07.276
M.I.: I remember the reports
we were getting from big publishers,

00:07:07.301 --> 00:07:08.862
and the reports were saying, like,

00:07:09.091 --> 00:07:11.450
"Make a console MMO,
that would be the best.

00:07:11.841 --> 00:07:13.966
It would really kick ass,
and you would rule."

00:07:14.187 --> 00:07:16.458
"And make sure
that it appeals to everyone,

00:07:16.483 --> 00:07:18.587
so then you have
all the market in the world,

00:07:18.612 --> 00:07:20.325
and you will make a lot of money."

00:07:20.350 --> 00:07:21.941
So what we did...

00:07:22.365 --> 00:07:23.973
We did a PC game.

00:07:23.998 --> 00:07:25.309
A dying platform.

00:07:25.574 --> 00:07:28.067
So PC computers versus consoles, I mean,

00:07:28.092 --> 00:07:29.715
the retail having its problems.

00:07:30.124 --> 00:07:32.778
We do not have time to elaborate,
but yeah, it was tough.

00:07:32.803 --> 00:07:37.777
It was almost like that sentence.

00:07:37.802 --> 00:07:39.242
And then, we did single-player,

00:07:39.267 --> 00:07:40.847
because we wanted to tell a story,

00:07:40.848 --> 00:07:43.514
the story of an iconic hero,

00:07:43.535 --> 00:07:45.327
Geralt, the monster slayer.

00:07:45.543 --> 00:07:48.339
And then, we designed it
for a specific audience,

00:07:48.364 --> 00:07:49.540
a mature audience.

00:07:49.565 --> 00:07:51.924
So, the whole story

00:07:51.949 --> 00:07:55.940
was written in a way
that a mature audience would enjoy,

00:07:55.965 --> 00:07:59.299
and would find it witty,
would find it intelligent.

00:07:59.598 --> 00:08:02.272
I don't want to say that other games
are not intelligent,

00:08:02.297 --> 00:08:04.442
but if you're making a game
designed for all,

00:08:04.467 --> 00:08:07.490
which is getting an R rating
or 12 rating in the US,

00:08:07.515 --> 00:08:10.513
I mean, it has to be pretty flat
in many places,

00:08:10.538 --> 00:08:13.508
or you'll not get this rating,
so it won't appeal to this group.

00:08:13.826 --> 00:08:16.364
M.K.: And one of the hardest parts
of making this game

00:08:16.389 --> 00:08:18.272
was not actually making the game itself,

00:08:18.297 --> 00:08:20.989
it was to sell this game to a publisher.

00:08:21.014 --> 00:08:23.280
Because we were approaching
different companies,

00:08:23.305 --> 00:08:24.880
and they were asking us questions.

00:08:24.905 --> 00:08:28.671
It was a standard set,
from all the publishers.

00:08:28.912 --> 00:08:30.613
"What about the multiplayer mode?"

00:08:30.638 --> 00:08:33.179
And we were like,
"We are telling the story, you know.

00:08:33.205 --> 00:08:35.097
It doesn't fit in this kind of game.

00:08:35.123 --> 00:08:37.410
So, we decided to make it single-player."

00:08:37.436 --> 00:08:40.731
And people looked at us like,
are we crazy or something?

00:08:40.885 --> 00:08:44.318
And the other question was,
"Do you plan it for consoles?"

00:08:44.343 --> 00:08:46.646
"No, we would like to focus on the PC."

00:08:46.671 --> 00:08:49.119
And then, it was end of story, basically.

00:08:49.144 --> 00:08:52.418
M.I.: We were coming with a story
based on Andrzej Sapkowski's books.

00:08:52.443 --> 00:08:53.722
It's defined.

00:08:53.894 --> 00:08:55.801
It makes sense, it's a believable world,

00:08:55.826 --> 00:08:57.907
millions of people
read the book, and so on.

00:08:57.932 --> 00:08:59.629
We didn't come up with it.

00:08:59.654 --> 00:09:01.261
And they were asking us:

00:09:01.448 --> 00:09:03.613
"Could the main protagonist be a female?

00:09:03.638 --> 00:09:05.633
Maybe a dwarf? How about that?" (Laughter)

00:09:05.658 --> 00:09:09.001
And we said, "Yeah, maybe we could
tweak it a little bit,

00:09:09.026 --> 00:09:11.220
so let's talk another time."

