Was it worth it?
Absolutely. For the first time, we've been able to make a product that is exactly the product we wanted to make. We didn't have to compromise for any third party's vision of what Freedom Force vs The 3rd Reich should be. If we're as successful as we hope to be with this model, our plan is to plow any money we make right back into this business model. What does that mean for gamers? It means more Freedom Force. It means more hardcore strategy and RPG games that publishers might view as too specialized or niche-y, or may simply not get. We've been thinking about various mostly abandoned genres like turn-based strategy, party-based RPGs, you name it. The audience for great PC games hasn't disappeared; they've just become harder for some publishers to see.