00:09:11.488 --> 00:09:14.609
But really, people come up
with these kinds of ideas,

00:09:14.634 --> 00:09:19.196
because it comes out
of a certain market service.

00:09:19.621 --> 00:09:22.867
M.K.: This female character
is kind of a company story,

00:09:22.892 --> 00:09:26.359
it's told from person to person,

00:09:26.384 --> 00:09:28.564
because that was what actually happened.

00:09:28.589 --> 00:09:31.205
One of the representatives
came from the second meeting,

00:09:31.230 --> 00:09:34.030
and told us
that they had done the research,

00:09:34.324 --> 00:09:37.142
and gamers would love
to play a female character.

00:09:37.284 --> 00:09:40.382
And could we change the witcher Geralt
from Sapkowski's books

00:09:40.407 --> 00:09:41.564
into an elvish woman?

00:09:41.925 --> 00:09:45.282
Because that was something that gamers
supposedly expected. (Laughter)

00:09:45.307 --> 00:09:47.532
M.I.: We are already running 10 minutes,

00:09:47.557 --> 00:09:50.165
and we are halfway there,
so let's end here.

00:09:50.370 --> 00:09:51.741
So what's the result?

00:09:51.766 --> 00:09:53.337
Just very briefly.

00:09:53.362 --> 00:09:55.211
So the flock was saying:

00:09:55.236 --> 00:09:57.857
"Working in a dying genre,
on a dying platform."

00:09:57.882 --> 00:09:59.992
That's pretty much the verdict.

00:10:00.179 --> 00:10:02.235
And we sold 1.5 million units worldwide,

00:10:02.260 --> 00:10:04.016
and received over 100 awards.

00:10:04.041 --> 00:10:05.645
Why? Because...

00:10:05.670 --> 00:10:08.670
(Applause)

00:10:12.753 --> 00:10:16.557
Simply because the game was different,
it was appealing to a certain audience,

00:10:17.094 --> 00:10:18.703
We delivered what we wanted to,

00:10:18.728 --> 00:10:22.226
and not some mass-market "blah-blah" pulp,

00:10:22.251 --> 00:10:23.976
which we really hate, by the way.

00:10:24.001 --> 00:10:26.278
Oh and by the way, the game was good, too.

00:10:26.303 --> 00:10:28.121
That's kind of important.

00:10:28.146 --> 00:10:29.786
M.K.: That's important too, yeah.

00:10:30.358 --> 00:10:35.026
So the next example is:
"Black Sheep does digital distribution."

00:10:35.051 --> 00:10:36.852
So, direct delivery of games.

00:10:36.995 --> 00:10:39.274
We are gamers,
we're running a gaming company.

00:10:39.464 --> 00:10:43.352
And again, you have the flock,

00:10:43.775 --> 00:10:47.646
and you have the very black sheep,
on the right.

00:10:47.671 --> 00:10:51.590
And what was the flock doing and saying?

00:10:51.615 --> 00:10:53.512
So, "only new games."

00:10:53.537 --> 00:10:55.202
Digital distribution is, basically,

00:10:55.227 --> 00:10:58.088
the concept of downloading the game
directly to your computer,

00:10:58.113 --> 00:10:59.953
and playing it, in one way or another,

00:10:59.978 --> 00:11:04.451
without the necessity of going to a store
and buying the game.

00:11:04.576 --> 00:11:07.185
So basically, Video on Demand,
but in the gaming world.

00:11:07.609 --> 00:11:09.088
So, only new games.

00:11:09.400 --> 00:11:12.378
High price points,
because new games are expensive,

00:11:12.403 --> 00:11:14.041
so that's the best market.

00:11:14.260 --> 00:11:15.596
If it's a high price point,

00:11:15.621 --> 00:11:17.611
and you have a certain share
of the revenue,

00:11:17.612 --> 00:11:19.387
you'll obviously get higher revenue.

00:11:19.512 --> 00:11:21.112
The region restriction.

00:11:21.137 --> 00:11:25.051
The platforms were usually originated
in western Europe and the US,

00:11:25.076 --> 00:11:28.268
and quite often you were not able,
being a Polish customer,

00:11:28.385 --> 00:11:30.276
Thai customer, Russian customer,

00:11:30.526 --> 00:11:33.644
whatever that was, really,
outside the US and Western Europe,

00:11:33.669 --> 00:11:37.408
you weren't able to buy the games because
there wasn't a license for the region.

00:11:37.433 --> 00:11:41.125
M.K.: It works pretty similar
to what we know from iTunes.

00:11:41.150 --> 00:11:42.719
You cannot buy many things.

00:11:42.744 --> 00:11:44.047
M.I.: Or it doesn't work.

00:11:44.072 --> 00:11:47.166
M.K.: Yeah, you cannot buy many things
which US customers can buy.

00:11:47.191 --> 00:11:49.060
M.I.: And different region pricing.

00:11:49.085 --> 00:11:51.715
So, in the US, the game was 50 dollars,

00:11:51.740 --> 00:11:54.189
in Europe it was 50 euros. Kind of unfair.

00:11:54.214 --> 00:11:56.241
Of course,
depending on the period of time.

00:11:56.372 --> 00:11:59.244
And the last thing,
which is very important, DRM protection.

00:11:59.346 --> 00:12:01.248
So you'd download a game,

00:12:01.273 --> 00:12:03.985
and it's protected,
you have to be online to play it,

00:12:04.010 --> 00:12:05.455
even though it's single-player.

00:12:05.480 --> 00:12:08.134
It just makes your life
really difficult and cumbersome.

00:12:08.159 --> 00:12:10.884
If you're traveling with a laptop,
you cannot play the game.

00:12:10.985 --> 00:12:13.085
And what did we come up with?

00:12:13.976 --> 00:12:15.188
PC classics.

00:12:15.213 --> 00:12:16.404
Why? A few reasons.

00:12:16.429 --> 00:12:18.277
Because we found it a perfect niche,

00:12:18.302 --> 00:12:20.894
we had experience in it
in our Eastern-European markets,

00:12:20.919 --> 00:12:23.338
in our retail, brick-and-mortar activity.

00:12:23.810 --> 00:12:27.212
And also, the big battle of the big guys
was happening in the new games.

00:12:27.237 --> 00:12:31.213
So why enter there and you know,
fight with the big guys.

00:12:31.238 --> 00:12:33.034
Then, we introduced lower price points.

00:12:33.059 --> 00:12:35.940
So 5 to 10 dollars, pretty much.

00:12:36.384 --> 00:12:40.147
No restrictions, and one price for all.

00:12:40.172 --> 00:12:41.554
"All different customers,"

00:12:41.579 --> 00:12:43.467
I lost that in this presentation.

00:12:45.302 --> 00:12:47.288
So, no regional restrictions.

00:12:47.313 --> 00:12:51.036
Actually, I was very proud
that we had some customers from Cambodia.

00:12:51.523 --> 00:12:54.737
We are still looking
for some customers from Somalia.

00:12:54.762 --> 00:12:57.377
I think, you know, in a few years
we'll get one or two.

00:12:59.186 --> 00:13:00.993
And 100% DRM-free.

00:13:01.018 --> 00:13:03.391
So you download it,
and have a feeling of ownership.

00:13:03.416 --> 00:13:06.099
Although it's a license,
it's a real feeling of ownership.

00:13:06.124 --> 00:13:07.844
You own the game, you can back it up,

00:13:07.869 --> 00:13:10.235
you can install in on your notebook.

00:13:10.260 --> 00:13:11.751
M.K.: This is quite important,

00:13:11.776 --> 00:13:16.118
because most companies are afraid
to give the file to the end customer,

00:13:16.143 --> 00:13:19.534
because they imagine that the customer
will start copying it endlessly,

00:13:19.559 --> 00:13:22.292
and broadcasting it on the Internet.

00:13:22.317 --> 00:13:26.140
M.I.: "The customer will steal it."
(Laughter)

00:13:26.165 --> 00:13:29.821
And they can go at any time
to the torrent sites,

00:13:30.010 --> 00:13:33.369
and download any of the new games
totally for free.

00:13:33.478 --> 00:13:36.830
And quite often,
because these pirated games are cracked,

00:13:36.855 --> 00:13:40.099
so they have no protection,
the functionality for the user is better.

00:13:40.124 --> 00:13:42.224
So this is a really sick concept.

00:13:43.816 --> 00:13:45.636
And what is the result?

00:13:48.368 --> 00:13:51.226
M.K.: So GOG, because that's our platform,

00:13:51.251 --> 00:13:52.650
started two years ago.

00:13:53.027 --> 00:13:56.875
So that's actually the youngest
digital distribution platform

00:13:57.000 --> 00:13:59.680
of the top digital distribution platforms
right now,

00:13:59.705 --> 00:14:00.984
working in the world.

00:14:01.174 --> 00:14:05.611
We showed here the 5 biggest
digital distribution platforms.

00:14:05.878 --> 00:14:07.962
The first one, the biggest,
is Steampowered.

00:14:07.987 --> 00:14:11.031
They were the first on the market,
and they are the leader.

00:14:11.190 --> 00:14:12.724
M.I.: That's the pioneer premium.

00:14:12.749 --> 00:14:15.987
So if you are different, and a pioneer,
you'll really rock the world.

00:14:16.394 --> 00:14:19.087
M.K.: And the other ones
are the followers.

00:14:19.112 --> 00:14:21.980
And our GOG is the blue one.

00:14:22.005 --> 00:14:24.791
Just recently, a few weeks ago,

00:14:25.715 --> 00:14:28.245
we came to the position
of number one, as you can see.

00:14:28.689 --> 00:14:30.463
And what is important --

00:14:30.488 --> 00:14:33.431
For example,
the one that we overcome here,

00:14:33.456 --> 00:14:36.581
the yellow one, it's Direct2Drive.

00:14:36.698 --> 00:14:38.483
That's the platform which is connected

00:14:38.508 --> 00:14:44.200
with one of the biggest gaming magazines,
websites, in the world.

00:14:44.225 --> 00:14:46.174
So they have very big leverage

00:14:46.199 --> 00:14:49.177
from the fact that they are connected
with the online magazine.

00:14:49.202 --> 00:14:51.961
M.I.: [It says] "15 minutes" there,
it sounds kind of scary.

00:14:51.986 --> 00:14:53.867
We still have 25 slides more to go, so...

00:14:53.892 --> 00:14:54.944
(Laughter)

00:14:54.969 --> 00:14:56.204
Give us a moment.

00:14:56.583 --> 00:14:57.997
Black Sheep makes PR.

00:14:58.022 --> 00:15:02.049
And that's about the platform,
about what we did recently.

00:15:02.074 --> 00:15:08.478
So, a lot of people we were talking to
about signing deals for our platform

00:15:08.503 --> 00:15:10.324
were asking about our marketing spend.

00:15:10.349 --> 00:15:12.550
And we'd say,
"We don't spend on marketing."

00:15:12.695 --> 00:15:14.937
And they were like, "Hm, kind of strange.

00:15:14.962 --> 00:15:17.897
Because everybody spends on marketing,
and it really works."

00:15:17.922 --> 00:15:19.677
But we have a different approach.

00:15:19.702 --> 00:15:22.963
We really think that PR builds more value.

00:15:22.988 --> 00:15:25.035
This is the way we've handled The Witcher,

00:15:25.060 --> 00:15:27.042
and the same way we approached GOG.

00:15:27.521 --> 00:15:28.606
So, what we did...

00:15:28.974 --> 00:15:30.839
We planned a big relaunch,

00:15:30.864 --> 00:15:32.354
getting out of beta,

00:15:32.379 --> 00:15:36.114
because the site ran in beta
for two years.

00:15:36.875 --> 00:15:39.885
We planned to announce the new version,
come up with new features.

00:15:39.910 --> 00:15:42.470
We signed really exceptional content,
great RPG games,

00:15:42.495 --> 00:15:46.718
and wanted to use this opportunity
to boost the traffic

00:15:46.743 --> 00:15:48.665
and get more customers going.

00:15:48.965 --> 00:15:52.127
So what we did was,
we decided to shut the site down.

00:15:52.370 --> 00:15:55.541
I mean, some of you are probably dealing
with Internet business.

00:15:55.566 --> 00:15:57.718
If there is no site, it's kind of scary,

00:15:57.743 --> 00:16:00.649
because that's your only connection
to the end customer.

00:16:01.647 --> 00:16:05.272
We shut it down, we posted
a really lame-looking screen,

00:16:05.498 --> 00:16:09.009
saying that, you know,
there were too many challenges,

00:16:09.034 --> 00:16:12.237
and a certain era had ended,
and blah-blah-blah.

00:16:12.556 --> 00:16:15.799
We thought it was very straight-forward,

00:16:16.081 --> 00:16:17.937
a true hint for the people:

00:16:17.962 --> 00:16:20.462
"Hey, it's a game, you know, we'll reopen!

00:16:20.651 --> 00:16:21.940
We're just having fun here."

00:16:22.151 --> 00:16:24.479
A lot of people didn't get it this way.

00:16:24.627 --> 00:16:27.166
We had to say a big sorry afterwards.

00:16:27.374 --> 00:16:31.269
But one thing happened
in the social-media driven world,

00:16:31.294 --> 00:16:36.649
and the mass-market
TV and Internet stations.

00:16:37.066 --> 00:16:41.646
We were covered in every single
biggest gaming place in the world

00:16:41.671 --> 00:16:42.999
as a top story.

00:16:43.024 --> 00:16:44.436
"GOG went bankrupt."

00:16:44.931 --> 00:16:46.468
"Why did they close?"

00:16:46.700 --> 00:16:48.603
And you know, all the different theories.

00:16:48.628 --> 00:16:49.993
We really loved that.

00:16:52.063 --> 00:16:54.353
Of course, we were really scared
at the same time.

00:16:54.354 --> 00:16:55.539
(Laughter)

00:16:55.540 --> 00:16:57.227
Changing our diapers, so to say.

00:16:57.602 --> 00:17:01.466
So, we thought we planted
some hints on the shutdown page.

00:17:01.491 --> 00:17:03.868
Some people thought we didn't.

00:17:04.387 --> 00:17:07.748
We were, of course,
trying to manage it somehow,

00:17:08.473 --> 00:17:11.247
and we were posting hints
via Twitter and Facebook.

00:17:11.532 --> 00:17:14.019
And then on the second day of the closure

00:17:14.044 --> 00:17:16.630
we posted a trailer,
which was already showing something.

00:17:16.655 --> 00:17:18.655
"It's a glimpse,
there is something coming."

00:17:18.680 --> 00:17:20.284
Some people still didn't get that.

00:17:20.309 --> 00:17:27.618
And then we hosted
a very unusual PR conference.

00:17:27.644 --> 00:17:28.782
(Laughter)

00:17:29.329 --> 00:17:30.009
(Applause)

00:17:35.482 --> 00:17:39.075
So, we told everybody that on Wednesday,

00:17:39.100 --> 00:17:41.184
we'd host an unusual PR conference.

00:17:42.056 --> 00:17:44.447
That the management would have
an official statement.

00:17:44.472 --> 00:17:47.030
"Management," "official statement,"
I like these words.

00:17:47.055 --> 00:17:50.005
And so, we appeared --
I'm the guy on the left, actually --

00:17:50.514 --> 00:17:53.448
dressed as monks,
and we asked people for redemption.

00:17:53.473 --> 00:17:55.559
We also had a couple of videos about that.

00:17:55.767 --> 00:17:57.611
We have to be going, so...

00:17:57.830 --> 00:17:59.156
M.K.: Just a short note.

00:17:59.181 --> 00:18:00.351
For the press conference,

00:18:00.376 --> 00:18:04.121
we had more than 600 journalists
from all over the world,

00:18:04.146 --> 00:18:05.726
checking what's going on with GOG.

00:18:05.729 --> 00:18:07.820
So, a huge number of journalists.

00:18:07.845 --> 00:18:11.239
M.I.: So, as you see,
it was only the 23rd,

00:18:11.264 --> 00:18:14.270
so we peaked,
and the final message to deliver:

00:18:14.858 --> 00:18:16.509
Guys, dare to be different.

00:18:16.855 --> 00:18:18.430
We believe there is a lot of value

00:18:18.455 --> 00:18:20.828
and there is a lot of great things
to come up with.

00:18:20.853 --> 00:18:23.064
So, we're begging you,
dare to be different.

00:18:23.634 --> 00:18:24.610
Thank you.

00:18:24.635 --> 00:18:27.635
(Applause)

00:18:27.781 --> 00:18:29.357
Paul Klipp: Thank you very much.

00:18:29.382 --> 00:18:31.755
(Applause)